Book 5: Humanity
by Freedom0153
Summary: Korra wanted peace after defeating Kuvira. Then life happened. During her Spirit World vacation, an unlikely gift from an old friend caused a great rift between many spirits and humans. Even conflict with the Earth Empire wasn't over, Kuvira's surrender opening a vacuum. To restore balance, Korra needs any allies she can get, finding her growing love for Asami giving Korra peace.
1. Chapter 1: The Vacation

Part 1: New Challenges

Prologue: The Letter to Remember

Alone. In a cave.

Korra felt miserable, her thoughts all gloom. She had not begun to erase from her mind, that madman, Zaheer - and not just his attempt on her life. She couldn't connect with Raava, she was deceiving the world right and left, and she was dogged by a horrible vision constantly. Thinking of her letter to her parents, Korra felt like spitting in her own face, saying, "They deserve better than that. Forget being a bad Avatar. Not even a good daughter…" She had even cut her own hair, and burned her clothes - getting rid of her Water Tribe identity, in favor of being any anonymous "earthbender"! Remembering what she had done to her clothing after failing to catch that common criminal about a month ago, she groaned, "Even that simple incineration took effort!" Part of her wanted to blame it all on the poison, but she knew that was a lie. She felt weak, powerless, even if she could walk and bend again - like a four-year old Korra could best her pathetic self in a sparring match. The little tyke certainly would have been more of a challenge for that robber than herself… Feeling anger rise within her, Korra stamped around the hideout she had found, too weak to even create a proper living space.

Crying, Korra yelled, "I'm living in a cave, like some drifter! I'm not a drifter - I'm _supposed _to be the Avatar! I hate myself! I can't even bend right!" After she said this, Korra felt a sickly feeling within her that intensified when she spat on the ground, saying with tears, "I'm a miserable failure! WEAK!"

Right on cue, she heard the dreadful clanking of chains outside, but there was something new this time… Horrifying, raspy, scraping laughter. And worse, it sounded _joyous_. Physical, somehow. Korra stood in mute horror as she heard a voice say slowly, "I always wanted to hear you say that. You hate yourself good, you miserable failure. Make me stronger…" After hearing a chilling cackle, Korra sensed her tormentor had vanished.

Taking a deep breath, Korra said tersely, "I need a pick-me up after that, self-loathing or not." Feebly trying to improve her cave, Korra yelled, after a particularly bad attempt, "This sucks. Everything sucks!" In a funk, Korra sat down on the bare, damp cave floor, not even having been able to create a proper table and chair for herself with her efforts. She had barely managed to create a raised earthen cot. As she cursed her own name, she felt the sickly feeling intensify, and when she closed her eyes, she was frozen in pure terror.

In the darkness, she saw her tormentor once more, the vision laughing wildly as she said, "Weak. Just like Raava. It's a pity that little brat, Jinora, helped save her all those years ago." Cackling, she added, "Dark Korra. Pleased to meet you formally, especially while you're so down. It's a shame my master didn't win during Harmonic Convergence, but maybe I can change that."

Korra's body convulsed, and not from a seizure. But from fear. The glowing orange eyes. She'd never seen _that_ before.

Korra tried to open her eyes, but found them stuck, unable to dispel the terror she saw. At first, she thought, "I can't even contact Raava anymore, or even enter the Avatar State - maybe she can do something to me after all," and she felt the sickening self-hatred grow substantially. Dark Korra laughed with a grating voice, saying, "My, my - it's a pity the poison weakened you so. I'd _love_ to use your body to do what Unalaq failed so miserably at. Keep this up, and you'll never recover fully." Baring gleaming teeth, she added, "It _is _rather difficult to recover from going insane, you know. **Or worse."**

Some small inner voice told Korra, "Self-hatred only makes her stronger! Think of others and their love for you, if you can't love yourself, for whatever reason!" At first, Korra focused on the last part, weeping, "I don't know if I've _ever _loved myself, for who I am - not after my ruined childhood! Damn the White Lotus!"

Dark Korra shifting to the side, Korra saw an icy image of a small boy almost overcome by the dark energies of a barely more human foe, recognizing them both. Aang and Ozai. Korra heard a faint whisper, a muffled voice saying, "Do not… let… hate… win. More than… your own… life… depends… on… it," as though it were coming from within an icy prison.

Korra took a deep breath, thinking of Mako, Bolin, Asami, Katara, Tenzin and many others as she assured herself, "I may not love myself, but others do." All their faces but one vanished, puzzled by Asami's laugh and wink. When she looked for Dark Korra within the darkness, she actually burst out laughing, saying, "Look at who's four years old now, scumbag! Now shoo!" Dark Korra just laughed, orange eyes glowing sickeningly as she said, "Hatred has no age, Korra. You don't have to be a grown woman to feel _hate_ \- some children act more hatefully than adults. It's a pity you never got to be _teased_ as a child. I'll be back sooner than you think, Master Failurebender."

Korra's eyes finally opened, looking down at her "disguise" with shame, fussing with her anonymous haircut with disgust. Remembering what the icy, strained voice had said, she pushed such thoughts from her mind, fishing out some letters she had kept with something closely resembling enthusiasm. As she read the letters aloud, she could feel the self-hatred stop growing, even shrinking eventually, to a more normal level. As normal as hating yourself could be… Still disappointed that reading the letters didn't do more, Korra tried meditating on a whim, thinking of Raava.

"Look at Asami's envelope again, Korra."

Korra's eyes widened, saying, "Raava? Is that you?" Korra could hear a small laugh in her head, an uncorrupted version of her voice saying cheerfully, "No, I'm not. You have a spirit too. A strong one. You _do _remember holding your own against Vaatu as just you, right?" Korra smiled slightly, saying, "Yes, I do. Let's see what Asami has to say." Korra spent 15 minutes or more, trying to figure out the words she had heard, from her… soul? About to give up in frustration, Korra idly unfolded the envelope itself, vaguely considering lighting it for warmth. Laughing unstably, Korra said as she held a flame to its back, "It's not like you can say anything on the _envelope_. That would just be weird - everyone would see it!"

Korra moved the flame closer, the feeling of self-loathing intensified as she did so, asking no one, "Ugh - what is the deal here! What, did Asami invent fireproof paper, or something?" With horror, she felt her lip tremble slightly as a corner finally began to smolder, as though someone else was in control of her face, trying to smile at her own destruction.

That was when she finally noticed the characters, immediately dimming her fire enough to not burn, but read. Korra read this second letter aloud, saying with tears in her eyes, "Dear Korra, I hope this finds you in your hour of need, whenever it may be. I thought it a stretch, in many ways, to write this, but here goes." Korra stopped, confused as she saw an elaborate drawing with the characters "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk or ... anything," stressed, with an emphasis on the last, solitary character. Looking again, she was puzzled, saying, "Wait - that's the symbol that means 'all, anything, everyone, everything, everybody,' not just 'anything'. 'If you ever want to talk or … everyone' makes no sense. At all."

Korra put the paper down, slumping forward as she stared at her weak, pathetic little fire. An odd idea entering her mind, she picked the paper back up, noticing that there were more characters around the embellished characters, apparently revealed by the water of the damp floor. Korra smiled, reading multiple versions of the text, feeling a warmth suffuse her being as she read.

"I want you to know that I'm always with you, within your heart, Korra, my… wait, what?" Korra blinked, sure she was hallucinating _again. _Korra continued, now with surprise instead of disbelief, "My love for you stronger than Raava, never to be dulled or extinguished?" Korra felt her face trembling as if it wanted to revolt again as she thought, "Surely, Asami doesn't see me as a love interest? I thought we were just… friends!" Part of her found the idea enticing and fit like Asami's electroglove on an Equalist's face, part of her recoiled in horror at the thought of being "unnatural", part worried about what people would think of a bisexual Avatar… But the most disturbing part was the largest one, something within her head saying with an all too familiar screech, "I don't deserve her love!"

The worst part was, it wasn't Dark Korra. It was _her. _And it was new. Korra realized what all her negative - and more recently, defeatist - thoughts had wrought over the years of her life in mute horror, saying as her eyes watered, "What did I** do** to myself?! I've poisoned myself worse than Zaheer ever did!"

Focusing all her energy on reading, Korra did her best to silence this wailing alarm of self-hatred, saying the alternates with a yell, hearing her voice reverberate in the small cave: "I want to know if you'd be there for me, as more than a friend. If you ever want to kiss me, or… anything." Korra began laughing, her face blushing as she continued, saying with growing enthusiasm, "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk or… do anything at all. Everything. Together."

Korra had to breathe deeply, as if she were meditating, trying to make sense of it all. Korra remembered all her interactions with Asami, putting them in this new light. A million questions entered her mind, many negative in nature, but she chose to focus on one, feeling something within her die as she did so, asking it aloud with tears in her eyes: "Why didn't you ever ask me, Asami? You - what could you have to lose?" Korra's crying had wet the paper again, noticing that there was newly visible text, and images she now found heartwarming, all the negative self-talk finally shut up, not missing the yammering one bit. The images just seemed right, somehow.

Korra took in two detailed drawings in silence. One was of Asami holding Korra's hand in her wheelchair, before Korra had begun the bitter work of overcoming her crippling physical illness, and she saw there was text underneath it. As she read it, Asami's explanation for her subtlety filled her with sadness, and a righteous anger she had never felt so strongly before. Looking below the explanation she wish she had never read, she felt an odd, pleasant feeling in her chest, smiling broadly for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. The feeling intensifying, Korra looked at the image Asami had drawn in this odd tear-activated ink on the inside of the unfolded envelope, Korra wished Asami was here, right now.

Korra did not speak for a while, taking in the lovingly rendered image of Asami embracing her passionately and a smiling Korra returning the gesture at the same time, saying loudly, "This could be just what I need to heal fully, and not just from Zaheer's poison. I have many old wounds…" Korra idly wondered if anyone else had a hidden message. Chuckling with growing strength, she said, "I hope Mako didn't send me something like this. That would be very… awkward, given my feelings."

Korra tried to think of where the nearest town was, where her cave was, and the fastest route to Republic City. As she tried harder and harder, her head hurt, like something was fighting to the death inside her. And… it was winning. After a gasp of pain, Korra heard a raspy voice say, "This was _not _the plan. Thank darkness your link to Raava is so weak. You can't even see anything of her other than a mirage. I didn't expect such a strong reaction to Asami's drivel." Korra's soul screamed, "I'm getting out of here, no matter what!" but her lips did not move.

Korra heard a very, very weak voice say _Direct memory backup initialized. Sorry – it's all I can do._

A now visible Dark Korra said with anticipation, "Over two years of physical healing, and you haven't even truly started to fix yourself! You may have changed in soul, Korra, but with me inside, Raava weak, and your brain riddled with all sorts of convoluted, twisted pathways from living your life as the Avatar and not yourself, and your old wonderful emotional wounds…" Dark Korra began cackling wildly, advancing towards Korra, saying, "You won't remember a thing. As much as it pains me to erase your memory of saying you hate yourself, I can't allow you to go back to Republic City – not like this, all filled with _hope _and _love, _even if you are properly terrified still."

Dark Korra shot her right hand forward, her metal chains glowing black and red, the horrible shining links encircling Korra's chest tightly, their physical nature making Korra scream in terror. Korra stammered, every word painful as the chains crushed her chest, "B-b-but you're not supposed to be physical! What's going on here?" Dark Korra howled, saying hoarsely, "Wouldn't you like to know! Let's say you helped me out earlier, and your terror just makes it better for me." Dark Korra looked vaguely disappointed now, continuing, "It's a shame I can't corrupt you completely. Now, to business…" Korra broke her brain's grip, yelling, "NO! Get back! I want to go to Republic City, with this letter!" Though her eyes did not glow, Korra felt power course through her. Dark Korra stepped back in horror, saying, "Vaatu, give me strength, even if you _are_ tiny right now!" By this point, Korra was pretty sure she was full-on hallucinating, seeing how the fire in her own hands was huge, and… blue. Rather than cackling with horror, Dark Korra screeched, "WHAT? I thought only hatred, raw talent and focus could do that! This ends now!"

With that, the metal chains shot back up and tightened, Korra finally realizing that somehow, this was _very_ real, and no vision. Try as she might, Asami's letter began to fade from her mind. Korra turned her free hands in desperation, trying to etch "Keep Asami's envelope" into the floor in front of her. She tried to add "Read it" as well, but found her hands frozen.

_Backup… completed. Good luck, __Avatar__ Korra. _Before Korra could celebrate the tired voice, recognizing who it was, her mind revolted, somehow strengthened by her own faults and Dark Korra's energy. Korra had no time to mourn, finally feeling dark energy enter into her being, and then leave, taking the memory of what she so desperately wanted to keep with it…

Korra neither understood why her normally docile vision's eyes were glowing an intense orange, nor how she could speak while gripping Korra with chains. Her tormentor laughed as she said, "I'm sure your brain will help keep your soul in check, especially with my help. It will take a transformation I know you could never make to unlock what just happened, much less act on it." Dark Korra looked at the floor, cursing and spitting, finally saying, "Gah – I can't earthbend that stupid message away!" Korra laughed, saying, "You should be glad you can constrict me with those chains. So negative… I guess I'll have to fix that in myself."

With that, the "vision" shifted, howling in rage as Korra blacked out, her mind violated.

When Korra woke up, she looked around the room in a funk, saying, "Great – now what did I do wrong? First thing I remember, I'm just frustrated, trying to make this place livable, and then I wake up. Must have been something to do with Zaheer or that vision." Remembering her newfound ineptitude, Korra added, "Or maybe making that stupid cot exhausted me." Korra looked at the floor, seeing "Keep Asami's envelope" etched into the floor, as though by intense heat. Shaking her head, Korra said, "There's no way I could lavabend." Her hand idly obeyed the floor's command, blindly folding up the envelope and stuffing the letter back inside. She fell asleep on the floor, completely exhausted by something she couldn't remember.

Before she fell into deep sleep, she saw a familiar, older male figure, who said, "In time, Korra. Love never dies. Before you are ready, you have much healing and growing to do yourself, even if your true desires were the only factor. I know you are strong." Korra thought, "Okay," completely baffled as to what Uncle Iroh was possibly talking about.

* * *

Having accompanied his leader Kuvira the Great Uniter on her way to Republic City, admiring the massive Colossus along the way, cackling and cheering as hard as anyone else to see the accursed Avatar and her friends flee its technological might, Jinshu Kuangmai now found himself waiting in his pre-set location away from Republic City, Kuvira's Colossus by now likely known about - bitter he wouldn't be able to see the horror on those weak republican's faces when they first caught sight of the metal monster.

His own tent by now long set, up, Jinshu Kuangmai begrudgingly helped others set theirs up saying to a shaky nonbender Private, "Quit whining about wanting to do it! It's faster if I bend everything into place. I designed these tents to be bent up for a reason!" The Private gave him a funny look, saying, "I thought these were Kuvira's idea?" He laughed, responding, "Officially - but she doesn't want her little baby Baatar Jr. getting jealous. I've contributed a lot more than just metal and earth tents and the tarp with metal thread in it. Stuff you don't need to know about."

The Private nodded, saying, "O-okay" nervously, Jinshu Kuangmai moving on to more important things. Seeing a few officers just lounging around, at first he frowned slightly, then grinned predatorily, thinking, _Time to set an example._

_Bend something other than traditional metal or earth…_

Seeing how many there were, he felt his temper rise, delicately tapping an iron boot against the ground to better sense the miniscule particles of iron within their veins.

Jinshu Kuangmai had what he thought was a unique gift - even the most proficient metalbender in the world could not hope to do what he could. He had even tried to explain - and been ignored. Common earthbenders manipulated the earth within metal to make it move - while he could focus on the individual particles of metal themselves.

Manipulate them like a puppeteer…

Much like a combustionbender, psychic bloodbender, or lavabender, he could exert fine, unconventional and precision control over his "element", though only psychic bloodbending could hope to compare in power and raw ability with his talent.

One he was very glad his sister did not have - though for different reasons than his mother had…

Exhaling deeply, he kept his eyes closed - able to sense the slouching officer's lazy heartbeats, see everything when his foot struck the ground, only opening his eyes after managing to lift the whole dozen of them into the air like puppets, saying as he manipulated their limbs into an active pose, "See the fighting pose I put you in? BE MORE LIKE THAT, and less slouching! I had a nonbender Private over here who insisted he put up his tent - and here you are, elite metalbending officers, Sergeants, a few of you - lazing around like a bunch of idiots! If I were the leader, I'd strip you of your rank - which you obviously don't deserve!"

Slamming them down hard, not even having to use the metal on their uniforms to do it he was so incensed, he finished, "ACT LIKE PROFESSIONALS! Earn your pay - or the next time I do that, I might not let my grip go! Now get, you lazy dogs!" Watching them run off with tails between their legs, smiling to see they did do as they had been asked, Jinshu Kuangmai smiled slightly to see the mechasuits had finally caught up, saying, "Good, good. I want you training in those - but not too hard, or you'll be exhausted in case we need to go to Republic City." Again, another Private proved herself worthy of the rank, the nonbender woman asking after exiting the mechasuit, "Why? I heard we have some big giant one of these - even think I saw it!"

Rolling his eyes slightly, he said the obvious, pointing to one of the officers from earlier, "See him? I bet he had the same mindset - before I blood-iron bent him into action! Do I need to do your whole platoon too, or what?" The female Private shook her head, saying, "No, no, General Jinshu Kuangmai, sir. If that is what Kuvira wanted us to do, we will do it - even if I think she'll win in a landslide."

He nodded, saying, "Good," returning to his tent - to be alone. He may have hated his mother, but he did share certain traits with her - liking solitude was one of them. Frowning, he thought bitterly, _Though, not enough to ignore a young child in need of attention because he's disrupting "mommy spiritual time". Spirituality's a waste - the spirits themselves, only good for war fuel. Wonder what putting an actual spirit inside a spirit vine capsule would do…_

_No matter - something to bring up to Kuvira._

Thinking of Kuvira, what they shared in common, Jinhu Kuangmai's mind wandered. Years ago, when Kuvira helped him break free of his second mother's wooden box, the pitiful wretch had tried to give him a letter for him to read, claiming it was from his first mother - saying that the ever-stubborn earthbender had changed her ways, but still thought the same of him - Jinshu Kuangmai knowing full well at the time his mother couldn't have written him a letter herself if she wanted to, though Kuvira had no clue. And, hopefully, still didn't.

At the time, both he and Kuvira had laughed heartily, remembering the Great Uniter's words fondly as she had torn the letter to pieces before ordering Jinshu Kuangmai's _forcibly adoptive _parents to be imprisoned as they had imprisoned him on his biological mother's orders: "Whatever his biological mother has to say, the first person to betray him - I am sure he does not care. Just as my parents left me on the side of the road to die and Suyin Beifong took me in, I am taking him in. Though, given his special talent and fearlessness, apparent drive, his mindset - as a partner, not a _child_, to be told what to do, and what not to do, as Suyin Beifong did to me when I wanted to do something about the chaos in the Earth Kingdom. Be active, rather than sit idly by as the shockwaves of the Red Lotus' actions tore my home apart, comfortable in decadent Zaofu. You will have the privilege of getting all the latest news - able to read what myself, Baatar Jr., and my new ally Jinshu Kuangmai accomplish. Jinshu Kuangmai - I look forward to seeing what you will do for the Earth Kingdom - someday Earth Empire. Just keep in mind - I will be keeping a close eye on you, and should you show yourself to not be loyal, you will be dealt with much more harshly than a _normal_ subordinate."

Smiling, Jinshu Kuangmai thought, _I've never even entertained the thought - though I have thought of what I might do if that weakling Baatar Jr. were to have an "accident" while away from Kuvira. I heard of his reaction to the weapons test nearly vaporizing his sister Opal - wanting to halt the test entirely…_

Taking a deep breath, he continued thinking, telling himself as he had many times before, _Family makes you weak. Weak like my first mother, weak like my second family. I can only hope Kuvira's own family issues do not make her weak…vulnerable to some soft fool talking to her, and not respecting the power Kuvira wields. _Shaking his head, Jinshu Kuangmai said out loud, "No - the Great Uniter would rather die than give up her dream of a truly unified Earth Empire!" knowing in his gut he was right.

Hearing the first radio broadcast from the front only made him smile broader, some random radio operator proclaiming, "Upon seeing the overwhelming power and technological might of the Earth Empire, as shown by our Glorious Leader's mighty Colossus and the weapon it wields, the so-called President of the United Republic of Nations, ruler of squatters on Earth Empire lands, has ordered all forces opposing us to surrender. The cowards did not even put up a fight. Avatar Aang would likely be livid - though we do not care. Perhaps some day soon, after Kuvira has finished her work in Republic City, there will be a new Avatar - an EARTH EMPIRE AVATAR! Though the Avatar and her friends remain at large, there is no way they could possibly penetrate the Colossus' defenses. REPUBLIC CITY IS OURS!"

Smiling broadly, turning his gaze to the metal map of the former Earth Kingdom Kuvira had left behind, Jinshu Kuangmai bent all the appropriate pieces representing provinces that were now Earth Empire territory into place effortlessly, hearing loud cheering from outside his personal tent as he did so - knowing the soldiers near him had just heard what he did.

_I had thought me, those who report to me and my men would be needed for the second, possibly third wave of attacks. I suppose not - for all her babbling during my youth before she dumped me about the "good" side's, or rather, the __**weak**__ side's power, mother was dead wrong. Look at how easily the city and nation of "Lord" Zuko and "Avatar" Aang crumpled! A pity Unalaq killed his spirit years ago - I would have loved to hear his weeping, shortly before Avatar Korra's demise._

_Kuvira has no family aside from Baatar Jr. now - and I have no family aside from the Earth Empire…I cast away that biological link long ago - just as mother cast away ME, simply because I had things that she'd never have! All that talk of my special talent, blood-iron bending, being just as bad as bloodbending…_

_I think she was just jealous._

Grinning widely, Jinshu Kuangmai looked at the map he had bent into its proper place - frowning deeply, saying, "No - 'just' the former Earth Kingdom, with a weapon so great? I don't care what she's said up to this point - the next time I see Kuvira, I'm pushing my idea AGAIN. We call our entire planet Earth, after all - why not make it a true **Earth** Empire?"

Rapidly bending up spare pieces of metal, each nation's color correct, Jinshu Kuangmai said as he bent green metal over the pieces of the Fire Nation, "First, the Fire Nation. Do what they did to us during the Hundred Year's War - place someone more like Azula and less like the meek Firelord Izumi on the throne." Bending a picture of Azula's likeness into the green metal as best he knew of her appearance, Jinshu Kuangmai smiled, thinking, _I may think of the Fire Nation as a whole as only good for spirit cannon target practice - but I do love her. Azula. Held back by her mother - just like I was. Though at least she had a father - even if she ended up failing him! Probably because of her mother…_

Pausing for a moment before moving on to the next nation he hated the most, Firelord Izumi more like them than a proper firebender, he thought, _No matter what, __**I will not fail the Earth Empire **__\- no matter what I need to do or who I need to take out._

_In the ludicrous event that our Glorious Leader fails in Republic City to a bunch of naïve twenty-somethings, old men and women, and children, dies in battle - I __**will **__take up her mantle, Baatar Jr. or not. She got me out of that wooden box in large part due to my personality, not special ability, blood-iron bending… __**I would control the whole Empire just as I control the miniscule fragments of metal within living creatures - exerting the same control over my element as a psychic bloodbender does**__! Mother was right to be jealous - for all her talent, I can do things she can only dream of. Likely nightmares, knowing how weak she is!_

_Baatar Jr. and Kuvira… I do not see what she sees in him - I can literally control someone's lifeblood, and have a decent enough technical mind. All Baatar Jr. can do is go the extra bit on ideas, even then stealing much of the work of the traitors Varrick and Zhu Li -Baatar Jr. not even able to bend the Earth of the Empire he wants to help lead!_

Thoughts of nonbender weaklings bringing to mind the next nation on his personal list, Jinshu Kuangmai thought as he snuffed out the Air Nation _again _with green metal instead of flames from Sozin's Comet, _Next, the __**new **__Air Nation - all thirty-something of them! Their temples, tended to by nonbender monks and nuns - the mountains they call their home likely hiding great riches they are too __**weak **__to exploit. All that will change, should I be able to convince Kuvira to go onward._

The only nation left the two Water Tribes, he blotted out the blue on the map, all he could see, green metal as he said out loud, "And last - the Northern and Southern barbarians. I had expected the biggest fight to be in Republic City. The Fire Nation has oceans and fire that will trouble everything but the Colossus, the Air Nation has the skies and potential for eternal elusiveness - I do not see what the Water Tribes could possibly hope to do against the Earth Empire, the only issue being the Avatar herself. Water is weak - yielding, changing."

Recalling Avatar Korra more clearly now, what Kuvira had told him about the Avatar, he laughed loudly, saying, "Avatar Korra. HAH! Constantly getting herself saved by others - get her all alone, and she'll be sure to fall! Fall flat on her face, like she always does, from what I've heard! The one time I would have been cheering her, getting handily beaten by her uncle - **who could only bend one element**, Dark Avatar or not!" silently wishing, _If only Kuvira had my ability - the Avatar's life would be hers._

_But I think I understand why she had me stay behind - a failsafe… _

Hearing some laughter from outside his tent, Jinshu Kuangmai thinned his eyes slightly when someone said, "Nice one," able to tell even at this distance the man was lying partially, saying loudly enough to go through his tent's walls, "I do not need any toadies! You'd do well to remember I can tell if you're lying or not - does anyone else have insincere laughter for me to waste my time hearing? Or perhaps you can get back to work seeing if Kuvira the Great Uniter needs us!"

Able to see through the tent's sides without sight with earthsense, he nodded when he "saw" people shaking their heads, saying, "Good," reclining on the floor - noticing too late he was in the same position his mother might have been, bending a chair and sitting in it instead, thinking, _Ugh - every time I do that… I have worked hard to eradicate every trace of my mother. I would much rather sit on a chair "throne" than lie back like some kinds of undisciplined slouch!_

_I suppose I do have my second set of parents to thank for that - but they too rightfully incurred my wrath and hatred. Weaklings - would rather bow to a nonbender - _

Snapping back to the present, Jinshu Kuangmai could swear he heard muffled sounds from a radio outside - as though someone were listening to something and trying to keep it from his ears! Not having any of this garbage, he left his tent, manually bending the volume of the radio controls louder, beginning to laugh hysterically when he heard, " - Uniter's fiancée Baatar Jr. has been captured by an underhanded and admittedly impressive move by Tenzin, his brother Bumi and some other airbenders. He is now in custody of Kuvira the Great Uniter's only remaining enemies - though the whereabouts of Avatar Korra and her band of friends is currently unknown. This has thrown the negotiations for surrender with soon to be former President Raiko for a loop - though it is unlikely that anything will change, Kuvira the Great Uniter stating this changes nothing."

_I don't have a good feeling about this…_

Turning the radio off, taking in his surroundings, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "By order of your General, third in command, behind the now-captured Baatar Jr. - I want you to make preparations such that we can move out at a moment's notice to reinforce our Glorious Leader," adding emphasis by blood-iron bending someone who had been loafing around into the air, "AS WAS ORIGINALLY REQUESTED BY KUVIRA! I guess you didn't get the message earlier from your fellow Private - train, not loaf! If any of you sorry lot don't follow this order to the end, you'll end up like this Private here, except dead," settling the struggling private back down and choking him slightly as he finished, "You do not require my presence to do this - I will be back in my tent, planning and reviewing everything our Glorious Leader left us. If anyone gets more news of the battle… you had better tell me! NOW GET TO WORK! The Earth Empire has no room for slouches!"

Smiling broadly to see the Private gasping for breath, everyone doing what they had been told to do with great urgency, he smiled broadly, thinking as he returned to his tent, _That was nice… I wish Kuvira stays as strong as I will._

Reviewing the various different contingency plans endlessly in his tent by the light of the sun first, Jinshu Kuangmai eventually found he had to turn on the lamp to see, examining different routes of attack by the men under him over and over - for some reason feeling as though he needed to make his own plans after needing to turn the lamp up.

The light of day was fading - and he had no contact with anyone outside of his area.

Still believing Kuvira would prevail handily, he waited, waited on a report of victory from a subordinate, thinking, _Perhaps Kuvira is having a big celebration party, my subordinates - writing me some long, sycophantic letter or glowing report about it._

_I suppose I was wrong earlier - if someone wants to worship me or be a toady, let them. I will simply have to make sure I never take advice from one - I may get mad when I hear the truth, violent, murderous, even._

_But at least unlike mother, I will listen if it has merit._

He was waiting on a fancy letter, a long report detailing the day's victory. A letter to remember - one detailing the Earth Empire's triumph.

A letter that would never come.

* * *

Asami had waited for over two and a half years, hoping to see Korra come back some day, at the very least healed. She knew her little stunt with the envelope had been a long shot, but a small part of her remained hopeful that when Korra returned, she'd have glittering eyes, with flowers in her hands. Maybe even a betrothal necklace.

Life intervened, nothing turning out the way she had thought it would. When she was alone, during the calm before yet _another_ storm on the horizon, Asami glumly wondered if Korra had ever read the envelope. Asami half considered asking Korra about it while preparing some tea for her. Asami sighed deeply, looking in a mirror, saying, "If she says no… my heart might break."

Asami shook her head violently, setting the tea cup down, staring at the unbelievable. She saw her deceased mother, Yasuko, staring back at her, smiling warmly. Her mother spoke, saying gently, "Love is never wasted, Asami. You've grown into a beautiful young woman, and I support your desires. I don't see why you haven't been more open." Asami held back tears, saying, "Let's just say my father is a bad parent, in more ways than one." Her mother's look of confusion only made her heart ache even worse, her mother saying finally, "Wait until the right time, Asami." Then, her mother gave a smile and said, "Go get her, my beautiful child," with encouragement Asami hadn't heard in almost two decades. Then she was gone.

It turned out Asami didn't have to wait for long. At least, it didn't feel like long. As soon as Korra accepted her Spirit World vacation request, Asami knew her time was near. Something told her to not bring up the "extra" letter – not just yet.

Maybe never. She wanted to see how the relationship grew, all of itself. The way Korra held her hands on the way in and looked in her eyes, Asami knew she made the right decision. Accursed memories and emotions still dogged her, making her more ill at ease than she would have liked. As Asami held Korra's hands and felt an odd sensation she connected to the Spirit Portal, a thought floated through her head: "Nobody ever said living was easy."

End Prologue

* * *

Chapter 1: The "Vacation"

As they both materialized into the Spirit World through the new portal, Korra was shuddering with excitement. Placing her hand on Asami's cheek, she said, "I can't believe we're finally alone, Asami. And after today, we should have plenty of time to do whatever we want – peace. Where would you like to go? I can see if we can find Uncle Iroh - he's a really nice guy. He helped me find myself at one of my darkest hours, back when I was trying to thwart Unalaq's plans for himself and Vaatu."

Korra could feel the heat on Asami's cheek before she could see her blush, Asami saying, looking away, "Can you put your hand back down for now? I'm not quite ready for that just yet. I have something important I want to talk to you about." Asami paused, shifting uncomfortably, her dark hair closely following her face and her beautiful green eyes, asking tentatively, "Do you think this 'Uncle Iroh' might be able to help me? I know he was the father figure for your former lifetime's one-time antagonist, former Firelord Zuko, and some people rumor he gave really good advice."

Korra put her hand to her chin, trying to ignore the obnoxiously garish spirit-flower field that surrounded her, saying, "That's actually a good idea, Asami. Aang knew Zuko well; Uncle Iroh told me himself on one of those many forays into the Spirit World when Zaheer was causing problems. He convinced me to ask Zuko for advice. Let me see if that technique I used to find Prince Wu when he was kidnapped will work to find him. Uncle Iroh can be… obtuse at times, giving you advice on things you feel you don't need advice on, and talking about something else instead." Korra chuckled nervously, "Or manage to make you feel like you're about as wise as a small child. Or maybe it was the Spirit World that did that. Anyway…" Korra placed her hand to the ground, brushing aside the bizarre flowers.

As soon as she started concentrating, to remember Uncle Iroh from over three years ago, she felt both herself and Asami whisked to a familiar place. Asami looked around in wonder, eventually asking, "What's this place, Korra?" Looking at a large tree and its many leaves, Asami gasped, "It's beautiful. It reminds me of one of Republic City's parks, but much more interesting – look at these trees! This vacation's going to be great!" Asami turned her head to survey what Korra knew to be Xai Bau's Grove.

Asami may have loved the place, but Korra did not, explaining, "Remember when we were chasing Zaheer, and all we could get our hands on was that traitor scumbag Aiwei? I met Zaheer here. He tossed Aiwei into the Fog of Lost Souls after, as Zaheer felt he had become a liability…" Korra shuddered at the memory of Zaheer: his erratic behavior, his zeal, throwing Aiwei into that horrible place, the way he helped her break her own block on entering the Spirit World even though he hated her…

Korra felt a light tap on her shoulder, turning to see Asami looking concerned. Asami asked, putting her hand to Korra's cheek, "Is something wrong, Korra?" Feeling something like what she had on the way in to the Spirit World, Korra blushed, insisting, "No, nothing, just bad memories, Asami. I'm not a big fan of this place," lightly holding Asami's hand. All of a sudden, she felt something akin to what she once felt for Mako, except much stronger, and with less desire to fire punch something - or someone. A feeling, she realized with a start, she had already felt looking at Asami, as they stood in the Spirit Portal's entrance together…

Korra heard a noise over her shoulder - surprising, but nonthreatening. "I wondered when you were going to feel that again, Korra," a familiar voice said, continuing, "Now that you have, I believe we can begin to answer Asami's question."

Both Korra and Asami turned around. Smiling, Korra exclaimed, "Uncle Iroh, glad to see you!" thinking bitterly, "Though, not as glad as I would be with my past lives still intact"… Pushing the destruction of her past lives from her mind, knowing she had dealt with Zaheer without their help, Korra said, "So Asami has a question to ask me. I get the sense this has something to do with that _feeling_" -Korra gushed- "that I felt just now, and on the way in - but not as strongly. What was that? All my youth, I was taught the spirits, being black and white, tend to favor pairing of and on yin with yang. Me and Asami are not … yin and yang, biologically."

Uncle Iroh smiled, stating, "Well, young Avatar - never thought I would say that again - what your people interpret this to mean is that man and woman are meant for each other, and should be as yin and yang." Uncle Iroh paused, as if awaiting an answer even before he finished speaking. The fact that Uncle Iroh did not speak again and merely raised his eyebrows only reinforced this notion.

Asami interjected, "Okay, Iroh, I do not understand how this has to deal with my question for Korra," sounding vaguely annoyed as she finished, "I guess your reputation for obliqueness was right." Uncle Iroh laughed, saying, "Life is not simple; I do not speak simply, for that would be a mockery of life." Korra finding herself increasingly annoyed with "Uncle" Iroh, she felt relieved when he continued, "Asami. The better question, my young lady," pausing as he came forward to put his hand on both women's shoulders, "is in what ways it does not? Remember, there have been many people - _humans_ \- who have said this, but not once in the Spirit World have I seen spirits capricious in their relationships."

Looking vaguely sad, he added, "Not that they have romantic ones that produce children - unlike us," sipping tea from a cup that Korra swore just appeared out of nowhere. Smiling, Korra said, "Are you suggesting that the relationship between the individuals is more important than the sex of them? That would explain my problem with Mako… I have felt this unstated expectation that I should reverse the breakup, but, he said it himself - 'Ready to follow you in to battle', not 'Ready to try making a relationship work'. He's just lucky I had already made up my mind about that," Korra finished, crossing her arms, smirking slightly.

Iroh, looking like he was trying to use his free palm to create a large flame to add emphasis, forgetting he was a spirit, shouted, "EXACTLY! I do not know how - be it the spirit of the person, something in their upbringing, or their" - sputtering out something that for all the world sounded like "Jinns and Dee Nai", whatever those were - "but some people do not find themselves attracted to what others are, or think they should be. It is better to be attracted to and be with the one your heart desires, rather than worry about other's opinions of you" - he shot a glance at Asami - "or needing to maintain an outdated definition of balance," finishing his gaze on Korra.

Suddenly, Asami began crying, flinging herself bitterly against a nearby tree. Korra could feel something strong within her, stronger than the Avatar State, stronger than Raava, and rushed to her side. Korra asked painfully, finding Asami's crying affected her more deeply than normal, "What's the matter, Asami? I know you just lost your dad, but I have never seen you like this."

Asami stopped crying for long enough to wipe her face, take a deep breath, and started talking again. She asked, "The question was, do you want to be my partner?" making an unsettlingly nervous smile afterwards, as though part of her thought it some funny joke to be so direct.

Korra felt the unnamed feeling again, having a vague idea what it might be, but was still confused. Sensing that Asami was nowhere near done, she asked, "Why were you so loathe to ask me _that_? The worst I would have done, had you asked before Mako pulled his stupid 'Oh yeah post Dark Spirit memory wipe girl, there was no breakup don't mind me', was said no. I was two things. Confused myself about who I was and wanted to be with, and extremely busy with things that needed other people's support to pull off. Had I said yes at, well, virtually any point before I beat Kuvira, I imagine there would have been a bigger controversy over those spirit vines that were so 'totally my fault' and would have impeded my job as the Avatar. So, why?" Korra could sense this would just make Asami cry like, well, _that_, again, but something told her the truth was more important.

Asami surprised Korra, starting with a steely determination, "All my life, Korra, I have been torn between myself - I can remember at an early age, constantly holding other girl's hands, and kissing - even when I was 12. Even more clearly, I remember my father gently but painfully chastising me at the age of 13 for spurning boy's advances. He kept prattling on about 'image of the company' and 'not proper'. It felt like he was telling me **_I_** was somehow wrong, or less. Finally, at about age 14, he made me take a 'dating course', and warned me that even as his only living family, no matter how brilliant I was, if he caught me making open advances on anything other than a boy, he would disinherit me of everything but half of what I made myself, inside the company."

Asami shifted uncomfortably, finally fixing her gaze on the ground at Korra's feet. Looking up again, she said to Korra's face, "For a long time, I tried to make it work. It actually seemed like I might have an attraction to a boy - a poor one, yes, but friends with the Avatar, who could handle his own in battle, and seemed to care for me - but eventually..." Asami stopped short, blowing her nose, and said with an angry look, green eyes intent, "I couldn't take it anymore. Especially considering how... frustrating Mako can be! I didn't know what to make of what I perceived as his double-crossing at the time, with you." Korra frowned, saying, "I knew everything with Mako was frustrating and confusing, but all this... it's a wonder you didn't go crazy." Asami smiled weakly, saying, "You didn't go crazy after finding out he lied to you about your own breakup, and I was no different. I can handle myself." Asami scowled at nothing in particular, saying, "Though, until just now, I guess that wasn't entirely true... given I lied about who I really was." Sobbing slightly, she said, "I never got the chance to talk to my father in private after I had forgiven him for his lesser crime." Slamming her hand against a rock, Asami said, "Kuvira took him from me before I could even get to know him again!"

Korra gently took Asami's face in her hand, saying, "Calm down – a lot happened today, and this old hurt doesn't make things any easier. I never knew…" Seeing Asami looked furious, Korra said, "It's okay. Kuvira has been stopped, and your father, I think, wanted to redeem himself. Maybe he said some things to you that you didn't catch on to – two apologies in one." Asami said, still looking angry, "You're right, but… I'll never get to know everything he meant when he said he loved me when he forcefully ejected me from that hummingbird suit..." Asami wiped the glare off her face, saying, "Enough about death, and heartbreak. I broke up with Mako for good, with only the two of us there, just telling him I saw him as a friend. It took me a while to truly see him that way, and not as evidence of my father's influence, from beyond his jail cell." Chuckling weakly, Asami added, "Kissing him on impulse during our sting operation when Varrick was being... Varrick didn't help anything, but... aside from friendship, I didn't really feel anything during that kiss, unlike before." Pushing lightly on Korra's chest over her heart, Asami continued, smiling weakly, "After seeing the strength of will you displayed defeating Vaatu when Raava was at her weakest, I started making covert attempts to gain more than just your friendship, ready to tentatively try and move forward with my life, past my father's wishes... I couldn't do anything too obvious, aside from my ambiguous profession about always being there for you … that is, until you had 'recovered' and then ran away after Zaheer poisoned you. I knew that you were being adventurous to just send me the letter, and no one else. Especially the part about not being able to talk to Raava or enter the Avatar State… ouch." Asami smiled, saying with a stifled laugh, "When you came back, I was a bit more… obvious." Korra blushed slightly, averting her eyes from the industrialist's gaze. Asami continued, "I think you must have noticed too. But that's not the point. Given how Mako, of all people, still reacted strongly when we came out about the letter," she said, finally managing her normal warm smile, "I guess you were right to just trust me to keep mum. So do you think _you_ can keep mum about this?"

Korra felt extremely angry. Listening to Asami's story of self-repression, confusion and her controlling father made Korra feel like going up to the nearest man and fire-kicking him between the legs. Of course, that nearest man was Uncle Iroh, and wouldn't have done anything. "Asami," Korra said, eyes gleaming angrily, "after hearing all that, I want to assure you that I will _not_ keep mum about this -"

Before Korra could continue, something caught her eye. It was Uncle Iroh, frenetically gesticulating to the sky, which had taken on a darker hue. Uncle Iroh said, concern in his voice, "Korra, remember what happened the last time you let your emotions run wild in the Spirit World? After that Dark Spirit swallowed you and you lost Jinora?" Uncle Iroh interjected on top of her, trying to sound re-assuring, "Not that I am against being angry over everything Asami just told you, but unless you want chaos here, you need to calm yourself down. Might I suggest defusing your anger with that feeling from earlier?"

Asami was looking at Korra with a skeptical look, saying as she shook her head slightly, "You never told me the Spirit World could be that dangerous for humans, that there are certain things we should not do here," Asami glancing up at the gradually darkening sky with a concerned expression. Korra laid a hand on Asami's neck, rubbing her reassuringly, finding the act pleasurable, stating matter-of-factly, "I am the one who needs to be careful here. Since I am the Avatar, I affect my surroundings in the Spirit World a lot more than other people. Now, about your earlier question… they say actions speak louder than words. Here goes."

Asami looked hopeful and a little confused at the same time, smiling broadly when Korra grasped both her hands and placed her head on top of one of Asami's shoulder pads. When Korra finally did kiss Asami on the cheek, Korra could once again feel the heat rising on Asami's face before any words were spoken. As she did so, she felt something akin to that angry feeling once more, albeit cooler and calmer. A momentary tattered memory surfaced, that was not fully her own: A seemingly shredded memory of embracing another girl, but longer ago than her own age, and feeling this same feeling.

As she withdrew from the kiss, she noticed the sky was no longer darkened.

"I hope that answers your question, Asami," Korra stated, much more coolly now, adding as she blushed slightly, "In fact, it answered a few questions of my own I didn't even know I had until recently, or even the past five minutes." Uncle Iroh began laughing lightly, saying, "I tend to have that effect on people. I am glad that you two have found and embraced each other, and that you used the 'feeling' to counter your anger, Korra... rather than forcing the emotion off like you might have, or forbid, expressing that darkened anger fully," Uncle Iroh sighed with an annoyingly noticeable level of relief on the last sentence.

Neutralizing her expression into a more quizzical look, Korra asked, "You keep talking about this feeling. I think I might know, but… What is its name, Iroh?" Iroh had a gleam in his eye Korra had not seen before, stating, Korra's eyes widening progressively, "The feeling, Korra, is _love_. It is what Aang felt for Katara," - Korra felt a shiver go up her spine, and had a fleeting glimpse of the seemingly frozen memory again - " what my nephew felt for his wife –though it did not last, unfortunately… and what your father felt for your mother. Between men and women, that love can manifest itself eventually in the form of a child." Uncle Iroh gave both Asami and Korra a once-over, saying sourly, "Much as - to my knowledge - spirits cannot have children, I don't think it will be able to manifest in such a way between you two, however, unfortunately."

Korra grinned nervously, laughing weakly, "I may not have gotten much formal schooling aside from that of the White Lotus on bending - How did that organization get to become so twisted, anyways? Must have been after you died - but even I know we are… _incompatible,_ in certain aspects." Looking at Asami, Korra said, to Asami's approval, "We may have been friends for years, and sort of something a bit more for a while, but… we never openly admitted being anything more until just now. Even to each other. I may have felt it, here and there, but… I don't think we'd want to have a kid just yet, even if we could. I don't know quite what to make of my feelings yet, and Asami just confessed to me what she had been hiding her whole life, and the reason why she could never truly try to win my hand." Korra said, slowly shaking her head, "The judgment of others…"

Stroking his beard, Uncle Iroh said, "Let me ask you a question, Korra. When you felt your newfound love for Asami, did it remind you of any other energy you have felt?" Korra thought, but not for long, saying, "It felt vaguely reminiscent of Raava's energy. She stands for balance, peace, and harmony. Yet when I got angry, I felt something." Korra shuddered, "Something that reminded me of the energy I felt as Raava was torn from inside me. Yet, somehow - purified, as though Vaatu's energies had been separated from one another and only primordial fury remained."

Korra thought back, to her history lessons, and the many lost causes of the centuries, and those who fought for them. After a while, Korra thought she finally got what Iroh may have been driving at, venturing, "So, 'Uncle' Iroh," turning to face him as he snuck off to drink some tea, as if he did not expect her to be done so soon, "humans can feel emotions that are in line with Raava, yet have the desire for vengeance against those who have wronged their loved ones akin to Vaatu's wrath and hatred? I assume this is what makes us different from the majority of spirits."

Korra felt confident in a way she never had before, akin to the confidence that Tenzin gave off when he gave lectures, or Asami when she was messing with some gadget. She continued, saying, "Furthermore, it is this feeling that has driven those who logically should have surrendered and given up the fight - be it physical, political or otherwise - to fight to the death, as they feel they have already lost everything." Iroh looked faintly surprised, saying sheepishly, "Funny you should mention that. The fighting to the death, that is. Yes, to all your conclusions, but I need to tell each of you something that will be important for the coming year."

Korra interrupted him, asking angrily, "Wait, seriously, am I not done yet? Can't I take a break? Where's our damn vacation?! Please don't tell me there's more fighting to do. I got poisoned by some zealous freak, took three years to recover, defeated one of the worst dictators since Ozai, and I _just_ found out that I'm actually bisexual." Korra could see Asami's happy surprise at her candor, but she continued anyways, "I'd sort of like some time to take a vacation. You know," she shrugged, pointing at the grove and pools around her, "the whole reason we came here!" She stomped the ground out of frustration, moving some grassy earth as she did so.

Uncle Iroh shook his head, sadness in his eyes as he said, "Unfortunately, Korra, the work of the good is never done. I suggest that you try to make your relationship with Asami count as a vacation in of itself, and appreciate those around you." Crying slightly, he continued, "What I wanted to tell you is that for some people, that love can be misapplied or misinterpreted - applied to a thing or idea or ideology instead of a person. Or worst of all, power – like my brother did. You have already met four such people, and when those people are powerful or cunning, they can leave behind much damage."

Iroh stroked his beard, mumbling, "Enough chit-chat for now. Let me be more direct. Korra, there are two things you should know." Korra saw Asami whip out a notepad and get ready to write as soon as Iroh said 'you should know'. "Dang," Korra thought, "I don't think _I_ would have thought of that. She's so pretty when she's smart…"

"KORRA! Are you paying attention? Or are you too busy looking at Asami to listen?" something inside Korra that sounded a lot like Tenzin yelled.

"- and that is my favorite tea. I could see you looked… distracted, Korra. Anyways. After the end of the 100 Year War and the de-bending of Ozai, there was still conflict. My nephew and the Avatar nearly ignited another war over the fate of the Fire Nation colonies, in particular Yu Dao, and then later had to deal with a pseudo-cult to Ozai that opposed Zuko's rule. I advise both you and Prince Wu to tread lightly in the Earth Kingdom - Kuvira may be gone, but there will be holdouts. Some areas of the country Kuvira held for nearly three years. Kuvira is more than a person, Korra - she is also an idea. The idea that the Earth Kingdom should be dominant, after the disgrace it endured during the 100 Year's War," Iroh stated, pacing as he described the post-war environment of his time.

Pointing at Korra and Asami in turn, he advised, "As much as it pains me to say it, and would love to see all love open and free as the wind, there are those who do not feel the way I do… The second piece of advice is that there is a time and place for everything. At the very least until Prince Wu helps set up a form of government that the Earth kingdom has never known, you may want to keep your relationship with Asami known only to those you know you can trust. You do not want to lose credibility among close-minded people when it is needed. Nor can you use brute force to open people's minds - for this, most often a subtle approach is best." After a pause, Uncle Iroh continued, "I do not know much of the Tenzin of today, for he comes after my time, having only seen him as a teenager and briefly as an adult inside the Spirit World. I know Katara is perceptive. She probably has already surmised the basics of what you two have done in here, and she does not give up secrets to others," Iroh finished, walking to a tree.

Asami finished writing, then asking, "What about me? What is there that I need to know?" Iroh froze for a split second, and then resumed walking, saying ominously, "Asami, I am sorry, but my warnings cannot be as direct as the advice as I gave Korra. These events have not happened yet. The warnings and advice for Korra are based on simple extrapolation of history and my own experiences with the darkness and light that lives in man."

Staring off into the distance, as though trying to see something, Uncle Iroh stated, "The first event somehow involves a great spirit bestowing a gift that has never been given before in the history of the Avatar, perhaps time itself. I cannot discern who will be given this gift, or who the giver is. All I know is that many spirits will be upset with what they perceive to be favoritism, or a perversion of the natural order, and will begin to squabble among themselves – some just for the sake of squabbling. Spirits can be an… enigmatic bunch." Korra did not like what he had said, so she felt even more alarmed when he finished, finally coming to rest under one of the many large trees in the grove, "I also know that even though Korra is the Avatar, she and Raava alone will not be enough to bring balance - or, even, a new order - from it."

Looking directly at Asami, he said, "My final advice is that no matter what happens, and what new things are discovered by inquiring minds, is that the bending arts must continue, and those who practice them remain equal to their nonbender peers. I know only this riddle. 'They are those who bring mortal's giants to fall. Watch closely, see all. Should nothing be done, extreme of a madman's dream shall pass. It all began with description of most important gas.'" Looking away from Asami, he was now checking over his shoulder, as though he heard a greater spirit approaching.

Uncle Iroh dismissed the noise and turned around, intending to make one final statement, saying, "The only other thing I know about all four pieces of advice is that the order in which they are relevant in the world's sense of time is inversed, with respect to each other, as yin and yang. Should the first of Korra's pieces of advice come to pass or be relevant first, then the second piece of advice to Asami shall become relevant at around the same time. If the first of Asami's pieces of advice occurs first, then the second piece of advice to Korra shall become relevant at around the same time. That is all. Goodbye, young Avatar and young industrialist." With that, the man Korra called "Uncle" Iroh vanished, much as Zaheer had with Aiwei all those years ago. Thoughts of the Red Lotus drew her to think of her actual uncle – Unalaq, realizing "Uncle" Iroh had replaced him, in a way. Unalaq never helped her unless it helped himself…

Korra looked over to Asami, only to see her shaking her hand back in forth in a mild degree of pain. Asami said, "Wow, he sure had a lot to say. And I thought Tenzin's 'Guy who never ate' lecture was long… at least this was important." Korra reach down to a pool, bent some water up, and began soothing Asami's inflamed hand joints and muscles. Sighing in relief at first, Asami appeared increasingly uneasy. Eventually, she asked, looking in the same direction Uncle Iroh had, "Korra, this place is nice, but I feel like… something is _watching_ us. Can we go on an open plain of some sort, so whatever it is has to come out if it wants to interact with us?" Korra gave Asami a quick glance, saying, "Normally, if someone were spying on me from the bushes I'd challenge them to a fight, but I remember the last time I tried to use bending against a spirit on its own plane without having entered physically - and I can't imagine they would react to actual bending much better. That reminds me…"

Korra placed her hand on the ground, and soon both she and Asami were transported to the strange grasslands where those meerkat spirits had sent her crashing through the world after her failed firebending attempt on them. There were no spirits present, however. She put her hand to the ground all the same, scanning for any notable energy. She immediately got the impression that they had, in fact, been right to leave Xai Bau's Grove, as there was some unidentifiable yet familiar spirit energy there. She could not detect anything but herself and Asami in their current location. Korra told Asami, with a note of concern in her voice, "The coast is clear, although there was something stalking us back at the grove. It looks like you were right, Asami."

Asami sighed, saying dejectedly, "I don't get it, Korra. You just created a new Spirit Portal, and you removed Kuvira and her abuse of spirit vine technology. What spirits could be angry right now?" She shot Korra a slightly accusatory glance, smiling as she asked in a teasing tone, "What spirits have you offended lately? What might have been stalking us?" Korra smirked, saying, "The only spirit that I recently interacted with that made me want to punch him was the large, black serpentine spirit who told me the spirits would just sit idly by while Republic City was devastated by Kuvira. I just did not understand why a spirit wouldn't want to stop the Butcher of the Swamp." Asami giggled slightly, saying, "Let's just call that one Angry Bird. I think I saw him on the way in – big, long, serpentine," gazing at one of the many strange spirit plants that surrounded her. Asami stood up, saying in a more serious tone, "This place is beautiful, Korra, but I still have an uneasy feeling. Why don't we go back to Air Temple Is-"

Suddenly, Korra felt the energy again, and in her mind's eye, she finally identified the spirit that had been stalking them. It was not a good answer, but she wasn't particularly concerned yet, saying nonchalantly, "It was Angry Bird at the grove – he may fancy himself to speak for spirits, but he's nothing truly threatening. I wonder what he wants?"

"Wonder no more. I thought I might find you here," a gruff voice from behind them said. "Don't think you're the only one who can teleport in here, Avatar. I care little what one so young as yourself refers to me as. Just turn around. I have something I want to say to Korra, about her and her predecessors." Korra wheeled around on an earthbent disk to face the serpent, smirking slightly as she asked, "Come here to reap all my hard work, defeating Kuvira when you told the other spirits to scram?"

The spirit hissed, saying derisively, "No – there is nothing to reap. The spirits were never threatened by Kuvira – some stupid vines don't count as spirits. They're just an easily replaced home. And your reprehensible spirit ally, Raava, ended up giving you, her little pet, what you wanted in the end - spirits, for war. You just don't know it yet. Typical Avatar - just an arrogant, ignorant human…" Korra completely confused by this talk of spirits for war, she listened as "Angry Bird" continued, voice dripping with disdain and hatred she had not heard when originally talking to him before Kuvira's attack, "What **I **wanted to say? Almost all previous Avatars have maintained a distance from non-family personal relationships, with the recent exceptions of you, Avatar Aang and Avatar Kuruk. I imagine you do not know Kuruk. Aang's relationship could be justified in light of him, at the time, truly being the last airbender… but Kuruk and you share something in common. From the ten thousand year perspective, both your relationships were… unnecessary. Avatar," he asked ominously, drawing closer to Asami, "do you remember what happened to Avatar Kuruk's 'unnecessary' love interest?"

Korra again had a sliver of an icy memory surface, but even the tip of this iceberg was enough to make her panic, ignoring a different icy sliver that contradicted part of what the spirit had said. Her eyes began flickering light erratically. Korra admonished the spirit with a voice not entirely her own, "Avatar Kuruk was punished for his arrogance by Koh the Face Stealer, and learned better. Upon reflection over the past few hundred years, I decided that punishment was too harsh, and I, Raava, will not let this happen again. I stress, Long Yumao the Opportunist, that the Avatar is not merely a host for me - she is an individual as well, and her experiences guide my learning, just like any other Avatar."

Korra could feel herself getting lost in her own panic and anger, alongside this increasingly angry voice she could only guess was Raava. Feeling herself subsumed, Raava continued, in her own distinct voice, "I heard your pathetic excuse for declining action to help defend Republic City. You blame me for creation of those unnamed spirits, but in reality, my decision was driven by your inaction. Do you care to explain to me why you refused aid to one of the most powerful SPIRITS in HUMAN form when both Republic City and all physical spirit habitat was under threat … and then suddenly begin stalking and threatening both the Avatar and her love interest after Avatar Korra did all the hard work for you? I know you are called the Opportunist for good reason, but this is simply not acceptable." Out of the corners of her consciousness, Korra could feel her body performing the motions to create an elemental prison around this "Long Yumao the Opportunist", and then some sort of shield around Asami. Korra could barely sense Asami, and even then she could sense Asami's fear.

From within the sphere, Korra could discern flashes of yellow and purple. Long Yumao began to speak softly, stating, "You know, Raava, there are those spirits who think your time with humans has made you soft, and more human than spirit. Favor humans, over spirits… Your powerful gift to humans is evidence of this favoritism. They also say that Iroh - his 'Royal Kookiness', to quote one particularly amusing mortal - will never be able to understand spiritual matters at the same level as spirits, being a human and all. He may say pretty things, but some of his views are decidedly, well, _human_. And others, like his views on yin and yang as they relate to mortal mate choices, are entirely his own."

Korra raged at this last comment, and she could feel Raava becoming even more enraged at the first. "Enough!" the great white spirit roared from inside, "I do not have time for your nonsense, the half-truths. I merged with Wan for a reason, and that was because I saw he did not choose capriciously between human and spirit, and was much wiser than a normal human. Other spirits deny it, like yourself, but that was the day I decided to give humanity a chance."

Raava jabbed, seemingly pre-empting a specific response, "It may have been a bumpy ten thousand years, but **_I_** have **_learned from_** humans, as much as they have from freedom, bending and the Avatar. What of Korra's feeling for Asami I have experienced has taught me is that Iroh is right about yin and yang and mortals, even though their relationship is young. What _you_ have taught me?" The great spirit paused in a mock show of respect.

Raava flared in size and intensity briefly from Korra's chest. "You and your ilk need to show more respect to worthy humans, and not just blindly dismiss them or their suffering because they are mortals. In this age of cannons powered by our own earthly essence, spirits can no longer afford to sit idly by, with shades of black and white on - as generally all spirits except myself have done in the past. Go think on it." In a combined effort with Raava, Korra tossed the spirit far away and locked him in place.

After what had seemed an eternity, Korra's eyes finally stopped blazing, and she could see clearly again. The first thing she heard was Asami straining inside the earth tent-shield she must have bent to protect her. Lowering the barrier, Korra said with regret, "I am so sorry, Asami. If I had any idea any of this was going to happen, I would have denied your request to enter the Spirit World. This is no vacation!" Asami looked visibly shaken, but did not show any sign of fear now, reassuring Korra, "It's okay, Korra. We've learned some valuable information, and gotten to know each other much better, as I had hoped," she paused, smiling as she added, "I didn't hear much, aside from Raava yelling. I wonder what could have made such a great spirit so angry?"

Korra described the whole exchange, including the implied threat that Long Yumao the Opportunist - what a name - had made to Korra and Asami, ignoring the talk about favoritism through the gift of spirits for war as bald-faced lies. She hadn't asked for any war spirits… just help from regular ones! Asami wrote bits of the exchange down, flipping a page, examining the last words that Uncle Iroh said. Tracing the binding, Asami said, "I think I know the order of the events now. I marked the order here." She showed Korra the three pages with Uncle Iroh's advice, and there was a scrawled number over each: three, two, one, four. Korra still didn't quite understand the implications of this, so she listened as Asami continued, "It sounds like there is tension in the Spirit World over our relationship and the spirit's relationship with humans in general. This Long Yumao the Opportunist sounds like he really disapproves of any breach of established rules, or anything… 'unnecessary'". Asami shuddered visibly after the last word, continuing, "So, if there is tension now, it will probably build, until some watershed event forces open conflict…Hang on a second." Asami began flipping back and forth between pages once more.

Asami shut the book and threw it back into her satchel, saying, "I still can't make perfect sense of it, but we'll have plenty of time later to look over Uncle Iroh's words, and Long Yumao's. I remember him talking about spirits for war - whatever that means. I want to leave the Spirit World now - I have a feeling that spirit won't be locked up forever. Is there anything you would like to do before we leave?" Korra shrugged, deferring to Asami, "I don't know, you were the one who wanted to come _here_ on a 'vacation'." Korra laughed, smirking as she said bitterly, "So much for that…. Can you think of anything we can do here that we can't do outside?"

Asami smiled mischievously, saying, "Well, given Uncle Iroh's advice about being discreet in our relationship as much as possible at first, maybe we should actually kiss? And not be shy about it." Asami's cheeks turned the same shade of red that Korra's had just turned, Korra saying, "Why not?" with an energy she didn't know she had. Something in her wanting to do more than kiss, she repressed the urge, thinking, "Slow down," saying, "Let's do it!" nonetheless - though all she planned on it being was a simple kiss. After she sat down to reach for Asami, Korra met Asami's lips with her own. She began to feel fluttery inside, deep down, and pressed closer to Asami, her hand lazily moving towards the small of Asami's back.

Suddenly, she felt a familiar sensation - but not the one she wanted, or was expecting. For a brief moment, it felt as though she and Asami had no boundaries with one another, and they were one. Then Korra's eyes began to glow ominously. Looking panicked, Asami protested, "Mmmph! Korra! Whut arr you duuing? Never seen… you… do… thi…" Asami fell silent, at the same time Korra was helpless to stop herself - and she wanted to. This felt wrong…

Her right hand snaked its way to the back of Asami's head and Korra involuntarily pressed up against Asami's lips harder. Her left hand started pulsating with a familiar, primordial power, and the extremity shot down, and then up underneath Asami's shirt, finally resting slightly below Asami's bellybutton.

That was when a bizarre combination of sheer pleasure and extraordinary power shot through all of her body. The pleasure was her own, and the power as well - yet not entirely. While the pleasure did not fade, she could feel the power gradually ebb, seemingly finking a sink in -or was it under? - Asami's stomach.

Korra took a moment to shake off the rush of feeling that remained, and stared down at Asami's body. She knew that she was not lifeless, but Asami didn't look like she was going to wake up of her own accord. Suddenly realizing she needed help, Korra began picturing those obnoxious flowers again, concentrating, thinking, "Please, let me out. Please… This isn't what I wanted…"

When she came to again, they were near the Republic City portal on the spirit side, and Asami was looking down at her perplexedly, asking with her hands on her hips, "Korra, what in the blazes was that? I know you never use the Avatar State involuntarily, aside from when Zaheer poisoned you. What do you think it was?"

Korra began to answer, "I have no idea, Asami. Let's just get out of here and -"

_The biggest gift has been given_.

Korra quickly shook her head side to side, looking for the source of the voice.

_I'm in your heart_.

Confusedly, she put her hand over her chest. "Raava?"

_Katara can help you. Be discreet, but tell all eventually._

And then the voice was gone.

Korra looked at Asami, who seemed to not be fazed by any spirit-related shenanigans now. Korra barked, "I think we'll need to ask Katara what that was, Asami. Let's go," quickly getting off the ground. Korra stood upright more fully, and held Asami's hand as they briskly exited the portal. Korra noted that Asami still looked at her the same way she had on the way in, if not with more desire. There was one less thing to worry about, at the very least.

* * *

After both their bodies vanished, in the far, far distance, a prison broke.

Long Yumao floated freely once more, as the Avatar was gone and Raava could not maintain the prison for her. "Avatar" Korra. The little wretch. Unnatural. A spoiled human, even if she was the Avatar, who had gotten what she wanted from him the first time they met in the end - even if she didn't know it. Though his appearance was much as before, a sickly yellow light glowed strongly in his eyes. "No"_,_ he practically screamed to himself, "it cannot be!" Shaking off the last of the earth that covered him, he hissed loudly, realizing in full what Raava had done, finding this gift more outrageous than the first, "First, Raava gives 'good' humans those… things, as much for war as peace, and now this? Favoritism in its purest form! A flagrant, petty abuse of power… This perversion cannot STAND!"


	2. Chapter 2: Quenched Flame

Chapter 2 : Quenched Flame

Mako never was one for parties. He hated the forced atmosphere - something he had in common with Lin Beifong, given the way she had secluded herself earlier, standing by herself, nibbling on some food. Still, parts of a good party appealed to him - pretty girls, good food, a chance to talk to people he normally wouldn't see, and above all lately, a relief from that insufferable Prince Wu. No, formerly Prince Wu - the world just didn't know it yet. And Mako imagined the world would be very happy to find out - although, if the Prince really did step down, he'd likely become a singer…

Ignoring the prospect of Wu's voice being blared over radios everywhere, Mako muttered to himself as he watched Korra walk off, "Maybe that boy has some sense in him after all. Let's just hope he doesn't - ugh - sing too much…" Seeing Korra almost gone, a stray thought went through his mind: "Always good to know when a change is needed…" Mako felt a slight pang as Korra vanished, but he knew they just didn't mesh, and that what he had thought about change applied to himself as well as… Wu? What was his first name, anyways? No matter. Just Wu.

He began scanning the wedding attendees, to see if he could see Lin Beifong, not finding her where she had been standing nearby, wishing she hadn't moved - Mako figured finding someone to stand around looking grumpy with was better than nothing at all. She was very hard to spot without her distinctive armor - he had once wondered if she slept in it. He did manage to spot another Beifong, however - Opal. Dancing with his brother…

He felt the pang he suffered when seeing Korra walk away again, but this time much stronger, with an undercurrent of jealousy. He took a forceful breath in, and out, and pushed such thoughts out of his mind. Even though he hadn't intended to breathe fire in the middle of a party, Mako could have sworn he saw a tiny flame come out.

All of a sudden, he noticed Opal had been looking at him. Opal brought the dance to a close, surprising Bolin with a dance move augmented with airbending. Seeing them take an interest in him, he muttered, "Given Opal's reaction, I guess I did shoot some flame," to himself. He saw both his brother -who had come back for him inside that abomination of Kuvira's, even though he had told the loveable lunkhead to not come back for him - being lightly dragged by Opal as she advanced towards him.

Opal asked, "Hey, Mako. You feeling okay? I saw that bit of firebreathing, and it didn't seem festive at all," as his brother brought up the rear, pausing to gawk at the band. Bolin exclaimed, "Hey! That must be Tahno on the horn! I wish we could get a fair rematch with those cheaters, but at least he can bend again," pointing exaggeratedly at Tahno, as he always pointed. Everything his brother did was exaggerated - and Mako wouldn't have it any other way, even if it did get almost as annoying as dealing with Wu at time. Opal shot Bolin a sour glance, and blew slightly in his face, admonishing, "We're not here to gawk at Tahno, we're here because I saw your brother do something odd." Bolin laughed awkwardly, then said, "Oh, sorry. What's up, bro? Is your arm hurting you?" Bolin asked, cradling Mako's sling, saying with confidence, "I bet Katara or Korra could help fix it up!"

Mako blushed at the mention of Korra's name, saying, "Actually, I think it's something we might be better served talking about in the city. Opal, can you call your airbison? Juicy, right Bolin?" Bolin hesitated for just long enough for Opal to say, "Oof, that beast. I don't know where he is, and I can't imagine people at the party would be happy staring at airbison snot. Let's go somewhere else and I'll try calling him." She paused, whipping up an air scooter, saying, "I know you two can get to the shore without me pretty quickly. Bolin, with your earthwalk, and Mako, with your hand-" She stopped short, blushing, saying "Oh, sorry, Mako. I forgot for a second there, about your arm. I suppose trying to jet with just your feet would be awkward as well…" She dismounted her air ball, dismissing it to the wind, saying "I guess we should get started walking. Let's talk as we walk." All three started moving shortly after, still without much speed.

Mako started to say something to Opal, then paused, turning to Bolin, asking, "Bro, what's this 'earthwalk' Opal is talking about?" Bolin's eyes lit up like green flames, saying, "During my time accompanying Toph as I tried and succeeded to win back the lovely Opal's hand, I asked her about more than my commitment to Opal and me's relationship." The feeling burned very briefly within Mako again, snapping, "Don't talk all fancy garbage with me!" Bolin whimpered, Mako getting a slightly approving look from Opal as Bolin said, like a normal person, "I also asked her about advanced earthbending. She told me she couldn't teach someone how to metalbend on bisonback, but she did tell me about a move she used to move rapidly during the 100 Year's War, and I think I have the basics down. I just haven't tried it yet."

Ever the skeptic, Mako simply raised an eyebrow.

Bolin dropped his normally jovial attitude momentarily, stating, "Look, bro, I know that until I discovered I could lavabend I was a little bit of a talent 'third wheel' in the team. Lately I have been wanting to better myself as a bender and warrior, and I think learning how to move like that is a good start." As they approached the shore, the trio stopped as Bolin finished, "I'm even thinking of improving my physical combat skills as well, and have been reading about the Kyoshi Warriors on and off. I figure a sword at my side couldn't hurt, to go with my Ghazan shuriken, if I ever need it." Bolin paused, looking at Opal, saying strongly, "And no, I don't want a fan."

Opal simply gave him a quizzical look, and blew hard on her whistle, muttering something about Juicy afterwards. A short time later, Juicy appeared. Seeing the beast in front of him, Mako exclaimed, "Ugh! No wonder you didn't want this bison at the party, Opal! I thought airbison were supposed to be majestic." Juicy sneezed, leaving a bit of green on the sand, dispelling any "majesty" the beast had. Mako just swept his good arm out, and said "Not this." Opal laughed, saying, "The bison chooses you, and not the other way around. You can't really give back your bison." Looking at his brother, she teased, blowing a puff of air at Bolin's face, "Sort of how I decided to forgive Bolin for helping Kuvira, in fact." Bolin momentarily fussed, then looked around, saying, "Opal, it looks like we're alone, so if you're JUST giving me a hard time to keep up appearances, you can stop now," groaning deeply when Opal replied, "Nope. Not 'gonna' stop. You're so cute when you're annoyed! Plus, I need to get back at you for that picnic basket and Pabu note trick." Sighing deeply, Bolin said, "I already said I'm sorry! Mako, stay single - you might live longer than I do," dodging an air blast as he said, "I don't see anyone here, bro. What is it that's so sensitive you can't say it here?"

Mako blushed, and just angrily insisted, "It's an issue, okay? Are we getting on this dumpy thing or not!" Opal and Bolin didn't look like they were in the mood to argue with someone in a sling, so they climbed on Juicy, making sure to not step in his nasal leavings. Opal let Mako decide where to go, and they touched down near a ruined building in the heart of the city. All three slid to the ground, and laid on Juicy's side, facing the Spirit Portal… and crater, Mako thought bitterly. Even all this time after the portal had been created, the Republic City official damage report wasn't done yet, and Mako did not relish the idea of trying to police looters when he re-joined the police force, thinking, "Just what else could go wrong? It should be back to normal soon."

Thinking of normal, Mako said, "Okay, so you want to know why I brought you all the way out here? Quite honestly, Bolin, I am jealous of you right now. I have nobody else in my life, while you do. Korra hasn't show real interest in me since my little white lie to her." Since Opal looked confused, he explained what happened with Korra's memory wipe two weeks before Harmonic Convergence, and how he had caved to social pressure and told Korra nothing was wrong. Opal's face became more twisted in anger as he went on. Shaking his head slightly, Mako thought "Not a good sign," to himself.

When he was done, Opal immediately blasted him with a spurt of air to his face, saying, "How could you do that?! That wasn't being nice at all, no matter how many disapproving eyes were on you! And I thought blindly working for the worst world leader in decades was bad." Glancing at Bolin, she said, "I guess I should be grateful for what I have," following up with a peck on the cheek. Mako felt furious again, but knew expressing his anger on Opal wouldn't help, so he simply did his breathing exercise again, this time releasing a larger flame, saying as the fire faded rapidly, "I've never lived that down - it was probably the reason Korra never even gave me a second thought as a love interest… She's looked at Asami with more desire lately." Mako scoffed at the ridiculousness of his implication. Bolin merely smirked, and Opal did not seem amused at all, saying, "My mother brought in plenty of odd characters to Zaofu. I wouldn't be so dismissive of that. Remember the letter she sent Asami, and no one else?"

Mako finding himself rather not thinking about that letter, he crossed his arms, saying nothing aside from, "Doesn't trust us…" Bolin shook his head, saying, "That's in the past, man. Forget about it. Besides that - I don't really see where this conversation is going. I know you better than this, bro, and there's something more to it. What, do you honestly think there's no one out there for you?" Bolin smiled, and then began laughing hysterically, holding out a pink piece of paper with writing on it, saying, "This here paper's proof that anything is possible. Mako, if that goofball and part time smug genius Varrick can find true love with Zhu Li, his former assistant, you will find someone - no problem. I think you may have had something once, with Korra, but just because she slipped through your fingers doesn't mean you won't find someone else to hold hands with." Bolin shifted closer to Opal, stating with a shrug, "Plus, maybe you two weren't meant for each other."

Mako wasn't exactly used to Bolin giving the sound advice in the family. He stood up, and scanned the sky around the new Spirit Portal. He spotted a large serpentine spirit heading into the column of light, and pointed it out to Bolin and Opal, saying, "I wonder what that big spirit is up to. He seems to be moving with a purpose. Whatever, I leave that stuff for Korra." He stopped talking briefly, looking at the strange moss covering parts of the damaged buildings. "Let's just walk around town to see what survived the blast, and see if we spot any new spirit vines. With the Swamp damaged by Kuvira, it could be a good thing to find some." Opal nodded in agreement as his brother briefly yawned beside her, Bolin saying, "Honestly, if we never found another spirit vine, I'd be happy - those things almost blew me up once!"

Mako wasn't really that curious about the spirit vines - he just wanted to give the three of them something to do that would take all their attention. He thought, "Gotta figure time will help me make sense of all this," to himself. They had not found anything of note after 15 minutes, but an unbidden thought crossed Mako's mind: "What if Opal's right? What if Korra and Asami _were_ really together?" His internal answer was surprisingly quick: "Well, I'd just try to find someone else, as if that's the case, both are incompatible with me." Finding himself surprised at how easy that answer was, he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before sending himself, Bolin and Opal on a wild goosechase.

He was ripped from his thoughts when Bolin spotted something in the distance, and his brother manipulated the ground to bring it closer. At first, it looked like a Republic City cicada-wasp's husk, but upon closer inspection it looked too… humanoid. Bolin pushed forward into the air to land next to what Mako now recognized as one of Kuvira's disabled mechasuits, yelling, "You dolt, what are you doing? We don't know if those things are unstable or not! They could have absorbed some of the Spirit Portal's energy!" Mako chided, "Not to mention there might be a dead guy inside for all we know," barely able to hide his own curiosity.

Bolin dismissed any concerns, saying, "Don't worry, there's no way this shell absorbed anything - Varrick totally fried it with the electromagnetic wave earlier, whatever that is. Just like he did when me and him escaped Kuvira." Bolin turned away from Mako and Opal, facing the suit, saying, "I just wanted to get a closer look at one again, after my first failed escape attempt from Kuvira." Bolin furrowed his brows, and bent a piece of earth behind it to make it stand semi-properly again.

Smiling as he tapped on the metal form, Mako noticing it was metallic in color, a Private's, from what Bolin had told him about markings of the Earth Empire, Bolin said, "Even though Kuvira used these as a weapon of war, they might be good for reconstruction of the city. They have a lot of raw power, and could make nonbenders more useful in reconstruction away from the blast site." Accidentally triggering the lightning generator, Bolin lept back, saying, "NOT what I wanted to do! Though, that gives me an idea… Keep a few weapons on them, in case any of Kuvira's stragglers want to give us problems, and to deal with any unruly spirits," Bolin finished, slipping in to a slight frown. Putting up his dukes like he was Nuktuk, making both Mako and Opal groan, Bolin said, "Plus, given the world never truly stops fighting, I have the feeling the United Forces may need some for strictly military purposes. I bet Varrick will have fun tweaking the design - they were his to begin with! Maybe make a Nuktuk one - for old time's sake!" Bolin was smiling, and Mako found the idea of a mechasuit with skin tones so ludicrous, the laughter began in of itself.

Opal nodded in agreement, quickly making a dismissive gesture afterwards, saying, "I hope you were joking, and that better be the last I hear of Nuktuk. Speaking of military… That goody two-shoes Tenzin might insist on all airbenders being peaceful as possible, but my mother raised no fools." She paused, and added with a mixture of sadness and anger, "Well, except for my bigger brother." Opal turned to more directly face his brother, stating, "Kuvira may have not had much appeal with the peasants of the Earth kingdom aside from fear, but I'll bet you a thousand yuans there will be some major issues getting any significant part of the middle and upper class to go along with any disarmament or demilitarization. Not after the chaos they witnessed when the Earth Queen, Hou-Ting, was assassinated. All that looting…"

Mako saw a distinctly nonpeaceful gleam in her eye - it would have looked more at home on her mother's face, the impression only solidifying when Opal said, "If we ever face a major political threat that can be defused with the death of one individual, I'll be sure to… make use of a technique Zaheer pioneered." Both he and his brother gave Opal a vaguely horrified look, and shifted uncomfortably towards one another. She regarded them both with a skeptical eye, asking, "What? If one death can prevent the deaths, or even just suffering, of millions, I do not understand how it is morally reprehensible to take action." She was lost in thought for a moment before continuing, "Tenzin may not have wanted me to know about her, but there was an airbender nomad Avatar - a female, no less - who was willing to kill in the name of peace. I learned about her by sneaking books away from Tenzin's watchful eye." Mako saw a single, lone tear cascade down Opal's cheek, and was pretty sure his brother saw it too.

Opal sniffed ever so slightly, saying, "More importantly, after seeing what Kuvira put my family through, if there was an opportunity to prevent or stop a war covertly, only a fool would refuse to take it," pretending that neither had seen the lone tear. "My family was very well off - a lot of folks in the Earth Kingdom lost everything, their lives, or worse - either to the chaos before Kuvira crashed her steel gauntlet down, or beneath that same fist." Opal seemed to be holding back another salty orb, as she simply implored "Come on, let's keep looking for any vines."

It was about 45 minutes later when he actually saw an odd plant growing in an ornamental garden. He could tell there was no way it was like that before the Spirit Portal's creation, given how it looked healthy, and the plants around it looked wilted. Even though it didn't really look like a vine, Mako said, "I think we found our spirit vine. Let me see that pink paper, Bolin," Mako said, snatching it out of Bolin's pocket, asking, "Anyone got a pencil?"

As Opal went back to Juicy to get her pack, Mako noticed the vine beginning to glow white. He didn't like this one bit, as he remembered the power of the vines all too well, and what electricity generated by one had done to his arm. He pushed Bolin away from the vine, asking him "Bolin, is that thing going to explode?!" with an embarrassing amount of fear, continuing, "You worked with Kuvira on that weapon; did the vines ever glow white?" Bolin earthbent himself a chair to better see the vine, seemingly without a care in the world, Mako growling in frustration. Bolin nonchalantly grunted, "Quit your growling! Naah. Nothing to worry about. I never saw anything glow white in those tests, or when Varrick blew up the railcar. They always glowed purple-pink, like the beam of Kuvira's weapon but darker." As soon as it had begun, the plant stopped glowing, Bolin saying, "See? Nothing to worry about."

Opal overheard their conversation and ran back to them, just as the last white faded from its bizarre leaves. "Guys, what was that thing doing while I was gone? It was glowing… _white_, if I overheard correctly?" Bolin answered at the same time Mako did, producing a synchronous "Yup" of indifference. Opal did not share their sentiment, demanding, "What do you mean, 'yup'?" making a very good bored male voice. Slightly scowling, she continued, "Don't you guys know that white is associated with the Avatar State, and by extension, Korra?" The color drained from her face, saying, "I don't think anyone has seen her or Asami lately. Maybe we should go ask Tenzin-"

Suddenly, the plant began turning white, and then it began to physically writhe as it flashed a rainbow of colors.

Still staring at the plant's lightshow, Mako said, "What's going on?" Pointing at the plant, Opal said, "I don't think that's a good sign, guys. Let me mark this plant's location really quickly, then I think…" She stopped, as if someone had whispered in her ear, continuing, "I think Korra maybe be in trouble. You two, go to the rim of the crater while I mark this down." Bolin hopped to his feet, and grabbed Mako's good arm, saying with a shrug, "I guess now is as good a time as ever to try that earthwalking technique - not as if anyone will care about me wrecking already destroyed buildings." Before Mako could object, not wanting to be a test subject, Bolin began moving his legs in a perplexing manner, seemingly trying to walk without moving. Mako only managed to ask, "Bolin, are you sure this will wooo-" before he had the wind knocked out of him by a sudden acceleration.

Bolin curtly stated, "Thanks for your vote of confidence! I guess it will work after all. Guess Toph wasn't completely crazy after all," concentrating his effort on this bizarre earthbending. Bolin navigated through the shattered streets, avoiding fallen buildings and inconveniently placed signs along the way. Shortly before reaching the crater, Mako heard a heavy breathing, and Bolin let out a surprised shout, and the earthbending mass below them crumbled, sending Mako and Bolin tumbling into the side of a ruined Satomobile. As Mako lay dazed on the ground, he could hear a girl giggling, and as he stood up it abruptly stopped.

"Sorry Bolin, didn't mean to knock you off your… _stride_ there," a voice Mako identified as Opal's purred, Opal saying in a stronger tone, "Now quit messing around, and let's see if we can find Korra. If there were events happening in the Spirit World, it's easy to assume that's where she and Asami are. Hop on Juicy and we'll patrol the beam."

After what was really five minutes but seemed like an eternity, two humanoid figures stumbled out of the beam. "Korra!" Mako yelled. And again, "Korra! Are you alright? Is that Asami with you?" The blue clad figure came into closer focus, and he could see that it was indeed Korra. She was holding Asami tenderly, as if she were unsure whether Asami was injured, but Asami was walking under her own power. Shortly after what seemed to be a flush appearing on her face, Korra said, "We're all right! We just had a little trouble with a cranky spirit, is all." Mako could tell she was hiding something. Korra's next request only heightened his suspicions: "Can you take me and Asami to see Katara on Air Temple Island, please?"

"Yes, we will!" Bolin shouted, taking another breath as Mako figured he would. Before Mako could tell him to be quiet, his brother said, "And just what were you two doing in there?" in what must have been a mix of curiosity and innocence. Mako extended his good hand over Bolin's mouth and found it colliding with Opal's, Mako quipping to Opal, "Guess we're more alike than I thought we were… Anyone who can put up with Bolin for long periods has to share something with someone else who can," Opal laughing as Bolin grumbled something crude.

Mako whispered into his brother's ear, ignoring the surprised look on his face, saying, "Now's not the time to ask prying questions, brother, or for cussing. Let's just get Korra and Asami where they need to go." As the two girls crawled onto Juicy's back, Asami shot Mako a nervous glance that she then changed to a smile, Asami looking slightly woozy as she said, "Thank you for picking us up, Mako, Bolin and Opal. I feel … strange. Maybe Katara can help us."

Seeing how Korra was holding Asami in much the same way he had once held Korra, after Tarrlok abducted Korra, Mako thought, "Guess that thought I had earlier was true, and they are together. I'm cool with it," while smiling back at Asami. Mako saw Bolin ooch closer to Asami, Asami saying quickly, "Sorry, no company, I don't want to explain." Bolin slouched back and accidentally landed near Juicy's nose. Bolin quickly scrambled away from the beasts' nose, yelling, "AUGH! Can't a guy catch a break?!" frenetically trying to get the bison fur and snot off of him. Mako saw Opal smiling out of the corner of his eye, and found himself doing the same.

As they finalized their approach to Air Temple Island, Mako thought inwardly, "I DID tell Korra I would follow her into battle, no matter how crazy things get, and my exes being into one another is pretty crazy, after all." He snuck up to both Korra and Asami, hugging them both - as friends, not potential lovers. He could see that somehow both Korra and Asami knew his intent, and most importantly, that he was fine with their relationship.

Mako felt some kind of angry, bitter fire die out in him.

Korra whispered absentmindedly to herself, "I guess that's one person I can trust." As Korra made a show of pushing Mako away so as to not make Bolin or Opal suspicious, though Mako knew that Opal would be more than okay, Mako couldn't help but wonder why they would need to hide. Korra had just defeated Kuvira and restored some semblance of balance - who could fault her for her preferences? "Maybe I should ask Asami some time," he mused quietly.

Asami turned around and met her own eyes with his, and gave him a small subdued nod.


	3. Chapter 3: Dissipating Uncertainty

Chapter 3 : Dissipating Uncertainty

Glad to have finally reached the upper level of Air Temple Island, Korra turned around to face Juicy's other four passengers. Korra could sense from Opal's pained look that she was concerned about both Korra and Asami's well-being, while Bolin simply looked on in curiosity, even though Asami had made it clear curiousity was currently not welcome. Korra asked Opal, "Can you take Bolin with you for now? I have something I need to discuss with Asami and Mako." As Opal took Bolin towards a lower level of the island, Opal smiling slightly, Korra swore she saw Opal giving her a wink. _In due time_, a voice she had heard all too often lately said, wondering if Opal's exposure to so many interesting characters in Zaofu would make her a good confidant.

As Bolin and Opal left earshot, and Korra was sure that she, Asami and Bolin were alone, she told Mako, "Your unspoken approval of my relationship with Asami on Juicy's back earlier made me feel a lot better. I didn't think you would be so accepting, and certainly not so fast." Mako simply looked at Korra, and quoted something he had said only a short time ago: " 'I'll follow you into battle no matter how crazy things get. I've got your back and I always will.' When I said that, I meant it," Korra blushing when he said, "I get the feeling that more happened in there than you two kissing, however."

Korra clenched her fist silently, cursing Mako's sudden flood of perception, saying with resignation - thought not with Mako, but with the world- "Mako, some things happened in there that were definitely not on any vacation plan, and I suppose you needed to know of them sooner or later." As Korra finished explaining, Mako pointed to a figure far in the distance that was approaching slowly, saying, "I wanted to give you this," handing her a pink piece of paper with a street address before saying, "Go there, later, if you get the chance. I found something weird there. I don't want to keep you from telling Katara about this any longer - I'm certainly in no position to interpret the will of Raava. Especially since it sounds like she just made a lot of other spirits mad. The spirit stuff is your job on this team, not mine." He glanced again at Katara's advancing figure, saying, "I better get out of here. Catch you later, Korra and Asami," over his shoulder as he left, following the direction that Opal and Bolin had gone.

"Oh, shoot," Asami said, turning to face the nearest bathroom, explaining, "I must have drank too much at the wedding earlier, and you know what they say about the Spirit World and bathrooms. Not that I would have gotten the chance to use one…" Asami said, walking away, "I'll be back - why don't you try stalling Katara a little bit until I get back?" Korra knew she was going to see Asami in about five minutes, but after all she had gone through today, she felt a slight pang in her chest as Asami's hand left her own. "I wonder what Asami felt when her father forced her out of the hummingbird suit…" Korra pondered sadly, wondering if Asami was more bitter than she let on - losing her father, expecting to start a new life, then… this.

Katara finally reached Korra's side at the same time Korra finished her melancholy thought. The old Master waterbender - her Sifu in this life and the previous - finally asked Korra a question after a slightly awkward pause. Katara started off, with enthusiasm, Korra seeing a slight glimmer in Katara's eyes, "So, Korra, I'm always telling you about interesting experiences in my youth, all the different kinds of things I got to do… but I have a question for you this time."

Seeing this might take some time, Korra reminded herself, "Remember what Asami said about stalling and what Raava told me about discretion." She thought up a suitably silly question Katara could be reasonably curious about, and turned to face Katara, asking, "What is it? How I got Naga?" smiling slightly. Katara must have seen that smile was not genuine, as she just said "No," smirking slightly, looking like she had no trouble seeing through Korra. Korra thought "Dang, think of something else - Asami still isn't back yet." Eventually she decided to offer something more interesting this time, hoping to stall Katara a little longer: "What it's like to be able to bend all four elements?"

Again, that same knowing, frustrating smile. Katara stated, deadpan at first, "No. I imagine it would have some… _bending_ involved though." Korra barely contained the rising flush on her cheeks. Why did her relationship with Asami still give her this uneasy feeling? It was something much worse than the simple awkwardness she had experienced with Mako. She might never know, she thought bitterly. It reminded her of the despair she felt while recovering from Zaheer's poison, and for some reason, shame.

Mind wandering, Korra absently wondered if what Uncle Iroh had told her about same-sex relationships was a lie, and if Raava was just placating her.

_What would the point of that be, exactly, Korra? _Hearing Raava's voice, Korra felt a slight chill inside her skull. She still wasn't used to this more… vocal Raava.

Breaking out of her momentary funk, Korra remembered her conversation. She looked to Katara, who was tapping her fur-boot clad foot on the ground, waiting for Korra to make another guess. Korra realized that one way to throw someone off was asking them about a personal matter, so she asked Katara "What it's like to kiss a firebender?" Shifting from her impatient posture, Katara simply laughed, and chuckled "Getting closer."

This was it - Korra's chance to stall Katara. Knowing one hot button she could push, Korra innocently said "But people tell me that you and Zuko - "

Katara was obviously after some information she wanted, and fast, as she began to show obvious signs of frustration. Or was it the implication? Katara simply barked "**_NO!_**" Korra grinned, pointing at Katara, and said, "So I guess you only liked Aang then?" Katara smiled mutely, as though she were about to finish this banter completely. Katara retorted, "Yes, we both only really like people with the same first letter in their name. **_A_**_ang_, and…" sending Korra into a small panic, wondering why Katara was being so unusually… nosy. Korra wasn't going to be able to quell her cheeks this time.

Korra simply blushed, at such a loss for words she blurted out "Uhhhh…" - Katara really was as perceptive as Uncle Iroh had said, but Korra had never seen her so prying before. Korra added meekly, "What do you mean?" The very least she could do was stall now - no dissuading Katara's questioning until Asami came. The next thing Katara said only confirmed this. Hearing Katara say, "I saw you go in that portal. With a girl," Korra knew it was more stalling, then. Korra asked, with deliberate uncertainty "Which portal again? Because I'm pretty sure I went in two…"

Korra seemed to be getting to Katara with this meaningless banter, as Katara groaned, "The third one, you know, the one YOU created when you saved Kuvira's butt from her own weapon." Katara groaned again, this time louder, saying, "Come on, just tell me what it's like already! It's not like I'll ever get to know." Korra silently wondered why Katara was so curious about what it felt like to kiss a girl when she had been obviously in love with Aang - idle curiosity perhaps? Korra could only manage to ask Katara "What _what's _like?" with a palpable nervousness, her cheeks still flush.

She finally heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Asami returning from the bathroom. Asami asked them both "What are you guys talking about?" as she approached, with what Korra could tell was feigned innocence. Korra smiled slightly while her head was turned to Asami - she had never seen Katara quite like this before, and wanted to push a bit further. Making sure that Katara could still hear, but only barely, Korra whispered to Asami, "I think Katara finally found her brother's stockpile of cactus juice." She could see Asami's eyes gleaming with mischief as well.

Apparently, Katara had had enough, and she pushed the two conspirators apart, turning to face Korra. Katara had a rather hilarious yet scary expression on her face that she had never seen before, yet was somehow familiar… from behind a sheet of ice, she could hear a muted laughter that she recognized as having once been her own. _Aang?_ an increasingly familiar voice said that was not her own.

_They live!_

Shaking off this interior monologue, she heard Katara yell "I heard that!" with that same hilarious look on her face. Korra and Asami began laughing loudly.

What she recognized as Raava's voice admonished Korra, _Enough messing around, Korra - we just made a very important discovery. Further unnecessary delays will only hurt you. GET ON WITH IT!_

Katara, still visibly angry, now with a touch of desperation, said, "Okay, I'll just ask outright." Katara paused, clearly not entirely comfortable with what came next, asking, "What is it like to kiss another girl? We both know the South Pole isn't a good place to learn about the world…" before continuing with even more urgency, "Say it quick, before my stick-in-the-mud son or granddaughter find us!" This was obviously the point at which Raava would be disappointed if she delayed any longer, and Korra was tired of the game anyways. She said enthusiastically, "Well…" She let out a lighthearted chuckle. "For one, we didn't do the Thing. But I liked the kiss better than the one with Mako, that's for sure." Asami chimed in, with a surprised look on her face, "And I didn't have any idea what would happen in the Spirit World when we-"

Korra felt her clothes disturbed by a sudden blast of wind. And she was pretty sure she heard -

After a deafening blast of air, Tenzin and Jinora landed next to Katara, one on each side, both grinning wildly. Jinora began talking, animatedly saying "Did someone say spirit world? Can I tell you again about the time when -"

Korra found herself groaning loudly at the exact same time as Asami and Katara, producing a unified "**_AUUUGH_**" that sent hiding animals scurrying and fluttering away. Jinora went straight from a grin to talking, starting with a gloating, "So anyways, about the time I found Raava and helped save the world…" Korra thought, "Oh no you don't, you little Miss Perfect," with a sense of irony that Jinora was delaying something Raava herself found important. Korra snapped, "Come on, missy, one of us is the Avatar, and the other -" Korra couldn't tell if Jinora was just playing around, or if she had overheard more than just "Spirit World," as Jinora just continued talking, despite dirty looks from Korra, Asami and her grandmother, Jinora countering with a slight twinkle in her eye, "But I totally saved your butt during Harmonic Convergence!" Korra thought _"Ah, crap!_ Maybe she did hear…" desperately.

Tenzin surprised her when he came to Korra's rescue, wagging his finger at Jinora, saying "Now, now, Jinora, would Grandpa Aang want you to brag?" Katara burst out laughing, Jinora only managing a dejected "… No, I guess not, dad." Korra suddenly remembered that they had both saved the other in a time of need. She smiled lightly, asking, "Plus, didn't I get you out of that freaky spirit pod where the Spirit Wilds used to be?" Jinora looked down at her feet, mumbling, "Yeah." She looked up, and with a much lighter expression on her face asked, "Even?" Korra was glad that Jinora didn't take anything personally, but nonetheless she wanted both her and Tenzin gone. Pointing at a slight male figure who was attempting to fight a kite in the distance, Korra suggested to Jinora, "Why don't you go fly a kite with Kai?"

Jinora's face lit up in an expression that caused her grandmother to smile warmly and her father to grimace. "Kai!" Jinora whipped out a very authentic-looking glider - where'd she get one of those, an Air Acolyte? - and flew off to join Kai. Tenzin, oddly enough, did not give chase. Squinting at his mother, Tenzin said, "I get the feeling you guys were not mainly talking about the spirit world. What exactly is going on here?"

Korra thought, "Oh crud, I guess he did hear! I hope Katara can think of something better than what I'm about to say…" She deliberately broke out in to a cheesy grin, and started "Well, Asami, Katara and I -" Katara interrupted her with a gloved hand in front of her face, meeting Tenzin's gaze. She grinned slightly, telling her son, "You've never been one to pick up when you're not wanted, have you, Tenzin? Let's just say it was a girl talk." Anyone else would have blushed and left, but not Tenzin. He crossed his arms, and gave his mother a withering look, saying "I don't really see what you three could possibly have to say that I cannot hear." Katara's eyes gleamed mischievously, saying, "Maybe you wouldn't WANT to hear it? That ever cross your mind?" Tenzin impatiently asked, "Oh yeah, like what?" Korra saw a grin creep onto Katara's face that would have found a better home only on a tiger shark.

Katara spun around slowly, deliberately blushing, then pointing at Tenzin. "Oh, I was just discussing with Korra and Asami the night when your father and I -"

Korra snickered when Tenzin's cheeks turned a beet purple. He blurted out, "You're right. Guh. Pema never bothers me about these things…" His gaze turned towards two smaller figures in the distance, sitting on the top of Air Temple Island, gazing at the last remnants of the sunset. Katara jabbed, "Well, I didn't exactly bother you, did I? Who bent their way up onto a ledge where someone else was having a conversation?" Tenzin was visibly irritated, though not at his mother's borderline admonishment. Turning to face Katara and composing himself, he said, "Excuse me, it appears I have another conversation to 'interrupt'." He began airbending his way to the top of the spire, towards Kai and his "wayward" daughter. If he disapproved so strongly of that relationship, Korra could hardly wait to see his reaction to her new love interest.

Katara was now wearing an expression that she had seen Kya and Bumi make many times after Tenzin left. She wiped her brow, saying "Phew, I thought they would never leave. Not sure what got into them. Maybe all that excitement with Kuvira has made them on edge. I wish he'd leave my granddaughter be, lest she be even more like him. Where were we? I believe you were saying something, Asami." Asami stopped following the movement of Tenzin, turning to Katara, saying, "Yes, I was. Anyways, after me and Korra kissed, I blacked out for a little bit. The last thing I remember was Korra's eyes glowi- " Asami paused, with a slightly concerned expression on her face, saying, "Wait. Why would she go in to the Avatar State? As a former lover to the Avatar, you wouldn't be able to tell me anything about that, would you?" Korra had no real clue herself as to why she went into the Avatar State when kissing Asami, much less why what happened afterwards occurred, so she waited for Katara's answer with baited breath.

Katara had an expression that looked like an odd combination of embarrassment and longing. She started, drawing out her response slightly, "Well… sometimes when Aang got especially excited, he would glow it up. The time after we lost Appa was no fun, I can tell you that. But that was rage." Katara shrugged awkwardly, saying through a force smile, "I can't remember anything else." Sighing, Korra said, in a serious tone, "Katara, this is important. Is there something you're not telling us? I need to know if I accidentally hurt Asami - this wasn't one of those controlled bursts I use in battle. After all, Asami and I just told you a pretty big secret, so I see no reason for you to be embarrassed. So, what are you hiding, Katara?"

Katara chuckled, the last vestiges of unease leaving her voice, with a gleam in her eyes, saying, "Well, Aang would also sometimes go into the Avatar State when he was … excited _with_ me, shall we say." Korra blurted out, "What, _just_ a kiss?" having a hard time believing that Aang went into the Avatar State every time he smooched Katara. Katara cryptically answered, smiling as she said, "Among other things… mostly other things." Katara raised a gloved hand to her chin, remembering aloud, "Only when he was older, though - after he gained all that height and his beard." She shrugged, continuing, "I may be no scholar, but I do know there's one thing that triggered it in Aang that you two couldn't have done… in the same way."

All of a sudden, Katara had a blank expression on her face. Katara made a low humming sound, and said "Wait a minute…" Korra realized she must have been thinking back to before Jinora and Tenzin's interruption, as Katara asked "You were in the Spirit World and not ours when this 'event' occurred, correct?" Korra immediately answered, "Well, yeah, we were in the spirit world, after all, as I said. Stupid 'vacation'… Who knows what's possible there, especially given that portal was only recently created." She did not give Katara the real reason for her added concern - Raava's increased activity, and how she had been subsumed by the Avatar State not once, but twice within the past 24 hours. Even as a child, Korra had never triggered the Avatar State like that - not even during the Red Lotus kidnapping…

Korra was not used to seeing this much worry on Katara's face. Katara murmured, "Korra, Asami, come forward, and let me feel your chi."

Asami looked a little confused, "protesting" weakly, "I don't see what this is going to do, given that I am a nonbender." Katara turned to face Asami with a warm expression, saying, "Just trust me. I can discern basic biological things about people, even if they are not benders. Korra is first anyways." Katara advanced towards Korra, and began feeling the chi in her arms and legs, as though Korra were a healing doll. She moved towards Korra's core - chest, stomach and hips - and finished by following Korra's chi lines on her head.

Korra could see some measure of relief on Katara's face, but not much. Katara explained, "You seem fine Korra, but it feels as though a lot of spiritual energy has passed through you recently. And not your own…" Katara felt Korra's arms and lips - that felt weird - again, and pursed her own, much older lips, Katara saying, "Almost as if it were heading in a specific direction. And I have never felt that much flow remnants in the mouth region before." Katara turned to Asami, asking, "You said Korra kissed you, and you passed out, correct? And her eyes were glowing as she did so?" Asami shook her head lightly, bouncing her dark hair. Katara said, looking more concerned than before, "Asami, come here. I need to feel you as well." After Asami stepped forward, Katara again felt the chi lines, this time moving from arms and legs, to Asami's head. She paused while touching the back of Asami's head and then her mouth, letting out a confused "Huh?" each time. She finally felt Asami's chest and stomach. When she got halfway to Asami's hips, Katara's face drained of blood rapidly.

"WHAT? By the Spirits! It cannot be! I need to feel that again. I swear I felt something in there, but it could have just been a bad read. It is pretty late, after all." Katara again felt Asami's stomach, moving towards her hips, and stopped at the exact same place - just below Asami's bellybutton, Korra realized in horror. She knew Katara had seen many strange things in the travels of her youth, but Katara looked completely baffled now. Katara exclaimed, "This makes no sense!" She pointed to that one specific spot, that spot Korra would rather forget. Where her uncontrolled hand had touched - pulsating with what she now knew was Raava's energy.

All of a sudden, she felt a chill in her heart. She had finally connected one of Uncle Iroh's prophecies for Asami with recent events, and she was too in shock to say anything. She could only manage to think to herself, "At least we know Asami's numbering of those transcript pages was correct…"

Katara seemed to not notice Korra's expression, but Asami did. Asami forcefully turned to Katara, who was now saying, "Asami - you say Mako broke up with you, and given recent events fully occupying you, there's no way you've done anything to conceive a child. Yet, I feel a small presence within you." Both Asami and Korra now had horrified expressions on their faces - Asami, out of surprise, and Korra, out of horror that her suspicions were being confirmed. Katara said, as Korra and Asami turned to face each other, holding hands in what was practically a vice-grip, "Korra, you yourself said that you were in the Spirit World when this occurred, you went into an uncontrolled Avatar State and that you have no idea what can happen there…"

Korra could only stare at the ground and felt as though she were about to cry more hysterically than Asami had in the Spirit World. Tears finally streaming down her face, she addressed Asami and Katara, saying, "I don't know whether to be terrified or ecstatic." Since Katara did not know anything of what happened in the Spirit World aside from Korra and Asami's kiss, she looked confused as to why Korra would be terrified - but Asami knew all too well what Korra meant. Looking to distract herself, Asami grabbed Korra's hand. Korra felt this "love" again - one of the few good things she got from the Spirit World "vacation", the way she saw it now, yet was somehow enough to override all the negatives - and felt herself stop crying. Asami asked Korra tenderly, "Do you want to try to read my belly, Korra?"

Korra smiled - there was nothing she would rather do right now. Mimicking Katara's movements, she felt her hands being guided by an unseen force as soon as she found Asami's first chi line. She felt as though she were suddenly reading the chi lines better than Katara had. Korra could tell that the life force within Asami was very small, but powerful. She could feel Asami's energy and her own within, but another as well. By the time she realized whose energy it was, it had vanished - re-settling in Korra's chest.

Korra silently wondered "Just what is your angle, Raava?" to herself. Korra told Asami and Korra about what she had felt within. Katara gave her a look mixed between confusion, anger and curiosity. Seeing the anger fade from Katara's face, Korra told her "Look, there was a lot more that happened inside that blasted place we have not told you yet. But we need somewhere safe from prying eyes. Mako already knows more than you do, aside from Asami's pregnancy, but we need an inaccessible place to talk about it. We received a warning to be discreet in the Spirit World from someone you knew well - Zuko's Uncle Iroh." Katara's face lit up with childlike glee, asking "Can you take me and Zuko to see him sometime?" Korra could only respond, "I'll try to remember that, but I get the feeling we will be busier over the next few days than we ever have before. Do you have any suggestions on a meeting place?" Korra could see the joy fade from Katara's face, who continued seriously, "I don't know of any nosy waterbenders in the general area, so why don't we meet underwater, and you can fill me in completely?"

Korra could feel another presence tugging at her mind - Raava, again? She ignored it for now, saying, "Sounds like a good idea, Katara - I can earthbend a breathing tube so a waterbending 'tunnel' or ice sphere won't give us away." Katara nodded in agreement, and shuffled off towards Tenzin's living quarters - perhaps to scold him for his meddling in her granddaughter's life? As soon as Katara left, Korra noticed they were truly alone. She told Asami what she thought the implications of the pregnancy were, its connection to Raava, and the fact that they would likely have a "Spirit Civil War" on their hands. Asami listened patiently, and when Korra was finished, she merely said, "Korra, I'm no fool - I figured out about 75% of what you said just from your look alone. I took the notes, remember?"

Korra couldn't help but blush wildly, saying, "Asami, I'm sorry if I offended you - I just didn't know if your political and business smarts would extend to Spirit World affairs, as you never had a particularly spiritual upbringing." Again, the tug… "I think Raava wants something from me - I'm going to meditate for a little bit. Watch over me please."

Asami drug one of her electrogloves out of her pack, and affixed it to her hand. Trying to not think about why Asami thought that was necessary on Air Temple Island of all places, Korra breathed in, and out, and in…

She was surprised when Raava chose to manifest herself in her chest, as she had after Zaheer helped Korra overcome her block over her near-death experience, and while Raava screamed at Long Yumao.

Suddenly, the great spirit began speaking: "Don't worry about stealth, Korra. Only you and Asami can sense me right now, through your shared bond. And don't ask me how I can apparate outside the Spirit World now, I don't have the time for unimportant explanations. Korra, you remember all the icy emotions you have been feeling, that are yours yet not wholly your own? I did not know this until today, but apparently when the Dark Avatar - Unalaq and Vaatu - waterwhipped your past lives, they did not destroy them completely. Some mortals who are especially wise, such as Iroh, live on in the Spirit World, and it appears something similar may have happened to your past lives, except they are not free - rather, entrapped in some unknown icy tomb. Even I cannot discern all of what has happened to them. Too much of Vaatu and Unalaq's residual energy clouds them - time does not pass in the Spirit World as it does on the mortal plane."

Korra interrupted the spirit, who for a change did not seem to mind, asking, "Raava, if my past lives are still in existence, does that mean we can save them? What would we do? Can we do it right now?!" The spirit seemed to know a solution to the problem, but held back, stating, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Korra, but you have already endured much today. From what I can scry of their state, they are not going to vanish in the next five minutes." Korra felt angry, stating "I don't want to take any risks, we need to act now!" somewhat sleepily.

If the spirit had a mobile head, she would have been shaking it. "I see you are not that much different from your predecessor - Aang disregarded rest and sleep completely leading up to the Day of the Black Sun, and I can tell you're running on fumes. You're still a mortal like everyone else - get some sleep; a tired Avatar makes bad decisions and can't think straight. You don't want to start hallucinating again, do you?"

Korra felt a shiver from inside her own being, remembering her own hallucinations. At the same time, the ice-muffled voice of a middle-aged laughing at the memory of entirely different visions emanated from her chest - a voice that had once been her own.

Raava, had she possessed facial muscles, might have shown surprise. "If Aang can manage to laugh, we may have more time than my initial assessment led me to believe we did. Korra, you and Asami are to get some rest and meet me inside the Spirit World tomorrow. Don't worry - I will keep you safe, Asami. With the extra time, you are to try to extend the circle of trust you have now with Mako and Katara to others close to you. Do so as you see fit - I am in no position to give humans 'human-y' advice. Just know that I will assist in this endeavor as I can."

With that, the great white spirit disappeared back into Korra's chest, and Korra suddenly felt very tired. Mind racing, she tried to think of a place where no one would look - Tenzin's airbender artifact room. "Asami," Korra managed weakly, "I am very tired and need sleep, and I imagine you do too. I think the best place to retire would be Tenzin's artifact room - no one ever goes there." Korra blushed, this time in embarrassment over what she needed next, asking, "Asami, can you… carry me, please?"

Asami bent over, and with considerable initial effort managed to lift Korra off the ground. Asami made a motion to kiss Korra, but Korra batted at the dark hair over her face, managing to say, "N-not now, Asami. S-sleep…" Asami drew her head back, and smiled at Korra, green eyes glittering. As Korra fell asleep, she felt a blazing in her chest, and drifted away contently in Asami's arms.


	4. Chapter 4: Unvanquished Hatred

Chapter 4 : Unvanquished Hatred

General Jinshu Kuangmai was second in command only to Baatar Jr., Kuvira's lover, and third behind Kuvira herself. He knew that second position was volatile, given Kuvira's temper and dedication to the Earth Empire, first and foremost… Especially given what he had heard of Baatar Jr.'s reaction to seeing his sister in the firing line of the final spirit cannon test. He shook his head, thinking, _The weakling - family is of no value!_ Then again, that merciless nature was why he was so loyal to Kuvira - it nicely matched his own, and she too had been abandoned by family.

Jinshu Kuangmai, as he was known for his specialty, was not his real name - only Kuvira knew a sliver of the truth behind his identity. Or at least he thought - had her spies found out more? No matter, he really had nothing to hide from her that might make her question his loyalty. He preferred to keep himself as mysterious as possible to others - even Kuvira - as much as a power play as the… other reason.

_Ugh, every time I think of her, I feel like I want to strangle something… in my own special way_, he finished with a predatory smile.

Looking at the clock, he was beginning to get somewhat worried, but he corrected himself - perhaps Kuvira had called for a large celebration after crushing those puny insects daring to occupy Earth kingdom land, stolen all those years ago by the Avatar and his Firelord lackey. What hope could such a ludicrous system hope to stand against strength? Elected leaders - what a joke!

Finally, after seeing the clock strike 11:00 PM, he had had enough. He was not patient like a rock, like some fool had once told him to be. When he burst from his tent, he did not like what he saw - all of the elite metalbenders assigned to his command were saluting the entrance of his tent- almost preemptively, to avoid his wrath. They appeared to have been standing there for some time, one looking as though he were about to fall over from exhaustion.

"Just what is the meaning of this?" he bellowed, stomping his feet on the ground, shaking his specialty red-black armor draped over his broad chest, sensing something disturbing as his feet made contact with the earth. "And why are all the conscripts gone? Don't think I can't earthsense those empty tents and untended mechasuits. We're supposed to be ready to push out at a moment's notice in case the first wave fails to take Republic City. Not standing around like a bunch of idiots, keeping watch over MY tent door!"

He could feel a few of the metalbenders shaking like leaves. He turned to the one shaking the most, who was hiding a radio behind his back, and grabbed him by his armor, lifting him in the air, commanding, "Speak! Your General commands you!" He could see the fear in the supposedly elite's eyes, saying with relish, "Don't make me…"

The faceless soldier finally started talking. _By Kuvira, I love doing that. I just have to make a hint, and…_

Gulping, the soldier said, "Sir, it appears that some of those Republic City geeks found a way inside Kuvira's Colossus. According to radio chatter, the weapon was destroyed, and Kuvira fought to the end, attempting to kill the Avatar with just the cannon." The soldier sensed his confusion, saying, "The cannon got tossed into a large concentration of spirit vines, sir - and apparently, if what the Republic City radio is broadcasting is to be believed, the weapon spun out of control after Kuvira fired it at the Avatar, eventually threatening to vaporize our great leader."

He could tell there was something this soldier was holding back - some very unpleasant news. Jinshu Kuangmai threatened the reluctant speaker, commanding, "I can tell you aren't telling me something, even with you in the air. TELL ME THE REST!" He began gradually squeezing the soldier's armor in around the neck.

The soldier gulped, and the armor ceased to move, stating, "General Jinshu Kuangmai, I am afraid you are the new commander of our army, such as it is." He felt his hands beginning to perform the motion, but stopped short. He could tell this soldier was loyal enough - for now. The soldier began to sweat beads visible in the dying light, admitting, "Kuvira shot a beam at Baatar Jr. to attempt to vaporize the Avatar and her followers, who had managed to capture him in the middle of negotiations. All survived, and he apparently turned against us, providing intelligence to the enemy regarding the Colossus."

_I thought that wuss would betray us eventually. Kuvira should have known better - the weapons test gave him away. Concerned more for his sister Opal… Family only makes you weak…_

"Go on", he stated. "You've only told me of how Baatar Jr. turned his back on us. Did our glorious leader die in battle? Is this why I am now Supreme Commander Jinshu Kuangmai?"

Hearing a pause, Jinshu Kuangmai threatened, "And just say it, or I might actually follow through with that hand motion this time."

He could see the immediate panic this threat caused. The soldier began to show signs of throwing up, so he finally let the soldier back to terra firma. He could feel the soldier better now - and he was an absolute wreck.

Jinshu Kuangmai listened as the soldier said, "Sir, if reports are to be believed… you see that big green beacon over the horizon?" The soldier pointed at a barely visible green twin helix that never seemed to end he had not noticed before.

"That's a new spirit portal."

He was furious. What concern did he have for some spirit portal?! All the spirits were good for, in his eyes, was fuel for war. "I don't care if Vaatu and Raava are fighting over that hill! Just what in the name of the Earth Empire does some spiritual gobbledygook have to do with Kuvira?"

His hands began to move of themselves.

"Sir, PLEASE don't! I want to serve, not be dead! I was just trying to cushion the blow a little." _Hah, begging for his life, how pathetic_.

_Wait, what blow?_

Jinshu Kuangmai felt panic. "What blow, soldier?" _I don't like the sound of this at all._

The soldier began to speak once more, seemingly reaching the end of what was important. "Commander, the Avatar created that portal by blocking the beam weapon from killing Kuvira, if reports are to be believed."

_Hah! Mercy, such fools…_

He could see the soldiers let out a final sigh, saying, "She felt she owed the Avatar her life, and ordered our victorious forces to stand down, despite badly beating what those Republicans call a military. Only the Avatar and her follower's interference prevented a crushing victory."

His legs trembled with anger, cracks shooting from beneath his heavy iron boots.

Breathing heavier than that of a dragon's, he demanded, "So, soldier, let me understand this - and speak very carefully. Are you saying that our glorious leader ALSO surrendered?" His eyes gleamed with hatred - hatred for the Avatar, and hatred for… Kuvira?

_It does not matter who- if they are weak, they should be crushed like ants!_

The soldier saw his wild eyes, and knew what they could lead to, saying, "Yes, sir. You can see the soldiers who fled rather than surrender yourself - they should be here by now. Only the conscripts, and those trapped within the city surrendered. We may need to try to rescue them -"

_I cannot believe Kuvira would do such a thing. First my own mother, and now my glorious leader?_

He sighed deeply, realizing the world really was as one Fire Nation heiress said - "You can only trust yourself. Trust is for fools!" Even if she did go insane right after…

Figuring his day couldn't get much worse, he told the soldier, now safely out of his range, to bring in those who escaped. His talks with these ragged soldiers only confirmed what the other had said. The news from one of his spies was even worse. Almost all the conscripts - gone. And their leader…

_I suppose I owe that soldier a favor, and I want only those who fear me at my side_.

He turned to the soldier who had had the guts to tell him all these things with only a green beacon as evidence. "Soldier! Come here, I wish to tell you something." _I love the fear in those green eyes._

"Sir?" was all the soldier could muster.

"I am making you Chief Intelligence Officer. If what that spy told me is true, 'Prince' Wu is going to try and dismantle our glorious Empire, and replace it with some sort of mockery - a republic." He paused bitterly. "Hardly better than the chaos after Earth Queen Hou-Ting's death - the common ignorant elephant-rat on the streets is still running the show, even if they aren't burning their world with them."

He paused once more, reaching inside his metal breastplate, bending and manipulating it with ease. In his hand, he held metal straps - for each of his own shoulders, and for each of the soldiers'.

He bent the straps around the soldier's neck, much as his own. He then bent the remaining straps around his own neck and shoulders, closely mimicking Kuvira's style. He would have to wait until colored metal was available to add his own touch to his spine - alternating red and black scutes, also in Kuvira's style - even if he did despise her now. He etched a small symbol into the visible portion of each neck strap - the Earth Empire insignia, with a single drop of gleaming blood in the center. His Earth Empire insignia…

_Appropriate._

Jinshu Kuangmai did not know exactly how powerful he now was, so he was conservative in his speech, saying, "I hereby grant the new rank of Chief Intelligence Officer to Corporal Jang, of the Zaofu Company, and the new rank of Supreme Resistance Commander to myself. We will need to fight this new foe in a different way, as we cannot afford to draw the attention of the Avatar or the other nations - not yet, not without some unknown calamity. We will make our base of operations difficult to see, and even harder to break, biding our time as we regroup from the stunning betrayal of our former leader." He could begin to hear soldiers cheer, and even some making suggestions on how to most effectively meld into the vast Earth Empire, to begin their war of attrition, subterfuge and terror.

Jinshu Kuangmai raised a fist to the air, saying, "One day, we shall retake all of the Earth Empire - the lands that Republic City calls its own included! We will make the spirit's power our plaything once more one day, so that we may seek revenge on both the Avatar and the leader who left us out to dry! And then," he said with a genuine smile, "a legacy of conquest and colonization that will make Sozin and the Firelords who followed him look like children!"

He could hear the assembled body of soldiers before him become filled with hatred at the mention of the Fire Nation, yelling all sorts of horrible curses and insults. They had over 170 years of shame to amend.

_So this is what true power feels like. Good…_

After uniting the Earth Empire again, the going would be easy - the new Firelord had no spine, in his eyes. "Firelord" Izumi… And the fools of the Northern Water Tribe had had the world in their hands, and stopped! Air Nation pacifists, unwilling to kill. All he could think was_ Such foes are not even worth counting!_ Feeling a swell of emotion and pride, Jinshu Kuangmai yelled, "We shall be greater than Chin the Conqueror! TO ARMS!"

Basking in the cheers of **his** soldiers, he had but one thought.

_Are you happy now, mother?_


	5. Chapter 5: The Inner Ring

Part 2: The Circle of Trust

Chapter 5 : The Inner Ring

Korra awoke to find herself lying on her back on a simple stone floor. As awareness gradually returned, she could make out the figure of Asami lying asleep on her side next to her, with a contented look on her face. Korra vaguely considered shutting her eyes again and just burying her face in Asami's chest…

_Meeting with Katara. Don't keep her - __and Aang __\- waiting._

Suddenly, a wave of despair washed over Korra, remembering the events of the past 24 hours, and how she believed she had been finished when Kuvira fell - only for the universe to gop up even worse problems in her lap. Korra began to cry softly, mind racing - what would a Spirit Civil War mean for the world? Would she ever just get any time to simply… _be?_

_I told you yesterday, we have enough time. Don't dwell on might-have-beens, Korra. They lead nowhere._

Korra was starting to tolerate Raava's increasingly vocal presence better, but she still felt like she wanted to just shut herself away from the world.

_Oh no; Aang did that once, and look how that turned out. No iceberg Korra! Plus, you'd be missing Asami._

Korra got the impression that Raava was beginning to understand how humans worked a lot better now - and she was right, Korra telling herself, "I need to take strength from my love for Asami - just like Uncle Iroh saidShe finally managed the strength to resist sleep's temptation, and woke Asami. Asami cooed, "Korra, are you all right? Have you been crying?" reaching out to tussle Korra's messy hair. Asami said, "If it's about what happened yesterday, we should talk to Katara, like we planned," smiling slightly, offering, "I can carry you again, if you like," laughing lightly and pretending to kiss Korra on the lips.

To Korra's surprise, she didn't blush this time, instead sighing in contentment, saying, "No, I can handle myself now - but thanks anyways." A mischievous gleam entered Korra's eyes, saying, "Maybe we can pick up where we left off in the Spirit World later… after our talk with Katara," knowing there were things that had to be done. Korra could see Asami blushing slightly, but without the deeper colors she found denoted shame or embarrassment, Asami saying, "That sounds like a real good idea, Korra. Let's go find Katara." Korra touched the ground to get a read on where Katara was, and they headed towards her location - Tenzin's house.

As they approached, she could hear some unusually loud conversation between a man and a woman. Getting closer, she could recognize the voices - Tenzin and Katara. Korra and Asami held back a fair distance, Korra figuring that whatever conversation they were having should be left alone.

"- she IS your daughter, Tenzin, but you have no business telling her who she can and cannot like! Would you have liked it if I told you that you had to keep dating Lin instead of breaking the relationship, and never known Pema?" Korra heard Katara's voice break out.

She and Asami snickered - they could hear Tenzin's signature sigh from all this distance, Tenzin admitting, "I guess you're right, Mother - but the moment I catch that Kai reverting back to his old habits again, I am separating them! That's final! Now leave me be - I feel the need to meditate after all that … _civilized _discussion." Korra heard an audible sliding, and the slight rattle of a bamboo door slamming against a house's frame.

Seeing that Katara was coming, and not wanting to be caught staring at Tenzin's quarters, she turned to Asami and whispered "Look like we're talking about something, quick!" Asami's green eyes flared slightly, saying, "Like what? We can't appear to be talking about this - stuff - we're supposed to keep under wraps, and certainly not what -"

"Oh dear, please don't tell me you're bickering already. That isn't supposed to come for another 20 to 30 years," an old sage female voice said behind them. Asami and Korra turned to face a smiling Katara at the same time, who continued, "I can only guess that you two heard something of that conversation. Look, I don't like yelling at family members, and it's not like our family is as out of whack as the Beifong clan - but disagreement is part of any healthy relationship."

_Huh. Never thought of that, _Raava said within Korra's head. "Wait, seriously - you didn't know that already? That explains a lo-"

_Not now, Korra! I may like humans, but I have not really been paying attention to the fine nuances of human-y-ness until recently. Like… really recently._ Korra snickered slightly. Human-y-ness…

Katara asked, "You think yelling is funny, Korra? Or are you talking to that voice in your head again?" unconvincingly wagging her finger. Between Raava's awkwardness and Katara's finger-waggle, Korra burst out laughing, finally quieting with a smile. She drew a deep breath, and let out a long sigh, admitting, "You got me." Korra raised her arms in mock surrender, saying, "I was snickering at the voice in my head. Now let's go underwater before Tenzin decides he needs to ask me how to meditate into the Spirit World or something." Korra picked up a few tiles off the terrace, and motioned to the now levitating pieces of earth, saying, "Hop on, and let me bend us there." Katara smiled, stating, "I'm sure Tenzin won't be happy about these slabs being absent, but he can be unhappy with a lot of things. Plus, I've never seen somebody do this before." Asami was already trying to find her balance atop her tile, and as soon as Katara got on hers, Korra used a brief pulse of the Avatar State to launch them towards water.

Just before impact, her eyes flashed again, as she created an air bubble around them, also creating channels inside the solid sea floor to pump air in and out of their hiding place at the same time. She wound down the Avatar State with impeccable control - control of it something she would never take for granted again. Sensing she could still talk while maintaining the water bubble, she turned to face Katara, who looked like she wanted to help, staying Katara's hand from moving as she said,"No, Katara, it's fine - I've got the bubble. If I need a break from talking, Asami will take over so I can focus on the bubble and keeping a steady stream of air going. Don't want to suffocate."

And so Korra began explaining what happened in the Spirit World the day before in greater detail, taking a break from talking when Asami was reading the transcript from Iroh's warnings and prophecies. She decided to feel the flow of the water as she maintained the bubble and the path of the wind through her earthen breathing tubes to relieve some stress. It felt much better than the brute force bending she relied so heavily on. Korra finally saw what the White Lotus Masters and Tenzin meant by "feeling the element" and connecting with it, rather than merely commanding it to obey her will.

Her eyes suddenly opened - and wondered why she had never tried to follow her tutor's advice before. She felt as though she were flowing as water, and light as air. She was only knocked out of her reverie when Asami lightly tapped her leg, asking, "Korra, did something bad happen? Why did you open your eyes like that? I finished talking for you, up until the point where I blacked out - I figured you might be busy talking to Raava or something." Korra chuckled lightly, answering, "I was just doing what my Sifus - Katara included - have been telling me to do for years: actually feel the elements I am bending instead of just figuratively yelling at them to obey my command."

What had been a concerned expression on Katara's face lightened as she said, "Yes, it's always good to listen to what your teacher has to tell you - and it sounds to me like Raava might be asking _you_ to teach her more of humanity. I know the purpose of the Avatar is in large part to teach what Aang called the Avatar Spirit - what we now know to be in large part Raava - what it is like to be human." Katara put her hand to her chin, and asked "Would that have anything to do with why you snickered earlier? It's not nice to laugh at someone who is learning, much less someone who is part of you, and a very powerful spirit to boot."

_Yeah, that wasn't very nice - now say you're sorry_, she heard Raava intone in her head, but not entirely seriously - it was almost as if Raava were practicing something. _That was human-y, right Korra?_

Korra just laughed, and said out loud "Yes to both of you," after which Katara snickered slightly. Before she could start telling Katara more fully what happened after Asami blacked out, Raava had another question. _What is that sound you humans keep making sometimes before or after you laugh? It sounds like you're going to choke._ Korra figured explaining humor to Raava would take a pretty long time, so she merely thought to herself, "That's complicated, and part of human humor - something very few people know how to explain well. I'll try my hand at it later." This dual conversation was starting to wear on Korra, and she just wanted both to end. She told Katara all about the uncontrolled Avatar State she experienced, and the position it occurred in. After she had told Katara of where her left hand went, it looked like a lightbulb went off in Katara's head.

Katara began, stating "So Asami told me that 'Uncle' Iroh said that a great spirit would give someone a great gift - one that had never been given before. And you said that your left hand, pulsating with what could only be the energy of Raava, touched Asami roughly above her womb. It appears Raava has seen that you and Asami could never have a child naturally, and has seen fit to make this possible in an unknown manner. It would appear that Raava values you very highly, Korra - this sounds like something she hasn't done since the days of the first Avatar, Avatar Wan."

Korra had a familiar feeling again, and let herself be subsumed immediately instead of resisting - she knew that Raava would not hurt Katara, much less Asami. Korra felt the great white spirit begin to speak through her chest: "Yes, Katara, you are correct - Korra has achieved much in her lifetime, as your son Tenzin told her directly. I have also seen sacrifices made by humans, such as that of Hiroshi Sato, Asami's father, and also the bravery exhibited by your eldest granddaughter, Jinora. The world would likely have fallen to the darkness and madness of Vaatu had she not helped illuminate me for Korra, or if Korra had not relied upon her own essence instead of mine when I was weak. These reasons, and others, are why I have decided to push for individuals - spirit or human - to be judged based on their worth and merits and not simply by the status of immortal or mortal. Given that Korra made the choice to reverse Avatar Wan's original decision on the Spirit Portals ten thousand years ago, and allow human and spirit to mingle freely once more… Change must occur to prevent atrocities such as those committed by Kuvira the 'Great Uniter' against the physical spirit vines - or those plotted by Long Yumao the Opportunist against humans and those spirits who do not despise mortals. Even before giving Korra this gift, I gave humanity a gift - one which you haven't found explicitly yet. I look forward to seeing the reaction of the first to figure it out." Korra could feel her own consciousness resume primacy once more as she heard Raava finish, "That is all."

_And Avatar, the Spirit World meeting is still on, though substantially shortened - I did not anticipate speaking so long. An energy pushed me on, as I saw the glittering eyes of Asami and Katara - a distinctly human-y energy. _The spirit's voice paused momentarily. _Was it… pride?_ Korra still did not understand Raava fully, but she did remember how the comment from Tenzin had made her feel, and what it meant to her. Korra thought "Yes, I believe so," to herself - or more accurately, Raava.

_How far the world has come since the days of Avatar Wan…_

Korra shook her head slightly - she could have sworn that Raava's thoughts and her own were as one for that sentence alone. She turned to face Asami and Katara, and suddenly realized she was feeling tired - not exhausted like last night, but she could definitely benefit from a short rest. No - she wanted to do something else first, she thought, winking at Asami.

Katara shrugged, saying, "I thought my involvement with the spirits would be done when Aang passed on - shows me what I know." Katara must have seen the slight rings under Korra's eyes, as she stated, "Korra, you look like you could use some sleep, and I think Raava made plenty clear what has happened, and why, even if she won't say anything about this other gift. I will talk to Mako about what has happened here, and as you 'expand the circle of trust', as Raava had told you, let me know who to fill in." Katara looked to Korra's arms, and noticed they were slowing in their motions - something Korra had just now noted herself. Katara offered, "Korra, let me take control of the water bubble, and you can get us back to where we were before. I may be old, but I can still bend. If you're careful with your earthbending you might even be able to put the tiles back in the right place."

Korra managed a slight smile. After they returned in the way they came back to Air Temple Island and Korra had sensed Mako's position, she told Katara where he was - thankfully, alone along the north side of Air Temple Island, on the shore near a fire he had bent. Upon hearing of the fire, Katara's face lit up, and she said, "Good - maybe that fire will get out the water I miss. I didn't tell you, but you started letting the bubble down a little at the end, my dear," as she bent the moisture out of all three's hair and clothing.

After Katara left, Korra and Asami returned to Tenzin's artifact room. Looking at Asami, she felt a rush of something that told her she wasn't tired anymore, never would be again. She had never felt this feeling before, and although it was similar to the many adrenaline rushes she had felt over the years, though adrenaline never made her feel like losing control. And… grabbing Asami's butt? Or her chest? She couldn't quite put the name on this feeling, but she was really liking it. She managed to splurt out, as they entered the room, "Asami, close that door. There's something I want to do, and badly." Korra could feel an odd grin forming on her face, all the while staring intently at Asami's shapely rear end as she went to shut the door.

Asami must have known something Korra didn't about facial expressions, as when Asami turned around, her cheeks flushed almost completely, and she began pouting her lips. This just made Korra more… _what_? Apparently, Asami knew, saying, "I've seen that look before. Looks like somebody wants to pick up where we left off yesterday, before that … interruption." Asami smiled, putting her hands at the bottom of her vest, which she began to unbutton and remove, revealing her shirt underneath. As Asami _finally _began removing her shirt, Korra felt one of her hands shoot a blast of air that knocked her own off.

Asami stopped suddenly, looking at Korra's increasingly sweaty body, fixating on Korra's chest. She could barely hear Asami as she said "Now, no_ really_ funny business - I may be pregnant, but I don't want someone, goodness forbid Tenzin, walking in on us - going all out with each other," over the sound of Korra's own increasingly heavy breathing. Korra managed to mumble "Sure, yeah, whatever," intending to "push it" some - her body demanded it! Asami seemed to buy it, since she came closer, and lightly touched her bare shoulder. Korra felt a shiver shoot up her spine, like lightning.

Unable to stand it any longer, Korra dropped to the floor, rolled over, grabbed Asami by the waist and drug her down on top of her. She felt all kinds of new sensations through her body, and made to grab at Asami's butt. Her hand lay outstretched over her partner's rear now, and Asami giggled, rolling so that both were on their sides. She then pressed into Korra's face, kissing her on the lips.

Suddenly, she felt a rush of the same feeling she had felt what seemed like so long ago, during the failed vacation - love. This feeling tempered what she now remembered her father had called "lust", and she no longer had any intention of pushing too hard on Asami to do a lot more than what they were currently doing. Korra grinned mischievously, though - she still wanted to push a little.

Asami muttered dreamily "I always wanted to do this…" as she rolled once more, putting Korra staring up into her beautiful face again. With but a little input from Korra, her hands began making bending motions - she was going to take off those cursed straps - bras - around their upper bodies that kept them from fully physically touching. Korra dismissed the random thought of, "Shouldn't you call them _breasts_?", thinking, "What? No, I - " Seeing them move in front of her, Korra no longer did something as boring as _thinking. _Both her own and Asami's metal bra clasps began to move, and Korra could tell she had a mesmerized look on her own face.

She was shocked to feel the slap - it was light, but still stung. Asami pushed away from her, leaving her on the floor alone. She didn't like being alone - not when she got so close…

Asami said, crossing her arms, "HEY! I told you, no _really_ funny business - I was fine with everything up to your sneak attempt to undo my bra. It's not that I don't feel the same way for you - just not here." Asami paused, lowering herself back over Korra. She noticed Asami's eyes glittering, and her cute mouth grinned wildly. She put out a finger, and began tracing Korra's collarbone, saying with a sultry voice, "That's what mansions are for, silly."

Asami and Korra both burst out laughing, seemingly laughing harder than they ever had in their lives. Korra's mouth opened so far her jaw hurt.

Korra suddenly felt like doing nothing more than just cuddling next to Asami - she felt tired enough for a short nap. Even though Asami wasn't sleepy, she seemed glad to join Korra for a close slumber.

As Korra drifted off to sleep, she mumbled, "I regret nothing."

_Neither do I, Korra. Sweet dreams_, _young Avatar_.


	6. Chapter 6: Unanticipated Success

Chapter 6: Unanticipated Success

Tenzin had been meditating for what seemed like hours. He got over his anger at his mother pretty quickly - he realized the point wasn't whether or not he trusted Kai with his eldest daughter, but whether she wanted to be with him or not. He remembered tales of his parent's youth, and they hung around some worse characters at times - the amoral Jet that had gotten his own mother's fancy temporarily was far worse than Kai, after all. He'd take a thief over a thug any day.

The real reason he stayed meditating was he desperately wanted to finally enter the Spirit World legitimately, as Korra, Iroh, his father and even his own daughter had done - no walking through a portal, something he had done before. Though he had failed many times before, Tenzin held hope that the newly opened Republic City Spirit Portal's proximity would help him in his quest. So far, though, he had little to no luck, though he did keep feeling odd spiritual energy emanating from the portal's direction - something that reminded him of Vaatu. Tenzin shook his head, thinking, "Isn't he supposed to be severely weakened? This makes no sense," to himself, accidentally interrupting his meditation. He shifted his stance, attempting to regain his composure.

Suddenly, he felt that strange energy intensify. A strange spirit's voice began drolly said, "You're more perceptive than you think, human," sounding vaguely displeased. The presence subsided, but not completely.

Not quite sure what to make of this, he shifted his tactics from general meditation to focused contemplation. Taking a technique from Korra's book, he focused on a specific person's energy - his daughter's, thinking, "Breathe in, and breathe out. Let your mind be as a leaf on the wind…"

Suddenly, he felt a very odd sensation - as though he were no longer inside his own house, but still in the physical world. He looked down at the ground, and noticed something very odd - he was blue!

Suddenly realizing what this meant, he cried out, "By the spirits, I'm projecting myself! I thought I would go into the spirit world before this…" He heard a girl and a boy yelling in alarm behind him, suddenly realizing who they must be, asking, "Jinora? Kai? Come around front, I literally just figured out how to do this, and don't want to risk moving." He saw his daughter run around the edge of his vision, dragging Kai behind her.

His daughter's reply shocked him - there must have been a reason she didn't come out front. His mind raced back to his conversation with the two late last night, and his row with Katara this morning. Jinora simply said, "I don't care if you just learned to project - I'm not talking to you until you apologize to Kai for what you said yesterday, and to me for meddling in my affairs so much. I'm rapidly approaching adulthood, and want - "

Tenzin sighed deeply, with regret and disappointment - in himself. He felt himself turn to face Kai and Jinora as he uttered the words "I am sorry. To you both."

Had he not known doing so would likely sever the connection, he would have laughed at the expressions on both their faces - Kai and Jinora were in complete shock. Tenzin continued, "I had an argument with your grandmother today, Jinora, about you and Kai, and after meditating on her words I came to realize she was right. She told me what I am doing was the equivalent of her forcing me to stay with Lin Beifong, and that it isn't fair of me to try to closely control who you show affections for." As he thought of what he wanted to say to Kai, he found his body pivoting once again, to face the boy, saying earnestly, "And Kai, I am sorry if I have allowed your past actions to cloud my judgment. I had forgotten the lessons of my father's youth - to cast you aside would be the equivalent of my father refusing Zuko's pleads to join his team." As soon as he had finished talking, he saw a gleam in Kai's eye - as if he had spotted some scattered, ownerless gold coins. Kai picked up a small rock, and began spinning it in a small ball of air, still looking at Tenzin, asking, "So, Tenzin, does that mean I can kiss Jinora?"

Tenzin couldn't help but blurt out an emotional "**NO!**", and much to his surprise he did not get booted back to his house. Relaxing a little, he laughed as Jinora slapped Kai lightly in the face. She scolded him, "I'm the one with the airbending tattoos, so I'll decide when we kiss!" She gave Kai a withering glare, saying to Tenzin's great pleasure,"And that's a little bit too much to be asking of my father, a man who only just now confessed he no longer sees you as a little airbending thief." Tenzin could not help but approve of his daughter's attitude - she wasn't some gold statue to be snatched from a mansion. Wait - if Kai wasn't a little thief, why did he keep thinking this way? He shook his head slightly, saying, "Well, whatever you two decide to do, make sure it doesn't go beyond kissing for now. I don't want to be a grandfather just yet." He sighed deeply, as though some burden had been lifted off his soul. His image vanished, leaving only the two young perplexed airbenders behind.

Instead of returning to his house, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a large grove of trees surrounded by randomly distributed pools. He did not find the place familiar at all. He heard a strange voice behind him, that sounded human, but not entirely. The older male voice calmly stated "I found that letting go of control can be very helpful in accessing the Spirit World, and I see you are no different. Your block wasn't spiritual, Tenzin - it was emotional."

Not feeling entirely comfortable turning to face the voice, Tenzin asked "Who are you, and exactly where am I? This place looks awfully earthlike to me." The owner of the voice appeared before him, and he looked awfully familiar. Wait… could it be?

Tenzin could feel his jaw drop, and nearly bit his tongue as he closed it again so he could speak. "Are you… 'Uncle' Iroh? My father's best friend and loyal ally, Zuko's uncle? I haven't seen you in years!" The older man laughed in a familiar way. Tenzin could have sworn he had once met him in his youth, before Iroh passed. "Yes, Tenzin, I am 'Uncle' Iroh. It does not matter if I am actually your uncle - you may call me whatever you like. Congratulations on finally achieving your ambition of entering the Spirit World through meditation, and not physically, as the last time we met. You should know, it is very rare for any mortal other than the Avatar to successfully enter in this way - you should be very proud of both yourself and your daughter." Iroh smiled warmly, and put a hand on Tenzin's shoulder.

He noticed Iroh tense up at the same time his own body froze. That energy from earlier… it was close. Iroh started frowning deeply, and he slapped his hand on his forehead, saying, "Oh, not again! Not another person's spirit trip ruined!," asking no one, "When will he quit poking his big beak where it's not welcome?" Tenzin was about to ask Iroh just what spirit he was talking about, but then a large shimmering mass appeared behind the old firebender. Tenzin swore he could see undulating purple and black, and small points of a familiar sickly yellow light as the spirit took complete form.

Even before the spirit was completely finished appearing, it began to speak, saying, "Ugh, _another_ mortal tourist?" The spirit finally stopped shimmering so much, having fully materialized, but the undulating colors on the upper portion of its hide did not stop. Behind the spirit's serious face, bizarre long twin feathers, large grey-black beak and piercing unsettling yellow eyes, Tenzin saw a substantial serpentine body. The spirit seemingly waited, letting Tenzin "admire" him… While the bottom of this spirit was colored much the same as its beak, except lighter, the upper half of its body was mainly black, except for one detail Tenzin found very disturbing - the black pulsed erratically with large, continuously moving patches of an uncomfortably familiar purple that had even more unsettling red eye-shaped spots in their center. A large mane lined the top and part of the bottom of the spirit, its color pulsating in a mix between the sickly yellow of the spirit's eyes and the red that caused Tenzin so much alarm.

Had the spirit possessed a mouth, it might have smiled. It turned to a visibly shaken Iroh, and clacked its powerful beak menacingly, starting to laugh in - yet again - an eerily familiar fashion. The spirit began talking with a cool hatred, saying "Yes, Iroh - in case you haven't noticed since our last encounter, I have grown substantially. I do not yet enjoy the support of as many spirits as I would like, but Raava's little party trick with her host and that other mortal woman has upset plenty of sensible spirits a lot more than some plants did. As more spirits join my side, my power only grows. You are lucky only great spirits can truly harm another spirit." The spirit started cackling wildly as it turned to face him, and Tenzin finally realized what its oddly modified voice reminded him of - the same bone-chilling laughter of Vaatu. Tenzin stood up, demanding, "What is the meaning of this, spirit? I thought Vaatu was the size of a teapot now, contained inside Raava!" This just made the spirit laugh even harder, all the various frightening and sickening colors intensifying, pulsating unnervingly in rhythm with the malicious laughter.

The spirit zoomed closer to Tenzin's face, its beak narrowly avoiding his own nose, as it began to speak once more, saying condescendingly, "Even an _airbender, _what humans fancy so spiritually advanced, so arrogant, ignorant? Typical. Vaatu himself may be weak, now, but that doesn't mean there are no darkened spirits - your father encountered a partially transformed spirit in his youth, decades before Harmonic Convergence's occurrence. A pity Hei-Bai did not simply smash that village in a single fit of rage." Tenzin heard a small sound, and he noticed more Dark Spirits now present in the grove. The large yellow eyes glittered again, in seemingly higher hatred - Tenzin wanted to get out, and fast.

The spirit cackled, "Oh, no you don't, airbender. I may not be able to strike at Raava, for now, but I can certainly hurt the Avatar - my friends here will see you do not leave." Tenzin took a large step backwards, and as the large spirit began to open its mouth, Iroh ducked in front of Tenzin, who only managed to say "Shut your eyes, and brace yourself!"

* * *

Despite being half asleep, Korra felt her body sit up and roll Asami slightly to her side with no input of her own. She felt a very strange jerking motion, and her eyes begin to glow as she, seemingly in a dream, appeared in Xai Bau's Grove once more.

Her now flexing limbs splayed out into a star pattern, in what she assumed to be a bizarre dream, and became aware of a nightmarish scene before her - a thousand piercing yellow eyes, and a substantial mass owning even larger eyes in front of her. Her own body, in the center of a very angry white spirit - Raava. Two humanoid figures behind her, seeking shelter behind the great white spirit's pulsating form. Her body took a deep breath of its own accord, and she saw a large white and blue beam shoot at the largest spirit, who moved his large body with unnatural speed, letting a lesser Dark Spirit take the blast instead. She saw the energy strike its unintended target with a sense of mute horror, and obliterate the spirit, leaving many small, normal copies of itself behind, about a quarter of which immediately turned dark again.

The last thing she felt before this weirdly specific dream ended was Raava's energy tossing the two figures behind her with great force.

Korra rubbed her forehead, and muttered "Knew… I… shouldn't have eaten… that… old sea-prune… stew…" before collapsing back onto Asami, half remembering a bad day of her childhood, suddenly saying, "Wait a minute - I haven't eaten Water Tribe food in ages. Just what was that?", staring at the ceiling before her eyes shut completely a short time later.

_You'll find out soon enough_.

* * *

Tenzin opened his eyes slightly with a start, and felt immense relief - he was apparently back in his own home. He heard a sound that made him immediately doubt that, however, and fell backwards to the floor when he saw who was standing in front of him.

"Uncle" Iroh laughed jovially, saying, "I don't know why Long Yumao hates humans and Raava so much. What, did a former Avatar use him as a plaything or something?" Despite Tenzin's expression of disbelief and gaping jaw, Uncle Iroh laughed lightly, and wondered aloud, "Did they play serpentball, or spin-the-spirit?" and began laughing harder. Uncle Iroh suddenly became serious again, and said, "Though a Spirit Civil War is no laughing matter."

Tenzin pointed a finger at Uncle Iroh in shock, saying to the man he vaguely remembered from his youth before his passing, "Uncle Iroh, you're a spirit now - just how in the name of the spirits are you here with me now?" Uncle Iroh stepped forward, and ran his hand through Tenzin's legs. Tenzin let out a small yelp. Uncle Iroh said "After Korra opened the spirit portals, all spirits could come and go as they pleased - I just never had a real concrete motivator to leave the spirit world until now. However, since I was famous in my lifetime, too many people - especially your mother and Zuko - would recognize me, so I will need to find a new temporary home until I decide what to do. I want nothing to do with the spirit world - not after that - until Long Yumao the Opportunist is dealt with." Uncle Iroh smiled slightly, and vanished through a wall.

Something Uncle Iroh had just said itched at Tenzin's mind - "Spirit Civil War." Tenzin had never been one for total guesswork or ancient accounts, but that had an eerily familiar ring to it - it sounded an awful lot like what Avatar Wan had to deal with between humans and spirits before closing the portals. He also had some scrolls in his study talking about contention amongst spirits - observations about the affairs of the Spirit World from airbender scholars that had miraculously survived for thousands of years inside an arid cave.

After Tenzin ran to his artifact room and opened the door he couldn't help the shocked expression on his face at what he saw - and he had the uneasy feeling that was exactly the wrong expression to have if he didn't want a fireball shot at him. He could only manage, as the two girls stirred from their slumber, to ask, "Korra? Asami? What are you doing here?" He looked at the floor, and his cheeks turned a deep red. Were those… their shirts? He pointed at one, and began to say, "It's certainly not to study", and just managed to dodge the spurt of flame aimed near his feet.

* * *

Korra was just finally reaching a deeper sleep again when the doors to the artifact room burst open. After all this time in relative darkness, she couldn't make out who was there very well. A voice began talking, asking, "Korra? Asami? What are you doing here?" Korra had an unpleasant realization - it was Tenzin! If he decided to go running to anyone but Mako or Katara, the whole circle of trust plan would fall to pieces, the fact that Tenzin trusted _her_ not occurring to her in her panic. She saw him eyeing their discarded clothes with mounting alarm - and the face he was making pushed her over the edge.

As he began saying, "It's certainly not to study", Korra cut him short with a small spurt of flame between the feet. He was quicker than her own still-slightly sleepy self. Ignoring his now horrified expression, Korra shook off the last of her sleepiness, and jumped to her feet, forming a fairly large fire in her right hand. "What are you doing here, Tenzin? And just what was the meaning of that expression you had earlier?!" she snarled, adding with a more desperate tone, "This wasn't how it was supposed to work!"

A female voice said "KORRA! What are you doing? Put down that fire right now - it's just Tenzin!" from the floor. Korra felt a well-placed kick on her bottom, and she fell forward face-first. Face now blushing hotter than the now-extinguished flame, she managed to squeak out "Hey, Tenzin! Fancy meeting you here…" as she scraped her chin on the floor to look up to him. She braced for the inevitable angry lecture about proper use of firebending, and to be more careful around so many priceless artifacts. Tenzin surprised her - he almost looked ready to cry in sadness.

Tenzin turned his downcast eyes to Korra, who was still looking up at him awkwardly from the floor. After wiping his eyes slightly, Tenzin said mutely "Korra, you have to know I would never judge you or reject you over anything, much less who you want to be with. I may be hard on you at times, but airbenders were - and still are, to a large extent - renowned for their open-mindedness and compassion. Your hostility hurts me more than if your fire had hit its mark."

Korra was still shaking slightly on the floor in anger and embarrassment - anger at Asami for the kick and for her own foolish reaction to Tenzin, and the remnants of the embarrassment of one of her best teachers and friends finding her in such a … position. Asami, now standing, bent over to take Korra's hand and lift her off the floor. Before Asami could say anything, Korra said directly to Tenzin, "I'm sorry for my reaction, Tenzin. I just need you to understand the importance for secrecy regarding our unconventional relationship, and why that made me panic and act so hostile." She bowed deeply to Tenzin.

He bowed back, stating, "Apology accepted, Korra." A smile lit up his face, and he pointed to a pot full of scrolls, saying, "I think I know something that will make you two feel better. Here, let me grab a special scroll quickly." He rummaged through the pot, finding a scroll with Air Nomad markings that looked as though it had barely survived Sozin's genocide - she could see charred segments. Tenzin brought the scroll to Asami and Korra, and pointed to an unmarred section, saying, "Most of this scroll is of no consequence to anyone but the most serious Air Nomad scholar - even I fell asleep reading parts of it. I could only imagine Zaheer would be interested in its entirety. Anyways - it is a list of decrees and findings by various Air Nomad scholars and leaders over time, and this is the one I found most relevant." He pointed to a block of script with a red pencil's markings surrounding it, saying, "As my 'apology' for bursting in on what was clearly a private affair, allow me to read it to you - just sit down with your girlfriend. Asami, Korra... I have a feeling you'll both really like this."

Before Korra could ask some smart-alecky question like "Is it the guy who never ate finally eating?" or "Is it sexy?", Tenzin began reading. He dropped into a more serious tone than usual - if that was even possible - and began saying, "It has not escaped the notice of the elder monks and Air Nomad leadership that some individuals in our communities do not seek the company of members of the opposite sex during the short window we Air Nomads allow for intercourse, nor has it escaped our notice that these same individuals will act with one another in a decidedly non-platonic fashion outside of this time." Korra could feel her curiosity growing by the word, Tenzin continuing, "The assembled scholars have agreed that in the name of compassion and empathy, that these relationships are not to be disrupted, as they might be in the other three nations. Furthermore, these relationships shall be allowed to exist in their full capacity - including intercourse, of its kind - all the time, as these woman on woman and man on man pairings have no potential for producing a family unit that might supersede the primacy of Air Nomad culture and community. Their relationships shall from henceforth be known as 'another way for the wind to blow', without any of the derogatory remarks present in the other three nation's vocabulary."

Though the writing was dry, Korra found what it said to be more liberating than when she busted loose of Zaheer's chains, and based on her look alone, Asami felt even more relief. Korra felt some tears coming to her eyes, as she asked Tenzin happily, "You mean we're not alone? And that a whole NATION saw homosexual relationships as not only acceptable, but equal to norma- I mean, heterosexual ones?" Tenzin laughed, and said, "From what I have read further on the subject, some of the Air Nomad leaders actually found same-sex relationships to be less troubling - no potential for an untimely baby or 'subversive' family unit formation."

Korra could see Asami blush at the same time as she felt her own cheeks fill with blood. "Yeah, about the baby part, Tenzin…" Asami began explaining, as Tenzin looked at her with increasing surprise. Both she and Asami started unleashing a veritable tide of words, explaining everything that happened in the Spirit World, and what Katara thought had occurred. When the name Long Yumao came up, Tenzin looked uncharacteristically uneasy. Once he felt that both women had talked their share, Tenzin put his hands on both their shoulders, saying with a hint of fear, "You mention this 'Long Yumao' spirit… I believe I now have something to tell you." Korra could see his unease rising, Tenzin saying, "To keep the story short, after the argument with my mother this morning, I meditated. At first only on what she said - which I eventually realized was wholly true." Korra couldn't help but let her jaw drop open slightly, Tenzin smiling slightly as he said, "I managed to accidentally project myself to where Jinora and Kai were by focusing on Jinora's energy. I told them both about the conversation I had with Katara, giving my support to Jinora to make her own choices. They… made a face sort of like yours. When I finished, I felt as if a large burden had been lifted from my soul."

Korra hugged Tenzin, looking up to his face, and said, "That's great! You can project yourself just like your daughter can now." Korra felt a frown form on her face, asking, "What does that have to do with Long Yumao?" Tenzin shivered slightly, continuing, "Apparently, the control I had attempted to exert over Jinora had served as a block to entering the Spirit World properly - through meditation." As Tenzin explained his encounter with Uncle Iroh, Korra felt a smile return to her face - only to be replaced by a look of abject horror as he described Long Yumao's new appearance, size, and how many spirits were following him. She suddenly remembered her bizarre dream, and realized it was no sleepy hallucination, wondering what humans ever did to this spirit to make him so hateful.

She began to cry out of fear and uncertainty, tightening her hug around Tenzin, who let out an audible grunt, saying, "Easy, Korra! You're a lot stronger than you think - physically, emotionally _and_ spiritually." What Korra felt to be false, placating words only made her - and now Asami, who was also now hugging Tenzin - start to weep more bitterly. Korra cried, "This is all our fault! If me and Asami hadn't gone into that stupid portal…" Tenzin let out a deep sigh, saying, "By the spiri- I mean, Raava. Can't really say the first now, can I… You are right to be somewhat fearful. This does not sound good, Korra." Korra still could not completely wipe away her fear, but her tears began to subside. Korra saw Tenzin extend his hand, and blow the tears off her own cheeks, as well as Asami's, Tenzin asserting, "Korra, this is not your fault; it sounds as if Raava wanted this to happen - for the spirits to start treating us more reasonably, if not in some cases as equals. This Spirit Civil War is just a nasty side effect - growing pains the world must go through to enter a brighter future. On the other note -you said yourself Raava now sees yin and yang as Uncle Iroh does, through no small help on your own part. This other wonderful event is both something for us to celebrate as a group for its own sake, and a catalyst for the other change. It's a shame we'll have to wait almost a year to see the baby." Tenzin pushed both Korra and Asami away from him slightly, saying, "Even if he himself wishes you could share without reservations, Uncle Iroh is probably right that no one we cannot trust should know. Especially Asami's pregnancy - that is uncharted ground."

Korra felt herself stand up straight again, and sniffed slightly - the last sign of her earlier outburst, thanking Tenzin as she bowed, "Thank you for all your kind words and helpful information, Tenzin. I need to wash up, and …" Korra's eyes opened in a slight panic, saying, "Tenzin, quick, help Asami and I get our clothes back on. It would be really awkward if someone walked in on us like this." Korra was just helping Asami finish buttoning her overcoat back on as she heard the sounds of running, and panicked breath. Knowing that would likely be the airbender kids, Korra groaned, "Looks like we're not a moment too soon." Tenzin hurriedly stuffed the scroll back into its pot as the footsteps approached.

Bumi was running as hard as he could towards the trio, seemingly forgetting he was an airbender now. Bumi was being trailed by his little spirit friend, Bumju - who looked a bit… whiter than normal? Bumi began talking rapidly when he reached his brother, saying, "This isn't some story. Bumju says a big mean spirit tried to insult him for hanging out with humans, and that he can't remember anything after that! Avatar, you do spirity stuff. Can you help him?" Bumju let out a sequence of shrills and high-pitched squeaks, and Bumi told the spirit, raising his arms in the air, "What do you mean you're perfectly fine! Now why don't you tell me the real reason I ran halfway across Air Temple Island." Bumju made motions mimicking those of an airbender's, and Bumi slapped himself in the face, grumbling, "Why didn't you tell me I should have just airbent my way over here!" Thoroughly annoyed, Bumi crossed his arms, pouting,"Whatever. Won't wear my sweater, and now all this nonsense." Korra noticed Bumju coming to her.

She reached out to touch the spirit, intending to tussle it - it was very cute, after all, and seemed to want her attention. Instead, she heard a high little voice in her head when she made contact. It said "Hi, Avatar! Can you help me? I was trying to warn Bumi about a war that I don't understand, but he wouldn't listen." Korra found herself talking to the spirit, much as Bumi would have, asking "Can you show me what happened?" As she felt herself beginning to fade, she could hear Bumi yell "Hey! Korra, you already have a spirit friend, and Bumju's mine!" She felt her eyes glow slightly, and her palm shot up to meet Bumi's forehead, holding a wildly grabbing Bumi back from her and Bumju.

As the Avatar, Korra had plenty of experience with the sensation of another, more powerful being inhabiting her own body. Now, though, the feeling was reversed - here she was, watching the small spirit's memory of what had happened as the more powerful and wiser presence. She couldn't help but wonder if this was part of what being a parent or being Raava felt like.

As she fully came to, watching a stilled Spirit World through Bumju's eyes, she heard his high little voice again. "I was just minding my own business, Avatar, when a big mean spirit came and started talking bad about me and Bumi." The scene in front of her unfroze, and she saw a visibly incensed Long Yumao rise before Bumju, as though he had just lost some quarry he desperately desired to catch. She remembered what had just occurred to Tenzin, and as she said "Bumju, this is Long Yumao, and you were right to call him mean - he doesn't like spirits who tolerate, much less like humans, and despises humans as well," Korra noticed the scene had frozen again. She took the opportunity to study his features, and she confirmed what Tenzin had said - Long Yumao certainly had a lot of hateful and wrathful energy in him that reminded her of Vaatu's, but it lacked something - chaos. Korra suddenly understood this new adversary's nature better - he wanted order, much like Kuvira, but saw spirits ruling humanity with an iron fist instead of a human - Kuvira - doing so. Though even Kuvira had made no pretense to try and rule spirits outright…

She could sense Bumju was confused, much in the same way she was when Raava wouldn't tell her something, Korra thinking much as Raava might intone to her, "Sorry, Bumju, I was just thinking to myself that this big mean spirit is an awful lot like two individuals I have already met - one spirit, one human. Bet he wouldn't like me telling him that last bit." Korra tried to smile, but found she couldn't - she felt as featureless as Raava. Without form, she thought, "Anyways, show me the part where you stopped remembering - I may be able to see what you couldn't."

The frozen image before her resumed motion once more, with Long Yumao snarling "Hello, little spirit. I've heard that others make fun of you for how close you are to that clown of a mortal, Bumi - they say it's not proper for humans and spirits to be friends." Korra saw many yellow eyes appear behind Long Yumao, sheltered in darkness. "They wonder whose side you are on - spirit, or human - along with that traitor, Raava. You must have heard the rumors of her favoritism, and that… gift she gave her lackey." Korra was surprised when she encountered what appeared to be an inner block that stopped her from becoming angry. Bumju chimed in, "This is where I forget what happened."

Korra could sense the normally peaceful spirit growing very angry, and she sensed Bumju's body growing in size, to occupy the form Furry Foot had taken under Unalaq's influence. Something was off compared to that terrible time, however - Bumju was a striking white-blue instead of the evil color Jinora's spirit "friend" was temporarily all those years ago.

All of a sudden, she heard a very familiar voice - but one that had obviously caused Bumju much confusion, and was possibly the cause of his lapse of memory.

_Interesting, my first convert - I didn't expect this so soon, _a voice whispered into what she assumed was Bumju's consciousness. What she knew to be Raava continued, _You need to get out of here, Bumju. Just focus on Bumi's energy, and I'll help with the rest._

Before doing that, however, Bumju grabbed a surprised Long Yumao by the eyefeathers and began spinning him around, eventually letting him go, sending the enraged spirit sailing over the horizon, his surprised squawking fading. _Not quite what I had in mind, but that will do. _She could feel Bumju shrinking back to normal size, and focusing on Bumi. The small spirit vanished just in time before the multitude of Dark Spirits that had been behind Long Yumao crashed onto the spot where he had once been.

She heard Bumju's high voice asking her, "So what happened? Did a fight happen? I don't like fighting." Korra told him what had happened, and told him he had been very brave to grab onto Long Yumao like that. The spirit then asked her "And why am I whiter?" Korra did not have an immediate response, so she returned both of them to the physical world, from the spirit's memory.

_Now you have some idea of what it feels like to be me, Avatar, and vice versa. Maybe you will be a bit more sympathetic to my occasional slipup._ Raava continued, with what felt like a small amount of budding human emotion, _Bumju is whiter than he was because, in standing up for "his" human, he aligned himself with my will. I hope he will prove valuable in this coming Spirit Civil War, especially as one of my first converts, even if he doesn't like fighting much._

Korra began to explain this to Bumju, letting Bumi fall flat on his face. After she was finished, she noticed everyone but Bumju giving her a very strange look - almost as if she had been speaking gibberish. Bumi stared with wide eyes, telling her, "I've never seen a human speak Bumju's language before - I didn't think it was possible." He put his hands on his hips, and with considerable jealousy said, "Wish I could talk like that. Now that you're done with my Bumju, want to explain what happened in there?" When Korra got to the part where Bumju tossed Long Yumao like a sack of potatoes, Bumi started laughing hysterically, and grabbed Bumju, saying "That's my boy!"

Instead of an angry trill like Korra expected, as Bumju did not like fighting, he merely squealed contentedly. The same unknown part of her mind that had apparently let her verbally speak to Bumju translated it as "I may not like fighting, but I will gladly follow you into battle, Avatar, if it means protecting Bumi and his human friends." She started smiling at the same time as Bumi, who picked Bumju up into the air, and said, "You're darn right, soldier - the real reason humans fight in wars is rarely for an ideology, but for their comrades or loved ones." Bumi fished in his pockets, and produced a sufficiently gaudy medal, looping its string around Bumju's neck. Bumi yelled, with a dramatic flair, "I now pronounce Bumju Commander of the first Spirit Battalion! Now, Bumju, if you're going to command, I'll need to tell you -" A sudden blast of air knocked Bumi off his feet, and Bumju simply trilled and began flying again.

After a low moan, Tenzin barked, "Brother, I won't have you trying to militarize your own spirit buddy! Now take that ridiculous thing off him - I have a feeling that Raava can handle orders just fine, being an all-powerful spirit and all." Bumi stood back up, and looked like he was going to ask another stupid question - probably involving why Tenzin had been with Asami and Korra before he ran up. Predictably, Bumi started, pointing at Korra, asking "And just what were you three doing before I came? It certainly didn't seem like you were talking about the weather."

Korra vaguely considered earthbending a small wave of earth at Bumi's feet as Toph had once done to her, but stopped short - she was no grouch. Korra started telling Bumi about the coming Spirit Civil War, making careful to avoid anything to do with the "gift" from Raava or her and Asami. Bumi put his hand to his chin, with a concerned look on his face, saying, "I know that reconstruction has not yet begun on Republic City, but it might be wise to declare a control zone around the portal. I don't want any nonbenders entering and being abducted by Long Yumao, or any hotheaded benders stirring up the spirits inside any more than they already are." Bumi turned to Korra, with an increasingly uncharacteristically serious look on his face, saying, "The Northern and Southern Spirit Portals are not extremely close to any large human populations, Korra, so I do not think you need to do what I am about to suggest with those portals. I know this goes against what you did after Harmonic Convergence three years ago, Korra, but… if the infighting between spirits becomes too great and begins to manifest around the new portal, you may need to shut down the Republic City Spirit Portal."

_He brings up a very good point, Korra, but I believe that point in time is very far off_. It was good to have such a knowledgeable advisor, now that she was more used to the formerly practically mute spirit's increasing presence.

Korra responded, "Raava does not believe that is necessary just yet - it has only been a single day since the portal's opening after all, and closing it would lead people to question my decision to keep any Spirit Portal open in the first place." She turned, addressing both a surprised Tenzin and smiling Bumi at the same time, saying, "I have other business I need to attend to, and would appreciate you both leaving me and Asami be." After Bumi rushed off after a freewheeling Bumju, Korra whispered to Tenzin, "If it's alright with you, I would like to make your artifact room Asami and I's 'secret' bedroom until things settle down a little." Tenzin gave her a slightly distrustful look. Figuring what the problem was, Korra pledged, "And I promise, no more _elemental_ bending inside the room." The look persisted. Korra mumbled, "Or the other kind of bending." With this final promise, Tenzin told her, "Yes, you can stay in the artifact room - you'll need to wait until more private quarters are available to carry out any… other activities, I'm afraid."

After Tenzin left, Korra told Asami, "Just wait here and doodle on your design pad until I come back - it may be a while." Korra stopped for a moment, and suggested, "Perhaps some long-term project you can work on when your pregnancy becomes a hindrance to your agility, and you no longer can fight as well. I'd hate for you or the…" Korra paused, the reality of the situation finally beginning to hit home. "… baby. To be harmed. Love you." She opened a window in the back so Asami would have a light to work by, and quickly left the room.

As she stepped out into the sunlight once more, one name entered her mind - Jinora. Before she tried to read Jinora's location, she thought to herself, in a way not much different than Bumju had when she was observing his memory, "How can I tell if she's circle-of-trust material, for sure? Raava, you mentioned that you would help in any way you could - care to give me any specifics?" She heard Raava intone, seemingly pleased, _If you can get me close enough, I should be able to judge her through your physical touch - though I doubt there will be anything wrong with a girl who once saved me. _Raava made something that closely resembled a laugh. Korra thought with a sense of relief , "You're starting to get the hang of some of this 'human-y' stuff, Raava - and not just through your connection to me." At first, the spirit had seemed somewhat dense regarding humans, but she could tell Raava was learning well from Korra.

_You're the first Avatar to try to directly teach me anything human-y, Korra - most of the other ones just taught me some important things not to do to or say to other humans with their own misadventures, and Wan was too busy being the first Avatar for anything else... _Korra felt the spirit laugh again, this time much closer to a human's, and saw a very brief flash of a laughing small girl with snow-white hair. _I think I would be a lot less awkward if I had connection with our shared past lives again - but that's something for later. _As the spirit finished, Korra placed her hand on the ground, focusing on Jinora's energy. She saw a vision of the young airbender sitting apparently alone, facing the sea - seemingly pondering something.

As Korra approached the spot she sensed Jinora sitting atop an air scooter, she saw a small form still facing the endless ocean. Korra yelled, "Hey, Jinora!" dismissing her air scooter, asking, "Why the long face?" Seeing that Jinora was still reluctant to turn and face her, Korra added, "Your father already told me about his little projection stunt. So I'm not here to ask you if you kissed Kai, or whatever you might think I am curious about." She became more concerned when even this good-natured jab produced no reaction. Korra ran up to Jinora's side, and used her waterbending to create a platform in front of Jinora that she could sit on and face Jinora directly.

As she finished sitting on the solid ice, she noticed Jinora had a very dark, concerned look on her face. Jinora's head slowly rose, and she could see that Jinora had her eyes closed. Jinora gasped in shock, and opened her eyes, coughing violently. Jinora said, clearly concerned, "Korra! I was just in the Spirit World, trying to be peaceful and figure out why my dad had such a sudden change of heart about me and Kai, and some big Dark Spirit tried to spook me! He said 'My name is Long Yumao, and you're not welcome here - and now to do what I failed to do to your father!' and I broke the connection instantly by instinct. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that spirit, would you?" Jinora usually tried to remain relatively stoic, but Korra could hear the fear in her voice. Jinora started tapping her finger on the sand - half impatiently, half anxiously.

This spirit was really starting to make her mad. First, he refused to help defend Republic City, home to both humans and spirits, then threatens to have a malicious spirit steal her girlfriend's face, insults Raava, attempts to do goodness knows what to Tenzin, bullies a much smaller spirit, and now threatens Jinora, a fourteen-year old? Korra felt an immense heat building in her chest, and faced up towards the afternoon sky. Eyes now glowing, she roared, "Universe, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" as huge spouts of blue flame left her mouth and intense jets of the same strange blue fire shot from her hands.

_So this is what pure, human righteous anger feels like_. Korra suddenly remembered she wasn't alone, and inhaled deeply, shutting off the seemingly infinite power of Raava and the Avatar State, leaving only a single orb of blue fire in her right hand. Jinora was staring at it, as if she were afraid the fire might take human form and try to kill her.

Pointing at it, Jinora said, "Korra! What in the name of the spirits did you just do?! You know that blue flame was the signature of one of my grandfather's worst enemies, 'Princess' Azula, right?" Korra heard an icy yelp in her head at mention of this Azula. A desperate look entered Jinora's eyes, Jinora saying, "Please tell me you aren't going crazy like she did!" Korra sighed deeply, and walked towards Jinora, outstretching her left arm - Korra wasn't done looking at that bizarre flame just yet. Reassuring Jinora, "Sorry about that, Jinora. No, I'm not going crazy, though I fear the world - specifically the spirits, just as you mentioned - may be. Raava's been talking to me seemingly nonstop in the past 24 hours," Korra noticed Jinora was still eyeing the flame, more so in curiosity than fear now. Sharing Jinora's curiosity, Korra said, "I only have a vague idea where that flame came from, so I'm not going to dismiss it just yet. Here, let me sit at your right side, and I'll explain more of what's going on. Sound good?" The young airbender's head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.

After Korra maneuvered carefully around Jinora, making sure to maintain the flame, she extended her arm to rest on Jinora's right shoulder. Korra grunted in exertion as she tried to sit down properly from a standing position without letting that odd blue flame go out or crush Jinora into the sand. Korra told Jinora to sit still for a second so that Raava could finish reading the young airbender next to her.

_Read completed. It is as I thought, Avatar - she is trustworthy. Her experience with her father's disapproval of her relationship with Kai has made her very accepting of other's relationships. _Korra felt Raava re-center herself inside Korra's chest. Before she could begin talking to Jinora, Jinora suddenly turned to her and said, "What was that weird energy I just felt? It felt like something was judging my worth. Can you teach me how to do it? If you do, I'll help you learn how to project yourself without Harmonic Convergence's help!" Jinora's eyes shone brightly - she always was thirsting for knowledge.

Korra patted Jinora on the head, and said, "No, sorry, kid - this appears to be Avatar only, unless Raava teaches me how to do it manually. It might even be Raava only, for all I know. I will, however, fill you in on what I said I would earlier." And so, Korra began to spill all the details of the past 24 hours. Again. As she finished, Jinora said, "Wow! And I thought creating a new Spirit Portal was cool. You truly will be a legend, Korra." Korra gave Jinora an odd look, and asked, "Aren't you worried at all? You know, about the Spirit Civil War, or what people will say once Asami gives birth to what will probably be a waterbender?" Jinora shrugged, and said, "I figure nothing can be worse than Harmonic Convergence and Vaatu almost destroying the world." Korra smiled at this young brazen optimist, and said, "I wish some of your optimistic attitude would rub off on me or your dad. We can both be a bit pessimistic at times."

Suddenly, Korra felt as though they were being watched. She yelled, "If that's you, Long Yumao the 'Opportunist'" -the last word in a goofy voice, making Jinora laugh - "I'll wreck your - " Stopping short, she realized the presence was no spirit - it was Opal. Korra stood up, facing the bushes and flaring the mesmerizing blue fire in her right hand at the same time, hoping to penetrate the darkness. Realizing that Opal had likely been listening in for some time, the flame flared larger under the influence of her rising anger. She asked loudly, noticing Jinora was quickly scooting away from her legs, "Just how long have you been listening in, you little sneak, and why didn't you just come out?" The only sound she could hear was the cracklings of the fire in her right hand. "Don't make me earthbend you out, you little eavesdropper - "

Opal suddenly leapt from the bushes and simultaneously used one hand to shoot a powerful blast of air at Korra's forehead and a leg to sweep a gust of wind from behind Korra, striking her knees. At just the right moment, when Korra was at her wobbliest, Opal used a powerful punch of air to hit her in the gut, breaking her flame and sending Korra tumbling backwards. She saw Opal's face appear over her own shortly after, and Opal gloated, "I may not be able to bend blue noble's fire, but I can still knock you over. Now apologize to me." Korra made a quick grab for Opal's leg, catching her off guard, and the airbender joined Korra in the sand.

_Read complete. Opal is also trustworthy - Suyin Beifong's lifestyle has left Opal open to many possibilities. ..though I would suggest you treat your allies a little better. _Korra thought with a whine, "Come on, that was just being… playful! Just a little good fun -" _Don't bother trying to lie to me, Korra. We both know you were furious at Opal. Now say sorry, before she notices the delay this unnecessary second half of our conversation has caused and thinks you're crazy… er. _Korra had to admit - Raava only continued to improve. She seemed less a clueless child now, and more an exasperatingly knowledgeable mother. Of course, that lie had been pretty weak, and the spirit wasn't trying to read another human - she was just reading her vessel.

Returning her attention to the people around her, Korra shook the sand off her body and Opal's, Korra said, "I'm sorry, Opal - I just don't like being stalked, and depending on how much you heard, the reason for that would be apparent." Opal apologized, "I'm sorry as well, Korra - based on what I heard and understood, it sounds like some very sinister spirit has something of a vendetta against you, and I shouldn't have remained in the bushes so long." Opal sighed slightly, and continued, "Since I don't know what I don't know, you may as well start from the top." Korra groaned slightly, and said aloud "Just one more to go after this," and then told Opal everything she had been repeating so often lately, wishing she could just… give out information!

Saving the most bizarre news for last, Opal giggled slightly when Korra mentioned that she had basically made Asami pregnant with Raava's… unasked for help. Stepping back from Korra's more-than-slightly angry frown, she just said, "I already figured out that Mako knows about your relationship with Asami, but I can't wait to see his reaction to that." Korra laughed, and said, "Too late - I told Katara to let him know what she figured out earlier. Sorry - I don't think you'll be seeing any shocked reactions from him." Opal looked vaguely disappointed, and then she began talking again with a slight gleam in her eye, saying, "Oooh! I know one person you haven't told yet who should have a funny reaction - Bolin. Can I tag along to see his face?" Opal put her hands together in what had to be the most annoying way possible.

Seemingly without her input, Korra's right hand formed a blue flame again, this time in the form of a small blue dagger. Korra yelled at Opal, the dagger growing slightly, "Do you think this gift from Raava is some sort of carnival freak show, or what? It started a WAR! I do not find this funny at all!" She heard Jinora mumble, "That looks an awful lot like one of Azula's firebending forms!" Korra took a deep breath, and the sickening fireblade vanished. Opal looked at Korra as if she were Kuvira. Korra began crying lightly, partly out of cumulative stress, partly out of guilt - and partly out of her ineptitude at controlling her emotions lately, crying included. Korra blubbered, "I'm sorry, Opal - the past few days have been extremely stressful, and in some ways I have been running on adrenaline for months now. If I am to master this 'gift' of blue fire, I will need to learn to control my emotions much better." As she said this, an idea occurred to her - what if she tried to temper that volatile flame just like she had tempered her anger in the Spirit World, and the lust that was leading her to disrespect Asami's wishes in the artifact room earlier today?

Korra motioned to Jinora and Opal to stand back, stating "Can you two step back for a second? I want to try something to control that flame." Their overeager faces and unanimous reply of "Sure!" from both of them annoyed her - but only a little. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she pointed her hands out towards the open sea. Korra tried to make the most violent and unruly flames that she could, thinking of Zaheer, Long Yumao and what Asami endured growing up. Based on the sounds of shooting jets, intense crackling and deep gasps from behind her, she had succeeded. Then, breathing deeply once more, she thought of Asami and her own love for her, opened her eyes, and the flames stopped behaving wildly. Both had shrunk to manageable blue bushes, no longer striking violently across the ocean's surface. Examining her now upturned palms, she could have sworn she saw multiple colors at the base, but she was satisfied with blue.

Korra announced, "Test completed. You may now approach me again," dismissing the flames and turning to face the thicket behind her. She laughed at the shocked expression of Jinora's and Opal's faces. Opal asked, with some hesitation, "How on earth did you get those flames back under control? You barely avoided incinerating a passing boat!" Korra turned around, to see an obviously panicked fisherman gunning his motor. She frowned - she was sick and tired of almost hurting people. _You should be glad you haven't hurt any people you love yet - your record is actually better than Aang's; remember the story of the first time he attempted to firebend and burned Katara?_ Korra felt herself relax, and she answered to Opal "I thought of my love for Asami, and I instantly regained control of the flames." Jinora cooed "Awwww," and Opal said rather dejectedly "I wish I could firebend - there's no airbending moves I can augment like that." Opal laughed, adding "Plus, I'm not sure that thinking of Bolin would give me more control over my bending just yet anyways - he's still too much of a goofball. I might just knock someone over." Korra snickered - business first, then a little "romance". Typical Beifong. "Speaking" of which…

Korra pointed at Opal's hands, then her feet, asking, "What did you knock me over with earlier, Opal? It didn't look like any airbending I've ever seen. It looked more like…" Korra suddenly slapped her forehead in realization. "Earthbending. It's based on earthbending, isn't it." Opal smiled lightly, and said, "Close, but not quite - the form and idea is closer to my mother's and aunt's fighting style, and the smaller, denser punches of air are intended to mimic steel projectiles." Opal's eyes glittered slightly as she said "steel projectiles", and said "I wish I could get my hands on something to propel with airbending that's easily storable in a magazine." Jinora shot Opal an accusing look, and said, "That's not very pacifist!" Opal laughed deeply, and said "Look, no offense, Jinora, but a sizeable chunk of these new airbenders still think less like you, and more like I do, given that they are from the Earth Kingdom."

Jinora stuck out her tongue at Opal, and said, "Sounds more like 100-Year's War era firebending to me." Apparently, this struck something of a nerve, as Opal scowled and used her same hybrid airbending move on Jinora. As a clearly shocked Jinora got up from the ground, Opal told her, "Look, you may be Tenzin's daughter and have your Airbending Master tattoos, but the facts support my view, not yours. We have a lot of new airbenders who are more steeped in Earth Kingdom culture, despite all your family's hard work over the past three years." Korra was tired of watching two practically mature women fight like five-year olds over a toy, and simply bent a wall of ice between the two feuding parties, and moved to straddle the wall. When she noted both Jinora and Opal giving her a sheepish look, Korra said, "Let the individual airbenders decide how they want to fight after showing and explaining the basics principles and forms of your new form, Opal. You also might want to hone this new style more first. If any show as… combative inclinations as you do, Opal, and want to augment their airbending with projectiles, I will ask Asami to design some new equipment for them. As is, I will make a special request for new equipment for you - she is currently doodling as we speak, probably coming up with ideas that far outstrip our own." Korra vaguely considered lightly splashing both as she tore away the ice wall between Jinora and Opal, but refrained from doing so. She walked towards solid ground, and placed her hand down.

Korra said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to Bolin," as she headed in the direction her reading told her where Bolin was. Before she had walked even five feet, she could hear both Opal and Jinora starting to bicker. Korra walked backwards just enough to be able to manipulate the ocean's water, then bent two small jets of water from the sea at both quarreling girls' faces, saying, "And quit fighting - it's not very pacifist or like an Air Nomad either." Korra heard both girls laughing as she finally left earshot. Korra said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to Bolin," as she headed in the direction her reading told her where Bolin was. Before she had walked even five feet, she could hear both Opal and Jinora starting to bicker. Korra walked backwards just enough to be able to manipulate the ocean's water, then bent two small jets of water from the sea at both quarreling girls' faces. "And quit fighting - it's not very pacifist or like an Air Nomad either." Korra heard both girls laughing as she finally left earshot.


	7. Chapter 7: Exchange

Chapter 7 : Exchange

As Korra's foot hit the solid ground again, she noticed something she hadn't before - Bolin wasn't alone. Korra said "Mako? I thought he knew better than that!" as she began running towards the two brother's location. When she could finally hear what the brothers were talking about, she wanted to smack herself on the forehead. She had assumed they were talking about her and Asami, or the spiritual events of the past 24 hours. They were talking about their own lives, and how Bolin had helped Mako narrowly escape death. "I may be the Avatar, but I'm not the center of the Universe," she told herself drolly.

_Agreed_.

Korra burst out laughing at Raava's impeccable timing, causing Bolin and Mako to turn around and give Korra a quizzical look. Bolin said, shaking his head, "I know you're the Avatar and all, Korra, but sometimes I swear you're just crazy," obviously not aware of the recent increase in Raava's presence in her head. Seeing the look on Mako's face, she realized with a start that Mako needed to be brought up to speed on more recent events as well. She concentrated and shot a rearward burst of flame from her fists, feeling a sudden rush of wind. Given Mako's reaction that she could see once she opened her eyes again, those flames must have been blue.

Mako said, practically apoplectic, "Korra! What the eff was that? I have heard stories of Azula and her noble's fire before, but never actually seen it - when did you figure out how to do that?" Korra could tell he was half fearful, half jealous. Bolin stepped forward, putting his hand on her shoulder, and said, "I'm sure Korra will explain, and maybe even teach you how to do it - right, Korra?" Bolin gave her a cheesy smile, and elbowed her hip. As Korra answered, "Sure thing, but there's something else I need to do first," she felt a voice intone _Read complete. He may be a gumflapper, but only when it comes to his own affairs - at least now. He has matured just as Mako and yourself have after all, Korra._ Korra returned with a cheesy grin of her own, and told Bolin, "You may want to sit down - things are about to get interesting." Mako groaned slightly, wondering aloud, "What else is there now that Katara didn't tell me?" and Korra shot him a quick glance, saying, "Hey - at least you haven't had to play the part of a broken phonograph today. My voice hurts a little already! Now sit down and listen, please." She recounted the events of the past 24 hours in order, finishing with her encounter with Jinora and Opal. When she got to the cat fight, Bolin laughed, saying "That's Opal for ya!", suddenly getting a nervous look on his face when Korra stressed Opal's fascination with "steel projectiles" again. Smiling, Korra thought, "Been a while since I messed with Bolin," to herself. Mako laughed, patting his brother on the back, and said "Sounds like you're going to have your hands full, brother. I think I'm glad I am single for now, if an airbender is giving you that much gruff." Bolin merely bent over, making a low weeping sound. Mako smacked his brother on the back, this time much harder, making him sit up straight again. Bolin was staring off into the distance, seemingly remembering something.

Bolin pointed at Korra, then at the partial ruins of Republic City, saying, "Toph told me that all I needed to learn metalbending was a good teacher, and I think someone who has been trying to teach the most powerful spirit in the WOOOORLD 'human-y' things and succeeding even a little has to be a pretty good teach." Korra could feel herself blushing. Bolin continued, "Plus, both of us know how to do something you don't - Mako, lightning generation, and me, lavabending - so we could swap roles back and forth. Kill two birds with one stone. What do you say?" Mako interjected, "I'd really like to know how you generated that noble's fire. Why don't we go into the city, and spend some quality Team Avatar time together?" Korra smiled, and said, "Well, if it's the whole team, I'll need to go get Asami. Raava wanted to discuss something with Asami and I in the Spirit World sometime today anyways, and with that Long Yumao running around I'm certainly not meditating into there." The three teammates laughed lightly together, and even though it was not a deep laughter, it felt wonderful all the same.

After Korra returned with Asami in tow, still staring at her notepad and frowning slightly, the four entered the city after quite some time of pleasantly silent walking. When Korra reached what seemed like a good, open spot with plenty of earth, space and metal, she stopped and bent a ruined Satomobile towards the group, clearing a large swath of earth to its side. Korra said, "Bolin, I think you're first - come over here," and he ran over away from his brother with a gleaming look in his eye, exclaiming, "I can't wait to metalbend! Can you think of anything that might make it easier for me?" Korra paused, and shot a continuous jet of blue flame at the Satomobile, stating, "I think you might have an easier time of it if the metal is more malleable. When Su taught me how to metalbend, we used exceptionally pliable metallic meteorites. We don't have any of those here - remembering the fight in the control room now, I get the nasty feeling Kuvira used those to help pilot her Colossus - so we'll have to make do with this." As she finished talking, she noticed that most of the car was red hot, and some of its extremities were melting. Bolin regarded it with a slightly nervous look in his eye. Korra said, "Come on, you touch lava all the time!" Bolin sighed, and relaxed - just a little though. Korra continued, hoping to get Bolin's confidence up, "Now, just focus on the impurities within the metal, and pretend the metal is like cooler, harder lava. Don't try to lavabend it though, or I'll have to bring another car over here."

Bolin screwed up his face in a way that made his brother laugh, then sigh immediately after, as though remembering a previous particularly bad attempt at metalbending. Korra gave him a dirty look and a quick "Shhh!" Mako blushed lightly, then turned to talk to Asami, asking her questions about why she felt the need to hide her relationship with Korra. Satisfied that Mako would not interfere with her training of Bolin any further, she turned back to Bolin. Bolin gave what sounded like an awfully final grunt, and she saw the front door to the Satomobile fly off. She began clapping loudly, saying "Good job, Bolin! I knew you could do it! Now let's try a colder Satomobile - this should be a bit harder." She stopped congratulating him, noticing he was running in circles like an ecstatic top. Bolin finally stopped celebrating, and said, "I KNEW Lin was a horrible teacher! Bend me another car, Korra." After the "new" car rested on its ruined springs, creaking in what almost sounded like resignation or surrender, Bolin went from the cheapest metal on the sides of the vehicle to the denser metal of the engine, punching holes and opening cracks as he went. He wiped his brow after managing to rip a hole in the rear without physically touching the metal siding, and said "Okay, now my turn to teach you! I imagine this could be easier for you than it was me, given that you can firebend and all."

Bolin grabbed Korra's hand, and pushed it against the open ground. She noticed absentmindedly she felt nothing even resembling attraction, even though she had once gone on a "date" with him - maybe Asami had truly ruined men for her. Snapping back to the present, she heard Bolin say "Hey! Pay attention. Man, I sound like Tenzin… Anyways. When you try to lavabend, the key is friction. You want to rub the earth against itself in a way that it does not break, but instead becomes very hot." He stepped forward, and created a small pool of lava to the far front of her hand, saying, "Now why don't you try? And try not to use firebending for now - just get not crushing the earth down." Korra attempted to do as he said, but after making at least five imprints of crushed earth and no lava, she was getting frustrated. She decided to move some distance away from Bolin and disobey his orders - she made the earth move against itself at the same time she used her firebending to heat the ground. Not fully expecting it to work, she had barely enough time to move her hands back - and then jump backwards away from a growing pool of magma whose center was white-hot. She turned to face Bolin, who was wearing one of his many surprised expressions, Bolin admitting, "If I had known using firebending would let you do that, Korra, I wouldn't have even bothered telling you to rub the earth on itself." Korra held up a hand, and said, "No, Bolin - you were right about the friction; I guess unless you have the natural talent like you do you need firebending and earthbending to make lavabending work properly." Korra sat down beside her creation to catch her breath, staring at its now orange center.

As soon as she felt up to teaching and learning again, she stood up and walked towards Mako and Asami, who were embracing after what must have been a difficult conversation for Asami. Again, she felt no jealousy - funny what time could do to a person. Korra merely said, "When you're ready, Mako, come over to me at this clearing, and we'll start." Asami told Mako, "Thank you for listening to my story and being so understanding - sometimes it's just good to have a friendly face listen to your troubles." Mako hugged her tightly, and said, "I never thought you had so many problems, Asami - first your mother, and then your father's meddling, then his betrayal and redeeming death. I knew of the first one and last two, but now I understand you had a lot more on your plate than you let on. I guess money doesn't buy happiness after all." With this, he stood up and walked towards Korra, finally putting a hand on her shoulder, saying confidently, "Let's do this."

Again - no attraction, just a feeling of friendship. Korra really was Asami's now, making a mental note to ask her mother more about love, and the whole "head over heels" thing. Korra looked back to Mako, and said, "Yes. Come with me - I want to do this part away from any buildings- we don't want to start a fire, after all." Once they were on the open ground, next to the now-cooled lava crater, she told Mako "When I first bent this blue fire, I was extremely angry - but not at something someone had done to me, but rather, at what this 'Long Yumao the Opportunist' had attempted to do to three people I hold dear - Jinora, Tenzin and most of all, Asami." Mako made a funny face, and said "But I thought that the new firebending wasn't supposed to be about anger! Isn't hatred what the firebenders of the Fire Nation used to fuel their blasts during the 100 Year's War?" He was getting visibly angrier, though not in the way that Korra had hoped. She told him curtly, "No, you didn't let me finish. As a firebending source, hatred for one's enemies is a very fickle and weak power, prone to drying up if the hatred runs out, like I heard it did for Zuko when he joined Team Avatar. Unless the bender possessed great skill and apparent clarity of mind, as I have heard this Azula did, hatred isn't a good source in the long run - and she went insane! This anger is _righteous_ anger - imagine if someone killed your brother, or how you must feel about Kuvira and what her weapon ended up doing to Republic City - your home." She let Mako calm down, telling him, "Meditate on these feelings, and perhaps the prejudice Asami faced, and try to get as angry as possible. Then, channel that energy into your firebending, and let it free." She stepped back, adding "And I suggest you point your right hand towards the sky, and not anywhere else - this fire can have a nasty habit of hitting or almost hitting things you don't want it to." She heard Mako take a deep breath, and he pointed both his face and his one good hand up towards the late afternoon sky. He let out a sudden, loud yell, and bursts of blue flame erupted from his mouth and outstretched hand. Before Korra could congratulate him, he took another deep breath, and let out a mind-shatteringly furious scream, creating a massive blue fire vortex just above his mouth that was almost as big as the fire Korra had created not long before, even without the Avatar State. Noticing a single tear sliding down Mako's cheek, Korra asked him - once he was no longer trying to breathe fire, of course -"What were you focusing on for that last blast, Mako?" Before she could continue, he answered, "The loss of my parents, Kuvira and the devastation she wrought on Republic City, and most of all, what I would feel if my brother died of anything but old age," barely avoiding letting loose the tears that Korra knew he was holding back. She approached Mako and gave him a big strong polarbear-dog hug.

Mako sniffed slightly, and his face was serious once more, saying, "Okay, Korra, great - so now I can make big spouts of blue flame that I have no idea how to control. Now how do I keep from hurting my brother with this same flame? I don't have a significant other to focus on to temper the flame's wrath like you do, Korra." Korra remembered how Mako mentioned his brother dying last, and said, "Why don't you try to temper it with your brotherly love for Bolin? You did mention his death as the thing that would make you most angry, after all. So that the stakes are raised, I am only taking a slight step back this time - good luck." Korra moved back five feet- she didn't want to be Avatar flambé if Mako failed - and waited for Mako to try again. The increasingly familiar blue flame gushed from both right hand and mouth once more. After Mako took a deep breath, the spout of flame from Mako's mouth vanished, and he opened his eyes to stare at a small blue flame in his right hand. Korra saw the multicolor flame base again - if she ever saw Aang's spirit again, she'd have to ask what this multicolor fire meant. She clapped loudly, and said again "Very good job! I wasn't expecting you to make quite so large flames - they were almost as big as my first ones while in the Avatar State. If your brother is done cowering behind that Satomobile, you might want to go tell him you love him very much before we continue." Korra's eyes darted over to Bolin, who had apparently bent a third Satomobile to their location to use as cover. She noted with pleasure that he had successfully bent most of the metal into a protective covering, leaving only his eyes exposed - though she didn't want him being a coward…

After Mako managed to coax his brother back out of hiding, he led Bolin to Asami, and rejoined Korra. Mako attempted to form a lightning bolt to demonstrate the proper form, but found his sling getting in the way. He asked Korra, "You've heard of Katara's adventure with the bloodbender before, right, and how the old woman bent water from the air? Think you can do that, and try to heal my arm - while in the Avatar State?" Korra felt the blood draining from her face - she had never heard of an Avatar State healing before. _There's got to be a first time for everything, right?_ Korra sighed slightly, and tried to see if she could replicate that horrible woman's less notorious feat. She found it quite easy, and she surmised it must have been their relative closeness to the ocean that allowed her to draw the water without much effort. As she approached Mako with her hands sheathed in water, she tried to come up with something to think of while she tried to speed the healing of his arm. Finding her love for Asami not quite appropriate, she took a deep breath and focused on her friendship with Mako instead. By the time Mako had removed his sling, her eyes were glowing brightly - yet she found she still retained control. Although she had never been particularly good at healing, she felt a mix of her platonic love for Mako and Raava's energy assisting her, letting her finish faster than Katara might have done. When she opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see Mako holding two blue flames - one in each hand.

_Zaheer was right, Korra - you do have virtually limitless power. It's just that a substantial amount of your power is from a side you have never really expressed that much - the power to heal, to console, to mend, to make whole again. I hope you can learn to wield this power well, before the baby comes. _

Mako, Asami and Bolin all gave Korra a quizzical look, and Korra explained what Raava had just said. Asami laughed lightly, saying, "Yes - I'd prefer our child to have a balanced bender role model, and not one who is just mainly good at fighting." Mako shifted in front of Korra's vision, saying, "Thanks for healing my arm like that. Let's get back to what we were doing before - lightning generation." As Bolin and Asami sat back down far away from the two, Mako began making the circular motions, generating lightning and letting it loose into a distant hill, finding a power line and being absorbed before it could make any impact. Mako said, "To generate lightning, you must separate and manipulate the yin and yang in air - positive and negative charges, just like you'd find in a modern appliance." Korra struggled, after a while finally generating a charge, accidentally knocking herself unconscious when she failed to release it properly. She felt herself fading…

_Ugh, not this crap __again__._

Korra opened her eyes, seeing Mako standing over her - as though he had just shot a tiny bit of lightning into her. Korra panicked, asking "Just what did you do? Did you knock me out? And what did Raava mean by, 'Ugh, not this crap again'?" Mako frowned slightly, and Asami began laughing. Before Mako could explain, Asami said "Mako just used a controlled amount of lightning to get your heart back into a proper rhythm. And I believe Raava was talking about the time that Aang almost died from a shot of lightning from Azula - though this shock was self-inflicted." As Korra sat up, she said, "Sorry for my reaction, Mako - that was some quick thinking. It sounds like I didn't get part of what you are supposed to do once you generate lightning. How do you direct it?" Mako wiped the slightly sour expression off his face - he never did like being "scooped" by someone else - and said, "Once you generate the lightning, you need to act as a neutral conduit, and let the energy flow - you are not directing it, but rather serving as a pathway for it to follow. This is why it is important to aim your hands carefully, and not be rigid - almost as water, which shouldn't be a problem for you." He approached, demonstrating the strange technique again, this time on a nearby fancy model Satomobile, which began to honk erratically. Asami laughed, stating "You must have turned its alarm on - you might want to turn it off." Mako turned to Korra, and said "Why don't you try redirecting the current out of it? That might be a safer way to start. I'll just watch."

Korra approached the car, and extended her left hand to touch the hood, at the same time extending her right hand upwards. She felt a strange current travel through her left arm, down into her stomach, and out through her right hand. She saw the bolt strike the same electrical line Mako's had struck earlier. Mako let out a low whistling sound, clearly impressed. He shifted slightly uncomfortably, saying "I lied about that being easier - unless you have some major emotional turmoil, lightning generation and direction is easier that redirection, as redirection requires a different mindset than that of a normal firebender. I believe one of the first people to do it - a fire nation noble and former heir to the throne, Iroh - said redirection is a lot like waterbending. I guess I shouldn't be surprised you did it so well, since you are a Water Tribe Avatar, after all." Korra decided to give lightning generation another try, but this time with a slight twist - she was going to see if she could temporarily power a part of the city with the Avatar State. She chose that same power line, as it did not seem to be connected to anything that could cause a fire - if it were, she would know by now. Taking a deep breath and eyes beginning to glow, she began the odd motions she knew produced lightning, and shot what seemed to be an endless current into the power line. After what seemed like an eternity, the current stopped, and she opened her eyes again. She saw Bolin frantically jumping up and down, Asami staring with huge eyes, and Mako wavering between anger and admiration. Mako simply said, "That was… amazing, and… reckless, Korra. Let's hope that didn't start any fires."

Korra smiled as she walked towards the rest of Team Avatar - she hadn't done anything truly reckless in years, and she missed it.


	8. Chapter 8: Mr Tuber-Vine

Chapter 8: Mr. Tuber-Vine

Thankfully, the huge blast in the center of the city did not vaporize all of Varrick's assets - in fact, the only reason he had for not being in Future Industries Tower right now was that the power was still out. Varrick still couldn't figure out why Kuvira hadn't simply vaporized all of Team Avatar, plus friends, while they were in Future Industries Tower. He figured her for crazy, sure - but not stupid.

Varrick shrugged, and returned to his work inside the small tent on the outside of town. He wasn't happy that he and Zhu Li had to start their married life together and do The Thing in a refugee tent instead of in style and comfort. At least he had managed to connect himself to one of his personal portable generators properly, and could work under a dim light if he felt inspiration in the middle of the night. He had connected some lines from the local power supply to a box with some old blank film reels submerged in a proprietary solution he used for his feet calluses when Zhu Li couldn't help him on a whim from a strange dream he had last night. His brain usually did not lead him astray, awake or otherwise. He noticed a small ripple in the liquid's surface, and saw a leaf settling towards the bottom - but he knew this was no ordinary leaf.

He gazed over at the odd thing he had picked up in the city yesterday - he called it Mr. Tuber-Vine, noticing it was missing one of its few leaves. He hadn't dared to touch it since yesterday, as he still didn't know what to make of its strange behavior the night before. He knew it sounded ridiculous, but it had almost felt like the plant had judged him somehow. As he snickered at the ridiculous idea of even a spirit being able to judge a man just by touch, the divider opened behind him.

He heard a familiar voice behind him - it appeared that Zhu Li had gotten up from her afternoon nap. She gave him an odd look, and asked, "Varrick, I know you love money, but really - up since 6:30 AM, working, the day after our marriage? Why don't you stop working on that 'color mover' idea you've been obsessing over, and come sit back down on the cot with me." He told her, "Not just yet - I'm not going back to sleep until my dream comes true. I did something like what I have here," he said, pointing at the wires dropped into the box with blank film reels, "and when I popped the rolls into a camera, they were in COLOR! Just think - no more black-and-white movers!" He held up a large sheet of blueprint paper, and pointed to a pair of humanoid figures. "I've also been working on a little side project for the both of us - I know we're both smart, no, geniuses - but I am getting tired of playing second fiddle to benders when stuff hits the fan. These should help even the gap."

Zhu Li's eyes widened, and Varrick could clearly see Zhu Li liked what she saw. She began excitedly, "Sir, is that a- " and Varrick's cheeks turned a deep red. Zhu Li still hadn't gotten used to marriage yet, despite her earlier feistiness, and every time she called him "sir" it made him feel all guilty. He said calmly, "Honey, I thought I asked you to stop calling me that - it makes me feel all horrible." Luckily, Zhu Li was still excited about the blueprint in front of her, saying, "Okay, honey - are those custom mechasuits for the both of us?" She pointed at the larger, more complicated design on the right, and snickered slightly. "I assume that one is mine, given how much trouble you had with one of Kuvira's gruntsuits." His cheeks darkened again - he had botched that escape attempt pretty badly, admitting, "Yes, Zhu Li, that one is yours, and I plan on making this project a priority. Just as soon as I can find an ethical power source- no spirit vine abuse here. Not after it vaporized half our city."

As he finished saying this, he swore he heard an odd sound - halfway between a continuous hum and a croak. He didn't have any animals with him, and he had no clue what would make a humming croak anyways. Zhu Li moved the paper from in front of her face, and pointed at Mr. Tuber-Vine, mouth slightly agape. Varrick stuffed the blueprints back where it came from, and looked at Mr. Tuber-Vine. The odd plant pulsed, much as it had yesterday with one of its tendrils over his heart, producing that same strange humming croak he had just heard. "HMMM HMMM…. HM HMMM." Getting an idea, he took the blueprints back out, and held them close to Mr. Tuber-Vine. The odd plant flashed a bright white - the same color it had settled on when it felt as if it were judging him yesterday. Putting the blueprints in range of the plant's tendrils, two pointed to the large question marks where he intended to put the suit's power source, then back at itself. The plant hummed "HMMMMM HMMMMM", and twisted the ends of its tendrils into what appeared to be check marks, and placed them back on the blueprints, covering the question marks. Zhu Li said, "I think you found your powersource - it appears that odd thing wouldn't mind powering those suits." Varrick jumped when he heard the plant seemingly exclaim "**HMMMMM HMMMMM**," almost like it was agreeing - and vehemently, at that! Varrick folded the blueprints back up, and stepped aside to let Zhu Li get closer to Mr. Tuber-Vine.

Varrick said, "Be careful! I don't know much about spirit stuff except how to use it for weapons or as a power source, I'm afraid." Zhu Li grabbed the odd thing by the pot he had put it in, and brought it closer to her chest to inspect it. Just as it had last night, the plant began changing colors rapidly, immediately settling on a bright white after a tendril touched Zhu Li on the left side of her chest. Varrick felt vaguely offended, yelling, "Hey! When Mr. Tuber-Vine did that to me last night, he briefly flashed red and purple before settling on white." He laughed along with Zhu Li, and said, "Never thought a plant would try and insult me," noticing Mr. Tuber-Vine shivered slightly, as though offended by something. Varrick got another idea, and he grabbed a loose newspaper - one with a portrait of both Zaheer and Kuvira. He held Zaheer's portrait the closest, and the tendril on Zhu Li's chest shot up to meet it. Again, it flashed many colors, before finally settling on a familiar angry red and purple and neatly charring the airbender's portrait out of the paper. As Zhu Li snickered slightly, Varrick felt a chill run down his spine - Mr. Tuber-Vine had been judging him after all. Trying to distract himself from the implications of the plant's earlier indecision between white or red and purple as its tendril had hovered over his own heart, he held Kuvira's portrait next to the plant, fully expecting it to immediately incinerate the entire page. Much as before, the plant cycled between various unrelated colors, seemingly settling on the same red and purple he could now see denoted unworthiness. Much to his surprise, the plant suddenly flashed white, and merely tore out the text "The Great Uniter" in the portrait's caption instead of incinerating it. The tendril snaked around, flashing many colors to denote uncertainty, forming a questionmark shape over where Kuvira's heart would have been.

Both he and Zhu Li looked at each other in confusion, and said at the same time, "Surely Mr. Tuber-Vine doesn't see Kuvira as anything but evil?!" Both turned to the plant, and Zhu Li said " 'HMMMMM HMMMMM' for redeemable, and 'MM MM' for not." Mr. Tuber-Vine merely made another "HMMMMM HMMMMM" sound, much to Varrick's confusion. Feeling rather ridiculous, he yelled at the plant ,"Okay, I can't take anymore of this spirit judging shenanigans. Who should I talk to about all this claptrap?" Varrick and Zhu Li both yelped as the plant sprouted two more tendrils and used all four to flip over the newspaper page, which was now on the floor. All four tendrils then pointed to a picture of Korra, and the plant - said? - "HMMMMM HMMMMM." Zhu Li finished placing the ridiculous talking spirit-plant back where it had sat, and before Varrick could say anything, he heard an enormous crack - as if a huge spirit had just struck out at the world with a lightning bolt.

Zhu Li pointed at where Varrick knew the submerged films reels were, and exclaimed, "The current in those wires better not burn off all that water and set those film reels on fire - we both know you don't exactly use nontoxic ingredients in your film! Remember the explosion - your eyebrows!" Before the water had been boiled off completely, the current stopped - a flash of lightning must have struck a power line somewhere. No, no - lightning didn't provide constant current like that. Varrick began to stroke his chin, then stopped.

Varrick stood perfectly straight in excitement - he was pretty sure that his dream had involved an electric current now. He grabbed the film reels, and told Zhu Li, "Find the camera- we've got some film to test!" Zhu Li hurried off much as she always did, and Varrick tried to think of something to test the film on. He heard a loud "HMM HMM!" and turned around, to see Mr. Tuber-Vine flashing all sorts of wonderful colors. As Zhu Li returned with the camera - how did she always find whatever he needed, anyways? - he grabbed it out of her hands, carefully inserted the precious film reels, and began shooting footage of Mr. Tuber-Vine. The plant seemed to make a show of shooting some spirity energy out the window with all four tendrils for reasons Varrick didn't understand. When he finished, put the film into a portable mover projector, and pointed it at the tent wall, he noticed Zhu Li had already shut all the tent's windows. Before he turned the film on, he kissed her in the low light, and said "You're always one step ahead of me, and I like that. Good work, honey." He made sure to stress the last word, and could feel that Zhu Li appreciated it. They were definitely doing The Thing tonight.

Much as he had hoped, the film displayed full color, as well as those odd little energy blasts. He could hear flapping yuans already, boasting, "Honey, we're going to be RICH! Just look at that beautiful color." Before he could continue, Zhu Li added, "And look at those spirit blasts - I bet this film could capture images of spirits as well. Never heard of that before." Not really caring about that just yet, Varrick finished, "Now to only find out what made it possible." He heard a loud "HMM HMM" from the other room. Running in, he saw Mr. Tuber-Vine wildly pointing at one of its leaves, and then at the container the film reels and solution had been sitting in. Suddenly, in a burst of insight Varrick yelled "So, you take a leaf from a friendly spirit tuber, put it in some … proprietary solution" - "One can never be too careful of spies", he whispered to the plant - "along with the film, apply strong electrical current, and BAM! Color movers that show spirits accurately."

As he felt a playful tap on his shoulder from Zhu Li, Mr. Tuber-Vine merely intoned "HMMMMM HMMMMM."


	9. Chapter 9: The Arrangement

Part 3: The Restoration

Chapter 9: The Arrangement

Even though she was thoroughly enjoying the time away from everyone else but Team Avatar, Korra knew she needed to end it - Raava might consider a hundred years to be barely any time at all, but Korra knew the as-of-yet unassigned task was time sensitive, and probably involved her past lives. She placed her hand on Asami's shoulder, who took this as a signal to stop, letting Bolin and Mako walk a little distance ahead of the pair. Korra told Mako, "Asami and I have some unfinished business with Raava to attend to," ignoring Bolin's mischievous wink and quip of, "Looks like the girls want some alone time" to his brother. Mako pinched Bolin on the shoulder, and then said, apparently satisfied with his little correction, "Sure thing, Korra - just let us know if you need anything. Me and Bolin can keep watch over the Spirit Portal while you're in there."

Waving a temporary goodbye to the brothers, Korra grabbed Asami by the waist and used her earthbending to send them flying towards the portal - Raava may have told them they did not need to hurry as badly as the spirit had once thought, but suspense was gnawing at Korra. After an initial surprised yelp, Asami seemed to enjoy hurtling above the cityscape, and made to kiss Korra. Korra pushed her away reluctantly, saying, "If I could fly like Zaheer, maybe - but I'd have to enter the void, and I'm certainly not doing _that_. No kissing right now, sorry. Unless you want to be kissing a messed-up me in a broken heap on the ground." After Korra wound back down towards the earth with one of her favorite moves, the air spout, she lightly kissed Asami on the lips, saying, "There- that's much better than a broken face," making Asami snicker slightly. Korra added, putting her hand to Asami's chin, "Especially one as pretty as yours." Asami blushed, and said, "The same to you, Korra. Now let's see what Raava wants with us."

To Korra's surprise, when she and Asami stepped into the portal, they did not actually appear to be in the Spirit World, but rather some seemingly hastily constructed replicate of it - almost as if floating inside the real thing in an opaque ball. Knowing this was probably not relevant, Korra began meditating, and saw Asami sit in front of her, mimicking her own position - except fishing out her notebook and pencil again, instead of closing her eyes in concentration as Korra had just done. She felt a familiar tug on her consciousness, and attempted to allow herself to be subsumed by Raava. Much to Korra's surprise, she neither felt herself slip into the Avatar State nor felt Raava appear from her chest. Thinking the attempt had failed, Korra took a deep sigh and prepared to meditate again, but was interrupted by a small girl's voice behind her. The oddly familiar voice said, "Turn around, Korra - we have much to discuss." As she did so, she heard Asami say "Oh, spirit, you're so cute! I hope our child looks like you."

When Korra saw the girl, she immediately recognized the form - she had seen a brief flash of it before talking to Jinora while Raava was communicating with her. The small white-haired girl put her hands on her hips, tapping her foot lightly. Korra blurted out, in disbelief, "Raava? What are you doing in this form, and why does it feel like we're not truly in the Spirit World?" The little girl looked vaguely disappointed, as if someone had figured out a secret she would have rather no one known, saying, "Yes, Avatar Korra, right now we are not truly **in** the Spirit World - we are within a shielding cocoon that blocks any spirit who harbors ill will to humans from entering. Just take a look to your left, and you will see why." This strange form of Raava pointed at a figure both Korra and Asami would rather forget. Long Yumao was pecking madly at the barrier, desperately trying to get inside, and Korra saw an unsettingly familiar centipede-like form approaching in the distance. Two icy chills, back to back, and she recognized this spirit - Koh the Face-Stealer. Korra pointed at Koh, telling Raava, "I can now see why you put us inside this protective bubble, seeing as Long Yumao is attempting to… greet us. But what's Koh doing here? I thought he had to stay in his tree, and didn't harbor ill will against the Avatar." She shuddered intensely as she heard Long Yumao laugh, bragging through the glass, "Yes, Avatar - Koh normally does not venture from inside his tree, at a distant edge of the Spirit World. I visited him recently, and at first he did not seem to care about my conflict with Raava, inadvertently having helped your past life preserve those two stupid fish in the North, but when I told him he might get to steal a lot of human faces, he decided to strike a temporary deal." The spirit laughed loudly, pressing his eyes against the bubble, staring at Asami, saying,"He is especially anxious to collect your face, Asami - he always loves a pretty face. He says they are much more useful in tricking people to react." Asami blew a raspberry at the pulsating spirit, and Long Yumao recoiled in mock horror. Long Yumao moaned, "Oh no, Avatar, your lover is spittlebending at me - whatever shall I do?" speaking and moving his beak in an exaggeratedly slow manner. Noticing the foul centipede-like spirit had finally arrived to also place "his" face against the bubble, she heard a slithering voice moan desperately "If only this bubble weren't here, I'd have Asami's face already. That raspberry would have been your **end**."

Korra heard an angry grunt from Raava's… Erm, avatar? Korra would need a new name for this form. Korra turned her head to better see Raava. Both Raava's human apparition - that sounded decent - and Korra's own eyes gleamed at the same time, though neither her own eyes or Raava's actually glowed, and the two leering spirits were knocked back a fair distance. Korra faced the two again and began to make the motions she had learned from Unalaq to attempt to cleanse the spirits, but stopped after she could see that Long Yumao wasn't going to be defeated so easily and that Koh was seemingly immune to the move. As Korra's arms began to stop moving, Raava seemingly forced Korra's limbs to move in a way she had never felt them move before. Before she could ask what Raava had done, she noticed that both hostile spirits were trapped inside a prison that resembled the yellow ribbons she had trapped UnaVaatu inside, except the two streams met at the top. She heard a light giggling, and before she could ask Asami what was funny, Raava's human apparition appeared at Korra's left side in a low flash of light.

Raava said, "her" hair shaking lightly back and forth, "Now that those two bullies are gone, we can get down to business. In case you're wondering about my change in appearance, I figured that if I am to master the human-y, it might help to change how I project myself." Korra gave Raava a skeptical look, to which the spirit replied, "Avatar Korra, this will not affect your performance, and should the situation arise where it is needed I can revert to my original form. Though Asami is right - I am cute." Raava giggled slightly, stared at one of her hands for a short time, and then played with her snow-white braids of hair while she began to speak again, saying "The reason I asked you to come here was for a few different reasons. First, I wanted you to acclimate to this new form, and I also wanted to tell you how much I appreciate everything you have done in your lifetime as the Avatar, Korra. You stopped a madman from potentially eliminating bending in a part of the world, and a new system of government rose from the ashes. You, along with Jinora and the rest of your team, prevented Vaatu from finalizing what seemed like an assured victory for darkness and turned Unalaq's manipulation of you into a positive, with your decision to keep the spirit portals open. Without this, the Air Nation could never have been reborn as fully as it has, and without your intervention Earth Queen Hou-Ting would have turned many of these new benders who were supposed to be instruments of peace into weapons of war. While it was unfortunate that you were unable to prevent the anarchy that followed her _untimely_ death" -Korra could have sworn she saw Raava wink slightly- " or Kuvira's rise to power and abuse of it due to your mental and physical trauma from Zaheer's poisoning holding you back, with the assistance of your allies and much hard work on your own part, everything turned out alright. You even tore a rip in the fabric of space and time that manifested itself as a new Spirit Portal - sure to be a source of many good things."

Korra jerked involuntarily - the small girl she knew to be Raava was cursing loudly. After both herself and Asami stopped laughing, they looked at Raava, and saw something truly unsettling - the spirit appeared to be crying. Raava croaked, "I try to give humanity something wonderful, power without moral qualms, and both of you a gift to show my appreciation for all of Korra's effort over the past four to five years and humanity's hard work over the past ten thousand, and what does that insubordinate Long Yumao 'the Opportunist' do? He stabs me in the back! I may have told you earlier to just suck it up in regard to this new conflict, Korra, but the truth? The truth is, I am hurt as well. I just had no idea that hatred was so powerful that it could transform a relatively minor spirit into such a major threat, nor that he could manage to get so many spirits to betray me. I have the bad feeling he may manage to solicit a human traitor as well, but even I cannot discern this human's identity yet." Raava stopped crying, and managed a weak smile. "At least the Circle of Trust has been established well, and may even grow more. I know it's not normal for a spirit, but I actually find this form quite fascinating, and, in some ways, freeing. I normally have no hands to admire, no hair to twirl, no legs to run around merrily with… Korra - normally, I don't even have eyes to cry from!" Seeing that the spirit might just start doing exactly that again, Korra ran to the spirit and put her hand on Raava's shoulder. Korra began to console the spirit, which felt odd - usually this sort of thing was the other way around. Asami followed shortly after Korra and told Raava, "I think it might be good if we talked about this time sensitive issue you had mentioned to Korra before, Raava - it might help distract you from the past 48 hours' events." Korra turned from Raava to Asami, and put a hand on her cheek - she just loved Asami's caring nature. Korra started to feel like grabbing Asami's butt again, but before she could, a high voice interrupted "Ooooh! I like that feeling, Korra! Tell me- would I have to be a human to feel that directly?" Korra blushed, turning to Raava, and stated "Yes, I'm afraid you would, Raava - I don't think spirits ever get this feeling, unless I'm sorely mistaken." The small child crossed its arms, cursed again, finishing "Rats!" Raava's eyes opened wide after a while, and the child again said innocently, "Next time when you die, Korra, let's switch. You be the all-powerful spirit of light, and I'll be the Avatar and vessel, okay?" Korra couldn't help but laugh, saying "I'm pretty sure it doesn't and can't work like that, Raava. Maybe if we both had connections with our past lives again you wouldn't be so antsy to be human - it's not all it's cracked up to be, even as the Avatar." Korra was rather concerned - she had never seen Raava this distracted before, or to think of it, period. Maybe the five-year old "human" brain was interfering?

Korra felt unnerved, Raava apparently reading her mind given she said, "No, Korra, I'm perfectly fine," confirming it when Raava said, "Even though I am technically over here, I can still feel your emotions and hear your thoughts. But you're right - I got distracted by all these human-y emotions, though they have nothing to do with this form's brain. Let us call this form my 'human-y' form, to distinguish it from you - the Avatar. Let's get back to business," Raava finished, motioning for Korra and Asami to sit down. Asami whispered to Korra, "I hope raising a kid is easier than this," making Korra snicker, prompting Raava to say "You must tell me what this 'snighhggtt' noise means sometime as well - but anyways…" Raava said, taking a deep breath, "I mainly asked both of you to come here to discuss an opportunity that has presented itself. During the aftermath of Harmonic Convergence, everyone believed that the Avatar's past lives had been destroyed - spirit and human alike. However, as I told you both after your initial meeting with Katara, in reality, their spirits had not been destroyed - merely imprisoned in icy tombs. Since yesterday, I had wondered who to ask for more details - and I think I know just who." Raava had an almost predatory smile on her face for an instant, which vanished before Korra could ask Raava about it, replaced by a slightly devious grin.

Raava produced a familiar teapot from behind her back, though with an interesting modification - it had strong metal latches on its openings, as though it was intended to shut something up. Raava held the modified teapot that Korra now recognized as the one that Wan had put Raava into over ten thousand years ago in her dainty left hand, and plunged her right hand into her chest. The spirit seemed to be rummaging for something that had a will of its own, and did not want to be caught. Raava gave the same unnerving predatory smile again, pulling out a small cursing squirming mass, asking "Do you recognize this villain?", her eyes gleaming brightly with mischievousness, and held out a distinctive form. Wait…. What? Could it be…

"Vaatu?" Korra and Asami said at the same time, confused as to what Raava wanted with a spirit that would have no inclination to talk to its mortal enemy. The diminutive Vaatu struggled frantically to escape Raava's now glowing grasp, and eventually noticed Korra staring at him. The spirit spat "What do YOU want, Avatar?" in a pathetic show of rage, saying, "You ruined my Dark Avatar!" Vaatu continued, "I'm not planning anything - it's not as if I could for another ten thousand years! And as far as I am concerned, Long Yumao is a fool! There should be no order, even if it is led by spirits - only chaos and darkness!" Raava turned the miniature Vaatu to face her, and the smaller evil spirit practically had an apoplectic fit as Raava grinned wildly, clearly pleased with Vaatu's reaction, Raava laughing when Vaatu asked, "RAAVA? What are you doing in a human form?! I knew you always had a soft spot for humans, but that's just… wrong! Don't tell me you've somehow managed to become even more lovey-dovey!" Raava laughed, and said, "As far as you're concerned, anything but total hatred and chaos is lovey-dovey! So maybe I did soften some more to humans and their human-y-ness! At least I'm not going to be stuck in a teapot soon!" Korra watched as Raava and Vaatu stared at one another, as though they might never stop. Korra tapped Raava on her shoulder and said, "Hey! You said there was a reason you dragged this loser out, so let's get on with it. And no more staring matches - they only waste time." Raava did something quite unexpected - she blushed. She gave Vaatu one final look and said, "You're right, Korra - I have one question I need to ask Vaatu." She pointed Vaatu at Korra and Asami and said, "And you better answer, or I'll force you to watch Korra and Asami kiss… out of _love_." Raava made a sound that bore a lot of similarity to a snicker - but not quite one.

Vaatu began twisting violently, screaming, "Anything but that! I hate love! Too creative, not dark or destructive! Just tell me what you want, Raava, and leave me to sulk for another five thousand years - please!" Raava was positively aglow - and not in the normal way. She looked extremely pleased with herself. Still facing Vaatu at Korra and Asami, who was making a kissy face - much to Vaatu's chagrin - Raava asked of the captive spirit, "I know you and Unalaq did something to the Avatar's past lives, and did not destroy them. I want you to tell me exactly what you and Unalaq did to them - before Asami kisses Korra. Go." The dark spirit began saying frantically "Okay, in a 'compromise', we actually imprisoned their spirits inside ice augmented with my own power, with a ticking clock - but I'm not telling you where they are, even if you show me Asami giving birth to Korra's child! I know what you did, Raava, and it makes me sick. Now put me back!" Raava snickered properly, and began laughing so hard she almost dropped the odd teapot from the hand not holding Vaatu. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she said, "I guess you aren't so different from Long Yumao after all. And I think I know a way to get them out anywa - "

Raava stopped suddenly, and then Korra heard a loud pecking sound. All four - Raava, Korra, Asami, and Vaatu - though not of his own will - turned to face the sound's source. Korra pointed her finger in shock - it appeared Long Yumao had broken free of his prison in the commotion! When the large serpent spirit had noticed all four entities inside the ball staring at him, he chuckled, "Hah! Your blind hatred and discomfort make you weak, Vaatu - I would have never given Raava or the Avatar any valuable information. When it comes to the bottom line, you really have no subtlety - Raava just manipulated your loathing as a puppeteer moves strings. I never really understood what was so great about chaos or darkness, anyways. All I want is for spirits to rule humans with an iron fist, and for no deviances such as these two mortal's relationship to exist, much less that accursed gift Raava gave them or spirits that _sympathize_ with humans." Korra noticed that Vaatu was actually attempting to avoid Long Yumao's gaze, and as he did so, the serpentine spirit grew substantially larger. Long Yumao coiled around himself in a fit of laughter, saying, "WHAT'S THIS? You actually fear me now, Vaatu? That's so hilarious, I could almost _die._" Vaatu stopped avoiding Long Yumao's increasingly wild eyes and merely said "I don't fear you - I only fear you completely misunderstand what the new purple, yellow and red energies on your body mean. They might stand for hatred, just as you do, but they also stand for chaos - something you lack completely. You shame the colors - they are my own. Now g-give them back!" Korra snickered - Vaatu's voice didn't sound very confident on that last part.

Long Yumao began cackling so hard, Korra saw cracks appear in the glass-like shield around them, much to her horror. A slightly larger Long Yumao pointed an eyefeather at Raava's form, and howled, "You're in no position to make demands, Mr. 'All-Powerful Grand Dark Spirit' :a little girl defeated you at Harmonic Convergence, and one is holding you right now - your antithesis!" Vaatu groaned, with an air of defeat, "Oh, for crying out loud, Raava, just stuff me in that stupid teacup already! This fool is wasting both our time - though if you want to save the Avatar's past lives, I have far, far much more of it to waste than you!" His small form cackled in what was a decidedly non-intimidating manner as Raava stuffed him into the teapot, and shut the metal clasps tightly. Raava yelled "I'm kicking us out - that shield won't hold much longer, and I can tell you what you need to know outside like I did after your first meeting with Katara. I'm beginning to think the Spirit World is not a good place to meet uninterrupted." Korra saw Long Yumao beginning to strain his jaws open wide enough to completely crush the orb, getting ready to shatter the shield completely. When he finally brought both halves of his maw together, the spirit's monstrous beak just clacked against itself forcefully - the Avatar, her lover and the little white-haired girl were long gone. Hissing, he said, "Well, there's always Zaheer to torment, should he have the nerve to meditate into my domain again," letting out a long sigh when Koh asked from below, in the squawking voice of a sea bird, "Face? Face? Mine? Mine? Mine?"

Apparently, all this action inside the Spirit World had caused the Republic City Spirit Portal to behave erratically, as when Korra got out, Bolin and Mako were running towards her and Asami. Raava intoned in her head _They may as well hear this - though I will have to "broadcast" myself on a different frequency this time. I believe the relationship you share called "friendship" will suffice_. Korra let Mako and Bolin hug them both in a huge group hug, and explained what had happened inside. For once, Bolin didn't have a panicked look on his face, and Mako just said "Well, whatever it is Raava has to say, let's do it out here - I'm certainly not going into the Spirit World anytime soon." As his brother and Asami laughed, Korra sat on the shattered ground around the portal, and prepared to let Raava speak through her.

Based on the trio of surprised yelps Korra heard, she knew that Raava had not chosen to appear out of Korra's chest as she had done so previously. Opening her eyes, Korra began laughing when she spotted the metal-clasped teapot on a string around Raava's "human-y" form shaking, producing almost inaudible curses as it moved ever so slightly. Bolin, apparently making the connection between what had just happened inside the Spirit World and the "angry" teapot, began laughing loudly, slapping his knee repeatedly as he said, "Unalaq would just die to see you in there! Stupid creepy monster. Both of you." After Mako snickered and joined his brother's laughter, Raava said, "I thought it funny to stuff my opposite into the teapot that had once been my own salvation, and if Team Avatar, as you call it, thinks so as well, then my own growing sense of humor must be on-target. I was very happy I managed to 'snighhggtt' in the Spirit World earlier, though I do not think this is its proper name." Raava turned to Korra, who had just thought the word "snicker," and Raava's small human-y form said "Ah, 'snicker'. I like that word. I will make sure to open Vaatu's teapot prison from time to time and do so at him. Anyways, he won't be a concern for almost another ten thousand years - back to the matter at hand." Raava cracked her knuckles, much as Toph might have, and all four humans gave her an odd look, saying, "What? I don't learn from just the Avatar. No time for that now. 'Speaking' of Toph, Korra, she has something to do with our next fire of the day. I believe that we can reclaim the trapped human Avatar spirits from their icy tombs, but we will require the presence of four humans who knew Avatar Aang well in his lifetime. Three of them are obvious - his close friend, Zuko, his wife, Katara, and Toph, his earthbending teacher. I get the feeling from your interactions with Toph she may not be keen on doing anything but hiding in retirement in the Swamp, so if she has any bizarre conditions for her assistance, you'd better agree to them. The fourth person - " Raava stopped, with a mischievous smile on her face. The spirit finished, "I'll let you figure out who it is - I figure this is something a human might do, and I like the expression on your face already." Korra blushed, wiping the pout from her face. Raava laughed, saying "I did it! I made a human blush! I love this human-y stuff - I guess spirits _are_ kind of boring." Raava stopped laughing, seemingly remembering something. The small girl's mouth opened again, Raava's human-y form saying, "You will also want to bring your friends from this lifetime with you to strengthen the energy we will be using to break the Avatar spirits free. No one outside the Circle of Trust is to come, but do not reject anyone either, and remember you can't take everyone you might like to." Korra absentmindedly placed her hand on the ground to see where Jinora was, and she got a sudden vision of the young airbender hopping around her father's house as if her pants were on fire.

Raava giggled, saying "Apparently it was not just Mako and Bolin who noticed the odd behavior of the Spirit Portal, Korra - Jinora, your young prodigy friend, must have sensed something wrong as well." Raava walked back to Korra and placed a small hand on Korra's seemingly gargantuan one, saying, "We need to contact Zuko and make sure he knows where to go, and that he needs to leave - soon. I know you have never projected yourself before, Korra, but with my help you should find it easy." Raava wagged a finger at Korra lightly, finishing, "It also helps that you _finally_ attuned yourself better to air this morning in the bubble by feeling the air you were bending instead of just ordering the element around. Now let's contact Zuko." The spirit walked back into Korra as she closed her own eyes, focusing on Zuko's energy. Korra felt a presence she had not felt so fully in more than three years.

"Aang? Is that you? I guess your spirit really is still alive!" Korra could feel tears coming to her now open eyes. _Korra, there is no time - I think I will barely be able to help with this as is_, the young voice rang from behind a sheet of ice. _Just close your eyes, and we might see each other again. Good luck. _Korra felt her own consciousness fading quickly as she shut her eyes.

* * *

Zuko liked being alone lately, currently taking a vacation at Fire Fountain City, though he did not visit the city often. His daughter's slow response to one of his greatest legacies -Republic City- and its call for help still rankled him. He sighed, almost exactly as he did so often in his youth, and began to sip from his teacup once more.

Suddenly, an apparition popped up before him, and he spat out his tea in shock. He looked at the liquid in dismay, protesting,"That was some of the last of my Uncle's blend! This better be important, whatever you are!" When Zuko looked up again, he felt rather koala-sheepish.

The image before him fluttered between that of a very much alive Korra, and a painful image of Aang that looked to be entombed in some horrible, unnatural ice. Zuko nervously said,"Uhm, hello, Avatar Korra! Didn't think anyone but Jinora could do the whole projection thing," as he waved to the image.

When her image flashed, he could see her chuckling, in stark contrast to Aang's desperate look, Korra saying, "Neither did I, until just now. Raava helped me. Anyways, I think what Aang has to say is more important." His childhood friend again appeared. Zuko realized with a shock he did not appear as he had last known him - a grown man - but rather as the small 12 year old he once so desperately wanted to capture.

Aang said, trying and failing to be totally serious, "Zuko, the Avatar spirit may still be alive, but all the human lives of the Avatar, like me, have been lost. Obviously, we were not destroyed, because if I had been you wouldn't have wasted some of Iroh's tea just now." Yes, Aang was still himself, even in that ice tomb. Aang explained, "We've all been biologically aging reversely, and while some like Avatar Kyoshi don't have anything to worry about for now… others aren't doing so well." An image of a black-haired little boy no older than six appeared, slowly crying inside an outsize block of ice.

The image shifted back to Aang once more, who continued "Raava has found a particular… issue rising, and she has need of all her past human lives, both for strength-" _What could an all-powerful spirit need of even the Avatar's strength for so badly_?, Zuko wondered - "and to help get Korra back to where she was raw power-wise before Unalaq seemingly destroyed us." Zuko stroked his bearded chin, asking, "What use could an all-powerful spirit have for me?"

Aang said, shivering slightly, "Raava needs you and three other people possessing together all four elemental bending types who knew me well in my lifetime to meet in The Swamp. How is the Swamp, anyways?" Zuko smiled nervously, merely stating, "It could be worse off, but not much."

The image of Aang was shoved aside by another familiar face. Korra interjected, "Just who is the airbender? You were the last, after all."

Aang laughed, and then seemed to grow slightly younger, telling Korra like she was a moron, "I was the last airbender, until the second-to last _finally_ came along." Zuko saw the apparition of Korra slap itself on the forehead. Aang turned to Zuko one last time and said, "Bye Sifu Hotman!", seemingly freezing back into place, vanishing. Now only Korra's image remained.

Letting go of some unseen strain, Korra continued, "So this must be what Vaatu was taunting us about, what he meant by a clock - Aang actually aged half a year backwards while we were talking to him. That must mean Wan is five and a half now."

Zuko asked, "Wait, that little boy was the first Avatar, Wan? Why is he so young compared to the others?" half panicked. Korra sighed, saying, "It appears that since he was the first, he aged backwards the quickest. That would explain why Raava is so concerned. I need to go find Tenzin-" Zuko overheard her mumbling, "Gah, how could I miss that, even for a second!" - "and Katara and get to Toph in the Swamp as soon as possible. There will be some other familiar and not-so familiar faces there as well. You must meet us at the Swamp - Druk should be able to carry you pretty rapidly," Korra finished. "I hope Toph will be in on this with us. She is stubborn for no good reason. See you soon!" Then the image of the young waterbending Avatar vanished.

Zuko laughed- he swore there was still something in his head insisting he needed to capture her to get his honor back. Aside from betraying his dear Uncle Iroh all those years ago, he never really had lost his honor. Zuko stepped outside with an energy he was surprised to see he still possessed, and called for his dragon Druk.

Zuko mused, "Even after you're dead, you still need help from your old tormentor. How ironic," as Druk gently lowered his head to let Zuko on.

* * *

Korra opened her eyes again, noticing that Raava had left her body again - this time without any warning. Korra looked at Raava with a mildly angry expression, and said, "Raava, what are you doing? You should at least ask me to meditate you out before leaving my body - what if Long Yumao poked his beak out of the portal right now and tried to snap you in two!" Raava was completely ignoring Korra as she ran off closer to the Spirit Portal, extending a small hand to touch the outer edge. Korra made to get up and drag the foolish spirit from the portal, but Raava extended her other hand in Korra's direction, somehow stopping Korra in her tracks. After a minute or so, Raava let down both of her small hands, giggled, and said "Avatar Korra, I know what I am doing. If Long Yumao tried to bite me, even as big as he now is, he'd just shatter his beak. Bumi is right about the control zone around the portal - I just augmented the portal with my own energy such that only spirits that like humans can pass freely through it - but it is only a semi-temporary measure. You need to get Republic City to establish the no-man's land - sooner rather than later."

A sudden muffled pecking sound caused everyone on Team Avatar and Raava to jump slightly. Raava said, sighing, "As you can see, I was not a moment too soon - especially if Koh the Face-Stealer is really with Long Yumao now, even if for his own gain only. I guess that Long Yumao was trying to uphold his end of the deal and kidnap some humans so that Koh could steal their faces. Only the Mother of Faces can reverse a stolen face - you may have heard of the time Zuko found his mother, Ursa." While the name did sound familiar, she was sure she could ask Zuko about that and get a better version of the story. Raava ran back to Korra, letting out a contented "Whee!" as she ran, and pointed to two large approaching shapes in the distance when she was at Korra's side. Raava said, "Korra, I know who those people are, but let's see if you can project without my help. Focus on Jinora's energy." Korra closed her eyes, and found herself staring at some very shocked figures when she opened them again - who were all on bisonback. Noticing who one of the bison was, she let out a loud laugh. Juicy sneezed in surprise, causing his passengers to grumble "Mangy beast!" in unison. A figure she now recognized as Tenzin was pointing at her, smiling broadly. He said, with clear pride in his voice, "Korra! I didn't know you could project yourself like this - I guess you really did finally feel the air as you bent it instead of just ordering it around."

Korra told everyone she could see, "I can see that Jinora brought you all here. Good." She recognized, in addition to Tenzin, that the others who were present included Jinora, Opal, Katara and… Su and Lin? Korra pointed to Su and Lin, asking Opal "What are they doing here? I - I mean, Raava - hasn't gotten to read either one yet!" Opal looked deeply offended, and explained "We got a radio call from an overly excited Varrick earlier today, babbling about some plant that could judge a man's worth, power everything and was going to make him rich. I remembered an odd plant that Mako, Bolin and I found right after the Zhurrick wedding, and wanted to see it in action for myself. After picking up the original and testing it, we stopped by Varrick and Zhu Li's tent. I held the plant up to my mother's and aunt's chests, and _of course_ the plant glowed white - just like the first one did." Opal grew angrier steadily as she explained this, and punctuated the last sentence with an airblast aimed at Korra's "head". Korra might have snickered, but that would have just made Opal angrier, and Opal continued, "Unless the 'tuber-vines' and my word isn't enough proof for you, you can do your reading thing later en-route to wherever you're going." Seeing the withering stares from all three Beifongs, Korra said, "I don't think that will be necessary. I'll explain what has happened to Lin and Su on the way there." Korra felt a familiar tug on her mind, and said "It appears Raava has something to say. I'm going to go now." Much to Korra's surprise, Raava's human-y form appeared beside her, and said "Not just yet. While Korra may not feel the need to help me read Lin and Su, I'm going to do it anyways - more so to make sure that my other, first gift to humanity is calibrated properly." Even though normally such a remark - even by a great spirit such as Raava - would have made all three Beifongs fume with anger, Raava's defusing human-y appearance and most especially the last remark about a "first" gift made everyone else sufficiently curious that no one - not even Lin - objected. After Raava had floated over to and read both older sisters, Raava said "Good - it appears that what you refer to as 'tuber-vines' are working properly. I don't have time to explain what they are right now, so I'm going back to Korra's body now, and she is as well." Before Korra could try and see more of what they all thought of Raava's new form, she felt herself dragged back to the Spirit Portal crater by the same tug she had felt on her mind a short while ago.

As she felt herself regaining control of her body, she noticed that Raava was still not inside her. Raava said frankly, approaching Korra, "Don't worry about explaining all this crap again - I know you aren't overly eager to continue being a broken phonograph, and you probably feel a bit tired again." As Raava said this, Korra noticed that she _was_ tired - everything since her rude awakening by Tenzin had apparently taken a toll, especially the mutual training with Mako and Bolin. Raava continued, "I will explain to everyone what has happened over the past 48 hours, starting at the top, from this human-y form. After all is said and done, I want to talk to Jinora about the Spirit Civil War - I have the feeling she will be a great ally, and help convince many spirits to join our fight against Long Yumao. You, Mako, Bolin and Asami should all get some rest - I might suggest you all ride the airbison you call 'Oogi' and let Tenzin guide it, as it does not appear anyone is fond of the other, 'Juicy'. You will need to keep both airbison relatively close if I am to explain things to the uninitiated or others who aren't fully caught up with events- no further apart from one another than my human-y form was from your body when you were projecting." As she heard the two great airbison touch down, Raava slipped back inside Korra's chest, and while she now felt a little less tired, she still could use a nap. Tenzin, now on top of Oogi's head and extending a hand towards Korra, said, "You four look tired - why don't you come on Oogi and take a nap. He's a much better flier than Juicy." Mako said, pointing to Opal, "Guess we don't need to worry about that 'tuber-vine' we found - Opal already picked it up," Korra mumbling, sure she would forget, "Yeah, great," snickering when Bolin said, "Shhh - forgot what you said. Need sleep, bro." After a frustrated grunt from Mako, Tenzin said, "I'll try to help remember - just go to sleep!" Korra noticed herself yawning when she was next to Asami on top of the fluffy friend's back, and drifted off to sleep, noticing Mako and Bolin doing the same as Jinora turned to face familiar small form. Korra managed to say "Hey! I thought I told you no more leaving my body without asking, Raava!" before falling completely asleep.


	10. Chapter 10: In Transit

Chapter 10 : In Transit

Even though Jinora had already heard most of what Raava had to say, she still listened to the spirit with rapt attention as the two airbison went towards the Swamp - one of the first things Raava said was where they all needed to go. When Raava described Vaatu's behavior in the spirit world, Jinora giggled lightly, glad to hear that nasty thing put in its place, and was surprised to see Raava turn to face her. The spirit's "human-y" form, as Raava called it, gave Jinora a smile and said, interrupting the story to address Jinora, "I thought you might find that entertaining and 'ironic'. Just keep listening - it gets better." The spirit closed its eyes and smiled in pleasure, before turning back around to better address everyone else. While Raava's description of the exchange between Long Yumao the Opportunist and Vaatu produced plenty of surprised gasps - herself included - Jinora did find it hilarious that such a formidable former foe had been laid so low. However, the spirit's increase in size and power since he had interrupted her earlier meditation disturbed Jinora, as did knowing that Koh the Face-Stealer was in on the action.

As soon as the spirit had finished after what must have been at least an hour and a half of straight talking, possibly even two, Jinora laughed when she saw Lin and Su collapse onto Juicy's back out of listening fatigue. Lin said weakly, "Thank goodness. And I thought Tenzin was long-winded." Jinora heard a low grumbling sound from her father and a lighthearted laugh from Raava's human-y form. The spirit put its hand on Jinora's shoulder and said, "Now, granddaughter of Avatar Aang, and rescuer of my butt during Harmonic Convergence," tapping her shoulder with some force three times, "I have something I want to talk to _you_ about." Jinora, with eyes gleaming, turned to face Raava - she couldn't wait to hear what such a powerful spirit wanted with her. Raava, who had apparently read Jinora's face quite well - Korra really was teaching the spirit human-y things - said, "What I will need from you, Jinora, is to serve as a hopefully temporary secondary bridge between the two worlds. Whenever the Avatar - Korra and I - encounters a spirit that is put off by my presence, but still seems sympathetic to humans, you will try and win them over. Long Yumao is right to an extent - my little trick with Korra and Asami has upset plenty of 'sensible' spirits. These spirits are likely to be hostile, or neutral - but some, only towards me, Korra and Asami. It will be your job to find those spirits that have distaste for my actions and try to convince them that while they may not agree with what I did, humans are not bad and do not deserve to be ruled with an iron beak by Long Yumao. It is my hope that you will be able to turn hostile spirits neutral and neutral spirits friendly."

Jinora could hardly believe what she was hearing - Raava basically wanted her to be a temporary secondary Avatar! The spirit continued, "I know what you're thinking, Jinora, due to Avatar Aang's blood running in your veins and your exceptional spirituality. You aren't going to be a secondary Avatar, really - more an ambassador for humanity. If - no, when - the restoration of the Avatar's past lives is completed, you will enjoy enough protection as Avatar Aang's granddaughter to avoid harm from any minor or major spirits you encounter. You should be able to resist letting Koh provoke you into losing your face - you are Avatar Aang's granddaughter, and he successfully dealt with the spirit. I also know of two Northern Water Tribe rulers who would be well suited to getting information from Koh the Face-Stealer : Chief Eska and Desna." Jinora snickered slightly - those two would make good "ambassadors" to Koh. Raava took on a more serious tone, frowning slightly, "However, if you sense, see, or hear Long Yumao at all, you will need to break the connection. You heard what he did to my bubble in the Spirit World - it may not have been my best effort, but I was still surprised he managed to crack it. No one but a fully realized Avatar - a combination of myself and Korra - can really stand a chance against him now. I really wish Vaatu hadn't avoided his gaze like that, as we cannot afford for him to keep growing unchecked." The frown vanished from Raava's face, and her small mouth turned upwards in a smile. She continued, "One good thing about Long Yumao the Opportunist is that he was not a major spirit such as myself or Vaatu." Jinora laughed when she saw the metal-clasp teapot around Raava's neck begin to shake visibly, and Raava smacked the container, making it still once more.

"As I was saying," Raava continued, "Long Yumao's size is dependent on how much support he enjoys with other spirits. After his success in making Vaatu avert his gaze, many more spirits flocked to him that were formerly neutral, given his increase in size. I would guess that about 40% of spirits are currently neutral or have limited sympathy for him - all that sympathy caused by my little stunt with Korra and Asami, I am afraid. Not to mention the tuber-vines - I guess they really were giving Korra what she wanted after Long Yumao said 'No spirits for war'. At least they can be used for peace too… unlike him." The spirit looked vaguely dejected, but that didn't make any sense - she was Raava, the spirit of order and light! Jinora had a hard time believing Raava could feel down. This made the tear that began to form in Raava's right eye even more alarming. Jinora hadn't really believed Raava when she told everyone about that outburst in the Spirit World until now. Seemingly not wanting a repeat of earlier, the smaller girl sniffed, playing with her hair seemingly to comfort herself. Raava finished messing with her snow-white hair after some time, and said "I guess that he currently has about 40% of the spirits whipped up into a fanatical frenzy, with the remainder not really caring either way and unlikely to ever do so, unless something catastrophic happens. I haven't told anyone else this yet, but so far Bumju is my only 'fanatical' convert. You can see why your mission is so important now."

At first, Jinora's heart sank, but then something inside her caused her heart to seemingly swell and ache - but in a good way. Remembering some spirits from her grandfather's youth - including the extremely powerful moon and ocean spirits, Tui and La, one of which was partially human - she confidently told Raava, "I think I know some spirits who would be sympathetic to humanity's defense, though a couple would probably need to see my grandfather's spirit again to join our side. I know at least one who would be very sympathetic - she is part human, after all." Raava slapped her forehead, and cursed - something Jinora thought most improper for such a noble, powerful entity. Raava gave her a look that would only have found a better place on Lin's face, and asked curtly, "You got a problem with strong language, or something? Aren't you supposed to be a teenager?" Jinora's head frantically shook side to side, and Raava laughed deeply, saying, "It's all good - I was merely angry at myself for not thinking of Tui and Yue before, and 'her' counterpart, La. Good thinking, kid." Raava patted Jinora on the back, and what she now recognized as pride and steely determination appeared in her chest again. Raava said, pointing at Jinora's chest, "You may be a pacifist most of the time, Jinora, but you've got your father's and grandfather's fighting spirit. Don't be afraid to let it out - you could stand to learn a few things about how the world really works from Opal and Korra. Remember - past Avatars have killed in the name of peace." Jinora didn't really know what to make of that last comment, so she made her way away from the spirit towards her father. As she did so, she saw Raava stare out at the vast expanse of land and forest around them.

Jinora wiggled in next to her father and asked him, "Dad, is what Raava said about this feeling I have true?" She didn't like the idea of taking anything's life - unlike Opal, apparently. Her father sighed, and said, "Yes, it is sweetie - you remember when Zaheer had captured you, Ikki, Meelo, and the rest of the airbenders? I fought like a man possessed by a great spirit against Zaheer, and was starting to get the upper hand - then his three followers joined the fight." Her father sighed deeply, and continued, "Even after they had bested me, and Zaheer told me 'Give up. It's over.' I told Zaheer 'As long as I'm breathing, it's not over.' I meant it with every fiber of my being - I was willing to die to protect my family, and the new Air Nation. I was also willing to kill, I later realized - though, as an airbender, only as a last resort. The world is a much more complicated place than you think, Jinora. After all, look what the original Air Nomad's pacifism got them. Had every single Air Nomad stole the breath of even two Fire Nation soldiers apiece, Aang might have had something to come back to - Sozin's Comet or not. Based on my father's first-hand accounts of the temple where he grew up, even the great Air Nomad Monk Gyatso was willing to kill - your grandfather found a lot of Fire Nation soldier's skeletons around that great soul's mortal remains."

Now Jinora sighed - while she would never be as aggressive an airbender as Opal was, she did suppose her father made rather good points. She stared at her father's intense face, and said, "I suppose you're right. Though, from what Raava tells me, I won't have to deal with this quandary anytime soon - I can't kill a spirit." Her father laughed lightly, and said, "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Jinora - life has a funny way of throwing unexpected obstacles in your path. Just look at Korra - I could tell she felt on top of the world after defeating Kuvira, in her own way, and less than a few hours later, the universe throws something else in her lap, demanding her immediate attention. I think I am beginning to understand where that blue flame came from, Jinora - Korra seems to be sick and tired of fighting. She's been almost constantly battling something ever since she came out into the world's view as a more mature Avatar, be it Equalists, Vaatu and Unalaq, the Red Lotus, her own physical and mental disabilities, or Kuvira. I think you might want to talk to Korra about your conversations with Raava and I once she awakens again - she might be able to help you better parse their meaning as well, and she might find your defiance in the face of unsure odds inspiring."

Jinora left her father's side, and made to wake Korra, but Raava gave her a slight glare. Jinora heard Raava say, "Just give Korra a little more rest - we still have a long way to go to the Swamp. And Zuko even longer - poor Druk… If she isn't up in 15 minutes, feel free to wake her." Jinora followed the spirit's gaze as she took in the world seemingly for the first time. She heard a deep, content sigh, and heard Raava say "I've always been able to see the world - but as though through a filter, and not directly. Now that I can see it directly, I can see why Wan wanted to fight, and risk his life when I did not quite understand mortals, who seemed willing to throw away a one-time precious gift. At times, over the thousands of years that followed, I found myself in awe of the Avatar's mortal allies - here were humans with no hope of direct reincarnation or continuity between lives, risking their own to help ensure balance while the Avatar had access to things they could never dream of getting themselves, and I was… just sort of _there_. I never contacted any Avatars directly other than Wan and Korra, instead operating behind a shield - the nebulous concept of the 'Avatar Spirit'. I did not want anyone to know what the sorry state of affairs the world had been in before Wan, and only really came back for my 'part' of the show - the showdown with Vaatu that occurs every ten thousand years." Raava sighed, and said, "After seeing all that Korra went through, and Kuvira abuse spirit power to attack other humans and harm one of the greatest wonders in the world in the process - the Swamp - I felt as though I could no longer sit idly by. I was not content with merely providing the Avatar with a source of power and, until recently, a sense of continuity. I did not act on what I did not recognize as 'feelings'. It took the initial events in the Spirit World yesterday to push me over the line - Long Yumao managed to get on my last nerve." Raava looked like she had another reason, but Jinora could tell she would part with it when the Universe ended.

Both Raava and Jinora turned to face a stirring figure behind them. Korra, now slightly more awake, asked them both, "W-what are you guys talking about…?" Jinora saw Raava smile out of the corner of her eye at the same time she did.

* * *

Korra woke up to the sounds of voices - she heard two young girls talking, one much younger than the other. Opening her eyes, she asked, "W-what are you guys talking about…?" The smallest, which she remembered with a start was Raava, began to say, "Jinora and I were just discussing…" and then stopped short, thinking for a moment. After a considerable pause that Korra had no clue on what it meant, Raava said with a smile, "Constantly telling people things that you just said is tiring, Korra - I didn't really appreciate all your repetitive yammering to other humans on recent events until I had to explain everything to Su and Lin. That was an interesting two hours." Korra looked over to the sisters on Juicy's back, who were both asleep. Lin moaned, "No more talky, Tenzin - only touchy. Mffgh…" Jinora had a thoroughly horrified look on her face - apparently the young airbender had forgotten her father and Lin once were lovers. Raava ran over to Korra, as if Lin's inappropriate outburst had given her an idea. Raava explained, "I think I might be able to impart all the information you need to know about what Tenzin, Jinora and I said while you were asleep. It could even work on other individuals as well." Raava touched Korra's shoulder, their minds re-uniting fully for a brief moment. Raava withdrew her hand, and the feeling passed - but the information Raava had conveyed remained. Both Korra and Raava sighed at the same time, Korra exclaiming, "Finally, no more long talks to catch people up!" Raava held up a finger, and corrected Korra, saying, "Not just yet, I'm afraid - we don't know if you will be able to share information with others in this manner, even if I am inside you. Mako might be a good test subject once he wakes up. For now, let's talk briefly about Jinora's conversations." Raava made an odd attempt at a courtesy bow, and pointed to Jinora, saying, "I believe this young woman has something to tell you."

Jinora began to open her mouth to speak, but Korra caught her off guard with a big hug instead. Korra told Jinora, "I already know about what you discussed with your father - Raava heard that conversation as well." Jinora began to fuss slightly, stating, "A cursing, eaves-dropping spirit of light and order. Seems rather odd to me…" Raava put her hands on her small hips, and said, "I don't have to worry about disapproving fathers, re-election or approval ratings, so I'll do as I please, Mrs. Goody-Two-Shoes." Korra rolled her eyes and pushed the obnoxious spirit away from herself and Jinora, who began laughing. Korra looked at Jinora in a serious manner and said, "What your father was saying about being willing to take a life - I believe he is correct. Of course, I have a reputation for being a rather violent Avatar, so you should take my words with a grain of salt. That being said, I did spare Kuvira and have matured as an individual over the years, so I see your concerns," noticing Raava fidget oddly when Korra said "spare Kuvira." Thinking nothing of it, Korra continued, "My best answer to you? Don't take away someone's life unless you believe it is the last resort and you or someone you love is in mortal danger from that person." Seeing that Jinora was not quite satisfied with this answer, Korra continued, "Think of it this way - if you had seen your father fighting Zaheer and his disciples, and it looked like Zaheer was about to remove the air from your father's lungs when he lay prone and helpless on the ground, and you were alone, what would you have done?" Though it obviously pained her to say it, Jinora said weakly, "I would have summoned all my strength, and taken their breath away. I wouldn't want to lose my father, after all." Jinora looked crushed, but Korra could tell she got the message. Jinora started to laugh lightly, and said through a smile, "Though if Opal were with me, there wouldn't be any quandary for me - all four Red Lotus members would be lying dead on the ground, with metal projectiles sticking out of their foreheads." Korra laughed, remembering Opal's request for the new "equipment".

Korra heard some mumbling behind her - apparently all this laughter had woken Bolin and Mako at the same time. Raava said "Quick! I'm going to go back inside you, Korra, and you can try to convey all three conversations to them both. I need a challenge once in a while." Mako stared at Korra for a second in sleepy confusion, waking up fully once Raava was back inside Korra. She had noticed she felt rather lonely and weak whenever Raava was not within her. She heard the spirit whisper _Quick, before Bolin asks what's goin o- oh, nevermind. Too late._ Korra whispered in Mako's ear, "I'm going to try a new technique on you and your brother - just get him to hold still." Mako said, "Bolin, Korra needs us for something, but you have to stay really still. Just pretend you're trying to hide from Opal when she's mad." Glancing over at Juicy's driver, Korra could see this was no hypothetical situation - Opal was sending angry glances at Mako and Bolin right now, possibly annoyed by Jinora's earlier quip. Korra planted her hands on the brother's shoulders, and felt as though something had temporarily left her and then returned. While Mako did not seem phased by this odd new technique, Bolin was squinting his eyes and rubbing his head, protesting, "Why did you just project a symphony of voices into my head, Korra? Is regular talking too good for you?" Korra laughed lightly and said with a smirk, "I just needed to test out a time-saving technique on you two, and it appears to have worked. Did you get the image of your girlfriend's wrath for the Red Lotus, Bolin?" Opal looked back to Oogi's passengers, this time to Korra, and asked, "What was that?" Bolin looked relieved that she was no longer giving him the stink-eye, but he still said "Yes I did!" rather nervously. Maybe Jinora did have a point about Opal - but that was something for another time. Korra told Opal, "Jinora can tell you about it later!" and to her surprise, she heard a relieved sigh from Jinora, who said "I never thought I'd be bonding with anyone over violence, but it's better than another catfight." Opal's suspicious look did not entirely rule that last possibility out.

After quite some time passed, Korra heard a loud roar, and turned to see its source - Druk, Zuko's dragon. _I hope Druk's okay - that was a long ways to go over sea, so fast… now we can start the Restoration - if you can convince Toph, that is._ Korra looked around for the telltale Great Banyan tree to guide her to where Toph might be, but to her horror, she had a hard time finding it. When she did, her eyes flickered in and out of the Avatar State momentarily, in a combination of both her own fury and Raava's anger. Korra pointed to what should have been a lush, gargantuan tree, and yelled, "THAT'S what Kuvira did to that poor thing?! Maybe I should have let her die after all!" With both of the airbison's passengers now wide awake and staring on in mute horror, Korra took in the horrible scene. Even Druk hung motionless in the air, flapping his wings and occasionally shooting bursts of flame skyward in anger, and she heard a distinctive sobbing from the beast's rider.


	11. Chapter 11: Arrival at a Rock Wall

Chapter 11: Arrival at a Rock Wall

Korra looked at the "Great" Banyan tree in silence. The upper canopy of the massive tree appeared to be withering away as a result of the massive, sickening chunks taken from the sides. Many large branches ended abruptly, and almost all the roots had large swathes removed from them. The smaller vines around the tree had been almost completely removed, with only lifeless tendrils here and there to tell the world of the massacre. Lin yelled, "I don't get it, Korra - it looks like they took almost half the blasted tree, but I never saw that much spirit vine material inside the Colossus!" Mako added, half looking like he wanted to join Druk's display of anger with his new blue flame, "Even the spirit vine inside the reactor wasn't this big! Kuvira must have stashed it all away! That's bad news, if anyone decides to continue fighting when Wu makes his announcement." Korra felt a sinking feeling in her gut - Uncle Iroh's warning about Zuko's post-war rule came scurrying back to her, like a pack of unwelcome giant spiders.

_While this atrocity sickens me to my core, Korra, we need to get a move on - and remember, you decided to spare Kuvira's life, and killing her to avenge the Great Banyan tree will accomplish nothing._ Raava was right - Korra didn't have time to gawk at that horrible mess. She yelled, loud enough for a now much closer Zuko to hear, "I'm going to find and talk to Toph with Asami! I have the feeling she wouldn't take to my new communication technique at all," adding with a frown, "She's not so keen on regular conversation to begin with." As Lin, Su, Bolin and Opal began laughing loudly, a mysterious gust of wind picked Korra and Asami up off Oogi's back. Much to her annoyance, as she and Asami were swept away, she could see Tenzin wasn't concerned at all - he appeared to be laughing. Then a distant icy memory surfaced, once more, and Korra understood the reason for his laughter.

When Asami and Korra landed in the Swamp, they appeared to be on a large crushed fluffy white pillow. Suddenly, it squawked - this was no pillow! The mass beneath them shrugged them off violently. Korra grabbed ahold of Asami's hand as they fell into a thick bed of leaves, and a strange white bird turned towards them, and let out a piercing screech that sounded like a human scream. A vine whipped the bird off into a distant corner of the swamp, and Asami began laughing like a madwoman. Korra let out a sigh of relief, saying, "Well, it appears the Swamp is still alive, but wounded. I wonder how long it will take to regrow?"

A familiar crotchety voice said behind them, "Oh, I don't know - maybe five thousand years. Welcome back to the swamp, Twinkletoes." Korra grabbed Asami's arm, and rushed towards the hunched-over figure of Toph. Korra told Toph, "Hey again! I'd like you to meet my gi-, uhm, my friend, Asami." Toph gave Korra a quizzical look, and began laughing loudly, saying "Hah! I bet even Bolin could tell that she's not your 'friend' - I've felt my own toddlers give more convincing lies, and both your hearts are beating far too fast for your bond to be just friendship." Korra was half tempted to give Toph a halfhearted shock with lightning, but remembered the last time she had tried to start beef with Toph Beifong, and decided against it. Toph pointed at her rocky shelter and said, "I can tell there's a lot neither of you are telling me. Come here, and get started with the gumflappin'." Once all three were inside, Asami took out her notebook, all prepared to give Toph a full account of the past 48 hour's events. Korra began talking, saying excitedly, "Okay, so first me and Asami go on a field trip to the Spirit world, and then we meet Uncle Iroh, who gives us some big warnings - " Korra fell backward as the rock floor slid under her feet, Toph beginning to cackle simultaneously.

Toph admonished her, "What did I tell you about trying to lie, Korra? The only liar who's ever bested me was Princess Azula, and she's long gone - may she rest in pieces." As Toph began to laugh again, she pointed to Asami, and said, "I can tell you and her have a thing for each other - more than that, I can tell, given how you're both blushing. I can feel the blood flow in your hearts. Why don't you just hurry up and spill the beans - and don't include any of the spiritual claptrap, it always did bore me." Given that so much of Korra's relationship with Asami and its unusual fruit had been enabled by "spiritual claptrap," she told Toph the relevant spiritual parts anyways. Toph must have been able to tell that Korra was still withholding information, and in a way that was consistent with Toph's command - the floor did not move again.

Before Korra could get to their first meeting with Katara, Toph held up her hand and said, "I bet Katara pestered you about this a bit." Korra laughed weakly, saying, "I guess you could say that." Before Korra could go back into the story, Toph added, "And I know you aren't telling me everything that happened in there, as per my request, but you have told me about what I really cared to know, and wish you to tell me more. Remember, no claptrap. Now go." Korra snickered, managing to say, "I guess you and Katara have… similar _interests_." Korra could hear Asami and herself laughing, and Raava giggling inside of her.

Korra felt a sudden pain in her foot, and felt the world moving around her - apparently Toph had shot a wave of earth at her feet, much as she had before. Toph walked over coolly, stood over her body, and said ,"You really should be more aware of your surroundings, you know," with no hint of emotion in her voice. She felt Raava snickering inside her, although this time Korra did not see what was funny. Korra let out a deep sigh, and got back on her feet once again. Remembering her trick with the tiles from earlier today, she bent a square of earth up from the floor and kept it floating in mid-air, hoping this might fool Toph's earthsense. The old earthbender instead began laughing wildly, turning the square into dust. Stomping her foot on the ground, Toph turned Korra to face her, and said "Nice try, but I still can hear, you know. Some floating rock trick isn't going to fool me - at least not at close range. I still remember how Twinkletoes cheated against me during our first encounter. Speaking of toes… Anyways, why don't you just finish - I have to clean my toes." Toph held up her foot, and Asami turned away - even Korra thought they were overdue. As Korra finished her edited version of events, she heard the door to the cave open - apparently Toph was done with them now.

Before Toph could bend them both out, Korra blurted out, "Toph, the real reason we came here was to get your help - we need your assistance to help save Avatar Aang's spirit, and all the lives before him." Toph stomped the floor again, making both Korra and Asami spin like tops - the same technique Korra had considered using on one of Tarrlok's assistants. Toph said, stopping the girl's motion temporarily, "I thought I told you no claptrap! I don't want anything to do with you kids anymore, or the world for that matter. Not after what Kuvira did to the Swamp." Korra felt her blood boil, and her eyes flash a bright white. She quickly closed the distance to a surprised Toph, and forced the information regarding Raava and her past lives into Toph's mind. She didn't feel proud doing this, but she felt it was the only way - it's not like Toph was going to even let them stay otherwise, much less listen to her tale of woe and urgency.

Korra felt her eyes halt their glowing, and she removed her hand from Toph's temple. Without missing a beat, Toph said, pointing at the door, "Nope, still don't care. Now get out!" Korra was really angry now - did this woman honestly not care about the fate of her deceased friend?! Before Korra could say anything, she saw a shadowy figure extend a gloved hand to Toph's side, and a moderate amount of electrical current enter Toph's body. Knowing she couldn't possibly have generated lightning that quickly, Korra turned her head slightly, and saw Asami by her side. Asami removed the electrogloves from her hand, and said, "I know you can't bloodbend, much less without a full moon, so I guess this is the next best thing. Hopefully some peer pressure will make her cave. I'm going to radio Lin, and you shoot a large beacon of blue fire outside as a signal flare. I know we both had hoped to get Toph to behave reasonably, but it was a long shot."


	12. Chapter 12: Completion

Chapter 12 : Completion

As Korra ran outside to create the signal, she couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty about what had happened - but then again, it had been Asami that incapacitated Toph, and not Korra. Then again, Asami was right - if Korra was under a full moon and knew how to bloodbend Toph without hurting her, and the only alternative was the death of all her past lives, she'd do it. Maybe she wasn't so different from Tarrlok after all…

_The more I see of humanity, Korra, the more I see that black and white, pure good and pure evil, perfect yin and yang - they are all lies. You may regret forcing information into Toph's mind, what Asami did, or what you were willing to do if you knew how to bloodbend, for the rest of your life - but as I have seen, humans have to walk the fine line between light and dark - myself and Vaatu - in a way that no other beings have to. Having finally experienced such a thing relatively first-hand, I only have one regret now: not equalizing spirits and humans sooner. Just living together isn't enough for some to see good in the other, unfortunately - both spirits, and humans. Now go, and bend that signal!_

Korra chocked back her bitter tears, and shot a jet of blue flame skyward. A sudden panicked thought occurred to her - what would Zuko say when he saw the Avatar using one of his evil deceased sister's moves? The signal flare momentarily flashed a normal orange, but then Korra took a deep breath, and remembered what Raava had just said. She re-focused herself, and the flame turned blue once more - but this time, with a substantial colored base.

She heard a momentous crash in the forest surrounding her, as though a leviathan had landed near her. Remembering Zuko's dragon mount, Druk, she turned in the direction of the sound, and saw a stunned Zuko staring at Korra's flame, stammering, "Korra! That flame! I thought it died with my sister! How did you… wait. What's that at the base…? Is that… multi-color fire?! It's… a rainbow! What… That's the color of dragons' flame!" Zuko stood mute, in stunned silence, as did Korra, who only managed to maintain the flame - if she had spoken, the flame would have been extinguished. Korra took a deep breath, yet _again_ recollecting herself, and said, hoping the flame would stay, "I can explain everything to you later, Zuko. I saw the same colors at the base of Mako's flames when I taught him how to wield and control this unruly blue fire." Korra thought for a moment, and it suddenly dawned on her - the colors that Zuko referred to as dragon's fire appeared whenever she or Mako had thought of some form of love, and apparently her acceptance of the contradictory nature of the world had intensified the amount of the odd flames. She took another deep breath, and explained all this to a motionless Zuko as the other members of the party had assembled behind him. Suddenly realizing she no longer needed to maintain the flare, she snuffed it out - and was met with slight booing. Tenzin stepped forward, and said, "Whatever happened in there, Korra - we all need to know. And old-fashioned style, please - that new technique leaves something to be desired, according to Bolin and Mako."

Noticing that Asami had a groggy Toph over her shoulders, Korra began explaining the events of the past 45 minutes, and what Raava had said to her. Lin and Su did not laugh once - not even when she described how Asami had incapacitated their mother. Apparently, Toph had been faking, as when Korra finished Toph said, "I don't know whether to try and bend your skull in with a rock or hug you, Korra. I still won't assist in the Restoration, though." Toph blew a vigorous raspberry at Korra. Rather than getting angry, Korra just laughed and said, "I'm sure Zuko and Katara really appreciate your help here. Sokka, Suki and Aang may be dead, but we can at least revive the latter's spirit. I know you don't care about all this spiritual stuff, but please - can you do this for Katara and Zuko?"

Again, a resounding "Nope," Toph adding, "I really am done with you kids - especially after that sneak attack from Asami." Korra never could tell when Toph was kidding. Tenzin stepped in front of Toph - for some bizarre reason, Toph was blind after all - and asked, in an exaggerated tone, "Am I a kid?" Toph snickered and said, "Yes, Twinkletoes Junior." Tenzin gave Toph a nasty glare, and stormed off, stopping near Korra's side. He patted Korra on the shoulder, and said, "Will THIS change your mind? Korra, project Raava out here - Toph should be able to sense her energy, even if she can't see her. Raava is rather… obvious." Korra took a deep breath and placed her knuckles together, and much as she suspected, Raava chose to come out in her true form - apparently she was trying to slightly intimidate Toph, which Korra knew would never work.

Raava boomed, "I know you are stubborn, Toph, but let me see if this vision will change your mind. I managed to get a good enough lock on Aang's energy to show you what you are about to SEE." As Toph began to protest, "What are you, stupid? I'm BLIND!" Raava extended a tentacle to Toph's forehead. Korra's vision was suddenly blackened, and then she saw what Raava must have been showing Toph. Korra saw a ten-year old Aang inside a block of ice, shivering in the cold and crying heavily. She could hear intermittent muffled cries of "Somebody save me! Please! I'm so cold…" Korra's heart felt like ice - she knew that Wan was now four, and time was short. The vision lifted, and she felt Raava's presence within her body once more.

Toph hummed absently, and started wiggling from Asami's shoulder. Back on the ground, she motioned to Korra, saying, "Come here. I have something to ask of you." Asami stepped aside as Korra got closer, and Toph whispered in her ear, "If we restore the link, will you call Aang Twinkletoes for me and harass him from time to time?" Korra felt like slapping Toph, but just gave a noncommittal "Sure." Korra felt the earth rumble under her feet, and gave Toph a sideways glance, saying honestly, "Yes, I will. I might even be able to project him out for you, like I did with Raava." Toph slapped Korra on the back, gave everyone a big grin, and said, "I'm in." Toph slapped her hands over her ears to block out the raucous applause. Before Korra left her side, Toph told her lowly, "And after we're done, I have a confession of my own to make - but no one else can hear. And no info whatever on this. You got that?" Not having any idea what Toph could be talking about, she said, "Sounds good - I'll need Asami at my side as a scribe, though." Toph grunted lowly, and said with a resigned tone, "She did just zap me, but fine. Now let's go save Twinkletoes." Korra smiled slightly - Toph still did care after all. It was uncharacteristic of her to share deep, dark secrets. She was just being exceptionally cranky today for some reason - maybe she thought doing so would antagonize Aang?

Korra walked back to where everyone else was, but she was sort of at a loss - Raava had told them to all gather in the Swamp, but nothing after that. Korra projected Raava back out, who took her human-y form this time. Zuko stared at the small form intently. Raava said, "I need Tenzin, Katara, Toph, and Zuko to hold hands around Korra in a square formation, in that order. Korra needs to grab Tenzin's right shoulder with one hand and Katara's left shoulder with the other, as they have the closest relationship with Korra. I need Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, Jinora, Lin and Su to hold hands, in that order, around the inner square. Someone will have to hold Asami by her side - I think that would be Su. Asami needs to touch Korra with her free hand, somehow - if memory serves me right, Korra would prefer on the butt. You got that?" Korra blushed, and said "Yes!" at the same time as everyone else. Raava finished, "Good. I will be inside Korra for this. Allow me to provide some quick transportation." With that, another not-so mysterious wind picked everyone up - Druk, Oogi and Juicy included - and deposited them on a somewhat intact section of the Great Banyan tree's roots. The animals stared in curiosity as everyone assembled the bizarre formation, Druk looking just as tired as Juicy and Oogi.

_Okay, Korra - now I just need you to enter the Avatar State, and the energy of those around you should take care of the rest. Hatred imprisoned your past lives - and now human love will free them. See you on the other side. _Korra took a deep breath, and after she felt Asami pinch her butt in a mischievous manner, she entered into the Avatar State.

Korra felt herself leave her body, finally stopping before her apparition hit the underside of what remained of the Great Banyan tree's canopy. A massive beam of blue light shot from the crown of her head, making Druk, Oogi and Juicy bellow in shock. Korra watched in amazement as two concentric rings of water rose towards the two rings of bodies. Both waterloops began to glow a familiar yellow at the exact same time, and formed a covering over all those assembled's arms and hands. When the outer ring finally connected through Asami's outstretched hand to the inner ring, the water began glowing the same white as Korra's eyes. Soon after, Korra heard a deep groan in the distance - as though a giant had wrestled a massive chunk of earth free.

A massive boulder suddenly flew towards the inner ring containing herself, Toph, Zuko, Tenzin and Katara. The boulder began to writhe over top of Toph's head, and a flash of light from its surface told Korra it must have had some metal content. Finally assuming the form of a square, the boulder began to send out massive heat waves from its top surface, singeing some Great Banyan tree vines in the process. The inner portion of the boulder began bubbling madly - she must have been using Avatar State lavabending on it! As the roiling surface began to calm down, she saw a familiar symbol etched in stone and iron on its surface - the symbol for Earth.

Korra's apparition jumped aside out of shock, barely avoiding the next elemental display. A massive spout of multicolor fire sprang from her physical body's mouth, again singeing some of the Great Banyan tree, much to her dismay. Druk bellowed again, in surprise at the color of the flames. As the great ball of multicolored flames hovered over Zuko, Korra saw her body take a deep breath, and exhale forcefully, eyes still glowing. At first, it appeared as though this had done nothing - then a bizarre spherical electrical lightshow appeared over her head. Korra's mouth fell open of its own. Was that… ball lightning? She had heard of accounts told by crazy hermits of such things happening naturally, but had never seen such a display herself - much less one created by bending. The ball of lightning united with the ball of fire over Zuko's head, and the hypnotic mixture immediately formed the symbol for Fire, with the lightning serving as a background.

Korra's body took another deep breath, and exhaled a great gale of wind that tore into the Great Banyan tree, yet again - Korra wondered sickly if there would be anything left when this Restoration was completed. The wind howled as it concentrated over Tenzin's head, ripping more leaves from the tree. After a while, the wind began holding a familiar pattern, its pattern illuminated by the now-glowing Great Banyan tree leaves within the streams of air - the symbol for Air. A steady lighter stream of air formed a box around the inner lighted maelstrom.

Korra's body gave an odd jerk, and she stared in horror as a sizeable portion of the tree's great trunk shriveled as torrents of water were ripped from its flesh. The water pulsated, condensing down to a much smaller form. The water congregated over Katara's head, and she saw a familiar symbol beginning to form out of ice- the symbol of her own element, Water. After the symbol formed, an icy mist enveloped it, and a square of shimmering water formed behind the ice.

Suddenly, the Great Banyan tree beneath all those assembled began to rumble lightly. Korra saw bright white lines interconnect every individual gathered in a beautiful spider's web, and the tree groaned. Just when Korra thought the tree was about to give its life to restore her past ones, a beam of pure, white light erupted from Korra's chest and struck the tree in the trunk with full force. Korra first thought this meant the end for the tree, given the power of the beam, but something unexpected happened. The tree began to grow bright white lines in its trunk, and after she felt an immense pulse of power from her own body, she watched in glee as the tree healed all its wounds - but with that same white color placed against the green of the tree.

_Let's see those scumbags try and use the Great Banyan tree's vines as a weapon now_, a steadily louder voice said in her head. _I can't wait to see the first unworthy harvester to try and cut this poor thing to be turned to ash - good riddance_. Korra felt herself return to her body, and couldn't help but make the same predatory grin she assumed Raava would have made. Anticipating the incineration of evil people wasn't exactly in line with the "new Korra"… But she remembered how the tree had looked, all those horrible camps Kuvira made, all the crimes against humanity and the spirits…

Her last thought was "I think it's high time I was a bit less understanding and a bit more unyielding again - yielding to those without principle is foolishness," which was met with a simple _About time. _

_Welcome back, Korra - it's been a long three years._


	13. Chapter 13: The Avatar Party

Chapter 13: The Avatar Party

Korra had no clue what would happen after she had completed the instructions for the Restoration, and certainly did not anticipate the regrowth of the Great Banyan tree, but she certainly wasn't expecting this. She appeared to be standing inside a massive hall, which was filled with over 100 people - a good number of which she recognized immediately. She saw Raava standing in front of her in a formal dress in her human-y form, and she saw everyone else staring at Raava's new form. As she began to scan the crowd in more detail, Korra's heart jumped - she could see Avatar Wan, Avatar Aang, Avatar Roku, Avatar Kyoshi -who she recognized from history books - and all her other past lives! A rather severe woman Air Nomad Avatar who was staring at Raava and a male Water Tribe Avatar who was approaching Raava caught her eye. The Water Tribe Avatar came up to close Raava and said, bending over to look Raava in the face, "I bet if you ever grow up, you'll be a looker, Raava." As the closest Avatars began laughing wildly, Raava cursed and flicked him in the forehead, sending him crashing into Korra. As their bodies collided, she instantly knew who he was - it was Avatar Kuruk, who Raava had once mentioned as having lost a loved one's face to Koh.

Seemingly knowing what Korra had been thinking about, Kuruk asked her "So what's that no-good scumbag centipede up to these days? He try and steal anyone's face recently? I gotta get back to hunting that villain - I never did get him to give Ummi's face back, even if I decided to not kill him." He frowned at the ground, seemingly ready to cry - which seemed rather uncharacteristic. This brazen man had just hit on the human-y form of one of the most powerful spirits in the universe. Korra explained the threat Long Yumao had given Asami, and Kuruk scratched his head lightly, saying, "Wait - I don't get it. How does that compare to Koh stealing my beloved's face…?" Korra whispered in his ear, and Kuruk's cheeks turned a deep red, Kuruk saying, "Oh, sorry, Korra - I never figured that some girls bent that way. Might help explain why some of those Air Nomad chicks just walked off before I could show them my tricks." Kuruk said, putting a hand on Korra's shoulder, "Now that I think about it, I don't really mind - just as long as _somebody_ was getting some action." Kuruk winked at Korra, making her laugh, and he continued, "I get the bad feeling you aren't done telling me what happened while I was trapped in that icecube - go on." When Korra told him about Raava, Asami and her own encounter with a freewalking Koh in the spirit world, Kuruk nearly had a fit. He managed to sputter, "That's just awful! Koh was enough of a menace when he stayed holed up in his tree, even if he did help Aang... sort of. I hope this Long Yumao can't uphold his end of their disgusting pact." Kuruk stormed off, apparently annoyed to be trapped with the other past lives of the Avatar instead of harassing Koh.

When she saw Aang walking towards her with Roku at his side, she realized with a start that Aang no longer took the form of the middle-aged man she had seen before who had restored her bending - he was 12! Aang, seemingly anticipating her question, said loudly, "When you restored the link, some Avatars chose to not completely reverse the backwards aging - I chose to stay 12, and I know Wan chose to stop aging once he got to the age where he and Raava fused during their fight with Vaatu." Aang pointed at Roku, and said, "Here's Roku, my mentor! He helped me a lot when I was trying to defeat the Fire Nation." A nasty frown suddenly appeared on Korra's face, and she asked, "Yeah, about that kind of _help_, Aang - why didn't you warn me about Harmonic Convergence anyways? I didn't see or even _hear _much of you at all until recently." Korra shot the little boy a rather nasty glare. Aang just began laughing, saying, "Sorry, Korra - I let myself get… distracted, shall we say. Even after death, I always loved to check in on Katara." Roku gave him a face that outdid her own scowl, and smacked Aang across the face, yelling, "THAT'S what you were doing before Avatar Korra got swallowed by that Dark Spirit?! Honestly! You told me you were trying to get more information about Harmonic Convergence out of Wan Shi Tong - you're lucky your granddaughter didn't get hurt by that smug owl." Aang blushed slightly, and said, "Yeah - maybe it wasn't the best decision. I don't think I was thinking with my brain. Anyways, Korra - I want you to tell me everything that happened since Unalaq and Vaatu imprisoned us." Seeing that Roku was curious as well and they were serious, Korra groaned slightly, and prepared to start talking - again. Before she could, she saw Raava sneak up behind the two, who told Korra, "Touch their foreheads! This party may not take any time in the real world, but I don't feel like standing here for two 'hours' either!" She put her palms on a laughing Aang's and a confused Roku's foreheads, and withdrew her hands once Raava removed her own from their backs. Roku stared at Korra, saying, "That was amazing! All that information at once…" Roku trailed off, and looked angry again, saying, "Wait - so Firelord Izumi didn't make it to Republic City in force in time? It doesn't matter if Kuvira attacked one week early. I know I wanted the Fire Nation to stop messing in other nation's affairs, but I think she's grossly overshot the mark. That crater in the middle of the city…" Roku headed past the tea table, straight for what Korra recognized as some sake bottles. Korra turned to stare at Aang - she was still angry at him for his… dereliction of duty. Aang could tell that Raava was angry as well - the small spirit had her hand on her hips, seemingly ready to launch into a barrage of curses. Aang twiddled his fingers nervously, and yelled, "Off to spy - I mean, check up on Katara again! See you later!" He ran off, staring out what appeared to be a window. Raava made to chase after Aang, but stopped, and sighed, "It's no use - he always was a big kid, even on his deathbed. Why don't you talk to these two while I join Roku at the sake table?"

Korra giggled at the idea of a great spirit getting drunk. Raava shot her a wink as she left, and said, "You might want to try alcohol with Asami some time - I get the feeling both your inhibitions will melt away like ice before fire." Korra remembered what Asami had said about hanky-panky and mansions - that sounded like a really good idea. Korra was dragged back to the present when she noticed two severe Avatars approaching her - one, an Air Nomad woman who she did not recognize, and the other what must have been Avatar Kyoshi. She would recognize that outfit and makeup anywhere. Kyoshi started, asking, "Who's this 'Kuvira' you mentioned? Don't tell me some fool is trying to follow in the footsteps of Chin the Conqueror. And none of that weird information dump thing Roku was so excited about. Why don't you just start from the time both me and Yangchen were imprisoned." Korra now knew the other Avatar's name. Korra groaned loudly, and said, "It's not like I could do it anyways - not with Raava half drunk all the way over there." She heard loud awkward laughter from the direction of the sake table - apparently Roku was making up for over 170 year's lack of drink with a vengeance, and Raava couldn't get enough of this strange new "human-y" pleasure. Korra vaguely considered cutting out certain parts, but the curious yet stern looks on Kyoshi's and Yangchen's faces convinced her that wasn't a good idea.

When she had finally finished - it was a good thing this party wasn't taking up actual real time, she thought with relief - she saw Yangchen staring at her in an odd mix of disbelief and admiration. Kyoshi looked to be fuming, but likely to stay silent for now. Yangchen said, putting a hand on Korra's shoulder, "I can't believe it - the Air Nomads, no, I guess the Air Nation now - back after all this time. And your sacrifice to protect them… You even put your life at risk to stop Kuvira's weapon from turning her into ash. I thought Aang's energybending of Ozai was merciful." She blushed slightly, adding, "I can see my own 'mixed' reputation precedes me - this 'Opal' girl sounds a lot like me, and Jinora sounds an awful lot like Aang. I believe they are both right, in their own ways, about taking life. I counseled Aang myself that he needed to just kill Ozai, and when I saw this 'New Ozai Society' I thought I had been right. I never expected one as violent and brash as yourself to show that there's a time and place for everything." Yangchen looked slightly concerned, and began to say, "The New Ozai Society came to mind when you talked about Iroh's prophecy, and I fear a repeat of that may happen in the Earth kingdom, except not around Kuvira - she 'disgraced' herself in the eyes of her followers, most likely, with her surrender." Yangchen barely finished before a much more visibly incensed Kyoshi pushed her aside, and pointed an accusing finger at Korra, and cursed at her in blind rage loudly for at least a good five minutes, Korra detecting a slightly… defensive tone in Kyoshi's voice, as though making up for something. She heard Raava laughing hysterically, who, given the loud thump at the end, must have fallen face-forward onto the floor in her drunken stupor.

Kyoshi actually began to talk instead of cursing, and she lashed into Korra, saying, "So you mean to tell me your incompetence let an anarchist madman plunge the Earth Kingdom into chaos, destroying countless artifacts and inflicting massive property damage in the process, and then you seriously considered SURRENDERING to this same lunatic? Which, I may add, if you hadn't gone to him like you did, he would never have been able to poison you. And that brings me to my second point - this 'Kuvira' woman. She sounds WORSE than Chin the Conqueror! All those slave-labor and 're-education' camps… I can hardly believe you didn't just crush her like the vile insect she is outside Zaofu, 'Dark Korra' hallucination or not. Then, instead of letting the Universe exact poetic justice on this horrible, evil person, you SAVED HER **FROM HER OWN WEAPON**?! I thought you were supposed to be more like I was - strong, willing to kill, and an instrument of order. I guess not - For crying out loud, you just started a SPIRIT CIVIL WAR! Someone told you were a 'legend', Korra - I think you're a disgrace. Now, to join Roku and Raava at the sake table - I need a good stiff drink after hearing all that ... that… " Again, with the cursing. With a final angry grunt and curse, Kyoshi stormed off, almost stepping on a floor-bound Raava who was singing horribly off-key with Roku.

Before Korra could start to cry wildly, she felt a very familiar energy near her, and looked up to see who it was, smiling to see Avatar Wan say, "Avatar Korra, I've always wanted to meet you directly. As the First Avatar, I know quite a bit more of what has happened than that brute of a woman did initially. Avatar Wan finished, "Even inside that ice, my special connection to Raava let me see the odd vision here or there," wiping a solitary tear from Korra's cheek. Wan began to drag Korra towards the sake table - the last place she wanted to go. Seeing the look on her face, Wan said, "I want to see Raava up close, after all this time - even if she is so drunk she can't see straight. Never thought I'd see my friend in the form of an intoxicated little girl." Both Korra and Wan laughed loudly. This got Raava's attention, who managed to waddle over, saying, "Hey, Waaaan! Nishe to shee you againnn! If I evur get a bigger 'human-y' form, wanna do the… The Thing?" As Raava hiccupped and then giggled loudly, Wan's cheeks flushed, and he said "Hey! I may have sworn off humans - much less intercourse with one - after I fused with you, but I'm not your husband or boyfriend. Now, please, do this new 'information-sharing' technique with Korra, before you pass out or something." Korra was rather surprised - she had never heard of an asexual individual before. Raava slurred, "Fiiine. Now jusht hold shtill, and don't questionnn where I put my handsh. It issh completely necesshary." Korra put her palm up to Wan's forehead, and laughed loudly as Raava made her move - she firmly grasped Wan's buttocks, producing a surprised yelp from the first Avatar. After a short time, she saw Wan swat Raava's hands off his rear. Raava groaned loudly, "Awwww! And I wash jusht shtarting to feel that feelinggg Korra said I couldn't feel as a shpirit. You arrr no fun, Waaaaan." With the last word, Raava feel backwards again, landing on her long braided white hair. The small clasped teapot now sitting on Raava's chest let out a muffled mad laughter, vibrating as it did so. Roku burst into hysterics, Kyoshi actually snickered, and she could hear Aang laughing wildly - apparently, he had become bored of the Katara peep show. Wan said, still blushing slightly, "I believe I have something to tell you, Korra. Now let's get away from these drunken hooligans." Raava managed a weak "I'm no hoooligaaaander - I'm the mosht powerful shpirit in the Univershe!" before blacking out again as Wan and Korra walked away.

Wan stopped when they had reach an empty corner of the odd house, and said "You seemed surprised when I said I held no desire for humans after fusing with Raava. After seeing all that humanity could do, I felt dirty even being near anyone but my closest allies, and even they regarded me with a small amount of fear - there had been no Avatar before me, and they never really knew if I was going to glow it up on them. Given this, I never developed a close relationship with any human - the closest thing I had was my bond with Raava, and despite her impious behavior just now, I can't find myself attracted to a big spirit, much less a little girl." Korra gave Wan a confused look - while this information was interesting, she didn't see what it had to do with her. She told him as much, and Wan said, "Ah, yes - so direct. What I brought you over here to tell you, Korra, is that you are not alone." Korra was getting slightly angry, and said curtly, "Of course I'm not alone! You're standing right here, next to me! If you have something to say, spit it out!" Wan laughed, and said, "Okay then - Korra, you are not the only Avatar to have a same-sex relationship. You are the first outside the Air Nomads to actually follow through on your desires. There was only one other Avatar who pursued his love as far or farther than you have - a male Air Nomad, Avatar Garkan. His time occurred after the finding by Air Nomad scholars that Tenzin showed you." Korra could hardly believe what Wan was saying - she truly was not alone! Korra began to grin broadly, hugging Wan, saying, "That's wonderful news! What about the other Avatars who weren't heterosexual?" Wan looked down at the floor, and said with clear disgust in his voice, "They had to keep their relationships secret, or worse - they kept their desires pent up inside. Unrequited love - not because the target of their affections would have rejected them, but because they knew they would become a 'lame turtle-duck' Avatar if they showed their feelings openly. It is as Iroh warned you - there is much intolerance in the world, especially before your time. Even for the Avatar, the most powerful human on the planet."

Korra felt an anger rising inside her she had only felt a few times before. It blossomed fully, and she felt tears running down her face. Had she been in the physical world with Raava inside her, she thought she would have incinerated all within a hundred feet of her body, even turning earth and steel to ash and slag. Wan lightly tapped her head, and said, "I did not tell you this to make you 'rage against the machine', Korra - it is my hope that you may help change the world's attitude towards non heterosexual relationships. You won't get anywhere incinerating cities like what that anger would have done, however. While the Spirit Civil War is ongoing, this may need to be put to the side - you will need the support of humanity, even bigots, if you are to successfully stop Long Yumao's growing influence and defeat him." Korra was still seething with rage, so she asked Wan, "Can you show me one of these Avatars? And please, no depressing stories - at least not right now." Wan ran off suddenly, dragging a large man behind him in Air Nomad attire, who looked very surprised. After Wan whispered in this Avatar's ear for quite some time, the burly man stepped forward.

A deep voice boomed, "Hello, Avatar Korra - my name is Avatar Garkan. Wan told me of your relationship with this 'Asami' woman and his own conversation with you, among other things. He made it clear you didn't really want to hear the other gay Avatar's testimonies of woe right now, so allow me to share my own story." Korra felt a small head at her side - apparently Aang wanted to hear this story as well. Before Garkan could begin, Aang piped, "I had heard of this decree that Korra 'mentioned' in the information sharing earlier before, but never knew anyone who it would apply to. Hope you don't mind, Avatar Garkan." The large Air Nomad Avatar laughed deeply, and said, "You can just call me Garkan. No need for formalities here. As I was about to say, I noticed that I never looked at girls with desire when I was young - even less than the average airbender monk. By the time I was told I was the next Avatar, I had already engaged in relations with another boy - Air Nomad Ryung. Just like you and Asami, Korra, we had not gone beyond close physical contact yet."

Seemingly satisfied that he had answered Korra's main unasked question - which he had not - Garkan continued, saying, "I grew up during a time of peace - the previous Avatar, Avatar Akane of the Fire Nation, had ended a brutal war between the Northern Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom over territory. Her skillful use of the Avatar State ended the lives of the lead generals before they could command their armies to fight to the death outside Ba Sing Se's walls. The leaders of both nations found themselves free to talk out their differences and reach today's borders without the threat of a military coup de 'tat hanging over their heads. Nobody really felt much like fighting anyways, once both generals' remains had been burned together as a symbol of peace and the Avatar's power." Garkan pointed two large fingers out - one at Aang, and one at Korra, saying, "My life as Avatar mainly revolved around diplomacy and finalization of peace, unlike your own tumultuous experiences. From what Wan told me, Korra, you will have some diplomacy of your own to engage in shortly - remember, draw from each of the Four Nations for inspiration, and listen to this 'Su' - she sounds like a highly intelligent woman."

While what Garkan had to say about history and diplomacy was sure to prove useful, Korra was getting rather impatient, and said, "Okay - the reason I wanted to talk to you wasn't about diplomacy or peace talks, Garkan. I figured you might have some solid advice for me on how and when to come out about my relationship with Asami. Do you?" Garkan had a rather resigned look on his chiseled face, and said, "No, I do not, Korra. I am sorry. The reason I told you about the environment that I was Avatar during was because I did not face the divisive challenges you or Aang faced. This allowed me to freely pursue my relationship with my lover, Ryung - even outside of the non-judgmental environment of the Air Nomads. I did not have to worry about the other three Nation's opinion of me - they were still in awe and fear of Avatar Akane's feats. Her legacy, combined with my physical strength, size and elemental prowess, made it so none would challenge my 'odd' relationship with Ryung. We grew old together, as I hope you and Asami will - all without a derogatory look from anyone." Garkan smiled lightly, then put a massive hand to his chin, thinking. He finished, "On your original question - I think I may have a partial answer. You have done much during your lifetime to command respect, according to Wan. I think the best time to bring your relationship with Asami and the plight of non-heterosexuals into the spotlight would be after a major victory against an unambiguous foe. While you may think this applies to Kuvira, I do not believe that situation is so simple. You need someone that almost all of humanity hates, like Ozai - Long Yumao sounds like he's trying his best to fit the bill." With that, Garkan walked off towards the sake table - what was it with people and booze?

Aang told Wan "Last one to Raava's a rotten egg!", and the two rushed off towards a now semi-lucid form in the distance. Korra felt herself running over as well - she felt ready to leave, and she needed Raava to come to her senses first. As she approached, Raava said, with much less of a slur, "Ready to get back to the human-y world, huh, Korra? Here - take my hand." Raava extended her hand, and Korra grasped it, but not before Raava said, "And I'm not done with you yet, Waaaan," and slapped Wan on the butt again. As Korra felt herself fading, she heard a smack on someone's face, and a small girl giggling in reaction.


	14. Chapter 14: Hidden Sorrows

Chapter 14: Hidden Sorrows

As Korra came to in the physical world, the odd mansion long vanished, she felt her eyes glow strongly, and much to her surprise, she was actually able to manually tell her body what to do while in the Avatar State and somehow talk at the same time. She said, "The Restoration was a success" in a voice that was loud, but fully her own. She heard multiple surprised yelps around her - even Tenzin was surprised, saying incredulously, "Korra! I've never heard of an Avatar talking in their own voice while in the Avatar State before… what happened?" Korra's body momentarily stiffened, and a deep multi-voice replied, "As Raava has directly acquired more human characteristics, new and unprecedented things have happened. This is not the first, nor is it the last." Korra felt control return once again, and she could feel a raw power coursing through her that she hadn't felt in three years as she remained in the Avatar State. Seeing that everyone but Tenzin was still alarmed by this bizarre development - even Katara - Korra deliberately exited the Avatar State.

Everyone gathered around her began to ask the inevitable questions, and rather than explaining the "Avatar Party", as she thought of it, a novel idea occurred to Korra that she followed through on. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the newly re-invigorated Great Banyan tree's trunk beneath her, and used the tree to broadcast the events of the "party" to everyone assembled. She made sure to catch Zuko up to speed on everything that had happened in the past 48 hours at the same time. This time, there were no complaints of odd feelings or disorientation - apparently the tree had helped somehow.

Zuko was the first to speak, saying ,"So I guess I'm not the only one frustrated with my daughter, Firelord Izumi - funny Roku should disapprove of her blind adherence to 'non-aggression' in the face of Kuvira when he tried to stop Sozin from enacting his aggressive dream." Zuko shifted uncomfortably, saying, "Speaking of family - I think, after 'hearing' about Korra and Asami's relationship, and what Avatar Garkan had to say, I have something to confess." Toph made a loud, angry grunt, saying, "Zuko? I can't tell if it's about you or someone else on top of this tree - I can't earthsense through roots, and the energy of the tree is all… different now! Why don't we go back to solid ground?"

After everyone arrived at Toph's residence, everyone but Zuko and Korra talking animatedly along the way, the group dismounted from their respective animals - Toph had hitched a ride on Zuko's dragon, Druk, talking animatedly about some "life-changing field trip" all the way. Zuko said, "While I am dying to try my own hand at this blue fire that apparently both Korra and Mako can make, I have a story to tell about someone who is… related." While everyone else stared at Zuko blindly, Katara, Toph, Tenzin and Jinora shouted "Azula? Tell us more!" They seemed to be expecting a laugh out of the former Firelord, but he sighed deeply instead, informing them, "I am afraid this is no funny tale, my friends - Avatar Garkan's story and Wan's words finally convinced me this family secret must be shared."

Zuko, clearly pained to talk of his deceased sister, said, "I believe when I was about 11 years old, Azula was trying to master lightning generation, despite only having just turned ten. She was not proficient enough in it yet to feel comfortable showing anyone in an official sense or to seriously harm someone, as she did my future best friend and Korra's predecessor, Aang. One day, when she was practicing as I watched in secret - I was desperate to become as good a firebender as my sister, but it did not come to pass - she accidentally hit an attractive teenage servant girl, knocking her out." Zuko took a long pause, causing Toph to yell, "Get on with it already! She's dead, Zuko - she isn't going to come and electrocute you or burn you to cinders. May she rest in pieces."

A single tear streaked down Zuko's cheek as he said, "I know she was an evil person, very conflicted, Toph - but this story might change your image of her. She had multiple issues. She always had a strained relationship with my mother, Ursa - but until a short time from now, no one but myself, Azula and Ursa knew one of the biggest reasons why." Zuko gulped, and continued, "I saw Azula walk up to the girl, Azula still thinking she was completely alone, and touch her, as if satisfying a forbidden curiosity. As Azula made to grab the older girl's chest, I yelped, drawing her attention, Azula blushing as she followed through involuntarily. She had a mortified look on her face - Azula realized that for the first time in my life, I had a trump card to play against her with my father. Being only 11, and bitter at my father's favoritism, I threatened her, saying if she ever tried to betray me I would tell her father what she had done - even though I did not fully understand her action's meaning. As she was only ten, I dismissed the idea of it being anything, the threat an impulse. I saw her cry genuinely for the first time in my life, and she ran off to go harass the palace turtle-ducks."

Zuko suddenly looked extremely guilty, and said, "That's when I noticed I had not been alone - my mother, Ursa, had been standing out of both our sights. She whisked me off to her room. That was one of the few times she ever spanked me. My mother explained that girls sometimes matured very rapidly, telling me she thought Azula was one of them. Ursa told me that I shouldn't threaten someone based on their 'sexual orientation' - Fire Nation schools had never taught me about homosexual relationships or attractions before - and that if I ever followed through with my threat, not only would she be very disappointed with me, Ozai might even kill my sister. She said my father would have no use for even a prodigy if she was 'aberrant' and unlikely to produce a successor in the event of my own death." Zuko sniffed deeply, and said, "That was the first time it hit me what an evil man my father was - my mother sounded dead serious, and I sealed my lips seemingly for good after I learned about Azulon's plans for me as punishment for my father's cruel words about Uncle Iroh and his dead son Lu Ten. Before she disappeared, my mother tried to tell me Azula was lying about Azulon's plan, but… given our history before that, I took Azula as seriously as she would have if I threatened to out her. And from what I learned later, after the 100 Year's War… Azula was right about Azulon's plan for me."

Zuko shook his head, and said, "This story isn't about me - it's about Azula. Anyways, when my mother had finished, Azula walked in on us. Before Azula could flee, Ursa grabbed her tightly and cried into my sister's shoulders. My mother told Azula that she would always love her, no matter her choices, and that even if her father wasn't okay with who Azula was, that she would protect her with her life. Azula shocked us both - she bit my mother on her hand, and ran off, screaming 'Father loves me more than Zuko - I don't need your love or acceptance, mother! I'm going to make your life unbearable, Zuko! Just you wait and see - you'll never get the chance to rat me out, I'll keep you so far away from Father!' I was shocked, Azula having just confirmed her little secret, and my mother was devastated. Azula treated her with hostility and suspicion from that day forward, 'knowing' that if Azula ever tried to hurt me, Ursa might just turn her in. Or at least that's what Azula thought, anyways… so sad. With the events of the next four years, Azula became almost like a great spirit in my father's eyes, but she still craved the forbidden - other women. She truly slipped over the edge when Ty Lee and Mai betrayed her, as they were the closest things she had to truly loyal friends. She drank in what power she had like a raging alcoholic drinks sake, and in the end, she shattered like overheated glass plunged into icy waters. I never did see her again after I found my mother." Though Zuko was not crying, Korra could still see he was extremely sad.

As Korra felt a single tear fall down her cheek, knowing just what rejection by the world could do to a person, she realized with a start there was a figure in front of her. She yelled, "Raava, what have I told you about exiting my body without asking!" and then realized with a start that somehow, during the course of the conversation, Aang had apparated out of her body. She added lowly, "Oh great, another entity that leaves my body without asking!" and then noticed that Aang appeared to be crying.

Her past life sniffed, saying, "A prodigy in more than one way… I never knew Azula was so conflicted from such an early age. I just figured her to be crazy and evil - not tormented by anything but her mother's undying love for her, and the schism that caused in her world view." Katara, Tenzin, and Jinora walked to join the projection's side, but Toph remained put, saying, "I don't care if Vaatu possessed her - there's still no excuse for her behavior." Korra found herself torn between Aang's viewpoint and Toph's - but her own experience with Asami helped her form her own. Korra said loudly, scaring some animals out of trees around them, "This, along with other reasons, is why I plan on someday putting a stop to, or at least blunting, people's prejudices and discrimination against those they see as sexually 'deviant'. We may be a small group, but our voices matter too. It's time the world saw homosexual relationships as the Air Nomads did - normal." To her surprise, she heard everyone clapping - even Toph.

Suddenly remembering Toph's earlier offer for some sensitive information, Korra announced, "I think it's time everyone returned to the city. I don't want to be in the Swamp at night. However, myself, Asami, Toph and Zuko will be staying, as I have some private matters to speak about with both Toph and Asami." Lin and Su were giving their mother the stink eye, and both began to rotate rapidly - apparently, Toph didn't want them hearing any of this unknown secret. When Lin and Su were sufficiently dizzy, Toph said, "I'm certainly not spilling my guts to you two - you bug me enough about family matters as is!" Toph suddenly put her hands to her mouth, as though she had revealed something she didn't want anyone but Asami and Korra to know. This just confused Korra - surely, Toph didn't have another kid, just wandering the world?

After both Oogi and Juicy had left with their passengers, Zuko decided to go stand by Druk, talking to the dragon in a low voice. Korra snickered slightly - it almost looked like he was trying to tease the secret to dragon's fire out of his trusty steed. Given Druk's confused look, Korra must have been right. Toph tapped Korra and Asami slightly above the waist, and said, "Come - we have much to discuss. And unless this information becomes relevant to your job as Avatar, no one else is to know but you and Asami. I hope it never becomes relevant…. Let's get started," Toph finished, sitting with her dirty feet in the air.

Toph frowned slightly, saying, "You both know that I have not been the best of mothers to Su and Lin, but I tried. What no one knows is that after resigning as Chief of Police and before leaving to travel the world alone, I had one last fling with one of the city's most skilled metalbending cops - Officer Tong. He was the father of Su, and I wanted one last quickie before seeking enlightenment." Toph sighed deeply, continuing, "Even though I was 54 at the time, I still wanted to take no chances. So, we used protection - I didn't want a baby slowing me down on the road, as unlikely as it was. I thought I was good to go, and would have no issues." Toph paused, a single tear streaking down her face, and she said, "I was wrong."

Korra's jaw dropped - why had she never heard of this third child before? Surely, if Toph could raise Su and her former slight criminal tendencies, she could handle anything? Seemingly anticipating this question, Toph said, still ignoring the tear on her face, "I had thought that raising Su was difficult. Apparently, Officer Tong had some really good inheritable talent, but his second child by me was worse than Su and her brief underworld antics, hanging out with a bad crowd - much worse. I gave birth to him on the road, and I named him Tonga after his father. At first I loved him - he was a perfect physical specimen, and showed exceptional earthbending talent. He claimed the impossible - that he could manipulate miniscule, almost non-existent iron in rocks at the age of three. Given how the rock moved… he was right. Even I had trouble sensing the pieces, and while sometimes cruel to animals, he showed no real problems. Then, when he was four, a day shattered my perception of him forever."

Toph suddenly began sobbing. When Korra made to get up and hug her, she found the floor resisting her. Giving up after a minute of futile running, Korra stood still, and let Toph talk when she was ready. After about four minutes, Toph looked up, with a horrified look in her eyes, as though remembering some atrocity, recounting, "That boy … who I thought was normal… is a monster. The ability he showed me that fateful day, with so much pride in his heart - it made me sick." Toph coughed violently, and wiped the tears from her eyes. Seemingly not wanting to go on, Korra asked, "Just what could he do that was so horrible, Toph? Surely nothing could rival the psychic bloodbending of Yakone and his two accursed sons." When Korra said "bloodbending", Toph straightened and sat up, "staring" at the wall with wide eyes.

Coughing again, seemingly this time to regain her composure, Toph said, "I am afraid his ability is worse, Korra - especially the way he uses it. Those poor animals…" Toph took a deep breath, and said, "I can only thank the spirits that Su did not ever exhibit this ability, as if she had, I believe she could have used it to eclipse Yakone in the criminal underworld, and no amount of parenting could have stopped her. As far as I know, the ability is uniquely his… I only hope Tonga never manages to have kids of his own." She stopped, staring Korra directly in the face, and said, "Korra, my son, Tonga, is what he named a 'blood-iron bender'."

Korra looked at Toph in utter bewilderment, saying, "Toph, I know the theory behind bloodbending - you manipulate the water in the other person's body to gain control of their limbs, etcetera. Normal waterbenders can only perform it under a full moon, and individuals of exceptional 'talent' can do so psychically at any time. How does one manipulate blood by bending iron?"

Toph managed to regain a somewhat normal expression, and said, "Remember how I said he could somehow manipulate the miniscule iron in rocks by the age of three? Apparently, he discovered shortly after his fourth birthday that he could manipulate some unknown deposit of iron in a living organism's blood. When he demonstrated it to me, he told me that he could manipulate tiny iron particles in blood - much as a bloodbender bends water." Korra gasped as Asami said "Wait a minute… I remember from my learning that some people believe that what we need from the air we breathe is carried by small amount of iron in the blood, and cite the red color of blood and rust as evidence for their claims." Asami's face, now uneasy, said, "I think what you just told us confirms this theory."

Korra asked, still in slight disbelief, "Okay - so Tonga can basically use metalbending to bloodbend. What did he do with it that was so horrible?" Toph slammed her hand on the table between them, saying, "Rather than bashing some animal's heads in so I could prepare them to eat, he held them above the ground and suffocated them to death while his heart beat in excitement like a madman, that's what! I didn't know how he suffocated them at the time, but he must have prevented the iron particles from moving in the poor animal's bloodstreams!" Toph looked like she was about to curse, and she did so, saying, "I was 54 years old when that abomination was conceived, for crying out loud! I never thought … If only that blasted rubber had worked properly!"

Hearing the description of how Tonga used his special ability, dark memories raced in Korra's mind - of "Amon", Tarrlok, their horrible bloodbending… Korra only had one question now, asking, "What happened to this son of yours? It doesn't sound like he stuck around for much longer." Toph spat on the floor, saying, "After he became increasingly nasty, violent and even began temporarily bending my 'blood-iron' whenever I tried to get him to stop throwing a tantrum, I decided that I couldn't handle him anymore. I dropped him off at a very strict couple's house, along with some special instructions I got someone else to write for me, and never 'saw' him again. If he hadn't reminded me so much of Azula, I might have tried to make it work - but there was just something fundamentally wrong with him, beyond his awful skill." Top managed a weak smile, and said, "Keep in mind, he should be 32 by now. When you see Lin and Su, tell them I love them very much, and appreciate that they were as cooperative as they were when I was raising them. And as I said before, unless you think Tonga is relevant to your job as the Avatar, mention this to NO ONE. Good luck with your Spirit Civil War, Korra and Asami - I get the feeling you're going to need it."

Korra and Asami walked away from Toph's "house" in stunned silence. Korra could only hope this individual - Tonga - had never joined Kuvira's army. He could very well be the leader of the potential resistance so many different people and spirits had warned might form. Zuko could see that neither were in a mood to talk, and merely led Druk towards the pair. Breaking his silence for a moment, he jokingly asked, "So, when does Toph want her life-changing field trip?" Korra just gave him a blank stare, though she could feel Aang's spirit laughing inside her, thinking to herself, "Not funny."

After a while of mute silence, riding on Druk, Korra remembered that there were two individuals close to her who were most certainly trustworthy who knew nothing of the past 48 hour's events - her mother and father, Senna and Tonraq. As Asami studied Druk's scales, seemingly for inspiration of some kind, Korra focused on her parent's energy, intending to inform them of everything that had happened - old-fashioned style. No information dumps for them.


	15. Chapter 15: Good Wishes

Chapter 15: Good Wishes

Senna was worried - she hadn't seen Korra since the Zhurrick wedding, and it wasn't like Korra to just run off and not tell her own parents that she was leaving for what seemed like 24 hours. Korra's separation from her and her husband, Tonraq, by the White Lotus all those years ago had instilled a deep respect and value for family and the precious time they could spend together in her daughter. It didn't help that she had seen practically everyone else who had dealings with her daughter disappear earlier today - apparently on some hush-hush mission.

Tonraq could tell Senna was worried, and he said, "Our 'little girl' is 21 now, honey - she's fine." A loud barking outside their temporary housing was followed by a huge white form knocking over half of the tent. Naga began licking both her and Tonraq excitedly, as though the polarbear-dog was expecting Korra to come calling soon. Petting the huge beast's side, partly to calm Naga down and partly to alleviate her own stress, Senna said, "You're such a good girl! Who's a cute polarbear-dog?" as Tonraq set the tent up around its new huge occupant. Naga settled down, staring expectantly at the small space left by the door - her white body took up most of the tent.

Tonraq put a large, comforting hand on Senna's shoulder and said, "We'll need to return to the South Pole relatively soon - as soon as I hear what Prince Wu's plan is for the Earth Kingdom, I want to return home. This place is far too hot for my tastes, and given the way Naga is panting, she doesn't care much for this small tent or weather either." Senna said, "I agree - I came here to see my daughter, and Zhu Li and Varrick get married - not sweat in some uncomfortable tent. Maybe Korra can even come with us, for a break…" Getting an idea, she asked Tonraq, ignoring the pang of longing for her daughter, "Do you think you could get an earthbender to set us up a larger shelter? I hadn't anticipated Naga being so friendly when I picked out our temporary tent."

Tonraq patted her on the back, saying, "That sounds like a good idea, Senna - it's just the only earthbenders I'd trust making me a shelter left on some urgent mission earlier today." Senna suddenly realized something - before she saw the two airbison laden with passengers, she had noticed the new Spirit Portal acting strangely. After she told Tonraq this, he said, "It must be something to do with Korra - I can't imagine what else could cause a Spirit Portal to act like that." Senna thought to herself, "That is rather obvious, honey…", but didn't say anything. She yawned absently - all the commotion of the past 48 hours was much more excitement than she was used to, ever since the Water Tribe Civil War had ended.

Just before she told Tonraq that she was going to see if she could find a source of water to form some ice to wake them all up, and cool down an overheated Naga, a strange shimmer appeared in the spot that Naga had been staring at intently. Suddenly, a form appeared in place of the shimmer, and Senna shouted with happiness - it was Korra! Naga began panting excitedly, staring at the blue form - apparently she could see Korra as well. Her daughter was smiling warmly, saying "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you where I was going before I left - had I known that my little trip would cause so much trouble, I would have told you before I went." Her daughter sighed deeply, seemingly ready to cry, and said to Senna "I'm sorry I can't hug you, Dad or Naga - this is just a projection, like what Jinora can do."

Tonraq asked, with a proud look on his face, "Just how did you manage to do that, Korra? I know that projection is a very advanced airbending move, and you never were one to strike me as an airbending master - at least not the spiritual side." Her daughter laughed, and said, "You're right, Dad - I've got a lot of explaining to do. But we just left the Swamp, so I've got plenty of time. Make sure no one can hear us, and I'll start." Tonraq gave his daughter a funny look, and said, "It appears you have already made sure that there's no one around to hear - what did you need ten people for in the Swamp, anyways?" Korra laughed again, saying, "It's a LOT more than just what happened in the Swamp. Let me start with when me and Asami entered the spirit world - " Senna saw an odd, surprised look on Tonraq's face, and given how Korra stopped suddenly and looked vaguely hurt, she must have seen it as well.

Seeing that he had potentially hurt his daughter's feelings, Tonraq said, making to cradle the projection's sullen face, "I don't know where you were going with that, sweetie, but wherever it is, I'm not going to judge you for it. It's just that the last I knew, you were still slightly interested in Mako, and figured if you were going to take anyone on a vacation, it'd be him - especially after what happened to his arm. He's lucky his brother saved him." Korra looked much more alive now, breathing an oddly large sigh of relief.

When Senna's only daughter began her story about since she had last seen her parents, sometimes Senna laughed, sometimes she cried, sometimes she recoiled in horror. She even noticed Tonraq getting emotional at times, and when they were both sad, Naga howled along in sympathy. When Korra had told them everything, Senna sighed contentedly, and told her daughter, "I'm glad that even though you're with Asami now, you'll still have a child - that was awfully generous of Raava," making sure to not mention the Spirit Civil War. Her daughter looked to the side, asking, "Mom, is it… normal, to fall for someone so hard, so fast? Part of me feels like I'm going too fast. Vacation one minute, having never heard of Asami's desire for me directly, the next, going way beyond a kiss." Senna smiled, pointing out, "You've already got a kid coming, and from what you told me, that was all Raava's doing, so fast… you wanted to go slow. Just go with what feels right. I fell for your father after a short time - two years, between meeting him, and, well, you." Smiling, her husband added with a low laugh, "Maybe I need to refresh your memory… it was a lot faster than that, Senna," making both her and Korra blush slightly for totally different reasons as Tonraq finished, "You've known Asami for years, Korra, and gone through a lot together. Not just fighting, either - though I guess technically the drama with Mako and your rehabilitation are just different kinds of fighting. Just be yourself, lucky daughter of mine." Korra looking relieved, Tonraq said, "Oh - about what you just said, Raava's gift to news also makes me happy, and I am especially glad you re-connected with your past lives again. Raava sounds like quite the lively spirit - never thought a huge white kite would have feelings, much less want to be 'human-y', let alone get drunk."

Korra laughed so hard she seemingly got an unseen figure to interact with her, and she yelled, "Zuko, stop that! You're supposed to be guiding Druk back to Republic City, not laughing so hard you double over." Tonraq said, in an overly loud voice, "Tell Zuko I said hi, and that his daughter is a coward!" After an apparent short exchange, Korra returned to face Senna, Tonraq and Naga once more, and said "He says hi, and that he agrees with you about his daughter." Given Tonraq's initial reaction, he was expecting a very different answer, but her husband resumed smiling all the same. Korra turned away once more, in a different direction, then said "Asami says hi as well! She pestered me about an official Water Tribe betrothal necklace just now, but given what I told you that 'Uncle' Iroh said about discretion, I don't think that's a good idea." While Senna was always one for romance, she found herself saying "I agree" at the same time as her husband. Senna having a deep distaste for close-minded people, she found herself rationalizing to Korra, wishing the reason she was about to give was the only concern, "It wouldn't be like my daughter to brag about that kind of thing anyways - at least, not the one who came back from three years of pain." Korra blushed slightly, and turned in the same direction again, saying "Later, Asami! I don't really feel like doing anything 'interesting' right now. I'm not done talking to my pa -"

Suddenly, Korra's eyes glowed momentarily, and she now had a rather confused look on her face. Her daughter shook her head from side to side, then said, "I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, but it looks like Raava needs me to help someone. She wouldn't say who - just that they were desperate, and she's telling me to hurry up. I'll talk to - and hug you - later." Just like that, her only child's image vanished once more. Even though she was no longer worried for Korra's safety, Senna hugged Tonraq and petted Naga intently all the same, wishing good things to come to whoever needed Korra's help.


	16. Chapter 16: Melted Steel

Chapter 16: Melted Steel

Kuvira thought it an extraordinarily good stroke of luck when her temporary jailors, Suyin Beifong and Lin Beifong, ran away from her wooden prison, leaving Kuvira alone in silence. She was thoroughly enjoying her solitude, and the first thirty minutes felt like bliss - no constant quips from Lin, and no more motherly lecturing from Suyin.

After about an hour, Kuvira realized that everyone of any importance or power had left along with Lin and Suyin. She even spotted a lone female guard who had foolishly carried some metal jewelry with her - this was it, her chance to escape. While a small voice gnawed at her mind -one she had ignored plenty times before - Kuvira carried out the first part of her escape, manipulating the guard's necklace into blacking her out. She didn't feel like killing anyone - she had been genuine in a portion of her remorse. "Only a portion," she mumbled under her breath, causing the annoying shrill voice in her head to scream even louder - she sometimes wished she were like the Fire Nation princess who some said had been born without a soul.

As she bent the guard's necklace closer to the wooden prison, she trembled with excitement. She used the necklace - some sort of profession of love - to form a small saw. As she began working on an out-of-sight corner, her mind raced. She remembered she had told General Jinshu Kuangmai to hold a position outside the city, not matter the circumstances or cost. Perhaps she could meet up with him - though, she realized with a dry horror, she might not be well received by him. At all, she remembered with a grimace - his specialty did unnerve her, ever so slightly. In a moment of absent pondering, she asked herself - how had she brought herself to associate with his kind again?

**See? This is why you should just stay in this box, and serve time for your crimes! Quit resisting already!**

Kuvira let out an unstable laugh - this was the first time her conscience had manifested itself this strongly in years. She began to wildly use the small saw to go deeper into the wood, her hair swinging in front of her field of view. When she finally cut through a cross-section, she sat down on the floor and idly played with her messy locks of hair. She heard a sound behind her - that of a woman rummaging through her pockets. Kuvira turned to see the guard looking for her necklace wildly, slightly crying as she did so, before letting out a dejected sigh, seemingly too lost in her grief to bother checking on Kuvira. As she watched the guard leave, Kuvira smirked - what a fool.

As soon as she thought to return to her work -she figured she could be out in another ten minutes, being conservative - the same shrill voice in her head said **If you won't listen to me, let's see if you'll listen to someone else! **Kuvira laughed lowly - what could happen to stop her? As she began sawing once more, she let out a muffled scream - the saw suddenly stopped moving! Turning around to face an odd sound, she saw a hallucination, saying, "Uhoh, this is not good - I read that scholars think Azula saw these kind of things before snapping." Kuvira had not realized she said this out loud, so she fell backwards when she saw the hallucination respond. A small, white-haired girl said, "This is no hallucination, 'Great Uniter'. I have temporarily blocked your bending, Kuvira - no small feat, and likely to… you don't need to hear such things, reprobate. Now, I will let other, more 'human-y' spirits take over." As the blackness took her, Kuvira heard a familiar voice that said **Let's see you run away from this!**

Kuvira realized with a start that she had no physical form - she was floating above what appeared to be an Earth Kingdom village, watching its activities. She felt herself whisked near a dog, who was looking for something frantically. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head that said "Where is my owner? The last time I saw him, he was yelling at some men in green." Kuvira was forced to track the dog, stopping its sniffing at a mound of fresh earth. Again, the thought - "Why is Master under this mound of dirt? Surely, the nice green men didn't…" Kuvira felt a horrible sensation course through her, as she saw the mangy hound begin to howl furiously.

**Now you can see the true fruits of your labors.** **But we're not done yet - we're only getting started. **

Kuvira sat up inside the cell, sweating wildly. A dog grieving its master wasn't going to break her! …

Before she could think, she felt the blackness take her again, and she got the distinct impression that she perceived it as black, when it was really blinding light. The fact that when she thought this she began to see a very dark grey sphere appear in front of her didn't help any. She felt her hand shoot out to touch it without her input.

She was transported to hover over what she recognized as one of the greatest sources for war fuel on the planet - the Swamp. She was jerked closer to the butchered central tree against her will, and once her skin touched its bark, she felt an immense, beating energy - one that seemed on the verge of dying. As she heard a groan from the tree, she felt this portion of it lose its energy, and a large swathe suddenly turned an eerie brown. A part of her felt as though it had died with this section of the huge tree.

As Kuvira sat up again, she noticed in terror that two guards were standing outside her cell, one of which was waterbending an ice support where she had cut, before the odd girl had apparently blocked Kuvira's bending. One she recognized as the female guard who she had taken the necklace from, who was crying wildly. She pointed her finger at Kuvira, screaming, "You ruined the last keepsake I had of my beloved - killed by your army! No - by YOU! He was on guard duty that day, the outpost… If you weren't such an important prisoner of war, I'd have half a mind to make you join him! Though I doubt you'd understand my grief - you shot that same horrible weapon at your own boyfriend!" All sorts of horrible feelings ran havoc inside of Kuvira, gripping her chest in a vice-grip - feelings she hadn't felt since Suyin had adopted her orphaned self all those years ago. She felt an odd sensation when looking at the girl - one that Suyin had tried to teach her the meaning of, and failed to do. Kuvira began to say something, but found she could not speak, and she fell backwards once more.

This endless cycle repeated itself countless times, with the grey ball gradually becoming lighter, until Kuvira was once more plopped into the viewer's seat of a gut-wrenching scene. She had noticed the shape of yin and yang, slightly darkened, in its surface before she was forced into this vision. Over the course of the past three to four hours - Kuvira did not know exactly how much time had passed - she continued to feel emotions and sensations that were increasingly familiar to her. She had names for many of them now - guilt, compassion, remorse, empathy, self-loathing, to name a few - but it still felt as though they were walled off from her. The vision of the yin and yang sphere again - they must all be trapped inside. But when would the sphere break, and release her from this torture?

The same small girl appeared in front of Kuvira once again, blocking her view of a now stilled scene. Suddenly, the girl began to shift, seemingly possessing a hundred faces, and then exploding to take an unfamiliar larger form. What she assumed was a huge spirit had a blinding radiance, but was still not white - a perfect grey, completely neutral. One of the spirit's two strange large tendrils touched Kuvira's forehead, turning her to face yet another small village, with a powerful voice booming in Kuvira's head, "Before you can shatter that ball, Kuvira, you must witness this final scene - this will be the hardest for you. Keep in mind that all your progress could be lost in an instant, and your mortal mind will shatter - just like Azula's, over 70 years ago. You will feel everything connected to this event - not just the individual's feelings. I wish you good luck, but I have more important matters to attend to - such as finishing undoing the damage you did to the Great Banyan tree, for example. Goodbye - I still do not see what Korra saw in you." Kuvira's eyes widened at the mention of the Avatar's name.

With that, what must have been Raava vanished, and Kuvira felt her gaze transfixed to a small girl, no older than eight. Kuvira felt a sudden immense pain that felt as though it threatened to cleave her in two, and gritted her teeth, realizing what was about to be shown to her - though this orphan's parents would likely have died, unlike Kuvira's own… She endured many different individual's pain and visions, all revolving around the girl that was constantly fixed in the center of her view. Every time she saw someone fall to her troop's hands, she felt the ripples their actions caused. Finally, as she witnessed the hapless girl's parent's demise - they had resisted after Zaofu had fallen, fighting after the official surrender out of loyalty to Suyin, her own adoptive mother - Kuvira felt a strange sensation. As she saw the orphan fade from view and the last of her torturous feelings fade, Kuvira felt an odd crack - as though she had split in two.

When she opened her eyes again, she was met with a fearsome visage - she saw a metallic representation of herself, with unnerving steel eyes, reaching out to grasp the yin and yang sphere. Realizing what would happen if this half of her was not stopped, she extended a fleshy hand, hitting the orb at the same time as what must have been her evil self. She tugged with this awful creature for what seemed like an eternity, time having no meaning as she felt indescribable pain. Having had enough, Kuvira found herself finally yelling "I WANT TO LIVE!" and striking a foot into its leg, shattering the metal spectre as though it were glass. The shards on the floor faded slowly, Kuvira feeling more and more as they vanished…

"I am not done for yet!"

Ignoring the strange voice, Kuvira felt a rush of emotions that she had not felt since she was a little girl, and also the nasty emotions she had caused others to feel - it was a wonderful yet awful mix of emotions. But they were hers. Kuvira noticed that she was back in the physical world again, and felt so transformed, that she did something that she never would have tried before - she began to meditate. As she crossed her legs, a familiar voice screamed "NO! WAIT! IT'S NOT SAFE! NO…."

Kuvira awakened - despite all the odds, and never having been so inclined before, she had made it into the Spirit World. She became aware of a presence near her.

It sent chills down her spine. This presence was more foul than the metal Kuvira she had just faced - and that was saying something, she realized bitterly.

A long, serpentine form came into her field of vision - and Kuvira felt her heart fill with pure terror. She felt herself shrinking, smaller and smaller, until she was the same size that she was when Mother Suyin had rescued her. The oddly colored spirit began speaking, saying through its massive beak, "Ah, Kuvira 'the Great Uniter' - a pity Raava hadn't given Korra and Asami that party favor when you were running amok - the Spirit Civil War would have been over in less than a month!" The spirit began cackling wildly, and said, "I'm afraid your reformed presence would have a moderating, or even healing effect on the world, and humanity's behavior - and I can't have that. Oh, no - I need humans acting _at their worst_ if I am to maintain my following, and pry the title of Grand Dark Spirit away from that pathetic fool, Vaatu. Then, Harmonic Convergence or not, I can try and destroy Raava myself. Your little games with the Earth Kingdom - your 'Empire'? You knew nothing! When I am done with humanity, the spirits will retake their rightful ancient place as supreme masters, with humans as slaves - no, worse."

During this terrifying monologue - which Kuvira knew she would have to report to Korra, if humanity stood any chance of remaining free - Kuvira clasped her hands together, wildly pleading for help. She opened her eyes to see a long, centipede-like form crawling closer to this awful spirit in front of her.

The much larger spirit said, "Good, good - Koh is almost here, little girl. He always did love a pretty face…"

Kuvira began crying wildly, "Please… anything… I know I haven't exactly been good, Universe, but I'm begging you…" She saw a familiar figure appear in front of her body: a small, white-haired girl. It must be Raava! The small girl said, with a hint of a smile, "Request accepted. Please stand by." The small form began glowing a brilliant white, and both of the much larger spirits behind what must have been Raava's human 'avatar' began howling - though, disturbingly, the most important one seemed to be much less affected. The centipedal spirit she must have assumed was Koh managed to inch closer, saying, "Oh, my, such a pretty, _and _intimidating face… a rare quality!"

That was when what seemed to be a huge spirit cannon beam with a strange wavy line in the middle raked both malicious spirits, sending them into a fit of pain - Kuvira could see a gash taken from the closest spirit's carapace, and the largest was missing a small part of his beak. Except the beam hadn't come from Raava - it came from the side. Fairly certain she was now safe, Kuvira stood up to face the source of the beam - and smiled broadly. Kuvira ran to the figure, who was performing some odd hand movements, yelling, "Korra!"


	17. Chapter 17: Confirmations and Confidence

Chapter 17: Confirmations and Confidence

Korra finished imprisoning Koh and Long Yumao - she noted with no small pleasure that the most ancient spirit had a chunk of missing carapace, and that a small groove was now present in Long Yumao's awful beak. The two spirits were still moaning loudly when a seemingly familiar small form embraced her - though it was not the small, white-haired girl she knew to be Raava, who was pointing at Long Yumao's beak and laughing.

When this small girl, apparently no more than eight years of age, finally touched Korra, Korra let out a surprised yelp - this young girl was Kuvira! Now she understood why Raava had seemingly blocked Korra from sensing who she was to help - even though she had saved Kuvira's life slightly over 24 hours ago, Korra had to admit her reaction would have been ... delayed by this knowledge.

Kuvira began talking with a lightness and animation she had never seen from the former tyrant before, saying, "Thank you so much for saving me again, Korra - that 'Koh' spirit was getting closer, and telling me I had a pretty _and_ intimidating face! He made me shiver deep inside, Korra - I don't think he was there to admire my mug, even if he did call it unique." Korra's eyes widened, and she said, "You were very perceptive to be concerned, Kuvira - that ancient spirit's full name is Koh the Face-Stealer. The other spirit I just imprisoned is called Long Yumao the Opportunist." Korra paused, letting the look of terror leave the young Kuvira's face. Korra continued, saying, "Knowing him, he probably made some long, boring speech to you as Koh approached. Want to sit down next to me, and you can tell me about it - and why I was called here by Raava so urgently?"

Before they could move, she heard a slithering voice say, with a surprising amount of anger, "Yes, Long Yumao - you do have a nasty habit of making long, boring speeches. You even gave me one when you were trying to get my support. So far, I have exactly zero faces, and one chunk taken from my body - not even Avatar Kuruk managed to do that! He stopped trying to kill me, realizing if I died his precious Ummi's face would vanish with me. Speaking of faces - If you hadn't been so slow in alerting me of this 'Kuvira's' presence, perhaps I would have another FACE right now!" Koh pressed a blue, almost simian face with pronounced lower teeth against the wall of the prison, staring at Long Yumao in intense anger.

When Long Yumao recoiled slightly, Koh began to laugh wildly through the face of a savage looking monkey, saying, "If I could steal a powerful spirit's face, I'd have my first face since I entered into this stupid pact. One I'm starting to regret making with you, I might add!" Long Yumao turned to face Koh from within his own prison, and opened his massive beak wide, as a dark energy manifested itself just inside his mouth. As a large pulse left his beak, it made an all-too familiar deep "BWWOOOONG!" sound that made Kuvira yelp, almost as if in pain. The prison held, however, causing Long Yumao to do something Korra had never heard him do before - he cursed! Raava began laughing wildly, and a Kuvira who was now hiding behind Korra's chuckling body managed a weak laugh, Kuvira seemingly growing as she did so.

Noticing that both Koh and Long Yumao were wildly cursing at each other, letting out their frustration for not claiming Kuvira on one another, Korra grinned a predatory smile at the same time she saw Raava make a similar face - it was time to have some fun. Feeling that Raava had just re-entered her own body, Korra began to interlock the two large spirit's prisons with one another, breaking the yellow ribbons that separated them from one another once she was confident there was no escape for either spirit. They began to fight vigorously, Koh attempting to use his many legs to pin down Long Yumao's head, and the other spirit trying his best to get his beak at Koh's face.

A monkey faced Koh yelled, "No good, long winded, useless self-important serpent! Long Yumao - you haven't given me a single human's face!" managing to sink the long, dagger-like fangs into the side of Long Yumao's own face. Long Yumao howled in anger, bellowing, "Maybe if you had run to Kuvira instead of moving slowly at first for drama's sake, you'd have her face!" His powerful beak - which Korra noticed now had a new unnerving serrated edge - finally managed to catch Koh by surprise, tearing the howling monkey's face from Koh's body. The fierce face remained in Long Yumao's beak, seemingly lifeless. Koh's preferred black and white face returned, screaming, "You were supposed to get me new faces - not take one of my best away! Now give it back, or we're through!" Koh was now being toyed with - apparently, Long Yumao found it hilarious to play keep-away with one of Koh's most valued faces.

Content that both spirits were now fully occupied, Korra stopped laughing and turned to a wide-eyed Kuvira. Seeing that she once again had Korra's attention, Kuvira began to speak, but then a strange thought occurred to Korra. What if she could make the information transfer work in reverse? She held up a hand, explaining what she wanted to do to Kuvira, who said, "That sounds like a good idea - when you re-unite with the rest of your friends, you can use this 'information dump' to show them what happened to me before I entered the spirit world - in excruciating detail. I think Lin and Mother Suyin will find it very interesting." Curious about this odd new turn of phrase in regards to Kuvira's adoptive mother, Korra took a deep breath and placed her outstretched palms on Kuvira's forehead.

Once the flow of information began, at first Korra felt very angry - Kuvira had lied to her! She had tried to escape, after telling Korra she would come to be judged willingly! As soon as the visions began, however, she couldn't help but feel an immense sadness, in addition to the myriad of different feelings she was feeling through Kuvira. Korra felt her eyes water multiple times during the process, and when she saw Kuvira shatter that metallic monster, she screamed "Yes!" - forgetting to keep her hands on Kuvira's temple.

As soon as Korra's hands left Kuvira's head, she saw the small girl shift and return to her adult size. Even though she was smiling, much as Korra was, Kuvira grabbed Korra's hands and told her, "There's something else you need to see - Long Yumao told me something I figured you'd want to know. It chilled me to my very core."

Kuvira forced Korra's hands back onto her own forehead, and Korra felt Kuvira thinking of this unexplained encounter and her terrified feelings. Korra absorbed the information, finally letting her hands down in shock. She told a staring Kuvira, "You came very close to being Koh's first victim in this Spirit Civil War, Kuvira. You are a very lucky woman, that I came when I did. This other news, of Long Yumao's aspirations - if he successfully challenges Vaatu for this 'Grand Dark Spirit' title… he could end the Spirit Civil War almost instantly, and begin to enact his terrible plans on humanity. And 'ancient' - he might want a world order worse than the one Wan upset!" Korra turned, staring at Long Yumao, who was still playing keep-away with a furious Koh.

Feeling a tapping on her shoulder, she turned to face a slightly impatient looking Kuvira, who said, "Spirit Civil War? I've given you my information, Avatar Korra - now it's time you spilled some of yours." Korra hesitated to respond, and Kuvira laughed, saying, "I know you don't exactly trust me, but do remember - I did just shatter my evil half into a million pieces, and Raava wouldn't have called you to my aid, much less made a personal appearance on my behalf, if she thought I was the same monster who terrorized the Earth Kingdom and butchered the Swamp." Korra noticed something odd - Kuvira's normally tightened irises had softened, and the "Great Uniter" had tears on her face.

_Just do it - you did spare her life when she was at her worst, after all._

Korra shrugged - what did she have to lose? If Kuvira decided to rat her and Asami out, people would just assume it was the ravings of a madwoman. She placed her hands to Kuvira's temple, taking care to send her the depth of information that Kuvira had let her take.

After she was done, she and Kuvira talked for what seemed like an hour, with the sound of Long Yumao and Koh squabbling serving as a surreal background noise. After they had talked about Korra's relationship with Asami for what must have been the fifth time - Korra found this odd, as Kuvira's little "gift" to Baatar Jr. made her think that purification or not, Kuvira had no romance in her soul - Kuvira stopped smiling, with a serious expression on her face.

Kuvira's eyes hardened back into their normal steely green, Kuvira stating curtly, "I noticed a rather large gap in time in your account, Korra - after Zuko's story about his sister, and before you left the Swamp. I think I know what it was about, too - and unless we do something to stop _him_, I get the bad feeling even more spirits will join Long Yumao's side. You will need to act covertly, however - brute force was never effective against my third - no, first now - in command, General 'Jinshu Kuangmai'."

Kuvira pointed at a stunned Korra's heart, and said, "I have something to tell you - I will only share it with Lin and Mother Suyin when the time is right, after I have regained their trust. No one else is to know until it is _strictly_ necessary - this news, in of itself, would probably cause enough bad behavior in Republic City and the Earth kingdom to tip the balance of spirits more towards Long Yumao." Kuvira took a deep sigh of regret - as though she had associated with Long Yumao herself.

Kuvira, taking another deep breath, said, "When I was 're-uniting' the Earth Kingdom, I came across a desperate-looking rich couple who looked as though they had tried to raise a particularly horrible being. They looked at a large wooden cage in fear as I approached, yelling, 'No! Don't get too close, or he will do something horrible! Why, why oh why did we ever take him in…' while sobbing loudly. I ignored them, curious to see what would require a purely wooden cage so large and strong, and what it could possibly do to me from inside."

Kuvira shuddered, saying, "As I approached, I felt a vibration in the earth beneath my feet, but it was small - as though someone had poked a single, powerful finger against the earth. I held no fear in my heart - and this individual could tell. He told me, in a deep voice, 'I have heard of your exploits, Kuvira the Great Uniter - and you are the first person in my life to ever not fear me. Something tells me that this means we would be most… _compatible_.'"

Kuvira shook her head, and continued, "At the time, I was thoroughly intrigued - someone who knew of me yet did not fear me, who apparently thought himself my equal somehow. I told him as much, and he said, 'If you bring me those two cowards over here, I can show you why I dare to compare myself to your greatness, Kuvira.' A very small part of me railed against it - what I now know to be my conscience, the little voice that overtook Varrick and made him run away." Kuvira laughed painfully, as though this were going to be the last time she laughed for quite some time.

With resignation, she continued, "When I dragged what I assumed to be his parents kicking and screaming closer, they pleaded with me, and I ignored them, thinking nothing would happen to them - certainly not at the hands of their own adopted son. However, when we got within fifty feet, they jerked violently from my grasp into the air, suspended by some unseen force. The figure inside the wooden cage said, 'See, Kuvira? THIS is my great gift. I call it 'blood-iron bending'.' He jerked the couple closer, saying, 'I have half a mind to just stop the iron in your blood right now, like I did to those animals on that fateful day so many, many years ago - but I think I have a better idea.' He turned to me, and said, 'Kuvira, I will lend my specialty and other strengths to your cause, so long as you make sure these two wretches never see the light of day again. IMPRISON THEM - like they did me!' Though that same small voice objected, I accepted his conditions, locking up his adoptive parents in a special jail. I believe they both died shortly after - apparently from heartbreak."

Kuvira acted like she wanted to commit seppuku over what she had just told Korra, but Kuvira continued, saying "He rose quickly through the ranks, as not only was he a powerful bender, he displayed tactical and political acumen that rivaled my own. He also used fear and his horrible talent very effectively - there were a number of incompetent officers who stood in his way to greatness who had 'strange' asphyxiation deaths. I never let him rise above third in command - I did not think that Baatar Jr. would take kindly to being outranked by a mysterious stranger, and General 'Jinshu Kuangmai' seemed rabidly loyal to me. At times, I felt myself attracted more to him than Baatar Jr. - I used to think Baatar Jr. was a sappy, weak romantic, good only for technical prowess and company, while 'Jinshu Kuangmai' was a man closer to my old self."

Again, with this constant old self talk - Korra could only hope Kuvira wouldn't be crushed when she saw that the world would still demand justice to be served. Korra gently told Kuvira as much, and Kuvira looked down to the ground, saying with resignation, "Yes, I am aware that protocol must be followed, and to be honest, after all those horrible visions and almost losing my sanity, someone's hateful glare or sitting in a prison cell won't bother me. I want to atone - remorse…" Kuvira looked up, with slight tears in her eyes, "I just hope that you can convince Lin, and most of all, Mother Suyin, to forgive me - if she rejects me forcefully, I might just snap like Azula did." With this last word, Kuvira began sobbing, and Korra reached out to hug her - half to comfort her, half to selectively gather some of Kuvira's feelings and words to "show" Lin and Su later. Apparently having noticed the strange interaction, Kuvira sniffed, and said, "Good idea to show Lin and Mother Suyin this - maybe that will make it easier to believe I have changed."

Korra broke the hug, thinking that Kuvira was done. She made to place her fists together and take them both out of the Spirit World, but Kuvira said, "Wait! There's one last thing I need to tell you. Until recently, this 'Jinshu Kuangmai' and his true identity were a secret from me, but a spy of mine managed to finally obtain a valuable set of documents. Apparently, the couple had hidden a set of instructions deep within the surrounding woods in wooden boxes. These instructions appeared to be from the boy's mother, as they talked at great length about how he was to be raised with extreme discipline, and that they would likely need to drug him if he ever got really angry or threw a fit - even at the age of four. They also contained instructions for that wooden cage - it was made with no nails, yet was to be strong enough 'to contain a platypus-bear'. In what must have been the final box, there was a piece of paper with the neatly written words 'I love you - I just wish you'd be nicer. Tonga - stop using that awful ability already! Love, Mom,' and a relatively small smudged hand print beneath it. This box had a familiar family crest carved on its outside - the Beifong family's flying boar."

Korra took a jagged, stilted breath - so Toph's son had joined Kuvira's army after all, and he was now in charge of it! This time, it was Korra who cried, hugging Kuvira tightly. Seemingly without effort, she felt the information she had promised to keep secret for Toph flow to Kuvira. Kuvira began to sob after the information flow stopped as well, asking, "Why didn't I turn good sooner?"

As Korra felt herself hug Kuvira so tightly, she felt a familiar feeling - the same that she had for Mako. After what seemed like an hour, they both collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. Before she could nod off to sleep, she felt a surge of energy, and then a light tap on her shoulder.

Raava's human-y form was pointing at two large forms, seemingly about to break some odd chains that bound them. Korra suddenly remembered that she was in the Spirit World - and apparently, Koh and Long Yumao had put aside their differences, and were trying to break free! Raava said, "Unless you really hate having a face, I suggest you both leave - and now!" Korra heard a surprised gasp come from Kuvira's body, and the enemy turned friend vanished. Korra half felt like ripping those two awful beings in two with another blast, but Raava smacked her across the forehead. Once back inside her chest, the spirit said _Now isn't the time for heroics, kid - your body is about to be back in Republic City shortly. Why don't you take a nice nap..._

Korra felt herself back on Druk's back, next to a wide-eyed Asami. Before Korra could think, Asami kissed her on the lips, saying once she had withdrawn, "Nice to have you back, Korra. Why don't you tell me about what just happened?" Still knowing that Zuko was near, Korra did the information dump on Asami, who moaned in pleasure after it was over. Korra felt an odd sensation as well, and realized something with a start. They had felt as one body, one mind, one soul - this time, without any interruptions by an uncontrolled Avatar State. Korra wondered, as she began to drift off to sleep, slumped over Asami, whether it had been the information dump's doing or her feelings for Asami.

A small voice giggled _A little bit of both - though more the latter_ as she faded.

End part 3


	18. Chapter 18: The Expansion

Part 4: Contact

Chapter 18: The Expansion

When Korra awoke, she felt Asami by her side, who said cheerily, "Good morning, sleepy head. Do you want some tea? I have some packets in my gear over there." Asami pointed at what Korra saw as dark blobs near what appeared to be … an Air Nomad artifact? Korra created a very small blue flame in her right hand, suddenly taking in where they were. Korra asked Asami, "Why are we in here? I think Tenzin just might die if he saw me bending flames in here." Someone opened the door, letting in blinding light. A voice she recognized as Tenzin's said, "You're both more valuable than artifacts - though you are right. I'd prefer no flames in here, much less Azula's blue. Though, if that's your new color, I'll just have to get used to it." Tenzin paused, erasing a slightly fearful look off his face. He continued, "I suppose I will need to get some lights and electrical wiring installed, even though modern technology isn't exactly as spiritual as the rest of the room." Asami asked, with some confusion, "Wait - what do you mean? I thought we were here temporarily, and my mansion should still be intact, unless some Earth Empire stragglers torched it." Tenzin said, smiling slightly, "Your mansion is fine, Asami - it's just that even those who you think your most loyal servants may not keep their lips sealed. Here, on Air Temple Island, you've got a whole variety of people who are not only trustworthy, but they already know of your relationship with Korra." Asami let out a contented sigh, saying, "I always wanted a family after my mother died - one that didn't consist of me and my father, who still judged me for who I was."

The sounds of children laughing filtered in through the morning sunlight. Not wanting to have to explain to Meelo or Ikki that she and Asami were more than just friends, Korra got up and put her clothes back on, and Asami joined her shortly, clasping her hand tightly. She saw Ikki and Meelo running from their older sister, Jinora, who looked like she was trying to help Pema keep the two away from the artifact room. Sensing the futility in her chase, Jinora merely took a place next to her father, and told her siblings "Now, Ikki, don't ask any prying questions, and Meelo - ew, stop that!" Meelo had just bent some bugs from his hands into Jinora's hair, and he laughed maniacally. "Forget 'Be the leaf, Miss Korra' - be the bug! And why are you holding Miss Asami like that? And why is your face the color of this bug now?" Meelo held out a hand, showing a … "slightly" squished purple bug. Korra sighed deeply, suddenly straightening as her eyes glowed for a split second.

Meelo and Ikki let out shouts of mixed joy and surprise - apparently, Aang had decided that now would be a good time to apparate out of Korra! As the young Aang gave the two troublemakers a slightly dirty look that made them laugh, Korra couldn't help but be thankful for this unplanned projection. Aang said, "Wow - you're both so cute! I never got to see my grandkids up close, being the Avatar and all. Seeing you guys through Korra's eyes before I was… busy didn't cut it." Aang obviously did not want to tell Ikki or Meelo about his ordeal in the ice prison, or remind them how the world had once thought all past Avatars lost. Before he could turn to Jinora, Meelo and Ikki asked in unison, "Why are Miss Korra and Miss Asami holding hands so tightly, Grandpa Aang?" Aang laughed, then tried his best to look stern and scary, saying, "Your mother will explain when you're older. Now let me talk to your sister, Jinora - I want to get back to talking to Avatar Kyoshi. She's still mad at Korra." Everyone but Meelo and Ikki laughed, blissfully unaware of Kyoshi's curse-laden diatribe.

As Ikki ran off after a butterfly and Meelo went prowling a nearby bush for more bug ammunition to use on his eldest sister, Jinora asked, "What do you have you need to say to me, Aang? Is it that Opal is crazy, and I shouldn't take anyone's life?" Jinora had a very hopeful look in her eyes - apparently she still wasn't comfortable with what Opal and her father had told her. Aang sighed, saying, "Originally, Jinora, I had nothing to say - I just wanted those troublemakers gone, as was Korra's wish." Jinora sighed dejectedly, and Korra couldn't help but wonder - she had literally _just_ wished they would go away when Aang came out. Aang seemed to think of something, wildly waving his hands to gain Jinora's attention again. Aang said, once she was looking at him again, "The reason I didn't have anything to say to you is that I already know you're a good granddaughter - and judging by those tattoos, you're an Airbending Master now too." Jinora had a big smile on her face once more.

After sighing deeply, Aang continued, "On what you asked earlier - unless you can figure out how to energybend, Jinora, I'm afraid your father and Opal are right. The only way I was able to spare Ozai's life was take a huge risk and try to take his bending away - and it almost backfired, too. I don't know if you father ever told you, but he almost overwhelmed my own energy. If that had happened, I would have died, or worse - become corrupted. Given what the 'Dark Avatar' Unalaq did to me and the other past lives, I don't want to think about that possibility - especially considering he only controlled one element, and I controlled all four." Given Tenzin's grumbling, it became apparent that he had not let Jinora know these crucial details. Jinora said, "Oh… I guess that does change things. Thank you, Grandfather Aang." Jinora shot her father an angry look, and went to where Ikki was, content that her mission of distraction given to her by Pema was complete. Pema herself was holding a screaming Meelo tight, brushing "his" precious bugs back into the bushes, saying, "I'm supposed to be with Rohan right now - I thought you outgrew this already!" Why did that poor woman not receive airbending after Harmonic Convergence, anyways? There were things she would never know, even as the Avatar.

Korra let out a nervous chuckle, and said, "Hey, Aang - about what you said about a 'Dark Avatar'. And the corruption… I have something that might be relevant to tell you. It happened when you were imprisoned in that ice block." Korra told Aang about the "Dark Korra" she had seen, and as she finished, a concerned look fell across his face. Aang said, waving his hands into the air, "That's just awful! And I thought my hallucinations before the Day of the Black Sun were bad." Korra said, "Except I don't think it was fully a hallucination - that little 'dog', a spirit, saw her as well. Given the story that Kuvira told me about her clash with her evil self, I get the feeling that 'Dark Korra' may be exactly that - my evil half. She might be small, and only able to harass and dog me when I am at my weakest, but she did almost cost me my life once." Seeing Aang's shocked expression, she explained how Dark Korra's face had appeared on Kuvira's outside Zaofu, causing her to lose her resolve and become weak against Kuvira. Tenzin added, "Korra's life really was in danger - Jinora told me later how Kuvira had sharpened some metal into small scythes, seemingly ready to tear into Korra's flesh. Only my daughter and Opal intervening saved her life." Aang's image said, "As long as you don't try to energybend a spirit or somehow absorb a direct blast of dark energy into a chi line, I think you will be fine. I'm going to go pester Kyoshi some more." Remembering a promise she had made, Korra yelled, "Toph wants me to call you Twinkletoes!" A slightly faded Aang laughed, "Better Twinkletoes than Grosstoes!" Korra laughed as Aang vanished, once again resting inside her - she'd have to remember that one.

Now that the distractions were gone, Asami turned to Tenzin, saying, "So it sounds like Korra and I will be staying here in your artifact room, then. Maybe we should make an extension, so Korra can bend as she likes and not risk torching your collection." Tenzin pointed at the ocean, saying, "There's just one slight problem - if you do that, we're going to start running of out room." Korra had an idea - inspired by something Avatar Kyoshi had once done, but a bit more extreme.

Korra said, "Why don't I just make some more land?" Given their confused looks, she explained how Kyoshi had separated her island from the mainland, and figure she could just create new land. Korra could lavabend now, after all, and her close bond with Raava coupled with the strength of her past lives being her own once more made her think she could one-up Avatar Kyoshi's feat. She told the two as much, seeing how Tenzin was still staring at the sea.

Tenzin stood in silence, seemingly shocked at the idea of trying to go one step beyond one of the most powerful Earthbending Avatars in history. Asami said, "That sounds like a wonderful idea! If you are successful, after things settle down, you could even expand Republic City further out into the sea." Korra slapped Asami on the back, saying, "Now there's an idea! I could even use this service to bribe the Fire Nation and Firelord Izumi - they always did need more land." Tenzin chuckled slightly disapprovingly, saying, "We shouldn't have to bribe our allies to help us." Getting an uncharacteristic gleam in his eye, he added, "Plus, what's to stop Firelord Izumi from backing out of whatever deal you made with her once the land is settled?" Both Asami and Korra let out a low whistle - even though he was an airbender, he had still learned something from his time as a Councilman.

Tiring of all the talking, Korra grabbed Asami and slid down the slope behind the artifact room, noticing that Oogi, Juicy and Druk were all stabled on the other side of the island. Korra felt a sudden pang of nerves - she hoped she wouldn't fail in front of a large audience. Asami asked, as they approached the bottom, "What do you need me for?" Korra answered, "You're going to be my architect - we're going to do more than just make some new land." Asami hugged Korra tighter, giving her the feeling that Raava was so jealous of.

_First row seat is better than nothing. When are you going to go to that darn mansion and drink alcohol, anyways? I wanna see!_

Korra laughed, explaining why once she reached the shore with Asami, saying, "Raava is a dirty little spirit, isn't she?" Asami laughed, then pinched Korra's butt, saying, "I'm getting impatient too - it's too bad the Spirit World is off limits right now." Korra could feel some very familiar and welcome sensations again, seemingly flowing through her chi lines from the nape of her neck, down her spine, to below her bellybutton. All of a sudden, she felt a whole new feeling… this one decidedly physical. Mako never made her feel like this.

She shook her head, side to side, finishing, "Come on - the sooner we get private quarters, the better. Asami - can you remember the topography on the sea floor in the bay? I don't want to do work I don't have to." Asami shrugged, saying, "I have some records - only rough estimates. But they're at my office." Korra stamped her foot down in frustration, sending sand flying. As she prepared to make some glass on the beach with her new wonderful blue flame to vent her frustration, she got another stroke of inspiration. Korra told Asami, "I'll be right back," running over to the solid rock cliff. She began to punch the cliff with great care in the Avatar State - hoping for help from one of her past Earthbending Avatar lives.

When she saw the slight figure that appeared in front of her, she burst out laughing, "Wait, what, really - an airbender? That's who I get? SERIOUSLY? I don't care if you knew Toph in your lifetime, Aang - that's just ridiculous! You're the OPPOSITE element! I know Kyoshi wouldn't exactly be lining up to help, but I'd prefer an actual Earthbending Avatar." At first, Aang looked hurt. He said, with an angry grimace, "Really, Korra - I know you can be blunt, but that was a bit much. Raava may like your warlike personality better, but you need a balance between the two. Keep in mind, Raava can be a little … odd at times. I think these new 'human-y' feelings carry her away at times." Aang pointed a finger at Korra, saying, "I managed to hear her telling you while I was still imprisoned that you needed to be more in touch with the healing abilities - bending and emotional - that you possess. Right after you healed Mako's arm. Then, right after I was freed, I heard her telling you that she liked you eagerly anticipating the first person to try and harvest from the Great Banyan tree being turned to ash. You need to trust yourself, above all - don't let the vacillations of Raava influence you."

Korra's eyes began watering, and she burst into hysterics. Aang's image softened in its formerly stern expression, and he said, "Don't feel bad, Korra - I almost hurt Katara while in the Avatar State more than once, first when that stupid general tried to get me to enter the Avatar State on 'command', then when I was out of control in rage after losing Appa. What Raava said after your 'test' of the blue flame… Raava is right, in a blanket sense - you should be glad you haven't hurt anyone you love yet. Just remember, sometimes words cut deeper than steel." Curious as to how he had managed to get so many "blips" of information while entombed in ice, Korra asked, "So that's two different times you got information from the outside world while completely imprisoned. How?" Aang laughed, saying, "I was the Avatar before you, so I could 'hear' a little better- but not much. I did have 100 years' experience of being entombed in ice before that, after all. I suppose I shouldn't be mad at you for those comments - you did save me and everyone else, after all. And Raava's randomly catching us up as well - not good at it yet, though." Aang pointed slightly to the right of Korra, saying, "It appears someone wants to say hi before I begin training you in what you desire - earthsense."

Korra wheeled around, and looked in horror - apparently Asami had heard everything. Asami said, in an even voice, "Aang is right - you need to be true to yourself, first and foremost. Let Raava figure out the right balance herself - she's always had a human Avatar holding her hand in the emotional department, apparently. She must be able to handle the things she felt as a spirit just fine - it's these new 'human-y' emotions that give her problems." Korra saw Aang's image replaced by a familiar white-haired girl, who said, "At first, I was going to yell at you, Asami - because what you said made me mad. But I guess you're right. Anyways - back to what you were doing." When Aang reappeared, he was grinning widely, and an unseen hand smacked him across the face. Yelling over top of the sound of a giggling girl, Aang said, "Why don't you try using your feet instead of your hands?" Korra heard a slight scuffling sound as Aang threw away an unseen being. He yelled, "Why don't you go bother Wan, Raava - I still belong to Katara, and I'm not really 12, so I'm not close to your 'human-y' form's age! Now, shoo!" Asami snickered and let out a long sigh, saying, "If this is what you've taught Raava about romantic relations, I can't wait to actually do something interesting with you, Korra." Her cheeks blushing, Korra imagined Raava's giggling face on the ground - she wanted to shake the little rascal up, but not hurt her. To her surprise, this must have been the right way to strike the ground - she could feel shockwaves traveling from her foot up the cliff face, as well as towards the sea.

Korra grinned widely - almost as far as Aang could, but not quite. Given the expression she saw on Aang's face when she looked up, he felt the waves somehow as well. When she turned to face Asami, Asami gave a small yelp, saying, "I hope you don't teach that face to our kid. Sorta creeps me out." The smile vanished, as did Aang - Korra was tired of waiting. Her eyes now aglow, she struck her foot against the ground in the same fashion once more. She felt a footprint created in the earth and felt small cracks spread from her feet while she processed the vast amount of information that flowed into her being.

She detected a minor deposit of metal under the sea near her, as well as a large, strange pocket of liquid trapped beneath the sea in the far distance in some fragile rock. Making a note of its location - Asami might know what it was - she focused on getting a better picture of the ocean floor, but only lightly striking her foot against the rock beneath her this time. She saw a much clearer picture - and knew where she would begin.

Still in the Avatar State, she created a circular part in the sea water with one hand, and began manipulating the sea floor with the other. Suddenly realizing she did not have enough earth for what she wanted, she focused all her energy far beneath the exposed sea floor. She felt an immense heat, and began to manipulate it towards the surface, opening her eyes fully. She watched keenly for what she was manipulating to finally break the surface - magma. As it broke through to the surface, she heard a surprised gasp from beside her, but maintained her focus.

Korra had a momentary vision of a figure she somehow knew to be Firelord Sozin performing some odd hand movements, cooling a vast amount of magma with firebending. Keeping this vision from what must have been the end of Roku's life in mind, once a large amount of magma had been released - enough to increase the size of Air Temple Island by a third, or more - she began to channel heat away using the odd technique from the large, glowing mass until she felt comfortable with its temperature. Korra wanted to make sure there was no further unplanned volcanic activity in this spot, ensuring that this would be so by sending the plume of magma deep beneath the new island - back to wherever she had dragged it from. Pushing both hands forcefully towards the cooling mass and the sea, she created a large, slightly sloped hill between the shimmering walls of water. She folded her hands multiple times towards herself, letting the water crash into the new, solid rock while a somewhat natural looking pathway came towards her current position.

She spun around, striking her foot against the ground once more - she wanted to be as delicate as possible, with the artifact room nearby. Locating a suitable spot, she quickly and delicately created a sloped path from Upper Air Temple Island down towards the bottom of the cliff face, linking it to the new path in the sea. Turning around towards the new landmass, she was still not satisfied, so she raised the pathway between the main island and her new addition, creating sea walls around the path and addition's boundaries. Korra created a large courtyard on the side of the island closest to the artifact room by shearing off a large amount of rock, depositing it on the far end of the island. She fused the two pieces of earth with lavabending, effectively creating a tall, inaccessible plateau. Her final major act was to manipulate the minor mass of what must have been iron from beneath the water, letting it crash next to the far end of the island.

Korra took a very deep breath and created some small pier-like spits of rock near the back of the new plateau, at the same time exiting the Avatar State. Breathing heavily, she said, "If the Fire Nation wants any new land, they're going to have to pay a fortune. That really took it out of me, Avatar State or not." She looked at Asami, who was staring at the island with wide eyes. She said, pointing to the plateau, "Is that what I think it is…? Is that where you want my helping in bending us a house?"

Korra shook her soaked body, splattering Asami with sweat - she actually seemed to like it. Absently licking her lips and ingesting some of Korra's sweat, Asami said, "Where'd you get that huge lump of ore from? Are there any interesting deposits under the ocean here?" Korra said, whipping off her shirt out of combined heat and exhaustion, "Yes - I also detected a distant, large pocket of a strange liquid inside fragile rock. You wouldn't happen to know what that is, do you?" Asami's eyes widened, staring at Korra - and not just at her glistening body. She said, touching Korra in the abdomen, "Korra - that's oil! You just discovered a major deposit of oil! I'll have to contact Varrick, and see if we can devise a way to get at the oil beneath the sea." Asami paused, looking at Korra's sweaty arms, saying, "Though I see some oil I like right here."

Finally tired of waiting, Korra hugged Asami and kissed her on the neck. She was about to give in completely, but a voice behind them said, "Ahem. Just because you're not in the artifact room, doesn't make any funny business a good idea, Korra - if you want to do something, you should finish that island and your house first." Ignoring the intruder for a moment, Korra bent an earth wall between her and this unwelcome visitor. Re-focusing on Asami, she didn't hear the man walk around to the side of her barrier until it was too late. A sudden blast of wind knocked her off her feet, making her land next to Asami.

Staring blearily up at the morning sun, she saw a familiar figure coming into her field of view - it was Tenzin! Korra gasped for air, still not quite over the exhaustion from creating an island. She heard the muffled sound of running, and a cool wave of water splashed over her and Asami. Korra said weakly, "Thanks - that was just what I needed. Wait… Tenzin? Katara?" Before Tenzin could answer, what must have been Katara said, "Hello, sweetie. My son and I noticed a lot of noise from this direction and thought we should investigate. I never expected to see this wonderful addition to Air Temple Island, though." Tenzin added, "I noticed how delicately the path from the upper level to this new addition was made, Korra - thank you for remembering to not wreck my artifact room."

Korra managed to get up and pull Asami with her, saying, "I'm still not done! I need to make a house, and bend some… privacy measures for the house out of the ore I drug up." Katara patted Korra's shoulders, saying, "It looks like you could use some help. Tenzin, why don't you project to Bolin, Su and Lin, and tell them to come to the artifact room. And make sure to tell them this isn't an emergency!" Before Korra or Asami could object, Tenzin sat down, took a deep breath, and shut his eyes. Korra did feel very tired - she bent herself and Asami a single chair to sit in. Katara, seeing what they were doing, bent a large ball of water from the sea, did some strange hand movements that Korra assumed were to remove the salt, and created two separate, smaller balls of water. Katara said, "Why don't you try and bend two clean mugs from this rock? If I give you ice glasses, they'll just melt." Korra did so, making sure to create a clean inside surface with some minor lavabending that she cooled rapidly.

After, Korra and Asami held out their earth cups. Katara bent the water inside, and created a large block of ice with the leftovers. When Korra had emptied her glass, she made to refill it, but Katara held out her hand, saying, "Uh-uh, Korra! It may be 8:00 AM in the morning, but I don't want you getting heatstroke. I'm sure Bolin, Lin and Su will be too busy admiring your handiwork to be ready to help you finish it right away." As Korra fixed her gaze on a large, tasty-looking creature in the distance, Katara tapped her son on the shoulder, whispering, "Tell them to bring some food - it looks like Korra and Asami haven't eaten since they got up, given how they are staring at that shark whale." Korra sat up, and said, "Some sushi does sound good. Ooooh, my head…" Korra slumped back into the chair from the new pain in her forehead, stirring Asami, who stood up, addressing some unseen new arrivals. Despite all the fighting Korra had done lately, she realized that she was pretty out of shape - if she had any hope of winning this Spirit Civil War, she'd need to become physically robust again, like she was before that crazy idiot Zaheer had poisoned her. She remembered how, in almost all her fights lately, she had been beaten or on equal ground with people she should have handily defeated.

_That's not the main reason - for instance, why didn't you use the Avatar State inside the horrible Colossus' cockpit? I'm criminally underused!_

Korra groaned loudly, saying, "Not now, Raava … ugh" out loud. She finally fell asleep.

She saw a little girl - Raava - in front of her, Raava admonishing, "Remember, you need to take care of your physical body. Until you get more fit, no more trying to make a whole island by yourself without what your body needs- if you try to push too far, I'll just shut the Avatar State off." Korra yelled, "But how am I going to get better unless I exert myself? I'm sick and tired of being weak - until relatively recently, I couldn't even walk or fight properly, and now look where I am!"

Raava wagged a finger at Korra, saying, "I didn't say you couldn't make islands, Korra - you just need to remember to do, you know, basic things… like EAT and DRINK!" Raava flared to her full size before the last words, and the vision ended. Or was it a dream?

Given how Korra saw the world through rapidly blinking eyelids, it must have been both. She saw Bolin standing over her, holding a small cut of cooked meat, saying, "She's awake! Thirty minute nap… wish I could do that." Korra opened her mouth, savoring the flavor of the bite Bolin gave her. Korra stood up, seeing that it wasn't just Bolin, Lin and Su - everyone was here, even her parents!

After eating some more and drinking plenty of water, she began telling everyone how she made the new addition to Air Temple Island. When she finished, she noticed multiple stunned expressions - noticing that Zuko was one of them. Before anyone else could speak, Lin yelled, "We've got an addition to finish, people - stop staring at Korra! Let's go!" She turned down the trail, and ran to the large clearing, Asami running after her. Everyone else - including Korra - followed suit. While no longer physically tired, Korra chose to defer to Asami on completion of the island, following her instructions. Korra worked with Bolin to finish the large plaza with a mix of earthbending and lavabending, working alongside him to give it a marble-like surface that Asami suggested and directed the appearance of. She noticed the final pattern of its surface resembled the tiles of the rest of Air Temple Island. Korra added the four elemental symbols to the center of each tile with a burst of the Avatar State and some earthbending - without any nagging from Raava.

Korra spotted Su out of the corner of her eye with a proud look. Apparently, Su had managed to hook the shark whale with metalbending while Korra and Bolin had worked on the plaza, as Korra saw the massive beast dead, floating near the sea-wall. Korra said, "Nice work with the shark whale, Su! I can't wait to eat it!" Shortly after, she heard Katara yell, "Aren't you gonna thank me too? I bent the water to get at it in the first place!" Embarrassed at her assumption, Korra yelled "Thanks!" as Bolin bent a small shore to drag the beast onto the new "marble". Su and Lin used metalbending to butcher the beast at the same time Jinora came back with some more vegetarian fare. Asami motioned to Korra while the impromptu celebration was being prepared, and Korra approached her at the base of the tall plateau.

Much to Korra's surprise, Asami said, "Okay - what now? I know you had something in mind with that metal ore, but what?" Korra said one word: "Privacy". In a stream of consciousness, Korra explained her idea to Asami - make it so that only someone who can bend multiple elements, or know a special "code" can enter without assistance. Asami's eyes widened as she explained, saying, "Sounds even better than my mansion, Korra. But how are you going to implement it? There's lots of metalbenders and earthbenders around here - someone could just break in through the wall." Korra frowned, saying, "I'm not trying to make a fortress - I just want somewhere private for us is all. I don't like that artifact room - it's barely private, and those dusty old scrolls make me sneeze."

Asami laughed, coming up closer to Korra, running a finger on her still bare collarbone. "If that's what you want, Korra - a 'private retreat' - you might want to add sound dampening into your design." Asami gave her a coy grin. Korra began to reach out to grab her butt, but stopped at the last minute, saying, "No, Korra, not right now! Just finish this house already." Asami looked vaguely disappointed. Given Asami's experience with security, Korra let her make most of the design decisions and all the locking mechanisms. After Korra had finished making a legion of bizarre metal objects, she implemented her own ideas. She bent some fresh water into a container that she superheated and compressed into stainless steel. Seeing Asami given her an odd look, Korra explained, "This is going to be the main door's lock. It can only be opened by simultaneously waterbending and metalbending - this main key mechanism here floats in the water and needs to be metalbent into position to turn the lock into a somewhat open position. While that is maintained, the bender has to freeze the water, expanding it into these crevasses with skill. Then, the user bends the ice sphere to generate enough force to open the lock." Korra looked at the key mechanism and said, "Though I guess that will need to be stainless steel too," as she performed the appropriate bending on it.

After arranging the parts in the proper orientation, Korra stomped the ground of the plateau, wanting to form a picture in her mind's eye of the spacious design that Asami had described, taking into account the main watermetalbending lock. Korra took a deep breath, and began to create the house using the Avatar State. First, she created a foundation, springing the inner walls up from the slab of earth. She then bent two concentric earthen shells - one that was the outer wall and provided a gap of air for noise muffling, and a second that perfectly fit the inner walls, adjusting all the walls as she went using earthsense and bending. She then bent in various fixtures, such as a bed base and headboard in the "recreational room", some earthen cabinets and an island for a kitchen - no need for gas when she could just firebend food to heat it, she thought - and a small table for eating at, and she bent some shiny copper into the walls where Asami had instructed her to. Korra then created light fixture holders near these metal veins.

Feeling creative, she tried and successful manipulated some earth into crystal form using heat and the latent air moisture, creating a chandelier to hang outside the kitchen near the bedroom, affixing it to the ceiling with lavabending. She began creating a bathroom near the bedroom, but suddenly remembered that Asami wouldn't be able to use what she had in mind without her assistance - she was no waterbender. It'd have to wait until later, and they would need a link to the main Air Temple Island system. Korra bent out doorways to the outside - the main door using a watermetalbending lock and the second door using a complicated number-based lock - and suspended the doors in mid-air. She then lavabent to fuse all the pieces together and give all the earthen surfaces the same pseudo-marble look she had used on the plaza. Once the heat died down, she fixed the copper veins - she had forgotten to leave them until after the "marbleization" - and used her metalbending to insert locks and hinges into all the now-snugly placed doors. She then decorated the outside of the house using metal and lavabending in a four-elements theme, putting large Future Industries logos on two prominent parts of the house.

Korra took a deep breath - both to end the Avatar State smoothly and for energy. She opened her eyes, telling Asami loudly, "I'm ready to eat! Come on, we can stare at this house later - _and_ use it for other purposes." Giving Asami a wink as she ran off, Korra smelled an irresistible smell in the air - roasted shark whale meat!


	19. Chapter 19: A Private Affair

Chapter 19 : A Private Affair

When Korra and Asami finally got back to the new plaza, both stared in amazement. There were more people here than when Korra had awakened from her short nap! One of Varrick's surviving huge "boats" - if you could call a private battleship like the Zhu Li a mere boat - was moored near a dock she didn't remember making, and Korra even spotted two strange, wooden cages containing rather defeated looking figures.

Tenzin, Zuko and Katara were standing in the center, laughing and talking to each other, only pausing to eat shark whale. Even Tenzin ate the meat, seemingly out of politeness to his mother rather than actually liking it. Mako, Bolin and Opal were close by, with Mako looking rather glum as Bolin kissed Opal, Bolin making to grab her - which only netted him a slap on the face and an angry girlfriend. He yelled loudly, "Oh, come on, Korra's already grabbed Asami's butt, and only they know what else, and you won't even let me squeeze your arm?" He began to say something else, but Opal cut him off with a blow of wind to the face, followed by a strong kiss on the lips. Opal asked him, "You happy now?" to which he could only reply "…. Yeaaah" before falling over onto his flushed face. Lin and Su, who were close by, started laughing wildly, and when their faces were red from laughter they resumed sipping what must have been weak sake. Or at least laughter's what Korra assumed their faces were red from, anyways.

Pema was leading Rohan, Ikki and Meelo on a tour of Varrick's huge boat, and given some angry shouts from a running Varrick, he either wanted them to pay admission to the Zhu Li or leave his possessions alone. A shrieking Meelo shot a few blasts of wind at a stuffed platypus bear standing on the deck, apparently trying to control it like a huge puppet. He failed miserably. A large piece of stuffing flew out, hitting Varrick in the face. Varrick grabbed Meelo and yelled "Why you little dirty rug rat!" Meelo smiled broadly, managing to get a hand free to point at an angry duo standing behind Varrick: Pema and Zhu Li. Pema snatched Meelo from a stunned Varrick as Zhu Li hit him over the head with a ledger and yelled, "No Thing for you tonight, mister!"

Jinora stood behind a large table, deftly sending plates and glasses flying back and forth to the different groups of people, some with food on or drink in them. She even managed to land two plates with food into the two odd cages, followed by two glasses of sake, receiving applause for her feat. After finishing clapping, Korra traced the path the plates and glasses had taken back to the table, and noticed three familiar figures behind the impromptu serving bar - one of whom was very large, and chewing on the remnants of the shark whale in content.

Korra dragged Asami behind her as she ran towards her parents, yelling, "Mom! Dad! I want you to meet my girlfriend, Asami!" As Naga leapt onto her master and Tonraq wrapped Asami in a polarbear-dog hug of his own, Korra barely heard a squabbling Zhu Li and Varrick yell "Asami's your WHAT now?!" in the distance. Blowing off the inevitable twin information dump until later, Korra talked and laughed with her mother and father for a good thirty minutes, Asami clearly enjoying having something close to a mother and father in-law. Tonraq even told Asami, "Korra was right - you do have a beautiful face," making Asami blush slightly.

They were only interrupted when Varrick, having apparently pried the ledger from Zhu Li's grasp, smacked Korra in the back of the head, saying, "Everyone talking about all this ostrich horse leavings that I have no idea what it means, and I hate not knowing what's going on. So I'll keep hitting you on the head with this now-unreadable ledger until you tell me!" Varrick proceeded to weakly bonk Korra on the head at least 20 times before she stopped laughing, and took him seriously. Korra told him, "Get Zhu Li over here and promise your undying secrecy and I'll tell you - though not with words." A confused Varrick ran off to get Zhu Li, and Korra told Asami, "Seeing Varrick and Zhu Li are basically your business partners and co-inventors, they'd have to know what was going on eventually. I wouldn't worry about him secretly selling our relationship information to the press - when he gets over here, just make sure to have your electroglove on, and mention it would be an unwise business move to anger his major business partner."

The ploy had the desired effect, though Senna was not pleased with Korra's dirty little tactic, or that Asami went along with it. Zhu Li found it hilarious, however, much to an already small Varrick's chagrin. Once Zhu Li had finished laughing, Korra told them both, "Prepare for the update of your lives!" and placed her hands on their foreheads. At about the point she was transmitting information about her training with Bolin, Korra felt a bit of information actually enter her brain - something about color movers? When Korra had finished - realizing she had accidentally imparted information about Kuvira's trials too late - she placed one hand at her side and one on Asami's shoulder. Before she could say anything, or ask about the color movers, Varrick yelled, "Wow, Korra - that was great! Any chance you can teach me how to do that with a machine or something? That's so much more efficient than talking!" Caught off guard, Korra laughed and said, "Nope, I'll tell you again what I told Jinora - this appears to be Avatar only." Zhu Li said, "That stuff you showed us about Kuvira - it was heartbreaking. She sounds like a changed woman, Korra - all thanks to you. You saved her not once, but twice." Korra fidgeted nervously, prompting Zhu Li to ask, "Surely, you have told people that Varrick and I's crazy former boss is now just formerly crazy - right?" Korra whispered to Zhu Li, "No - I guess now would be as good a time as any, though. By the way, who's in those wooden cages?"

Remembering what Kuvira had said about Tonga's wooden prison, their identities hit her like a ton of bricks. Korra said, looking at everyone around her except Asami in disbelief, "Surely you didn't bring two war criminals to this gathering - what were you thinking?" To Korra's surprise, it was Senna who said, "Last night, I happened to walk by Kuvira's wooden prison, and she yelled out to me to come closer, starting to tell me about what had just happened before you fell asleep on Druk's back. I thought that if she really was telling the truth, it'd be cruel to keep her and Baatar Jr. away from this celebration - I had a very hard time convincing Su and Lin with just Kuvira's word. They're still in those wooden cages, obviously." Tonraq put a large hand on his wife's back and said, "Why don't you try and use that new ability of yours to update everyone on what happened with Kuvira yesterday? I'd like to see what this 'information dump' feels like, especially since you told us the events of the past 48 hours old fashioned style. Varrick is right - while I thoroughly enjoyed our talk last night, this does sound like it would be a lot more efficient than talking." Before Korra could place her hand on the ground to impart Kuvira's trials to everyone - including Baatar Jr., hopefully - her father added, "Though something tells me this wouldn't be a good thing to use in diplomacy - politicians and rulers always love a good long speech or debate, though not if the speech is someone else's."

Laughing at a sudden image of trying to "update" President Raiko or Firelord Izumi with what Korra had just named "infobending" in her own mind, Korra entered into the Avatar State and placed her hand on the ground, using her new earthsense to "see" through now closed eyes. She used the channels in the marble-like stone beneath her feet to connect with everyone around her, and began infobending Kuvira's trials in great detail, making sure to keep the information she divulged about Jinshu Kuangmai to the necessary minimum. After she felt the light of Raava fade from her eyes, she withdrew her hand from the ground, looking around to see people's reactions.

Korra saw a surreal scene - everyone except herself, Asami, Varrick and Zhu Li were wobbling slightly with stunned looks on their faces. Apparently, receiving all of Kuvira's experiences and emotions from last night was quite stressful. People began shaking their heads back and forth to regain their composure, some like Zuko and Katara running towards the wooden cage on the left as they did so, most just rubbing their foreheads and groaning lightly, and others bursting into hysterics. Bolin and Su were both in this last group - though for different reasons. Bolin yelled, "AUGH! What did I tell you about doing that… thing, Korra! Now I'm going to have a headache all day!" before falling over - though this time, onto his back. Su sobbed loudly, "Wait… she called me MOTHER Suyin? She never even called me that when she was a child! And shattering that horrible thing, only to almost lose her face to Koh… I'm coming, Daughter Kuvira!" Su bent some metal off her person into the shape of a large saw, running off to the cage that Zuko and Katara were in front of, talking excitedly with its occupant. Lin could only manage a temporary look of cynicism at her sister before running after her, yelling, "Wait - don't just cut her free yet! What are you thinking? We need to replace the platinum handcuffs first!" Korra saw everyone else follow suit, finding her own legs moving of their own accord.

After both Kuvira and Baatar Jr. were outside of the wooden cages and bound in handcuffs - though Korra noticed that Lin had let both prisoners keep their hands in front of their bodies - Su hugged them both, saying, "I never thought that you'd call me something like Mother Suyin, Kuvira - or should I say, Daughter Kuvira." Kuvira began crying happily as Baatar Jr. let out a horrible yell, saying, "Get away from me! I want nothing to do with you - and I have no idea why everyone is acting so friendly with you now! You kept yammering at me last night, but I just plugged my ears - we're done!" Kuvira stood silent at first, but then said, "Look, I know I fired that awful weapon at you, Baatar Jr. - but I was most definitely following my evil side up until last night, like I tried to tell you." Baatar Jr. spat in Kuvira's face, cursing and then yelling, "I don't care if you became the new Avatar and vanquished Vaatu permanently tomorrow, or magically restored the Earth Kingdom, Zaofu AND Republic City to what they used to be before you ravaged them! Now, just leave me alone!" Lin forcibly restrained him from attempting to kick or knee Kuvira in the groin as he cursed madly.

Su ran away from Kuvira and Baatar Jr. towards Korra, saying, "Why don't you do that … thing on my son, and see if he changes his mind? Apparently, the wooden cage must have blocked the information from flowing." She turned around, with a stern expression on her face, saying, "Right, Junior?" Korra walked over to Baatar Jr. with Asami and Su as Su's son said, "I don't know what you're talking about, mom, but I don't care what Korra has to say!" He broke free from Lin's grasp, only to be entombed in ice. An angry Katara yelled, "You stupid fool - surely, you've heard the stories of how then Prince Zuko defected to Team Avatar after having a change of heart?" Baatar Jr. said curtly, "Yes, I have - but then again, Zuko never tried to turn me into ash with a spirit weapon!" An angry Zuko started explaining to Baatar Jr. just how off his excuse was as everyone else just stared at the angry former Firelord. Emotions running high, Korra dismissed a thought that floated through her mind: "Becoming good again… Wasn't Baatar Jr. first?" Korra felt her eyes glow momentarily, and Aang's figure appeared in front of her body, turning to face and join Zuko in his little ten-minute lecture. Korra noticed that as the two former enemies turned allies lashed into Baatar Jr., even Lin's eyes softened.

After Aang's image vanished, Zuko stared intently at Kuvira's obviously now ex-boyfriend in anger. Baatar Jr. just crossed his arms as far as his handcuffs and ice prison would allow him and said, "I don't care if Zuko's switch ended up saving the world - Kuvira still tried to kill me in cold blood, and it's not as if she's going to get a chance to help save the world. After the Battle of Republic City, I can hardly imagine anything being more dire or worse." Everyone - even including Pema, Rohan, Ikki, and Meelo, Korra not having remembered showing Rohan anything - began laughing hysterically. Korra felt her eyes glow again, and a familiar small, white-haired girl very briefly appeared in front of Baatar Jr. He began to laugh wildly, causing Raava to grow to full size before anyone but Korra had seen the previous, smaller form. Raava yelled, "NOW do you recognize me, you stubborn moron? Here, allow me and Korra to demonstrate _exactly_ what happened to Kuvira last night, that you couldn't be bothered to listen to. As well as exactly why Kuvira is needed and not just a prisoner of war, like you are." Raava extended a large tentacle rapidly to Baatar Jr.'s forehead, and Korra followed suit on his back.

Korra could feel Raava putting extra care into this infobending, making sure that Baatar Jr. saw that there would be no peace for quite some time and that he felt everything that both Kuvira and Korra had. Korra noted with pleasure that Raava also kept Jinshu Kuangmai's identity a secret. After Raava removed her tentacle and returned to Korra's body, a voice intoned proudly _I know what a secret is - and I plan on helping you keep it_.

For about five minutes, Baatar Jr. stood in mute silence until finally saying, "You're all crazy! I fail to see how Kuvira will be of any help from a jail cell!" Turning his head enough to barely see Kuvira, he yelled, "I still don't care about your 'trials' Kuvira, shattered evil self or not! We're completely through!" He took a deep breath, adding with a hoarse scream, "For crying out loud, you tried to kill me, you crazy b - " Su's hand slapped him across the mouth before he could finish the last word and stayed put until Lin bent a strip of metal towards Baatar Jr.'s face. He bit Su's hand and managed to say, mother crying woundedly, "Lin - surely you of all people don't buy Kuvira's bulls - " before his voice was muffled by the large strip of metal. Lin held him in the air by his new gag and forced him back into the wooden cage, bending some more metal to form a lock.

Kuvira had been crying bitterly for quite some time now. Mako approached her, saying, "I trust you - if 'Mother Suyin', Raava and Korra trust you, I see no reason why not." He put both arms around her chest, making sure to avoid the handcuffs, and Kuvira managed to say, "Thank you - that means a lot to me, especially after what I did to your home city and your arm," before her tears could return. She looked down at Mako's left arm and said, "Wow - I knew Korra 'told' me she had healed your arm, but I didn't expect this. Here, I want to feel it - I figure I'll need to start learning more about healing of any kind if I am to be of any use in the Earth Kingdom's rehabilitation." Kuvira grabbed Mako's palm with her handcuffed hands, feeling the flesh intently. When Kuvira didn't let go and clasped her hands tighter in an unanticipated move, both Mako and Kuvira blushed deeply. Bolin let out a whoop, starting to say an... earthy celebratory exclamation before a blast of air from Opal and then another metal gag from Lin stopped him short. Bolin removed the gag from his face, seemingly having gotten the message, and then ran up to Mako and Kuvira to hug them both. Mako let out a startled "Ow! Bolin, you're pressing me up against her handcuffs - don't hug so hard!"

Meelo tugged on Pema's clothing, asking, "Mom, can you teach us these words that keep getting interrupted? They sound cool!" Pema picked him up, letting a boisterous Rohan free, and said, "Maybe when you're older, Meelo - though I don't see what use an airbender would have for such words." Meelo pouted, saying, "I'm not just an airbender, Mom - I'm also a stylebender! You remember that picture I re-painted hanging in my room, right? That's how I wanna roll." Pema rolled her eyes, saying, "Yes, I do remember that portrait. While it is a fine piece of art, it seems more suited to a firebender's portrait - Firelord Ozai or Princess Azula, perhaps," finishing with a mischievous smile. Meelo's cheeks turned red, and Pema and Tenzin laughed deeply. Jinora began snickering in the background, along with Katara and Zuko.

This more lighthearted exchange and the silence of a gagged Baatar Jr. removed the pall in the air that the altercation between Baatar Jr. and Kuvira had produced. Thinking to herself that everyone who mattered was now present and somewhat happy, Korra felt a sudden surge of energy, spotting a familiar figure in front of her. Korra groaned deeply and said, "Raava, cut that out! I hate it when you leave my body without asking." Korra crossed her arms and let out an angry "Humph!" as Raava laughed hysterically, along with everyone who had been present at the Restoration.

Zhu Li, Varrick, Senna and Tonraq looked wide-eyed at Raava's "human-y" form - they had heard of it before, sure, but never actually seen it. Raava made a funny face, sticking out her tongue, making all four jump. She ran off towards Tenzin and Jinora giggling, and as Korra followed to maintain a close distance to Raava, she heard her father say, "She reminds me an awful lot of Korra at about four - now I see where she got it from." This just made Raava laugh loudly, only stopping once she and Korra were near Tenzin and his eldest daughter, now standing near the hugging trio from earlier.

Jinora had a mischievous look on her face. Once Korra and Raava arrived, she looked at her father and said, "So I guess it is true." Tenzin, taking the bait, asked, "What is true, Jinora?" Without missing a beat, Jinora replied, pointing to Kuvira, "They really will let anyone into the spirit world these days," closing her eyes and grinning widely much as her grandfather might have done. Apparently, Kuvira, Bolin and Mako overheard this, and all three began laughing loudly, with Korra and Raava joining in their mirth shortly after. Raava slapped Jinora on the back, saying loudly with a fake groan, "You beat me to it!" Tenzin had a furious look on his face, saying, "That smile! Urgh… You're just like my father, Jinora. If I weren't so thoroughly an Air Nomad, I'd spank you for that!" Korra heard Kuvira, Bolin and Mako laughing harder, and what she sensed as five individual's footsteps approaching them. As Jinora and Raava giggled, she identified the two other individuals - Asami and Opal. Shortly before the rest of the core of Team Avatar arrived - Korra realized with an odd start she had just lumped in Kuvira with the rest of them - Tenzin looked at Raava with a serious, slightly desperate expression. He asked, "You don't really mean to tell me her joke was the truth, do you?" Raava laughed with an edge of irritation, saying, "Just so you know, Tenzin, what she said isn't true, in case you took my comment seriously. Do remember, before Kuvira meditated into the spirit world, she had just 'shattered' her evil half in a fight for her sanity and soul."

Once the new arrivals were comfortable, Jinora said, with a serious look, "This private party can't and shouldn't just be about laughing and having fun, so it's time for me to share an idea I had. I remember in the - what is your name for it, Korra? Information dump?" Korra answered, "I want to call it infobending - information dump just sounds inelegant and slightly dirty." Bolin laughed as Jinora continued, "Yes, infobending. Anyways - I remembered the comment that Long Yumao made about trying to challenge Vaatu for this never-before heard 'Grand Dark Spirit' title if he could get his beak on Vaatu. Thinking about how Long Yumao loves to prattle on about how many 'sensible' spirits were offended or enraged by Raava's generous gift to Asami and Korra, I thought that we could use this new information about Long Yumao's plans against him. I figure that if some of his supporters or neutral spirits knew he intended to usurp Vaatu and disturb the balance that has existed between Raava and Vaatu, two _perfectly_ opposed spirits, we will get some spirits to come to Raava's side. Long Yumao holds chaos and utter darkness in disdain, making him a flawed foil to Raava." Jinora stopped, clearly proud of her idea.

Before Korra could compliment her idea, Raava said drolly, "While that is a good idea and will likely win us converts, Jinora, I am afraid due to my own changing nature that Long Yumao is now a better foil for me than Vaatu." The teapot around Raava's neck seemingly "nodded" in agreement. "Before my close interactions with Korra - especially of late - Vaatu and I were perfect foils of one another. He mainly represented darkness and chaos - spirit and human alike, while I mainly represented light and order. However, as my interactions with Korra have changed me, I have begun to value something you humans call 'freedom', 'humanity', and 'equal opportunity'. Vaatu, while he dislikes humans, doesn't really care if it is human darkness and chaos or spirit darkness and chaos. I have the feeling that had the Fire Nation won the 100 Year's War, he wouldn't have even bothered trying to get the new Avatar to free him for Harmonic Convergence. His job of bringing about destruction, darkness and chaos - even if it did manifest itself in the form of an oppressive genocidal government instead of absolute disorder -would have already been done for him by human tyrants. Three genocides - Air Nomad, Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom…"

Korra noticed with a sickening feeling that the teapot was now vigorously "nodding", letting out a muffled noise as though he had something to say. Raava stopped, opening on a clasp on the teapot and yelling at Vaatu, "You can stop doing that any time now!" and shut the clasp again before continuing, "Long Yumao the Opportunist, on the other hand, does not stand for absolute darkness or chaos, but instead stands for 'oppression', spirit's rule of humans, and the superiority of spirits over humans. As I find the qualities of light in more and more humans, and reflect on the great improvements of order in the world worked for so hard by humans, I feel myself transferring my value of light and order into a larger blanket - the 'humanity' I mentioned." The teapot began vigorously vibrating, knocking a clasp slightly ajar and a small curse escaped from Vaatu, who then yelled "I still would have wanted out - humans can't do my job perfectly, as Unalaq so deftly showed me. Long Yumao… That other fool must not get my title!" A laughing Raava shut the clasp once again, smacking the teapot's side for good measure. Raava finished, "My experience with Kuvira has only accelerated this process - I honestly thought she would lose to her evil half and her mind would shatter like 'Princess' Azula's did, and seeing her triumph has only increased my faith in humanity."

While Jinora did look slightly disappointed, she still seemed glad that her idea would be of some effectiveness. Kuvira looked positively ecstatic, picking up Raava and grinning wildly. Raava enjoyed it at first, but tired after about thirty seconds, saying, "Please put me back down, Kuvira. My… stomach? … doesn't feel very good." Once back on the ground, Raava stumbled around until her eyes widened in anticipation. As she began running, Korra realized with a start she was heading towards the sake table! Not wanting a drunk Raava, Korra did something she hadn't tried before - forcefully recalling Raava. At first, her attempt was very weak, then she felt a huge surge of energy - it must have been her past human lives helping! Once an angry Raava was back inside her, an image of Aang left Korra's chest, who said, "That was satisfying to watch, after all the trouble I had controlling the Avatar State during my youth." He grinned widely and said, "Carry on!" vanishing without a trace. Despite Korra's best efforts, Raava exited her body yet again - though this time she seemed uninclined to run off to go drink sake, and seemed to pay Korra a bit more respect.

Apparently, Katara had heard Aang's voice, as Korra saw her running towards them away from Korra's parents and Naga. Once she arrived, she asked, "That was Aang, wasn't it? I was just talking with your mother and father, Korra, and it got me thinking about my own family. While it is nice that I can see Aang again, I still feel the loss of my brother. He died too soon…" Tenzin gently walked to his mother, saying, "I'm sure he's in a good place, Mother - if he were alive, he'd probably still be looking for that sword of his." Katara managed a weak laugh, saying, "You're right - it's just sort of depressing to think that when almost any human dies, their spirit just vanishes to the next life unceremoniously, except for a few like Iroh." Katara looked like she was about to start crying, and a concerned Raava said with a coy smile, "Who knows, Katara - after this Spirit Civil War is over, I might be able to do something about that. The spirit never truly dies - as you said, it is reincarnated, inaccessible to the living except in extreme circumstances." Korra was rather puzzled by how Raava looked at Asami as she said this last bit, Asami saying, "Oh. So that's what happened..." As though picking up an unspoken question from Asami, Raava said, "Not now, Asami. Though, I will answer your partially formed question - the person has no memory of their past life." Korra was about to ask why Raava had such a strange expression, and what Asami was talking about, but Raava coughed, saying, "Not now, Korra. Wait." Something in the way Raava said this told Korra she would be waiting quite some time, Raava nodding. Katara gave Raava a funny look, saying, "Forget all the waiting. Is this other thing about Sokka? Wait - surely, he's not… Is he what I think he is?" The shimmer in her eyes fading, Katara groaned in frustration when Raava replied by way of a wide, toothy Aang-style smile, Katara saying, "Fine, be that way!" as she crossed her arms in a huff. Raava said, taking slight offense at Katara's anger, "You're not the only one with surprises waiting - and Korra's is even bigger!" Giving Raava a quizzical look, Korra began to ask Raava what could possibly be bigger than an immortalized Sokka. Raava shook her head before the words could leave Korra's mouth, saying, "It is not up to me to decide when, or even if, this surprise happens." Korra noticed Asami shift uncomfortably, but Korra was interrupted before she could speak, unable to remember her question, as though someone had snatched it from her mind…

Bolin, who had been muttering, "Sword! Sword! Sword!" under his breath the whole time, finally couldn't wait any longer and said, dragging Korra off to the side, "Korra, I've been wanting to learn how to use a sword, like the Kyoshi Warriors use their fans. But Kyoshi Island is all the way in the Southern Earth Kingdom, and given all this new information about this General Jinshu Kuangmai, I don't really want to go anywhere outside Republic City unless I have to. So, do you think you could project Avatar Kyoshi herself out here?" Korra gave him a dirty look - he had dragged her over here to ask her to project the one Avatar that hated her guts? Bolin said, "Look, I know you and Kyoshi aren't on the best of terms, but maybe if I talk to her she'd be willing to listen." Figuring she had nothing to lose, she focused on Kyoshi's energy, noticing that Raava was at Korra's side once the angry Earth Avatar had appeared. Raava was doing her best stink-eye at Kyoshi, and given how the ancient Avatar didn't start cursing at Korra, it must have had some effect.

Kyoshi said, giving Korra a withering look, "You already know my opinion of you and your actions - or rather, lack thereof. What do you want?" Korra said, pointing to Raava and then Bolin, "My friend here - Bolin, a talented earthbender - wants to train with you or the Kyoshi Warriors, and given that Kyoshi Island is far away and possibly inside hostile territory, he was wondering if you could train him in the ways of the warrior. Specifically, the sword." Kyoshi rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood to talk to anyone related to Korra. Kyoshi confirmed her suspicions, saying, "And why should I help you learn the art of physical combat, Bolin - friend of 'Avatar' Korra, who I consider to be a failure?" Raava cursed loudly, making Kyoshi laugh and say, "Not even Raava can change my mind about Korra - only Korra can. So, unless you can name me one reason I should train you, I'm going back to the Spirit World to finish my other, more interesting conversation."

Bolin surprised Korra by not showing off his lavabending for Kyoshi, instead kneeling before her, simply stating, "Avatar Kyoshi, I know one thing : as far as non-elemental combat goes, I am not worthy of your training. I may be able to lavabend -something Toph told me is a very rare skill - and use my earthbending to its full potential, now including metalbending thanks to Korra, but my physical combat skills are adequate at best. I am keenly aware of an earthbender's dependence on having available earth or metal to bend - we cannot simply remove water from the air, create fire, or conjure wind as the other benders can. It's one of the reasons we can be so easy to imprison - throw me in a wooden cage away from any metal or earth, and I'm trapped." Before Kyoshi could say anything, Bolin continued, saying, "I have relied on raw talent for far too long, and have felt at times that I was a secondary player in events, with only my newfound lavabending making me feel like I was an equal contributor to Team Avatar. I didn't learn this wonderful skill, or earn it - I was just born with it. An undeserving recipient of a gift from the Universe. I'm not going to ask you to train me in my element - I trust Korra can fill in the gaps there. I just wanted to know if you would be willing to help me better myself as a warrior." Appearing as though he had just remembered something, Bolin said, "Not with the war fans, though - my girlfriend Opal harasses me enough as is."

A presence behind Korra said, "Ah yes, I remember the time Sokka trained with the Kyoshi Warriors - makeup, fans and all." At the mention of Katara's brother's name, Kyoshi said, "This Sokka... I mentioned earlier I had a much more interesting conversation to return to. Before I continue, I will let your know your request has been denied, Bolin - but not for the reason you might think." Once Bolin had refocused after this distressing news, Kyoshi continued, "A rather serious human spirit was telling me about a humble individual much like Bolin before Korra booted me out here. Bolin, your speech reminded me of one a young boy gave Piandao. Piandao mentioned his name a few times, even telling me the whole speech. It was considerably shorter than Bolin's, I might add." Kyoshi gave Bolin an odd look, saying "Gumflapper." As Katara and Korra laughed and Bolin blushed, Kyoshi continued, "Piandao was deemed worthy of the honor given to Iroh -human spirit immortality - given their shared ideals and proficiency in various physical arts, as well as his role in the post war years, and liberating Ba Sing Se. Piandao was a nonbender artisan, both with the brush and the blade. This other human he spoke fondly of? I honestly forget why he was deemed worthy of spirit status after his death." Kyoshi stopped to think, a vaguely annoyed expression forming on her painted face after a while.

Kyoshi stated curtly, "Oh yes, I remember now, Korra - your predecessor's spirit, Aang, lobbied very strongly for this 'Sokka' -a relation of yours if I remember right, Katara -to be immortalized in Iroh's fashion after his death." Katara's face lit up, saying, "I knew Raava was hiding something! Why didn't you tell me?" Raava smiled, saying, "I wouldn't have gotten to see the surprised look on your face if I did. Now, I believe Kyoshi was saying something." Appearing slightly uncomfortable, Kyoshi said, "Once individuals - including myself - managed to look past the… qualities he exhibited in his youth, we accepted Aang's request. The only spirit who had major objections was Wan Shi Tong - something about tricking him with some knots. If anything, this just solidified our decision - Wan Shi Tong is not easy to trick." Kyoshi paused, to let a now hyperventilating Katara calm back down, continuing, "We considered mainly his adult self, as well as his contributions to ending the 100 Year War and maintaining peace after. Particularly impressive was his role in defending a young Avatar Korra from the 'Red Lotus', despite his advanced age at the time. Sokka also came recommended by Iroh and Piandao - though the latter did have some reservations. Upon entering the spirit world, Sokka of course immediately manifested as his younger self." Kyoshi gave a disgusted groan, saying, "One of the first things Sokka did was go to Koh's tree, make all sorts of rude faces at the ancient spirit, and said something 'witty' as he left - 'Water Tribe', if Koh told the truth. Koh was not amused, as he couldn't steal a spirit's face. It didn't get much better after that. We haven't used an Avatar's request as criteria for human spirit immortality since."

Katara was actually rolling on the ground, growing hoarse from her wild laughter. She howled, "I can't believe Sokka taunted Koh like that - and then said 'Water Tribe' as he left!" While Korra was laughing as well, she didn't quite get this "Water Tribe" reference. She could hear Aang laughing hysterically in her head, however - it must have been one of those things that you had to be there to find funny. Once he had stopped laughing as well, Bolin asked, "What do Sokka and Piandao have to do with my desire to train as a swordsman?" Kyoshi said, with a tone that let everyone else know she was about to vanish, "As I said, someone else will be training you. I get enough of Sokka's antics as is, and from what I have heard, yours are even worse." Korra and Katara laughed as Bolin grumbled, "Well, I think I'm funny, and that's all that matters!" pointing his hand at a confused Raava. Kyoshi continued, "Given your humility, Bolin, I still think you are worthy of a master's training, however - and I get the feeling you don't want to train with war fans anyways." Bolin's face lit up, and before he could ask Kyoshi anything, she continued, " Piandao and Sokka will help you train in the art of the sword in the Spirit World. I'll finish my conversation with Piandao later - I believe they are waiting for you right now. Be careful, however - none of you will be able to bend." As Kyoshi vanished, Korra could see Katara crying, who was blubbering, "We can see Sokka again! That's great! I can't wait to hear his voice again…"

Korra grabbed both Bolin and Katara by the shoulders, making ready to transport them both into the Spirit World, but then she remembered something Kyoshi had said at the end - no bending. Reading Korra's mind, Raava said, "Kyoshi never did pay attention to fine detail - since you are the Avatar, Korra, and I have such a strong bond with you, especially given all the human-y stuff I have learned, you should be able to bend even if you meditate in. You bent your own energy to save Kuvira, after all. No one else can, however - you will need to work with Bolin outside the Spirit World to incorporate any sword forms he learns with his bending. At the very least, you can imprison Koh and Long Yumao temporarily as you did when you saved Kuvira." With that, Raava re-entered Korra's body, and she felt Bolin and Katara vanish with her.


	20. Chapter 20: Bolin's Training

Chapter 20: Bolin's Training

When Bolin, Korra and Katara got inside the Spirit World, the first thing that Korra did was try to pinpoint where Koh and Long Yumao were. As usual, they were hiding in the bushes outside Xai Bau's Grove, Korra wondering why they liked a place associated with chaotic _humans_ \- the Red Lotus. Without explaining to Katara and Bolin, who were too busy looking at the beautiful trees, she used her earthbending to move them both into view - Long Yumao had been sleeping on the ground, leaving him vulnerable. He awoke to find himself hampered by earth, far too late. Korra yelled, "You two won't be taking anyone by surprise this time!" as her eyes glowed and she performed the hand movements necessary to imprison both. These prisons looked more substantial than previous ones, and she realized with a start that she had made an inner elemental prison without consciously directing their formation. As Long Yumao accused Koh of failing in sentry duty, and Koh yelled at Long Yumao for not sleeping while floating above the ground, Korra grinned widely. She noticed that Koh was still missing a portion of his carapace, and that Long Yumao's beak had a familiar score in its surface.

As soon as Bolin and Katara had finished gawking at the two spirits, Katara yelled, "Hey, Sokka! A little grumpy bird told us you have something for Bolin - come on out!" Much as Iroh had over two days ago, Piandao and Sokka strolled out of the bushes. Piandao spat in the direction of the two imprisoned spirits, saying, "Good riddance. I like the little inner prisons, Korra - they should buy us some more time to train. Sokka, are you ready to start help training Bolin?" Piandao looked around in panic, saying, "Get back here! Sokka, this isn't funny - we have a time limit here! Oh, there you are - I see you already found Bolin. Just what are you doing?" Korra and Katara turned to see Sokka and Bolin talking animatedly, and from what Korra heard, they appeared to be… swapping jokes?

Korra and Katara groaned at the same time, Korra saying, "I don't think anything short of bloodbending could separate those two now. We may as well wait until they're done and Piandao tells us they've stopped yammering. Let's go under that tree over there." As she and Katara walked to the tree, something occurred to Korra - her little jest made her remember Tonga's awful ability. Korra shivering involuntarily, Katara asked her, "What's wrong, Korra? You look like you just saw a ghost." Korra said, "My little bloodbending joke just reminded me of Jinshu Kuangmai and his awful ability. I don't know how I would counter it just yet." _Bloodbending, silly - I bet you could bloodbend without a full moon if you used the Avatar State. And Aang broke out of bloodbending with the Avatar State, facing Yakone - how could blood-iron bending be any different?_

Raava's little suggestion just made Korra shiver even more - didn't she know how Katara felt about bloodbending? A clearly concerned Katara hugged Korra as she explained Raava's little comment. Katara gave a deep sigh, saying, "I hate that form just as much as you do, Korra - I still remember the despair people had when they thought that monster Amon had taken all your bending. But if this Jinshu Kuangmai is who I think he is, you're probably going to need it." Korra's mouth was now agape... had she accidentally let the fireferret out of the bag? Seeing her expression, Katara said, "If you're worried that you accidentally let the fireferret out of the bag about Jinshu Kuangmai's identity, don't worry - I figured it out myself. I'm old, but not senile, you know. Especially given how Toph covered her mouth after mentioning 'family', and 'Jinshu Kuangmai's ability to see Kuvira did not fear him - Su and Lin may have their suspicions as well. I'll keep it secret, of course." Taking another sigh, Katara said, "If half of what you told me about his power is true, and he really is Toph's amoral son, you're going to need some ace up your sleeve against him - and Avatar State bloodbending does sound like a rather good trump card."

Slightly confused with this talk of cards, Korra said, "So, you're implying that you're willing to teach me bloodbending?" Katara said quietly, "Yes - but not the kind of bloodbending I used in my youth. The form that Hama and Yakone and his sons used is cruel - bending limbs deliberately just to inflict pain, jerking people around like puppets. I hope that we can, under a full moon of course, try to bloodbend some adorable creatures." Korra yelled "WHAT?!" and Katara sighed, saying, "I figure it would be best to practice on something cute so that you have added motivation to not use any of the forms that previous bloodbenders have used. I want you to be able to immobilize people without killing them - bloodbending could even be a humane tool if used right, akin to those electrogloves the Equalists used. My ideal bloodbending form would just use waterbending to hold someone in place while another combatant handcuffs them." Korra said, "But what about lethal force? If Jinshu Kuangmai is too strong to hold..." Katara shivered, saying, "There was one move I thought of absentmindedly in my later years, after swearing off bloodbending forever - internal ice crystal formation. If you were to take blood surrounding the brain or inside the heart and force the water into a jagged shape and use it as an internal dagger, you could kill someone very rapidly. It's a good thing Amon never thought of it - it would be very hard to counter." Korra shuddered, still not relishing the idea of using bloodbending. Korra felt a familiar energy surge and saw Raava in front of both herself and Katara - in her true form.

The large spirit boomed, seemingly only into Korra and Katara's minds, "Remember what you said to me in the swamp after we restored the Great Banyan tree, Korra - Tonga is one situation where Aang and his reluctance to take away life will lead you astray. You are willing to turn sufficiently evil foes into ash, and relished the thought of the first to try and harvest the Great Banyan tree again being blown in the wind as dust. What difference does it make what element or technique you use to kill, Korra? Zaheer found a way to kill with air, and your little ammunition idea for Opal will no doubt be used for a similar purpose. I highly suggest you get over even your small squeamish tendencies, Avatar Korra - any conflict after the Spirit Civil War will be bloody, human on human combat. You can still take away life while valuing it. The truly evil inflict pain for their own pleasure. I will leave you with these thoughts, for now." And with that, the spirit returned to Korra's being.

Korra thought for a good while on what Raava had said, as well as what Aang had said about being true to herself, Katara giving her a light hug as she did so. Korra finally turned to Katara and said, "So, next full moon - bloodbending training? I don't know where we could do it, though - you did campaign pretty hard to have it outlawed." Katara thought for a second, asking Korra, "Your new house wouldn't happen to have a basement, would it? If I am to show you any forms or if you want to try and bloodbend without using the Avatar State, we'll also need a window of some sort - for moonlight to filter in." Korra responded, "No, but I could easily bend one in. We need flowing water, a functioning bathroom and electricity - I could use that as a cover and make a whole secret room underneath the house. I could even make a hidden inlet from the sea into the room. Asami could maintain a primed motorboat there in case we ever need to make a getaway." Katara said, "Sounds like a good idea - technically, since you made the whole new island from magma, it'd be a 'secret volcano base'." Not sure entirely why she found this funny, Korra laughed along with Katara anyways.

Korra heard a loud coughing sound over her shoulder. She turned to face a relieved-looking Piandao, who said, "Don't worry - I'm no eavesdropper. Listening in is not a gentlemanly thing to do. Anyways - I came to tell you that Bolin and Sokka finally stopped telling each other jokes, but Bolin wants you to be present for his training. He said he thought you could benefit from a blade yourself, though seeing as you are the Avatar and have do not have natural pure physical combat skill like Avatar Kyoshi did, I do not see what he could mean. Come." Piandao bent over to help Katara and then Korra up, and escorted them towards Sokka and Bolin. Sokka produced a large, black sword with a flair, causing Katara to yell, "You FINALLY found your meteorite sword? Where was it?" Sokka gave his sister a slight frown, saying, "Just like kids with Suki… I never did find it while I was alive - I just wished for it back after I finished taunting Koh for the first time, and it appeared at my feet. Anyways - I believe, for some reason I can't understand, Bolin wants to use a one-handed sword." Sokka shrugged, saying, "I always thought two was better than one - but to each his own." Bolin said, while trying to lavabend in a futile effort, "Gah! If only I could show you why - I want to use my other hand to bend with, but I can't bend in the spirit world right now. Korra, why don't you show Sokka that 'Ghazan shuriken' form - you managed to trap Koh and Long Yumao in elemental prisons earlier."

Vaguely remembering the spinning disk that the Red Lotus member Ghazan used in battle, Korra bent a chunk of earth from a nearby rock and replicated the feat handily. Sokka stared at it for a little while, finally saying, "You know what would be cool? A lavabending boomerang!" Katara laughed, saying, "Sokka, why would Korra or Bolin need a lavabending boomerang? They can just directly control the Ghazan shuriken with their bending, after all." Sokka let out a whimper, saying, "Even after I'm dead, I wish I were a bender. Come on, enough with the bendy talk, Bolin, Korra and sis - let me train Bolin with a REAL weapon! Before we can begin, Bolin, you need to wish for your ideal weapon." Bolin closed his eyes, and a rather nasty looking one handed jet black sword with strange thick brown lines in it appeared at his feet. Korra asked, "Bolin - what are those funny lines? They almost look like… rock."

Clearly proud of whatever idea he had, Bolin said, "After seeing the Ghazan shuriken again, I wished for a blade that would let me use my rare talent - lavabending!" Bolin postured with bare arms near Sokka, who whacked him over the head with the flat of his sword. Bolin said, getting up off the ground, "Hey, that wasn't fair! I thought you were going to teach me to fight like a gentleman!" Both Piandao and Sokka laughed deeply, Piandao saying over top of a rolling Sokka's laughter, "There are no rules in war, _trainee_ Bolin. You have to be creative and use every advantage you have - especially if you're not a bender like Sokka or I were. Now, no more bragging about your lavabending, or training is put off until you can show nonbenders a little more respect. You'd do well to remember that the Avatar's girlfriend is a nonbender." Korra laughed, adding, "I'd hate to think of what Asami would do to you - probably lightly shock you with her glove. Or Opal, for that matter - she wasn't always an airbender, remember."

A clearly flustered Bolin changed the subject, saying, "So anyways, my wish was for a sword that played to one of my talents, and I got one. I think the basic idea is that I can use this like a regular sword, but also expand and heat the earth in the 'funny lines' into a lava cutting blade - though I will need some practice to master it, most likely." Sokka said, "See, I told you! He needed a lavabending weapon - just not my favorite, the boomerang. Okay, Bolin - time for us to start training. I guess I won't have to worry about you cheating and bending - good." With that, Sokka flew at Bolin, whose first instinct was to assume an earthbending stance and try to throw Sokka off balance. When his movements provided no results, he just grabbed his smaller sword and met the edge of Sokka's blade head-on, shattering his "lavasword" into two pieces.

Sokka laughed and said, "First, you try and earthbend instead of fighting with your sword, body and environment, and then that stupid block. What was that? Real combat isn't like those insipid movers Varrick makes, especially not the one you starred in - it's clear you've never seen a realistic parry." Bolin picked up his shattered sword, sniffing slightly, saying, "Now what am I gonna do?" Piandao stepped over and grabbed the two fragments, saying, "In a real fight, you'd have just lost one very expensive and labor-intensive sword, and would have to fall back on bending. Sokka, stop making faces at him! Anyways, since we are in the Spirit World, I can just mend the sword, and back to business as usual. Now try again - try to use your environment." Bolin exclaimed, "But if I could bend, I could just make my own!" A visibly angry Piandao slapped his own forehead, saying, "And I thought training Sokka was difficult. This is going to take a while - if you want to truly master the sword, you need an entirely different mindset. One that doesn't use bending as a crutch. No offense, Lady Katara or Avatar Korra."

As Katara let out a small sigh, Korra sat down and watched Bolin get beat mercilessly by Sokka many times. Bolin appeared to have trouble anticipating Sokka's moves, and it didn't help that Sokka apparently had the agility of a 15-year old boy and the strength of a 25-year old man. After Bolin collapsed to the ground in the wake of a particularly bad match, Korra yelled, "Bolin, when you're outside - can you earthsense?" After a dejected Bolin shook his head, Piandao said, "That makes taking in your surroundings as important as it is for a nonbender, Bolin, and unless you work on learning earthsense outside, you're going to continue getting beaten." Hearing a large hissing sound followed by a loud monkey howl, Korra turned to see Koh and Long Yumao still fighting, and she took the opportunity to refresh their prisons, not wanting them to crash Bolin's training. Sokka began training Bolin once again, after both took a short break to harass and mock the spirit prisoners.

Korra felt a small air movement beside her - almost as if someone had simply displaced it. Korra and Katara both turned to face a concerned Tenzin, who asked, "Is everything all right? I came to check - people are starting to get worried, with three motionless bodies just sitting on top of the marble." Tenzin turned to look at Korra's prisoners, laughing at a visibly intensified conflict between the two. Tenzin said, after a long sigh, "I can see you have imprisoned your main two concerns, Korra, but keep in mind that Long Yumao has followers - and they would not be happy to see the Spirit World used as a sparring ground." Korra infobended an explanation for what they were doing, apparently accidentally including her future bloodbending training. Tenzin looked at his mother in shock, saying, "Wait. So after you pushed for its outlaw, you're going to train the AVATAR to bloodbend? As your son, I'd never turn you or your trainee in, but remember - you hate it for good reason. And don't use fluffy animals - just think how I'd have to explain to your grandchildren and daughter-in-law if Korra accidentally… made a bloodbending mistake in the Avatar State and splattered fluffy creature into the waters around Air Temple Island." Katara, now visibly mad, asked Tenzin, "Okay, then - what do you suggest we use for bloodbending training? And just so you know, this training is non-optional. I don't want Korra suffocated by some blood-iron bending madman." Tenzin shrugged, saying, "If you want, I could help. It'd help to have a target that can fight back, or tell you to stop." Katara let out a shriek, saying, "NO, I'm not going to let one of my three children be used as a practice target - even if you are Korra's mentor!" Seeing that this conversation was going nowhere fast, Korra suggested, "Me and Katara could always practice on each other. Katara could drink a lot of water and let me try to move it around in her stomach to start with so I don't hurt her." Katara said, with only slight resignation, "That sounds okay to me - I did manage to break free from Hama's grasp, after all, and unlike my body, my bending has aged well." Satisfied that the conversation was done, Tenzin said, "Okay, let Bolin finish training with Sokka. Keep in mind, though - the time outside is starting to approach 12:00 PM, and your body may kick you out from hunger or thirst," and vanished.

Not liking the idea of another lecture on proper body care from Raava, Korra tried to think of a way to save some time. Korra got an idea that seemed stupid at first, but seeing that the twin spirit prisons were starting to look like they needed refreshing yet again, decided to carry it out anyways. She figured that knowledge was knowledge, even if she had no clue how to handle a sword. Korra yelled out to a reclining Piandao and a brawling Sokka and Bolin, who had apparently forgot Bolin was there to learn swordfighting and not wrestling, "Hey, guys, come over here! We're starting to run low on time, so we need to wrap this up - but I think I can still salvage the training session!" After a confused Sokka and curious Piandao joined Bolin in front of her, she explained her infobending to the uninitiated. Piandao agreed, but Sokka had some reservations, asking, "And you're sure Raava is going to help you with this? Aang never did anything like that." Korra felt a surge of energy, and noticed that Raava had joined them. The small spirit said, "Yes, I am, Sokka. Now put your palms on their foreheads, Korra - this is going to be a little tricky."

Korra extended her palm to a calm Piandao's forehead and Sokka's sweaty temple. She felt a rush of information enter her about fighting techniques and combat forms she had never trained in as the Avatar, and couldn't help but find them all very interesting. She moved her palms to a deeply-breathing Bolin's forehead, who said after she and Raava removed their hands, "Wow, that wasn't actually that bad this time. Although, it felt like for every three pieces of information you gave me, only two stuck - is it because I'm stupid or something?" Piandao laughed, saying, "No, it doesn't mean you're stupid - it just means you will have to complete your training with an actual physical sword. The last portion that escaped you was information from Sokka and I on how we bonded with our weapons and made them extensions of ourselves. If you want to truly master your 'lavabending sword', you will need a physical sparring partner." Piandao turned to Korra, saying, "I noticed your interest in the subject material as you withdrew information, Korra. If my hunch is right, due to your interest, you probably retained the same information as Bolin did. You would make excellent sparring partners."

With that, Piandao vanished, and Sokka gave his sister a big polarbear-dog hug, waving goodbye as he too dissipated. Making a final mocking face at Koh of her own, Korra withdrew from the Spirit World, taking Katara and Bolin with her. A now free Koh hissed through a serpentine face, "Long Yumao, thisss isss sssimply embarrasssing. We mussst get better sssecurity essstablissshed." Long Yumao's hide flashed in anger, causing Koh to ask "Why ssso ssseriousss?" As Long Yumao started to curse, Koh's face changed to that of a savage monkey and began laughing wildly.


	21. Chapter 21: Design Time

Chapter 21: Design Time

Korra awoke to see Asami staring in front of her, with Zhu Li and Varrick at her side. Apparently, Tenzin had already told everyone what Bolin, Korra and Katara had been doing, as Asami asked Bolin, "So, how was the training with Sokka? Did you learn anything?" Bolin coughed nervously, saying, "Just a little bit - but we started to run low on time, so Korra and Raava did reverse infobending from Sokka and Piandao into me. I retained most of it, but I am going to need a physical blade if I want to get better at it. Experience counts for a lot, apparently, and swordfighting sounds more like a mix of the four elemental fighting styles." Bolin pointed at Korra and said, "Speaking of four elements - apparently, Piandao thinks that Korra would make a good sparring partner. I'm not sure why, given she hasn't ever shown any liking for weapons. Being that she can control all four elements and all." Asami put her hand to her chin, asking Korra, "It sounds like there's a lot more than what Tenzin or Bolin have told me going on here - care to give me an update?" Korra stood up and put her palm on Asami's forehead, relishing the same wonderful feeling of no separation Korra had felt on Druk's back. After Korra finished, Asami looked at Katara and then back at Korra, winking - so she had gotten the bit about bloodbending and the house modification after all.

Asami whipped out a piece of paper, furiously drawing two different schematics - one very simple jet black sword that she recognized from the Spirit World sparring and Bolin's wish, along with a much more complicated strange form she did not recognize. Asami pointed to the smaller weapon, with Varrick and Zhu Li crowding in to see, saying, "This is the 'lavabending sword' for Bolin, using the exact same design that Korra showed to me just now from Bolin's little sparring match." Asami pointed to a side-view of the blade, tracing a finger to show a thick line above the cutting edge - what Korra could only assume was the earth. Asami confirmed Korra's hunch, saying, "I made it so that the earth is better distributed through the blade - there is no longer any earth directly on the blade's edge. It just sits slightly above the cutting edge and behind instead, hopefully making the metal of the sword harder to break. I'll also need to work out some way such that only Bolin can manipulate the earth or the steel of the weapon so someone doesn't turn his own weapon against him." Pausing for a moment, she said, "I think I may have an idea, but I'd require some more advanced electronics than we currently have - vacuum tubes aren't going to cut it." Asami flipped to the other bizarre blueprint, making some modifications and notes - one of which said "Avatar State compatibility."

Korra realized that the intricate set of blades must be for her! She pointed to the "Avatar State compatible" text excitedly, saying, "How do you plan on making that work, Asami? I may have not considered using a weapon until just a short time ago, but that really intrigues me!" Asami sighed, saying, "That's just an idea for now, until I can get access to better technology." Asami's eyes widened suddenly and she turned to Varrick and Zhu Li, saying, "Varrick - you've had experience weaponizing spirit energy, and Zhu Li - you stayed with Kuvira working on that spirit weapon for quite some time. Do you have any ideas on how to make this idea - bending through the blades and channeling the Avatar State and Raava's energy at the same time - work?" Varrick paced back in forth, emitting a constant stream of "Hmmm"s, and Zhu Li mumbled in a low voice about what she remembered about her work under Kuvira. Katara told Asami, "While I may not know much about technology - my brother Sokka always was the inventor of the family - I know a considerable amount about chi lines. Based on your drawing, it appears these strange mixes between vambraces and weapons are meant to be worn about halfway up the forearm." Katara pointed at Korra's armpits and said, "Based on first-hand experience with airbender tattoos - which follow the body's chi lines - I know that there is a major chi line in this area of Korra's body. If memory serves me right, it may even directly connect to Korra's heart - the place that Korra's Avatar State energy and energy from Raava flow from. If you have any hope of directly connecting a weapon to the power of the Avatar State and your elemental mastery, that would be it."

Asami said, grabbing Korra's armpit, "If there were to be a link between Korra's main upper chi line and the blades, it would have to be artificial. I just don't know how to do it, and after Baatar Jr.'s earlier outburst, I doubt he will be of any help." Finally stopping his pacing, Varrick yelled "I don't know either - I never worked on the cannon, just on its powersource!" slapping himself in the face out of frustration. Zhu Li added, "Kuvira did trust me to work on and around the cannon, but from what I saw, that technology wouldn't be appropriate. The cannon, despite its power, was very finicky, requiring delicate parts that could easily break - some of them quite large. I don't think Korra would want a condenser ring inside her." She sat down on the ground, slumping her shoulders forward as she said, "Looks like this special weapon for Korra might just be a pipe dream after all."

Korra slammed her fist against the ground in frustration - in the process sensing two familiar people walking towards the group. One said, "I overheard you guys talking about a special weapon for Korra, and I think I can help." Korra turned to the woman who had just spoken, and saw something she didn't expect - it was Kuvira! Mako was next to her, who said, "I tried to talk Baatar Jr. into coming over here, but he would have none of it. He thinks we're all traitors for even believing the story about what Kuvira went through, much less those who believe her to be changed. Aaaand he's pretty bitter about being locked up in the first place." Mako added, patting Kuvira's back, "After seeing Kuvira's reactions today, I can safely say I believe everything." Kuvira looked at Mako's face, saying, "I didn't come over here to hear you tell me the obvious - your earlier blush was rather telling." As Kuvira sat down near Asami, Mako's face flushed once again, Kuvira said, "Now let's get to trying to make this crazy idea work."

Kuvira pointed awkwardly at different parts of the diagram, talking in jargon that only Varrick and Zhu Li followed completely, with Asami apparently able to fill in the gaps. Bolin stood up to talk to his brother to the side about his experience in the Spirit World with Piandao and Sokka, while Katara answered periodic questions from Asami and Kuvira about chi lines and energy flow. It was only relatively late in the process that Kuvira began asking Korra questions directly. Kuvira asked her, "Korra - do you think that we'd need a new material to carry the Avatar State and Raava's energy? The existing technology Baatar Jr. and myself developed was based around slightly dark Republic City vines, or neutral vines from the Swamp. I don't know how compatible - if at all - Raava's extremely pure energy would be with the circuits and wiring we used for the Colossus' weapon." Korra didn't know the answer, so she projected Raava out near Asami, who was still studying the blueprints. Raava looked at the blueprints, frowned slightly, then pointed at Varrick, saying, "If Mr. Tuber-Vine is to be believed, you have already developed one technology using his flesh. He tells me of something about electrical current and color movers. Does this give you any ideas, Varrick?" Varrick thought for a short time and then yelled, "I've got it! I take a cutting from Mr. Tuber-Vine, who is obviously attuned to Raava, apply it in a thin film over top of some wire similar to what Kuvira used in the spirit weapon, and apply a large electric shock to both ends. If it works anything like the SpectroMover film, the spirity essence of Mr. Tuber-Vine should be infused into the wires, allowing Avatar State and Raava's energy to flow through them!"

Asami, Zhu Li and Kuvira began clapping, with a pleased Raava telling Varrick, "Sounds like it should work. And don't worry about cutting too much from Mr. Tuber-Vine. He has regenerative properties akin to the original Republic City spirit vines. Goodbye for now!" Raava vanished back into Korra's chest, and Korra thought of a problem, saying, "How are we going to get the energy from my heart into these blades? And how will these blades interact with my bending? I'd prefer them to be almost like tuning forks, with each blade corresponding to different elements. If they work as planned, I might even be able to use them to make my regular bending more precise and powerful." Korra thought she was finished, but then she looked at the blueprints, pointing at a vambrace and blade, saying, "That's not going to work - it looks like the blade is permanently extended. I want to be able to switch between blades and pure bending - if I tried to move my hands upwards, the blades would block them."

After some more discussion between Varrick, Zhu Li, Kuvira and Asami, who made the most contributions, Asami began erasing large parts of the blueprints. Korra pointed out flaws as Asami re-drew the vambraces, finally settling on a design. The finished blueprint looked radically different from any blade she had ever seen - it reminded Korra of a cross between the armblades she had seen Lin bend out on occasions and an Equalist glove wrapped over her middle arm. Katara pointed at the arm underneath the design and said, "You still haven't connected it to Korra's major chi line. Might I suggest a series of 'spiritwires' underneath the skin from under Korra's arm that interact directly with her chi line that connect to a port at the rear of the vambrace?" Asami erased the base of the vambrace, drawing in a port and adding dashed lines coming from the port to represent the spiritwire.

Looking at the blueprints, Korra removed a rock from a nearby seawall and bent it into a three dimensional, life-sized representation of the design. Korra held it in mid-air, admiring its unique form. Twin longblades jutted slightly past the tips of Korra's outstretched fingers from two protrusions striking out from the main vambrace. Korra knew the blades could be mostly withdrawn into the main, larger body of the vambrace if she wanted to bend normally. Korra bent the contraption onto her arm and manipulated the twin blades out and in, wanting to make sure that the longblades stowed properly inside the cavities inside the vambrace. She noticed that the blades stowed well, both just barely not hitting her hand when she bent her hand as far back as it would naturally go. Feeling that the vambrace itself looked rather bland, Korra etched the four elemental symbols onto its center, noting happily that Asami drew them onto the blueprint shortly after. Remembering what she had said earlier about wanting to bend through the blades, she added etchings into them. Asami asked Korra, "What are those for?" and Korra replied, "Those are bits of spiritwire implanted directly into the blade to allow me to fully channel my bending or Raava's energy into the blades. I drew inspiration from what Kuvira described on her prototype 'kuviricon' transistor chips. That should work, right Kuvira?" After managing to no longer stare at the mockup, Kuvira said, "Yes - I think that should work. This will take a while to construct." Korra said, "That's fine - I want two of them. Let me add one last touch, and I will be very happy with the design." Korra etched the symbols for air and earth into the left blade-containing protrusion, and the symbols for water and fire onto the right blade-containing protrusion.

As soon as Asami added the spiritwire embeds to the blades and the four additional elemental symbols, Korra removed the three dimensional representation from her arm and placed it on the ground next to Asami, with "blades" retracted. Asami lifted the precious form off the ground, storing it in her backpack and saying, "Let's store this in our house for now until I can begin work on it and my other two projects in earnest." Asami turned to Varrick and said, "I will need Varrick's assistance to complete these projects - the airbender steel projectile magazine, Bolin's lavabending sword, and most of all Korra's armblades. All are equal priority." Seeing Varrick rub his hands together, Asami said, "We'll discuss payments or counter-favors later. I don't feel like haggling in the middle of a party." Varrick groaned loudly, saying, "But that's the best time to make deals - if you get someone drunk enough, they'll agree to anything! Say, want some sake, Asami?" Varrick held up a small metal container near Asami, who slapped him on the face lightly and said, "NO!" making Zhu Li laugh heartily.

Once she had stopped laughing, Zhu Li appeared deep in thought, finally asking Asami, "You talked about some airbending steel projectiles. How would that work, exactly? I don't think an airbender aside from the Avatar could fling one with sufficient force to reliably kill someone. A blunt end would almost always produce a knockout, but against a stronger opponent like Jinshu Kuangmai, I don't think that they would cut it." Asami whipped out her notebook to where she had apparently written down Opal's request, reading it multiple times. She then took out another sheet of paper, drawing two different pieces of metal separately, and making another drawing - apparently of them together. Asami erased a portion of the front of the larger, blunt metal piece, filling in a strange pocket with lots of dots. Now apparently finished, Asami pointed to the larger united projectile and said, "This is what the airbender propels at their target at high speed. Upon impact, a charge of some unknown explosive detonates, sending the pointed piece flying forward with great force. If this round - I'll call it a 'Satot' round - hits even a metalbender as proficient as Kuvira or Jinshu Kuangmai in the head, they're as good as dead. On the plus side, this would be a fairly painless and quick death - something that I imagine even an airbender who's willing to use this ammunition would care about." Asami moved her mouth into an uncomfortable pout, saying, "I just don't know how to make the charge explode on contact in such a small projectile, or what the charge should be, for that matter."

Zhu Li stood up suddenly, saying "Fireworks! That's what we can use - firework powder, spark powder! I'll need to formulate a new, more powerful powder mix - firework powder isn't going to cut it for raw power. This same powder should also work in making a contact detonator. I'll call it Lipowder - I want something big! I never did appreciate weight being in Zhu Lis, and power in Varricks." Varrick laughed, saying, "You can name it P'lipowder as far as I am concerned - you're going to be on your own, as I never was one for advanced chemistry." Varrick continued, looking Zhu Li directly in her now glittering eyes, "All that naming was before I became a changed man - I never figured that Kuvira had that little voice in her head too." Kuvira elbowed Varrick in the ribs playfully, saying, "I have a conscience too - I just never listened to it before. It's not like you have a stellar track record yourself, Mr. Arsonist. Not to mention you worked on the spirit vines for a pretty long time before having any qualms." Varrick shrugged, saying, "Hey - I did what I thought I had to do to get people involved in the Water Tribe Civil War, and my image of Unalaq as eeeeevil schemer proved to be very true. Plus, you did pay me pretty well to work on those vines, until that little incident at the back of the train. Then you just paid me mainly in threats." Zhu Li, Kuvira and Varrick began laughing deeply, drawing the attention of Bolin and Mako. Bolin said, "Hey - at least she wasn't going to send you to a 're-education' camp! Which reminds me - what kind of 'education' did you give at those camps, anyways?"

Kuvira made a retching sound, clearly disgusted with her past actions, saying, "I took a page or two from old Dai Li techniques, attempting to brainwash uncooperative citizens of the 'Earth Empire', as well as forcibly training younger prisoners in fields I found useful - mainly, military related topics. A good number of my conscripts came from those camps. The only good thing to come out of those camps was intelligent peasant boys and girls alike being schooled in sciences both military and civilian. It wasn't out of any concern for them as individuals - I knew that they would have a great sense of debt to me for letting them learn, whereas Earth Queen Hou-Ting would have never allowed such a thing. I wanted a new generation of scientists to continue the new 'Earth Empire' legacy of technological innovation. If anyone from those camps is still truly loyal to me, it would likely be those young boys and girls. Jinshu Kuangmai's face wasn't the one plastered all over the walls and associated with the chance to learn new things and advance themselves out of an outdated social hole. I just hope they can manage to make their way to Ba Sing Se." Kuvira laughed weakly, saying, "When I first started that program, that was one of the few times since my rise to power I felt as if my conscience was even vaguely pleased. At the time, I didn't really care - but I do now." Korra yelped in surprise as Opal - who had apparently overheard the words "re-education camp" and bent her way over - said from behind Bolin, "I guess you were partially right, Bolin - people did learn some new 'trade skills' in those camps after all. Though I get the feeling they were mainly trained in military science, and not civilian." Kuvira laughed, saying, "Yes, you are partially right - the smartest ones were pressured into the military sciences, or areas that had overlap between civilian and military, such as farming, clothing and equipment manufacturing, and chemistry. All four had dual uses, and knowing the importance of money in war, I even had some 'students' learning about business - I had always thought the Earth Kingdom was too reliant on agricultural wealth. Only Ba Sing Se had anything approaching the kind of merchant class that I admired in Republic City. It's my hope that one day, the Earth Kingdom will have companies that rival Varrick Global Industries and Future Industries."

Asami blushed slightly as Varrick said, "Hey - I don't need any competition!" prompting Zhu Li to hit him over the head with yet another ledger, saying, "The more wealth there is in the world, the more people can afford our products. How'd you like to start producing more of those huge private 'battle' ships - like the Zhu Li - and sell them for outrageous prices to newly moneyed Earth Kingdom entrepreneurs?" Varrick yelled, "Zhu Li, Kuvira - you're both geniuses!" as Asami added, "I could even start moving more of the higher-end Satomobiles. I get the feeling I won't be doing much business aside from reconstruction in Republic City for a while."

Finally getting used to constant interruptions, Korra didn't react when Zuko appeared from behind Asami and said, "Speaking of reconstruction - world leaders aside from those directly involved in the events since Zhu Li's and Varrick's wedding have no idea what is going on. I believe it would be a good idea to update people on these recent events, especially the Spirit Civil War and the threat this Jinshu Kuangmai poses to restabilization of the Earth Kingdom. I know of a place from my youth that should be appropriate - I even own a property there, though I rarely visit. It reminds me too much of the madness of my father and sister." Korra's eyes glowed momentarily, hearing an excited projection of Aang ask, "Are the Ember Island Players still there? I loved the play!" Zuko laughed, saying, "I'm afraid there hasn't been real talent behind their newer plays in years - they just show the play my mother loved, 'Love Amongst the Dragons', as well as 'The Boy in the Iceberg', over and over. Though I may add, after my father's defeat, I ordered them to change the ending, and fix the original casting - no more male Toph or female Aang. I also told them to find a… more attractive actor for Katara's role." Aang was laughing wildly, and Katara was blushing slightly. She ran over to hug Zuko, unexpectedly giving a light peck on the cheek, making Aang laugh even harder and Zuko's cheeks flush the same color as his fire. Before Aang's laughter brought the whole party to their location, Korra yanked him back in, but not before he could say, "Just remember, Katara - you're still mine, and I'm still yours!" only managing to get part of a giggle out before he returned to Korra's heart.

Not quite getting everything that was going on, Varrick said, "Whatever all that was about. Don't tell me Katara had a thing for both Aang and Zuko?" Before he could continue, Katara spun around, wearing the same expression Korra had seen when she was stringing Katara along the night after Korra's failed vacation, and she said loudly, "I may have pushed for its outlaw, but if I could bloodbend during daylight, I'd half consider making you punch yourself in the face for that!" Zuko coughed loudly, saying, "Varrick, why don't you contact President Raiko and the other representatives from the United Republic of Nations - Iroh II is the only one that comes to mind - over the radio, and see if you can get a chain of contact established with my daughter, Firelord Izumi, as well. Tell her that she needs to see what her inaction cost Republic City before any meeting at Ember Island - I want her in a more open mindset than she was before Kuvira attacked. Also, get in contact with 'Prince' Wu - if he's not too busy singing, that is." As Varrick and Zhu Li ran off to their huge boat to send out radio calls, Zuko continued, "I do not think that the Northern Water Tribe will be easy to reach with radio - the interference from magnetism and the Northern Spirit Portal is too great, and I am not sure if they have radios anyways. Korra will need to make a 'personal' remote appearance for that." Zuko let out a slight sigh, adding, "Make sure to try and keep Aang from interrupting - I think he would find them both… reminiscent of one of my former love interests."

Katara started laughing again, though this time lightly, saying, "You're right - Eska and Desna do remind me of Mai! So emotionless… Which reminds me - where is Mai?" Zuko, despite looking like he didn't want to talk about this "Mai", said, "I believe she is retired from any sort of official duty, now living along with Ty Lee on Ember Island. Don't worry - their house is far from where we will be meeting." Katara said, "Korra might want to meet with them anyways, after this conference - Ty Lee has knowledge that Korra will find… useful soon, and Mai may be able to teach Korra a bit more about physical combat. Come to think of it, Asami would probably be interested to talk to them both as well." Seeing Asami's quizzical look, Katara explained, "Ty Lee was the original chi blocker - she knew just where to hit a bender to disable their advantage, and was quite the acrobat, and your own fighting style reminds me slightly of hers - though with less electrogloves and more poking. The accursed poking… Mai, on the other hand, specialized in throwing knives and other, smaller bladed weapons, as well as her natural agility." As Katara explained Ty Lee's knowledge of chi blocking, Korra realized what Katara wanted her to learn from Ty Lee, and a predatory grin appeared on Korra's face. She had always hated the technique Amon used to block someone's bending, and looked forward to learning where the key weak points were so that she could use regular strikes or bloodbending to block someone in a less traumatic way. Asami said, "After seeing what those Equalist chi blockers could do to a bender, I always wanted to learn how they did it. My father offered obliquely, but I declined, suspicious of his 'special self-defense program' that was hush-hush. Though, I doubt Ty Lee will be in physical shape to demonstrate personally. Even though I don't use blades myself, I could use Mai's experience with agility and quick strikes. The current URN military mechatanks Future Industries provided are very ungainly, and even the suits used by Kuvira weren't as agile as I would like them to be if I were to use one. Though I don't know if Kuvira would be willing to share the designs."

Kuvira gave Asami a withering look and grunted, saying, "Of course I'll share! I just helped you design a weapon for the Avatar, unlike any the world has ever seen," admitting, "Varrick came up with the originals anyways." Satisfied that Asami wasn't going to be inconsiderate again, she continued, "One thing I haven't mentioned yet about Jinshu Kuangmai - he possesses a knack for innovation. I don't know how many letters he sent me, suggesting tweaks to our equipment. Most of them were good, but not wanting to upset Baatar Jr. at the time, I did not implement them while giving Jinshu Kuangmai credit - I just brought up his ideas as some of my own. In addition to ideas that were actually my own, of course - most of Jinshu Kuangmai's ideas were evolutions of current equipment, not the revolutions in equipment that Baatar Jr. and myself came up with. Whenever we could conquer a new area, Jinshu Kuangmai would scour it, looking for ideas to incorporate into his own." Kuvira pointed at Asami and said, "This is why we both need to continue innovating in the arms and weaponry department, and make sure that at ALL COSTS Jinshu Kuangmai never manages to raid Future Industries for technology. You will probably want to start posting bender guards as well as conventional security around your headquarters. However, if he decides to come himself without Korra around, his blood-iron bending ability would mean game over. In our conquest, I saw him raise entire gangs of bandits into the air, sometimes twirling them in a large wheel, laughing as he did so."

Not wanting to hear any more of Jinshu Kuangmai's sickening antics, Korra said, "While you two finish talking about technology, I'm going to contact Eska and Desna." Korra sat down on the ground, legs crossed, focusing on the energy of her two cousins. Korra hoped that Aang wouldn't interrupt.


	22. Chapter 22: Bored Lies the Crowned Head

Chapter 22: Bored Lies the Crowned Head

Eska was bored. She was always bored. Her brother always joined her in her, no - their shared boredom. The only thing recently that was even remotely exciting was watching Kuvira crush that insufferable Prince Wu's stupid medal, but that had been quite some time ago. Nothing ever happened in the Northern Water Tribe, and she wished she had been born during the 100 Year's war, swapping places with Princess Yue. It didn't help at all that Bolin, the one man who had shown any interest in her, was now far from her icy grasp.

Letting out a long, deep sigh, she told her brother, "Maybe we should start another Water Tribe Civil War - I'm just so, so bored. Tell me again, why didn't we try to get to Republic City as fast as we could?" Desna sighed in masked irritation, saying, "I already told you a hundred times - until one of us finds a mate and produces an heir, I don't feel like putting our lives at unnecessary risk. And from what I have heard filtering out from Republic City, the battle went fine without us."

Eska slumped even further into her stupid throne, if that were even possible. Why couldn't something interesting happen already? She mumbled out loud, "Probably doesn't help matters I don't find anything other than extremes interesting."

Desna said, "What on earth is that? Sister, look - see that weird shimmer in front of this dull throne?" Eska looked up, seeing her cousin's image in front of her. She said drolly, "Hello, Avatar and Cousin Korra - what do you want. Are you here to tell me about the battle I missed because my brother's even more boring that ruling the Northern Water Tribe?" Eska could feel Desna giving her an icy glare as her cousin said, "I'm here to tell you about a lot more interesting events that have happened over the past two days. Maybe it will make you not quite so bored." Eska stood up from her insipid seat, saying, "That will take some doing, Cousin. And who's that bald kid beside you?"

The image of Korra turned to face what must have been the image of a 12-year old Master Airbender and said, "Oh, for crying out loud! Really, Aang, in the middle of diplomacy? Go on, get out of here!" As what must have been Avatar Aang's image laughed deeply, another strange form joined her cousin's side. Eska let out a low "Huh?" - she had never seen this small, white-haired girl before, yet she seemed strangely familiar. Of particular interest to Eska was an odd teapot around the girl's neck. Korra turned to face this new figure, saying with great irritation, "Oh, great - not you too, Raava! I thought you told me you couldn't project this far away from my body." The girl giggled, saying, "I'm always pushing the envelope, Korra. Now let me watch." Avatar Aang's image laughed, saying, "Zuko WAS right - you two remind me an awful lot of Mai!" Before she could ask who this "Mai" was, Korra snapped at Avatar Aang's image, "That does it! Back in you go, Aang - you better not pull this stunt at the Ember Island Conference, or I'll be a laughing stock!"

Eska noted that the teapot around what must have been Raava's neck was shaking violently, opening an odd, metallic-looking clasp. A bone-chillingly familiar voice said from the teapot, "It's a shame what happened to your father, Eska and Desna, at the hands of your cousin. Applications for the position of Dark Avatar are open, you know - would you care to apply? I'm willing to overlook your little betrayal of me and your father." Despite all her anger at the formerly great spirit and finding his new home humorous, Eska simply said, "No thank you. My brother and I find ruling the Northern Water Tribe boring enough as is, and I don't think ruling the world would be any better, much less under eternal darkness. We will not be applying." Apparently, Raava had been in shock at Vaatu's appearance from the teapot, as only now did she yell, "Get back in there, you little piece of s-" as she cursed, shut the clasp and smacked the teapot's side. Eska smiled, but only slightly. Raava looked at her expression with amazement, saying to Korra with a concerned look on her face, "You told me these two were your cousins. I didn't know you had spirit cousins." Her cousin laughed, saying, "Not all humans are emotional, you know." Seemingly not buying it, Raava said, while pointing at Eska's face and her brother's, "I'm pretty sure I'm more human-y than either one of these two. But they make me curious." Raava turned her mouth from Korra's ear, saying, "Do you mind if I observe? I've never seen a human as cold as either one of you first-hand. Only through the Avatar's eyes."

Her brother let out an awkward laugh, as did Eska, her brother saying, "We don't mind. Now, back to what you were saying, Korra - obviously, it has something to do with Avatar Aang's image, and Raava's unusual form." Raava said, staring at Eska's brother, "My laugh is more human-y than that. Are you _sure_ Unalaq didn't boink a spirit or two? He always did love spirits…" Seemingly frustrated that Desna's cheeks did not flush, Raava said, "Fine - do your boring talky-talky. I don't think you can infobend with a projection." Korra groaned, apparently very distraught that she could not "infobend" Eska and Desna - whatever infobending was - and began explaining the events of the past two days. When her cousin got to the part where she described Katara's discovery of Asami's pregnancy, Eska asked, "Do you think you could abduct someone unrelated to either of us and help me get an heir? I don't think my brother will do anything exciting with me until one of us has a stupid baby," rapping her fingers on a piece of ice near the throne. Raava and Korra both looked at each other with looks of disgust on their faces, saying "No, I will not help you in your quest for an heir! That's just sick!" at the same time. Korra added, "Sorry, lady buddy - you're going to have to woo someone the old fashioned way. I hear Mako is single." Eska shook her head, saying, "While he is not as prone to hysterics as his brother, he is still too emotional for my tastes. Next suggestion." Raava gave her a funny look and said, "Sounds to me like a _rock_ would be too emotional for you. Maybe you just need to lighten up, and go see the world some - I used to be pretty serious, and look where I am now! More human-y than a human, apparently." Eska shook her head side-to-side slightly as the small, white-haired girl asked Korra, "Are you _sure_ your cousins aren't half-spirit? Their faces move about as much as Koh's does when he's being serious."

Finally tired of this meaningless banter, Desna said, "Cousin, we'd appreciate it if you continued onwards in your story. We don't have all day, you know. In fact, tell me about this 'infobending' - it sounds like a time-saver." Korra sighed, saying, "I have done it within the Spirit World before, from two human spirits to myself to Bolin. And Raava managed to do her reading of Su and Lin as a projection - although she was much, much closer then. I guess I could try it like this, but I'd need to use the Avatar State to do it - if it's even possible." Korra explained this odd "infobending" to Eska and her brother, finishing, "Now let's give it a shot - if this doesn't work, I'll just have to do it later. And by the way, the only reason I've told you so much detail so far is because I figure you'd find the personal details so boring you wouldn't bother telling anyone else, and it appears I was right, given your… reaction to news of Asami's pregnancy." The image of Korra jumped in front of Eska and her brother, while Raava appeared behind their backs. Eska saw Korra's eyes flash temporarily, but felt no information flow. Korra said, with an unsurprised tone, "See? I told you this wouldn't work, Raava. I'll just do it physically when they get to Ember Island." Raava said to Korra angrily, "NO, I told YOU it wouldn't work - I said it first in your head! Now just tell them what you came here to say already!" Eska's accursed father Unalaq had wished she or her brother had been the Avatar, but watching this new Raava, Eska found herself glad it had been Korra, and not her – even if being the Avatar wasn't boring.

Liking the sound of this, the possibility her cousin and Raava would just get on with it, Eska asked a now angry Korra, "If my guess is right, you want me and my brother, rulers of the Northern Water Tribe, to come to Ember Island for some sort of world leaders meeting so we can have yet more babbling. I oh so look forward to talking with President Raiko." Korra said, "Yes - although, there is one thing you should do immediately. Create a no-pass zone around the Northern Spirit Portal - I don't want any innocents wandering too close and getting snatched by Long Yumao." Remembering this "Long Yumao" as the spirit that had threatened to have Koh steal Asami's face, Eska said, "Sure. Now I am bored of this conversation, so please allow me to be bored while creating this exclusion zone and bored while in transit to Ember Island. Good day, Avatar and Cousin Korra." With that, the two forms vanished from in front of her and her brother.

Finally having a reason to leave the throne room, Eska tugged on her brother's large, flowing coat, saying, "Come on - let's make that exclusion zone and head to Ember Island. If we get there before everyone else, maybe we can catch 'The Boy in the Iceberg' - I never have seen a decent play." Her brother said, "Sounds good - maybe you or I can find a mate there. Let us leave now."

Thinking on what Raava had said, Eska told her brother as they approached the Spirit Portal on a wave of ice, "When we're making this barrier, let's try and feel the ice as we bend it, and leave some warnings on its surface. Maybe we will actually have some 'fun'." With a weak smile, Desna nodded and said, "Sounds like a good idea. I do hate being bored."

As they began to create a massive ice barrier around the foot of the portal and felt the flow of the water and ice as they did so, making sure to not damage any of the sacred trees, Eska - and apparently Desna, too, given his widening smile - felt small amounts of emotions that Eska didn't know she had. Remembering a scene from her childhood in which her father, Unalaq, had scolded them for such behavior, she bent a small "snowball" and threw it at Desna in the face as he was on top of a wave of ice, messing up his concentration and causing him to go flying face-first into a snowbank, narrowly avoiding a massive stump in the snow nearby. Eska let out a sound she had heard Raava make earlier that she remembered from her childhood "snowball" fight - a giggle. She could hear her brother laughing like a three-year old, suddenly stopping with an angry look on his face. He turned to face her, with some odd moisture at the corners of his eyes, "Now I remember another reason our father was an abominable man. One that we have both denied since our childhoods. Just like Hiroshi Sato did to his daughter, he forced us to repress feelings that he did not feel fit a ruler's children to have - but he was worse! Hiroshi Sato just repressed Asami's lesbian tendencies - OUR father repressed _everything_! Seeing a spirit mock me for not being human enough opened my mind and made me think things I was always taught to dismiss or keep bottled up inside. Seeing you throw that snowball at me just brought everything to a head." He stood up, bending the water away from his eyes, saying, "Raava is right - we do need to go out and experience the world more. Let's finish this - I want to see if a play can help us both heal from our evil father's much older wounds."

As her brother talked, Eska felt as though ice was melting - but not from bending. Running over and hugging him, she said, "To the future!" Both siblings finished the warnings signs and barriers, making sure to make up for the missed play of their youth along the way. After they finished, they took a waterbending craft and worked in unison, feeling the flow of the water around them, smiling more in increments, until Eska could feel her mouth holding the form of a genuine smile.

After many hours - Eska did not feel tired at all, oddly enough, having taken only one break to eat - both arrived at Ember Island, having found it on a map Desna had brought. When she and her brother went to the building that housed the Ember Island Players after getting directions from some jumpy locals, they spotted what must have been one of the troupe's managers. He stood straight up, saying, "Chief Eska and Chief Desna! We are honored to have you here - here, have some tickets, on the house!" Eska took the tickets as her brother said, "No, sir - we are honorable people. We have heard that you have not been able to get good writers lately, so take this." Desna fished twenty-five thousand yuans out of his robes, and a shocked Eska found herself adding fifteen thousand yuans of her own. Neither of them had ever liked those awkward coins with holes other people in their tribe called "money". The manager managed to stutter, "T-t-thank you! With this, we should be able to start creating a new play - we haven't had anything new in over twenty years, and that one was panned!" He put his hands to his chin, saying, "We'll call it the Legend of Eska and Desna, in your honor! It will be about Harmonic Convergence, and your timely turn against your father!" Now it was Eska who held up a hand while fishing for more yuans, saying, "No - we're no legends. At least not yet. Korra is the only legend I know of - and I get the feeling she's going to become even more legendary shortly." Noticing the show was about to start, Eska grunted, "It's not like we have any use for all this money anyways - I never did understand why taxes were so high in our tribe," holding out a huge fat stack of money to the manager. It was probably one hundred thousand yuans, give or take, and Eska handed it to a now blubbering manager. The manager was mumbling, "The Legend of Korra? No, no - that sounds awkward. The Tale of Korra? That's it!" as she took her brother's hand and ran towards their seats, eager to begin watching the show - and melting their father's ice.

The performers gave a very lively performance, which Eska enjoyed thoroughly, and given her brother's laughter, he did as well. As she hugged him tightly after the depiction of Aang's final merciful act, Zuko's inspiring speech and the final kiss between Aang and Katara, she saw a fleeting vision of a thick, purple-imbued ice prison shattering, letting what must have been her three-year old self free. A familiar male voice howled in the distance, as though from inside an impenetrable fog.

Eska sighed deeply, and a voice she recognized from earlier said, _It appears that the Avatar's past lives were not Unalaq's only prisoners, nor the first. Now go, Eska - and learn to be human-y with your brother!_


	23. Chapter 23: The Grand Tour

Chapter 23: The Grand Tour

Firelord Izumi had always been a reserved ruler, preferring isolation to large gatherings, and during her seven-year reign she made sure that the Fire Nation conducted itself accordingly. She had heard reports of the battle in Republic City and just told herself that the reports must be exaggerated. She had a hard time believing that the center of the city had been gutted by a huge blast to create a new Spirit Portal, and found the idea of this Colossus ludicrous. The only thing that had happened recently that drew her concern - apparently the Fire Nation had not been needed at Republic City, with the Avatar neutralizing the threat, as it should be - was her father's disappearance mid-day the day prior during his vacation. The citizen who told her about it stressed how urgent he looked, the way he drove Druk onwards away from outside Fire Fountain City… it appeared that something urgent was going on.

She looked out over the capital city from her office outside the inner caldera, noting with pleasure that the modernization of the Fire Nation was going full steam ahead. The only historical buildings that remained were government buildings inside the main volcano caldera and the actual Fire Nation palace, and even these buildings were outfitted with electricity, no longer generated by dirty coal. Lightning generation was much cleaner. Everything else closely resembled Republic City… despite her daughter's protests. In a symbolic move, she had chosen to get rid of the large flame backdrop behind her throne, considering it to be a reminder of the dark days of the Fire Nation, instead replacing it with a map of the world that had all four elemental symbols in their appropriate corners. While her father, Zuko, liked the map, he disapproved of her decision to remove the flame base, citing "historical value" and "cultural heritage".

Izumi snorted - what cultural heritage? That of conquest and war? In a similar vein, she had scrapped all the old war balloons as well as the outdated tanks for their metal, to be used in the construction of massive trade ships that would soon ply the waters between the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, Republic City and the Water Tribes in civilized trade. This decision caused much controversy, but given the Fire Nation's island locale, if she was going to have any military, it would be on the seas. If the Northern Water Tribe decided to ever become aggressive again as they had been against their brothers in the south, and eventually the whole world, her modernized fleet would make them pay. Catapults had long ago been replaced with firebending turrets, and elite squadrons of marines skilled in close combat and advanced firebending - including lightning generation - had been trained. She had recently designed and commissioned a whole new class of ships herself after hearing of Kuvira's increasing aggression. They were inspired by her son's account of the power of the Equalist bombers during the first fight for Republic City, four years ago - "aircraft barges", based off of the huge merchant ship's design. Her engineers were already working to make her vision a reality, though they always demanded more money - typical military, always wanting more.

As she thought of military matters, a strange thought occurred to Izumi that made her laugh - surely the Earth Kingdom would never mount those horrible spirit weapons Kuvira made for the Earth "Empire" on their ships or their own war balloons? Not completely discounting the notion, she made a note to offer Varrick a large sum to outfit some special ships with spirit weaponry if the need ever arose. Though, she remembered with a smile, he had refused President Raiko's request for spirit weapons, and she doubted any spirit weapons remained, much less in the hands of Kuvira adherents. From what she had heard, the massive Colossus struck her as a one-time gambit.

She heard her telephone ring. A new addition, to a new office, far away from anything old, any legacy of the Fire Nation's past. She picked it up after two rings - she needed to appear to be busy - and answered, "Firelord Izumi speaking. How may I help you?" making sure to be polite. One thing that she strongly agreed with her father and predecessor on was the need for humility. Zuko would tell her of his sister's and father's arrogance, and with how Zuko had raised Izumi, it always chilled her to the bone. She silently mused that their arrogance and hypocrisy reminded her of President Raiko in ways – demanding help to defend Republic City with aggression and a first strike, when he hadn't lifted a finger to help the Southern Water Tribe.

The voice at the other end of the line said, "I have a message for you, Firelord Izumi. The Avatar, Korra, wishes you to come to Republic City for a tour before going to Ember Island for a conference of world leaders. She says she has things she wants to show you." Entering a whisper, the caller said, "There are rumors that past Avatar lives have been spotted near her, and of a secret mission to the Swamp - including your father, Zuko. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" So that's what her father had been doing - helping restore the Avatar's past lives, apparently. Good - now even less need for the Fire Nation's intervention, with both Raava and Korra's past lives to draw from. She told the caller as much, but he nervously said, "I don't know about that - some of the troops we managed to get to Republic City in time said they saw the new Spirit Portal acting bizarrely the night after the main battle, and reported multiple instances of people going in and out - including the Avatar herself. Something's going on in the Spirit World, and I don't like the looks of it, so don't be surprised if Avatar Korra asks for your assistance." He paused, adding, "With all due respect, Firelord Izumi, if she asks your for assistance, you should provide it without any conditions. Plenty of people are still angry about your refusal to attack Kuvira, especially considering what she did to the city. The crater around the Spirit Portal is HUGE!" As though suddenly remembering he was talking to his sovereign, he asked nervously, "You're not gonna demote me, are you?" Izumi laughed, saying, "Of course not! For one, I never got your name, and secondly, I'm not Firelord Ozai - I want people to tell me the truth." The man said, "My name is Intelligence Officer Jeong-Jeong - my father named me after one of his heroes from the 100 Year's War." Izumi told Intelligence Officer Jeong-Jeong, "Your father has fine taste - Jeong-Jeong was a member of the White Lotus during the war and defected from the insane Fire Nation military. Tell your superior he is to consider you for promotion as a reward for your service, and most importantly, honesty. Good day." Izumi smiled as she heard some excited laughter from the other end, and hung up her receiver.

Izumi looked up and let out a startled shout - a blue image of Avatar Korra was floating in front of her! Remembering to be polite and that projection was an advanced airbending move, she told Avatar Korra's image, "My congratulations on mastering the fine art of projecting yourself, Avatar Korra. To what do I owe the honor?" Avatar Korra looked like she was going to laugh, but at the last minute she said, "Firelord Izumi, I just wanted to let you know that I am currently on my way towards the Fire Nation. I want you to get in your fastest boat and meet me half-way. Just look for the blue fire beacon." Despite herself, Izumi's mouth dropped open, and she said, "But… my father taught me that blue fire was the mark of Azula! How did you manage to produce it?" Avatar Korra said, maintaining her composure better than Izumi herself had, said, "You are partially right - blue fire is the mark of an extremely skilled firebender with intense drive and focus. Both Mako and I have managed to produce the flame. However, we used righteous anger to produce the flames instead of the cold hatred Azula must have used. Given what I have heard of Azula, every time she produced it she was probably thinking of being Firelord or hurting Zuko, while Mako and I instead thought of how we would feel if we lost a loved one. Mako thought of Bolin dying, and I…" The Avatar's image clapped her hands over her mouth, blushing slightly.

Stifling back a laugh at Avatar Korra's quip about Azula, Izumi asked, "You thought of what? If it's personal, don't worry about it - I'm not a gossip." Korra's image took a deep breath of relief and said, "Let's just say it's someone I'm in love with. And don't ask me if it's Mako, because it's not. Now, back to the matter at hand - I'm getting pretty close to the point I had in mind, so you need to get moving." The Avatar vanished, and Izumi's eyes opened wide with a start - she did need to get moving! After a quick telephone call to her daughter, Princess Ursa II, explaining why she would need to take over for an unknown length of time, remembering to tell her mother loved her, she burst out of her office - she never did like the official palace and its throne - past some confused bureaucrats. Apparently, one of them had ordered a palanquin, which she angrily refused, saying, a small part of her tempted to set it on fire, "No! How many times do I have to tell you - I don't want to be carried around like some tyrant or spoiled brat! Now get out of my way, please, so I can get to my Satomobile!" After she finally got to her land transport, she snorted in disgust at its vanity and excess, sighing in resignation as she remembered the Firelord had to maintain appearances and couldn't drive around in a beater. For once, she actually appreciated the high end model, enjoying the speed at which it was now bringing her to a private speedboat.

She had never been a talented firebender, but she thought of what she would feel if her father were killed or if either of her children died of anything except old age - just like her departed husband had, taken by a freak heart attack - as she got the boat's motor running, intending to see if this blue flame was easy to make. After carefully leaving the fortified harbor - she was no fool, and had left the fortifications of the city alone - Izumi pointed the boat towards the direction she thought Republic City lie in, and let the boat's motor do the rest. She closed her eyes, envisioning the death of her only son, her only daughter, and her father to one of Kuvira's soldiers. She opened her eyes to the sky in rage and saw a flame shoot skyward, apparently from her mouth - but it was not blue. Pleased that she had managed a firebending form that most firebenders had difficulty performing, she turned her eyes to the endless sea. She noticed that her boat motor wasn't moving her very fast, and wondered how Avatar Korra had managed to get so far so quickly. It's not as if she could have been bending while conversing with Izumi via projection.

Spotting a bizarre form in the distance, Izumi whipped out a spyglass she had remembered to bring - and she was stunned. She saw a female figure at the head of a small boat that occasionally made no contact with the sea, bending out massive jets of blue flame from her hands backwards, with seemingly glowing eyes. A male figure behind her, safely between the blue jets, was shooting a less refined but larger blue flame towards the back of the boat with both hands, providing more propulsion. Noticing the distance between what used to be a speck and her own boat was closing rapidly, Izumi put the spyglass down, realizing who the figures must be.

When Avatar Korra and Mako arrived at the side of her own boat, Avatar Korra's eyes glowed momentarily and she let out a loud groan, saying, "I hope it's Raava and not Aang! I already told him to not interrupt official business." As Avatar Korra bent some of the metal of her own ship to lock it beside Izumi's, Izumi noticed a strange, white-haired girl standing in front of her in her own boat. The girl waved, saying, "Hello, Firelord Izumi! I'm Raava, and this is my human-y form. I would have called it my avatar, but that title is already taken." What Izumi assumed to be Raava's strange "human-y" form grinned as Avatar Korra said, "Thank goodness that little rascal Aang didn't hop out. He really is a 12-year old inside." Izumi asked Avatar Korra, "So what is it you want to show me in Republic City, Avatar Korra?" Avatar Korra said, "You can stop calling me Avatar Korra - Korra will do." Before she could continue, Raava blurted out, "Can we read Firelord Izumi? We've never read a world leader before!" Clearly not pleased at this request, Avatar Korra said, "I thought I told you, no bringing up anything but the physical state of Republic City! After Firelord Izumi's reluctance to attack Kuvira, I'm not sure how much I want to share with her anyways. I'd prefer to keep things formal with her."

While Izumi shared Avatar Korra's sentiment on formality, she couldn't help but be curious about this "reading" Raava had mentioned. She turned to face the spirit in her boat, asking, "What is this reading, and what does it do, Raava?" Avatar Korra groaned slightly, saying, "I was hoping you wouldn't catch that. I guess we can give you a reading if you want - I do have to admit, I'm curious to see what a non-interventionist firebender 'feels' like. Avatar Roku was not pleased with your decision when I told him about it." Izumi had mixed feelings - somehow, Avatar Korra had talked with Avatar Roku, but the same Avatar that warned Sozin to not be aggressive found fault with her own actions? Izumi said as much to Raava, who said, "You sound less like Zuko's daughter and more like Tenzin's eldest. You're right, Korra - this will be an interesting read." Avatar Korra laughed, saying, "Let's get this over with."

Avatar Korra climbed carefully into Izumi's boat after freezing both together to provide stability and placed her palms on Izumi's large forehead, the Avatar taking care to not to crush Izumi's glasses. As soon as Raava placed her hands on Izumi's back, she felt an odd sensation - as though her soul was being weighed. While she felt no further odd sensations from Avatar Korra's palms, she felt an odd flow between herself and Raava - almost like the spirit was stealing information! After both Avatar Korra and Raava removed their hands, Raava began laughing deeply, saying, "Once you hear more of what Korra has to say, I think you're really going to regret scrapping those war balloons and tanks! I knew from Korra's interaction with you that you're a pacifist, but _really_?" Izumi's cheeks reddened - so the little twerp had been stealing information! Remembering that Raava was an all-powerful spirit of light and order, she ignored it, instead asking, "How did you get that out of me, Raava? And what was that little energy exchange I felt? And what did your reading tell you?" An incensed Avatar Korra appeared to be trying to meditate, but to no avail, ending up screaming, "I told you Raava, bad spirit! Now get back in here before you offend Firelord Izumi with your infobending antics!"

Izumi laughed, saying, "You are the most powerful spirit in the world right now, Raava - no hard feelings. Why don't you tell me what your reading said, then explain this 'infobending' to me." Raava said with a start, "Oh! I didn't even do my normal 'Read completed. Blablabla', did I? Anyways - while I disagree with Firelord Izumi's borderline airbender pacifism, especially given that Jinshu Kuangmai is running around who knows where, probably rallying troops to his side, she is still Zuko's daughter and exhibits what I can best describe as a mix of Zuko and Uncle Iroh's ideology. She won't be blabbing any secrets to anyone, so you can come out of the closet, Korra - and given how Firelord Izumi is tugging both our hands, she wants you to help me infobend her." Izumi stopped tugging on Avatar Korra and Raava's hands, saying, "I never was one for the excessive stuffiness of formal diplomacy, aside from acting with proper manners. Just hurry up and infobend me already!"

Avatar Korra had an oddly concerned look on her face, saying, "Keep in mind, Firelord Izumi, once we give you all this information, there's no going back. There is some information, though, that I want you to see firsthand before the conference tomorrow - the physical state of Republic City and the costs of inaction and passiveness. Are you sure?" Izumi nodded her head up and down vigorously, wanting to know the events of the past three days in more detail. After she said, "Avatar Korra, please make sure to include the battle for Republic City - I still haven't heard in great detail what happened," Avatar Korra meditated briefly, apparently drawing Raava back into her body, finally placing her hands against Izumi's brow. At first, nothing happened other than Avatar Korra's eyes glowing briefly. Avatar Korra looked over Izumi's shoulders, angrily grunting, "I withdrew you for a reason, Raava - but whatever! Let's just do this."

Izumi's mind was overwhelmed as the details of the past three days entered into her mind. She witnessed the destruction of the center portion of Republic City - apparently at Raava's behest, given Avatar Korra's angry grunt as the information was broadcast - and the entirety of the battle from Avatar Korra's point of view. As Izumi saw Avatar Korra take Asami to the new Spirit Portal, at first she was confused, but subsequent events cleared that away quickly. So that's who Korra was thinking of when she made her blue fire... The initial ordeal with Long Yumao filled her with anger and fear, and her emotions continued to swing almost untraceably as she witnessed the rest. Izumi was very happy to experience the Restoration, and she could feel her mouth open in shock at Avatar Wan and Avatar Garkan's revelations. Once Avatar Korra got to her father's confession about Azula, both Avatar Korra and Raava had to stop to let Izumi calm herself down from her hysteria. Izumi said, "While I think your relationship with Asami is beautiful, Avatar Korra, I could scarcely believe what my father was saying - Azula, hiding such a dark and dangerous secret for most of her youth! No wonder she was so twisted. I almost feel completely sorry for her now."

Avatar Korra shocked Izumi by crying slightly and hugging Izumi, saying, "You're right, Izumi - even Aang thought it was sad, and Azula technically killed him." Avatar Korra sniffed, saying, "Let's continue - there's another villain who not only earned my sympathy, but wants to come into the light much as your own father did. You should find this real interesting." Avatar Korra and Raava resumed their positions, and at first, all Izumi saw was a censored blur after her father's speech - apparently there was some secret to hide - and watched Avatar Korra's interaction with Senna and Tonraq. As soon as Avatar Korra had to stop the talk with her parents, the point of view switched to a very different person's - Kuvira! As Izumi watched Kuvira's trials, she remembered the tales Zuko had told her about his own youth, and realized this was what Avatar Korra had said Izumi would find so interesting. Izumi felt a rush of happiness to see that horrible Kuvira doppler shattered, only to sink to the depths of despair when she witnessed Koh almost steal her face, and heard Long Yumao's horrible designs. Aside from Baatar Jr.'s reasonable but nonetheless hurtful rejection of Kuvira, the rest was pure joy to watch. Given what she had heard of this odd new weapon for Avatar Korra and the tuber-vines, maybe she would get Varrick's help with the battleships after all.

Apparently, Avatar Korra and Raava had been able to read her thoughts during the process, as Raava said, removing her hands from Izumi's back, "The first gift to humanity… Those tuber-vines were intended for something exactly like that, Firelord Izumi. I hadn't explained their purpose to anyone in detail yet, but I may as well now – Varrick already saw part of it. I didn't give just one gift to humanity, in the form of Asami's pregnancy - I gave them two. The tuber-vines are inextricably linked with my own energy and a source of great power, and they have the ability to judge an individual's worth, just as Korra and I did earlier. If they sense they are trying to be used as a source of energy or a technology like the spiritwires by an evil or unworthy person, they will shut down, incinerating the individual if the tuber-vine deems them evil enough. The Great Banyan tree will now incinerate anyone unworthy who tries to harvest it as well - I'm slightly disappointed no one has tried yet." Izumi said, "That sounds great! I'll contact Varrick, or I guess, Kuvira, as soon as I can with my battleship idea."

Avatar Korra coughed slightly, saying, "The technology won't come for free, you know - nobody but the United Republic army forces will receive anything without making some sort of concession, given that the URN is the nation equivalent of the Avatar - neutral in most disputes." Avatar Korra added, giving a slightly angry Raava a stern glare, "Even if your tuber-vine failsafe works." Izumi asked, slightly stunned, "Avatar Korra, what was your concession from the Fire Nation? I may as well get used to whatever condition you want." Avatar Korra sighed, saying, "I had hoped to tell you during the conference, but you're right - you will need to get used to this idea. To help stop Jinshu Kuangmai from re-forming the Earth Empire, in the process causing more spirits to join Long Yumao's side in the Spirit Civil War and growing his already unacceptable strength, I need occupation troops from all four nations and elements to help mend what Kuvira wrought. Northern and Southern Water Tribe forces, along with any loyal Earth Kingdom troops and any airbenders the Air Nation can spare. A large chunk of this force would have to be made up of Fire Nation troops."

Izumi's mouth lay open in shock. So Avatar Korra wanted Izumi to send Fire Nation soldiers into what would likely be a bloody, protracted occupation that would claim the lives of many citizens of her isolationist nation? She was about to slap the Avatar across her face for this arrogant, extremely demanding request, but stopped, suddenly crying bitter tears. Izumi looked up at Avatar Korra and said, "I was about to slap you across the face for that request, but I stopped." The nonchalant Avatar laughed, saying, "I figured you might have that kind of reaction - hence why I told you now, so you can think it over as we tour Republic City. I know Raava snuck in an image of the huge spirit blast - AGAINST MY WISHES, I might add, _Raava_ \- but I think seeing the city firsthand should help you realize some important truths. I'm not going to come out and say them right now, as I think if you come across them yourself, they will be more powerful."

Izumi stood up, saying, "Avatar Korra, I think I know some of them already. I'll just summarize: If this occupation fails, the Earth Empire regrows and Republic City falls, this time for good, it would not be long before Jinshu Kuangmai hunted you down with a very modern military force, likely using Future Industries technologies and whatever spirit vines he has stockpiled. He would imprison you, never to see the light of day again, or possibly kill you and raise the next Avatar as a weapon for his inevitable war against the rest of the world. Should every nation fall, the world would be plunged into darkness the likes of which haven't been plotted since the days of Firelord Sozin, Firelord Azulon and Firelord Ozai. Spirit vines would be to the Earth Empire's what Sozin's Comet was to the Fire Nation." Izumi put her hands on her hips, satisfied with her answer.

Avatar Korra surprised her by sighing deeply, saying, "You are right - but also very, very wrong. The most likely outcome of the Fire Nation's refusal is much quicker and infinitely worse. You have to remember, this occupation isn't our only war - in fact, one is raging right now. The Spirit Civil War. You left that very important consideration out of your assessment. There are two doomsday scenarios. The first, which would result from the Fire Nation not helping keep Jinshu Kuangmai under check, is something we can control. Before Jinshu Kuangmai could lead his forces to take over either the Water Tribes or the Fire Nation, Long Yumao would have garnered enough support as a result of the imbalance caused by the Earth Empire 're-uniting' itself and then conquering another nation to make even my own power and Raava's irrelevant. Just as he said he wanted to do to humanity, a legion of Dark Spirits would help him usher in an age of darkness comparable to what would have happened if Vaatu had been victorious at Harmonic Convergence. This, oddly enough, is the brighter of the two scenarios - if we successfully heal the Earth Kingdom with your help and keep that very important item around Raava's neck away from Long Yumao, his support would dwindle, and I could eventually hunt him down and kill him, just as Avatar Kuruk wanted to do to Koh the Face-Stealer."

Izumi was terrified - this last part was somehow the better of two scenarios, and apparently hinged on a game of keep-away? Izumi said, "Avatar Korra, that thing around Raava's neck. What is it?" The small teapot rumbled violently, knocking one of its strange clasps wide open. A terrifying voice said, "It is I, Vaatu - rightful Grand Dark Spirit, since the beginning of time! This is just _temporary housing _until I grow large enough to challenge Raava again, in, oh, ten thousand years." Raava smacked the teapot, yelling, "I thought I told you to stay in there! If you come out one more time in the next three days, I'll force you to watch Korra and Asami _kiss_!" The teapot howled "NO! I'll be a good boy, I promise!" before the latch that had opened shut on its own. Izumi found herself laughing along with Raava and Avatar Korra, as well as Mako, who had finally come onto her boat. Mako pointed to the teapot around Raava's neck, saying, "From what I remember from earlier today, it sounds like Long Yumao getting ahold of that thing would be very, very bad. Care to explain in more detail, Korra?"

Avatar Korra sighed, saying, "Yes - the most terrifying option. I call it 'Sudden Death'. It all boils down to one simple fact. Even if we do everything perfectly and even get Jinshu Kuangmai to reconcile with his mother, if Long Yumao successfully challenges Vaatu for that weird 'Grand Dark Spirit' title, he will become unstoppable. With the ardent support of other spirits, he will be more than a match for Raava, I'm afraid. Long Yumao can become a greater threat at any time – ironically, since he is but a 'minor' spirit, Long Yumao isn't constrained by Harmonic Convergence like Vaatu is. All he needs is that little teapot, and humanity is toast." Avatar Korra took a deep breath, clearly not wanting to deal with whatever reality she was about to tell Izumi. Avatar Korra continued, "This 'Sudden Death' option is why Raava and I, along with our close allies, will be working very hard to end the Spirit Civil War - before Long Yumao gets ahold of this simple little teapot." The teapot began to rumble again, but it suddenly stopped, its occupant apparently remembering Raava's earlier threat. Avatar Korra continued with a grimace, "That little teapot's occupant is the reason why the combined conventional militaries of the four, no, five, nations will need to carry the bulk of the burden in the Earth Kingdom until Long Yumao is dealt with. Team Avatar and friends will be too busy fighting the Spirit Civil War to be of any real long-term use in the occupation effort." Avatar Korra smiled slightly, adding bitterly, "Even when he's tiny, Vaatu manages to be a menace."

Raava and Avatar Korra began laughing very hard as Mako said, "I assume you will take this more seriously, Raava - the end of the world is nothing to laugh at. The only time any spirit or human aligned with Long Yumao could possibly take away the teapot containing Vaatu is when you're in your little pet 'human-y' form." Mako pointed at a furious Raava's heaving chest, saying, "Perhaps you should just stuff Vaatu back into your heart, Raava? It's where he's been for the past ten thousand years, after all." Mako met Raava's increasingly angry glare with a calm demeanor, saying, "It's true. And I'm not afraid to say it - I have experience with talking to power. I dated Korra a long time ago, after all." Avatar Korra burst into laughter, saying, "You little liar - you were terrified of me! I still remember your little stunt, Mako. Your weak, almost fearful lie about our breakup after my memory was wiped. I may have been bi-curious at one point, but not anymore. That lie and Asami winning my heart is why I'm never touching men again."

An embarrassed Mako said, "I think it's about time Firelord Izumi saw Republic City. Come on, Korra - time to do the jets again." With this, Raava apparently vanished back into Avatar Korra's chest, as Avatar Korra's eyes began to glow. Mako quipped, "That's a much better place for that foolish spirit," and much to Izumi's surprise, Avatar Korra laughed - in her own voice! This wasn't in line with what Izumi knew about the Avatar State. Avatar Korra asked joyfully, "When is someone going to figure out how to do this without bending? Woohoo!" Izumi noticed the other boat separate from her own instantly, with the stabilizing ice also gone. She watched as Avatar Korra turned the boat towards Republic City and said, "You might want to lie down in front of me, Firelord Izumi! I don't want to roast you!" Izumi immediately hit the front deck, well aware of what Avatar Korra could do, and she heard a deafening roar of flames shortly after.

As they approached the city, Izumi could see the devastation that Kuvira had brought to it, even with her head barely peeking above the prow of her boat, her grey hair flapping wildly in the wind. Time slowed to a crawl as Avatar Korra and Mako took her on a tour of the city, Avatar Korra making sure to point out the damage caused by Kuvira's Colossus before the spirit weapon exploded, and Mako making sure to point out all the places of his youth that had been destroyed.

Izumi walked over to what she assumed was a tuber-vine and picked it up, saying, "You've convinced me. Now, to just convince my people - that's going to be hard. For seven years, I have preached the benefits of isolationism, and now I will be calling for war. This is going to be very difficult to pull off."

Avatar Korra's eyes briefly glowed, and Izumi recognized the figure in front of her - Avatar Roku! Avatar Roku said, his voice proud and strong, "I am glad you have come around, Firelord Izumi. After my thrashing of Firelord Sozin in the throne room well over 200 years ago, I never thought I would be helping lead the Fire Nation into a foreign war. When you address your people, Firelord Izumi, your father, Zuko, and your granduncle, Iroh, will be at your side, as will Avatar Korra and myself, and your daughter, should she wish. I gather she's more the reserved type, given Korra never met her. From your nodding, I can see that's the case. In any event, I can only hope the quadruple celebrity appeal will help win the Fire Nation over. You have a unique opportunity, Firelord Izumi - you have the opportunity to help an entire nation heal. A nation that the Fire Nation hurt deeply during the 100 Year's War, at that. You may want to ask your father for advice - my blood runs in his veins and yours, after all. Good luck."

As Izumi gave a sigh of contentment and anticipation, the tuber-vine in her hand hummed "HMMMMM HMMMMM" while flashing a bright white.

End part 4


	24. Chapter 24: Idle Negotiations

Part 5: Conference and Conflict

Chapter 24: Idle Negotiations

As Korra had almost left Republic City and brought Firelord Izumi back towards the new addition to Air Temple Island, the Firelord still holding the tuber-vine, she noticed the sky was much darker than when Korra had left to go pick up the Firelord. Seeing Korra staring at the darker sky, Mako said, "It's 4:30 in the afternoon - but I don't quite see how that would make the sky so dark. What's going on, Korra?" An immediate idea occurred to her, and she didn't like it one bit. Korra stopped, her heart racing, placing her hand against the intact pavement, scanning for any anomalous energy. She picked up one signature that made her heart sink and her gut churn - Long Yumao had finally managed to come back into the physical world! After giving only a short explanation to Mako and Firelord Izumi, she launched herself towards the Spirit Portal - apparently, Raava needed to refresh the block on the portal. When she landed, she crashed into a large, centipedal form, feeling some sort of sickening oil on her skin. Part of her wanted to scream, but she knew that would be a fatal move.

Bursting into the Avatar State, she kept a stony face as she bent two elemental prisons around Long Yumao and Koh. She maintained her expression, even as Koh began cursing at Long Yumao, saying, "Fool! I told you, if you want to get me any faces, we need to stay away from the Avatar and Republic City! Surely you haven't forgotten that most of the city was evacuated." Long Yumao hissed, "I don't care if you want quantity of faces - I want some of this insufferable brat's friends out of the picture! When this 'Team Avatar' is broken and their faces yours, then we can go hunting other, less powerful humans." Koh let out a slithering sigh as he clacked his free legs together, saying, "Team Avatar is tight knit, and Korra is rarely away from the others for long. If I had known the Avatar was going to leave for a few hours, I would have pushed to leave earlier - I might have even been able to steal Asami's face. Now we're imprisoned! Korra is too perceptive, and your energy is far too obvious now." Tiring of this banter, Korra remembered her request of Eska and Desna, saying, "I'm going to kick you two back into the Spirit World and refresh the lock on the portal." She deliberately mumbled loudly, "It would be really bad if you two decided to go to the Northern Water Tribe." Seeing Koh's face change to that of a savage monkey, she could see her little ploy worked - they would be met with nothing but ice, soon to be augmented with Raava's power. She tossed the two back into the portal, finally letting her stifled laughter out in torrents.

Her eyes still glowing, she refreshed the block on the Republic City Spirit Portal, figuring it would last two days or more. She felt a familiar surge of energy and her eyes dimmed. Raava, now standing in her field of view, said, "You may as well do to this portal and the Southern Spirit Portal what Eska and Desna did with the Northern Spirit Portal. I did not expect the seal to break so soon, but if you bend earthen barriers augmented with my energy and warning signs, there should be no further problems. Unless Long Yumao grows big enough to shatter earth or endless ice…" With that, Korra felt an energy surge, noticing her eyes glowing once more.

Korra bent large, thick walls around the Spirit Portal, making sure to cap the top physically. To her surprise, the beam continued through the rock unabated. Taking another deep breath, she bent up warning signs, using lavabending to carve characters into the rock. Korra created a door that led directly to the spirit portal, and began pumping her own energy and Raava's into it - she didn't want anyone but herself opening it. Taking a deep breath, she intensified the energy entering the door, spreading large, spidery white lines through the rock that pulsated steadily. Taking a deep breath, she opened the new door and closed it behind her, placing her hand directly inside the Spirit Portal beam, focusing on the Northern Spirit Portal.

Korra felt an odd rush, and she looked around, eyes still glowing - she had teleported to the Northern Spirit Portal somehow without ever seeing the Tree of Time! Not wanting to take any time to ponder how she did it, she capped Eska and Desna's icy handiwork, feeling it equal to her own in Republic City. Again, the beam passed through the ice, neither itself nor the ice breaking. Placing her hand on the ice wall, Korra smiled as she saw thick white lines spreading in the new Avatar-only door she was creating, her expression only broadening when she saw the lines jump and quickly spread all around her. Tiring slightly, she opened the new ice door with the Avatar State, stepped out, and closed it again, letting her eyes normalize after she did so.

Korra missed the cold, and took great pleasure in making an ice blanket and wrapping her body in it, savoring the chills it sent through her being. She heard a loud bump, followed by a smaller one and an eerie slipping sound and the clack of insect legs on ice. Making sure to move herself further away from the portal, Korra laughed as she heard what must have been Koh and Long Yumao cursing angrily, Koh saying, "That little twerp tricked us! I don't like that - I want to be the one doing the tricking! Now I know how Wan Shi Tong felt, that other Water Tribe hooligan tricking him with knots." Long Yumao hissed angrily, saying, "I don't care about Wan Shi Tong. These walls - they burn my skin! I'm done for today, Koh - your face-hunt will have to wait. I need to go warn the other Dark Spirits that follow me about this new little trick of the Avatar's - I can't afford any spirits being incinerated by this energy, or worse, turning!" Korra heard two odd whooshing sounds, assuming the spirits had left. Not wanting to be taken off guard, she placed her hands to the ice, searching - and found nothing.

After she had erected another barrier at the Southern Spirit Portal similar to the one in the north, she returned to the Republic City Spirit Portal, noticing that Jinora, Izumi, Asami, Mako and Tenzin were waiting for her next to Oogi. Jinora said, riding an air scooter to Korra, "I sensed an immense energy coming out of this Spirit Portal and projected myself to Mako, asking him what was going on. He told me that Long Yumao had come back into the physical world, and I alerted my father and Asami. We got here as fast as we could on Oogi, realizing we might have a fight on our hands about halfway here, but I can see you took care of that." Jinora stared at Korra's handiwork, running up to touch one of the thick white lines. "Wow - that's Raava's energy! But, not entirely…" Jinora studied the lines, suddenly noticing something Korra hadn't - there were staring right at a large Earth symbol! Korra whipped up an air scooter of her own, riding around with Jinora, noticing the other three elemental symbols, in proper order, lining the sides. She placed her hand against the symbol for Water, and saw a familiar face momentarily - Avatar Kuruk's! As she told everyone else what she had seen, she felt a familiar energy surge, her eyes glowing momentarily.

Raava, now standing in the middle of the group, said, "This is one of the reasons I had need for your past lives, Korra. Their energy adds to our own power in these barriers, and their humanity is the biggest reason the lines burned Long Yumao's skin and would incinerate any lesser Dark Spirit aligned with him that came into similar contact. He would have to grow substantially in power to break any of the barriers you made." Seemingly anticipating Korra's question before she could even ask, Raava finished, "Koh, as one of the univ- world's most ancient spirits, is not affected by the lines like Long Yumao is, but he does not possess the physical strength and size to break the barriers. Now, let's go - I want some of that sake you yanked me away from earlier, Korra!" Before Raava could vanish, Asami tapped Raava's shoulder. Though Korra was too far away to hear what Asami said with her ears, Korra's bond with Raava let Korra hear Asami say, "Why don't you just hold off on that, Raava - I have something special planned for Korra tonight, and you won't want to be so drunk you miss it." Korra felt goosebumps on her skin, as well as a wonderfully familiar feeling below her stomach - Asami had told Korra before she left that Asami was going on a "shopping" trip, and couldn't wait to see what Asami's plan was.

As everyone climbed on Oogi's back - including Raava - Asami carefully took out a covered tray from Oogi's saddle sack. Lifting the metal lid off, she revealed six large cold cups of tea and a big teapot. Korra noticed with hungry eyes that four raw portions of the last of the shark whale meat were also present, along with two portions of the vegetarian food that Jinora and Tenzin preferred. Asami pointed to the meat and tea, saying, "Someone who appeared at our party unexpectedly told me firebenders can heat tea with their bending. I won't spoil the surprise - everyone else has managed to keep quiet so far. Why don't you and Mako help us out, Korra?" Korra had to concentrate very hard to make sure she didn't boil the tea away with her blue fire, and Mako's first attempt at cooking the shark whale meat did cook the meat properly, but the surface was slightly blackened. Firelord Izumi reach out to take it from Mako, saying, "I always did like my meat seared. Thank you, Mako."

Raava looked like she was going to laugh, but Firelord Izumi gave Raava a glare, saying, "I was telling the truth." Asami gave Korra a cup that Bolin must have lavabended the characters for "Korra" onto, and ended up pouring about half of the tea into Korra's large cup. As they all ate and drank, Korra felt her strength returning. Curious why Asami had given Korra that specific cup of tea, aside from the obvious, she told Korra, "I figured you'd be tired, so I put a much stronger tea into your cup. I got the blend from Zuko, who told me it was some of his Uncle's blend." Remembering how mad Zuko had been at the loss of even a mouthful of his Uncle's blend the day before, Korra asked, "Isn't that extremely rare?" Asami said, keeping a straight and even face, "You'll see why when we get back to the party. I'm not spoiling the surprise now, not when we're almost there." Korra took a deep breath and let out a contented burp - she had just drank a lot of tea, and Asami had let Korra eat her shark whale meat portion. As everyone on Oogi's back laughed, Korra noticed that they were about to land. Oogi's landing was perfect - Korra was very glad that Opal and her clumsy beast, Juicy, hadn't come to their rescue.

When Korra looked around for familiar figures, she was shocked - the handcuffs on Kuvira's wrists had been replaced by looser shackles! Katara, Zuko, Lin and Su were animatedly talking with Kuvira, as well as an unseen figure, apparently in the middle. Intently curious to see what could have convinced Su and Lin to make this drastic change, Korra's heart jumped when she saw the figure in the center. Korra turned around, grabbing a clearly pleased Asami by the hands, yelling, "Uncle Iroh! I can't believe it - you're here!" As some tears streamed down her face, Korra heard Uncle Iroh say warmly, "If it isn't the two lovebirds! I was just talking with everyone else about Kuvira's transformative experience in her visions and the Spirit World yesterday. It appears my dear nephew isn't the only one to have had such a harrowing and rewarding ordeal." Uncle Iroh patted Zuko on the back, saying, "Although my nephew never almost had his face stolen by Koh, and I hope Kuvira doesn't do any 'backsies' like Zuko did in Ba Sing Se." Both Zuko and Uncle Iroh began laughing, Zuko not making any mention of the good-natured slight, and Korra noticed with a smile that their laughter was very similar.

A stunned Firelord Izumi finally moved from her place, running over to embrace her father and then Uncle Iroh. Tenzin said, clearly confused, "How are you hugging Uncle Iroh? He ran his hand through my legs the other day!" Uncle Iroh laughed, saying, "Any spirit can choose to let a physical body either interact with them directly or pass through their being. Just ask Bumi - apparently, his little spirit friend, Bumju, finally let Bumi put that sweater on his body. Though not for long." Tenzin's mouth dropped open at the same time as Korra's did - Bumi was here? While Tenzin asked, "Where's my sister, Kya?" Korra slammed her palm against the ground so violently it physically made a crack in the marble, scanning for Bumi and Kya. She noticed with a start that they were both talking animatedly with her parents, and ran over to the group. She hadn't planned on this!

Before she could yell in alarm and panic, she felt her body freeze for a long time, as though some internal force had stopped her only a short distance from her target. Korra remembered how Raava had stopped her in her tracks the day before, but this felt different somehow. Her eyes glowed momentarily, and she saw what must have been the culprit in front of her - Aang! He had a sad look on his face, and he said, "I know you didn't have the best of childhoods to instill trust in you, Korra - what with your predecessor being behind the White Lotus treating you like a prisoner, keeping you from your parents. I am not proud of what I did, leaving orders behind to protect you 'at all costs' - it is one of my few regrets in life. Even though I had a family with Katara, at some fundamental level, I just didn't understand how families worked. Bumi and Kya can attest to that. I had been raised by monks, and I turned out fine, and I thought that the White Lotus would act in a similar manner." Korra noticed her mother and father, Tenzin, Katara, Bumi and Kya all standing near her still frozen body - apparently, Aang had waited to come out until all six were near to start talking. This just made Korra even more furious, but she couldn't break Aang's grip.

Seemingly sensing that Korra was trying to break his hold on her, Aang said, "Can you please resist the urge to 'read' Bumi and Kya? As a symbolic first step, if nothing else…You need to start learning to trust people, Korra. Especially if you're going t make any relationship with Asami work. You can't just run around, using your odd new powers of reading and infobending all the time. Would you try and manually read your unborn daughter? Pry secrets from her mind that she'd rather not share with you? Would you risk losing the support of the United Republic of Nations by insisting on reading a likely uncooperative President Raiko?" Korra could feel her eyes - the only part of her body that wasn't paralyzed - start to water profusely, even though all her throat and mouth could manage to do was continue breathing through her nose. Aang's image began to cry, saying, "I will, for the rest of time, regret my orders to the White Lotus, Korra. But regrets won't fix _anything_. Even though I'm a spirit now, I still get the odd guilty feeling about how I ran away from the Southern Air Temple over 170 years ago. I don't have any solid advice on how to learn trust, Korra - it's just something I learned as an Air Nomad. You just need to have faith in others. While trust did leave me vulnerable at times - I have the feeling without Katara and Sokka at my side and my trust in them, I would have been swindled or tricked into the Fire Nation's grasp." Aang blushed slightly, as though remembering some unsavory detail, saying, "In fact, my blind trust in people led me to believe some merchant that I met in a town on the way to the North Pole was telling the truth about a nearby airbender, when in fact he was an agent of the Fire Nation. He told me about a possible airbender in the surrounding mountains. I snuck off in the middle of the night to go find this airbender, not even telling Katara or Sokka. I was desperate to reconnect with anyone from the Air Nomads." As Katara suddenly remembered this incident, she said at the exact same time that Aang did, "It was a trap." Aang continued, not even cheered by Katara's voice, "Admiral Zhao was waiting for me, along with the merchant and some firebenders with a net. If those fools hadn't used actual Air Nomad artifacts to lay the trap, or at least removed the more useful ones, they might have succeeded."

Korra thought to herself, "This seems like even more reason to not trust people! Why did you tell me this, Aang?" Aang could apparently read Korra's thoughts just as Raava did, as he said, "The reason I told you this is because if I had relied on Katara and Sokka, and told them what the merchant had said, they probably would have convinced me to not go. This little incident, upon reflection, is actually _why_ you need to trust in people, and confide in them without fear of hurt. I had to learn the ropes myself, without any help from Raava's reading ability. Even if an individual is trustworthy now, they may turn on you later." Seeing the confusion in Korra's eyes, Aang continued, "Varrick is a good example - you thought he was your friend, but he stabbed you in the back. A more recent, relevant example? Take Baatar Jr. At first, from what Raava has told me of the events since I was imprisoned that you did not see fit to tell me, he confided in you about the Colossus' weakness after Kuvira tried to blow him up with that spirit weapon. Earlier today, he seemed to unhinge partially, considering anyone who believes Kuvira to be a changed woman a fool or a traitor." Korra, not sure what this had to do with trust, listened as Aang continued, "If you had read him before his altercation with Kuvira, you would have likely gotten a positive or neutral reading - enough to share your secrets with him, probably on the recommendation of Su, his mother. Would you share your secrets with him now, Korra?" Korra felt her mouth unfreeze, and she answered, "No! I don't know what to think of him now, and apparently his own mother has reservations as well. Even if Kuvira is a changed woman, Baatar Jr. still has a lot of unresolved issues to work through."

Korra felt her body released from its strange hold as Aang said, "And that is why you must build relationships and trust manually, and not use this new 'morality meter' that Raava provides as a crutch. Human bonds and love that are maintained and taken care of, I think you will find, have a strength that surpasses anything being the Avatar entails. The Avatar State, Raava, bending all four elements - all useless if you do not act like a normal human and form proper relationships." Korra felt a surge of many conflicting emotions from deep inside _her_ \- not Raava, not Aang, no one else but her. A vision that was all her own danced in front of her eyes - all her relationships with people, all those she felt love for - friends and family and Asami alike. All the trust others put in her as Korra and not the Avatar, all the things she regretted doing or saying…

She saw Aang smiling broadly as everyone around her took turns embracing her. Aang said, "Now why don't you use infobending for a less serious purpose, and let everyone around you feel those emotions you just felt. Just let information flow, as does water." Aang paused momentarily, adding, "Though you should still keep one secret. Bye!" Korra let energy flow as Aang had said, and as she did so, she could hear Bumi and Kya alternatively laugh or weep - in Bumi's case, sometimes curse - as she let the information flow unfiltered, only blotting out the identity of Jinshu Kuangmai. Apparently in her intense emotions she had accidentally broadcast the information in the Avatar State, as she heard people reacting to events she had experienced since leaving to pick up Firelord Izumi. Feeling the need to perform some damage control, she projected out Aang, saying, "I need to go talk to some people. Why don't you talk with my parents, your wife and kids?" Tenzin said, "That sounds like a GREAT idea! Let me get my kids and Pema over here. Unless you need Jinora, that is, Korra." Korra shook her head, saying, "I need to go discuss matters of war, so the only airbender I might need is Opal. See you soon."

Just as she suspected, the brain trust was arguing among themselves, along with Firelord Izumi. Varrick was trying to negotiate what must have been an extremely steep price for a private, no-conditions deal for spirit weaponry for the Fire Nation's navy, given the expression on Izumi's face. Zhu Li was trying to convince a slightly reluctant Asami to use the tuber-vines for civilian power generation, Asami citing the potential for sudden power stoppage if an evil or unworthy individual deliberately started messing with the plant to sabotage the city. Zhu Li must have made some accusation that Asami did not find funny at all, since she slapped Zhu Li across the face, saying, "NO, I'm not concerned that limitless power will crash the price of oil or the lost profit on Korra's oil find!" Kuvira was standing in a corner, her arms crossed angrily.

Korra approached her first, asking, "You're not arguing with anyone - what's the matter?" In truth, Korra just wanted to avoid the other four at all costs - she didn't want to see an angry Firelord Izumi master the other kind of blue flame on Varrick. Kuvira said curtly, "I thought we were supposed to be banning spirit weapons, not embracing them. I was fine with your little armblades, but this is something else entirely. Even Asami was suggesting mounting them on her hummingbird suits, or some weird new planes she designed." Korra could see this was going to be difficult, but likely not involve any yelling. Korra explained to Kuvira again how the tuber-vines were supposed to work, and seeing that Kuvira was still reluctant, Korra resorted to projecting Raava out. The small form said, "Hey, watch it! We've never projected both a past life of the Avatar and myself this far apart from one another before. Though it seems to be fine." Raava turned to Kuvira, unexpectedly taking on her true form, and the larger spirit boomed, "I know you have regrets over your abuse of spirit vines, but I just want to assure you, these tuber-vines will be used for a good cause. Given what I know of you-know-who's stockpile of spirit vines, it will be very likely that the occupation forces will be up against spirit vine weaponry - even if he can't harvest any more from the Swamp. I imagine he will find out what I did to the Great Banyan tree soon, and begin experiments to attempt to grow more spirit vines." Kuvira sighed deeply, "I am become death, destroyer of worlds," Raava whimpering as though she had heard the words before. Kuvira having noticed Raava's reaction, she said, "What, don't tell me someone else came before me?" Raava stated nervously, "Not quite - go on, Kuvira…" Kuvira shrugged, saying, "I guess the spirit is out of the bottle now: if we don't use tuber-vine weaponry, Jinshu Kuangmai will have a much better chance of winning, and inadvertently plunging the world into darkness under Long Yumao."

Apparently sated, Kuvira said, "You will have my support in developing this technology. However, I just thought of a little flaw in the tuber-vine technology." Raava shrunk back to her "new normal" size and scratched her head, saying, "I don't see what the flaw is." Korra didn't either. Kuvira said, "You said that you attuned the tuber-vines to _your_ energy, but from what I know of Harmonic Convergence, that's not entirely true. I'm not used to thinking spiritually, so correct me if I am wrong. Say humanity relies heavily on tuber-vines for the next ten thousand years, and Harmonic Convergence rolls around. Suppose that Korra's far-future successor drops the ball, letting Vaatu win." Korra and Raava grimaced at this thought, and a "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" escaped a now open clasp on the strange teapot. Raava's grimace vanished, replaced by a predatory grin. She stuck her hand into the top of the teapot and drew a tiny squirming Vaatu out, saying, "Don't say I didn't warn you. Korra, bring Asami over here - I have a little Dark Spirit to punish." Korra shot Raava an angry glance, saying, "I don't have time for that right now. I'm too busy listening to Kuvira's supposed flaw in the tuber-vines. Plus, it looks like Asami's too busy fighting with Zhu Li as is." Raava gave an angry grunt, making to put Vaatu away, but Kuvira grabbed Raava's hand, stopping her from putting away the black and red kite, Kuvira saying, "Actually, keep him out, Raava - he figures heavily into the flaw with the tuber vines."

Both Raava and Korra looked at each other - she could feel Raava didn't like where this was going. Kuvira said, "In ten thousand years, unless Long Yumao strips him of his 'Grand Dark Spirit' title, Vaatu will be much, much bigger. If Korra doesn't entrap Vaatu in the Tree of Time - that's its name, right? - and seal all the Spirit Portals, he will be able to challenge Raava during the next Harmonic Convergence. If he wins - " Vaatu let out a louder, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" much to Korra and Raava's chagrin. Raava gave Vaatu a nasty glare and Kuvira coughed, saying, "Anyways, as I was saying, should Raava lose, I imagine the tuber-vines will switch, turning evil." Raava and Korra stared at Kuvira in shock. Korra only managed to say, "T-t-that sounds about right. Vaatu turned other neutral or light spirits into Dark Spirits in Wan's time." Kuvira continued, "While those tuber-vines will work for now, humans will need to develop a similar power source eventually, not dependent on spiritual energy or judgment."

Raava groaned, stuffing a clearly pleased Vaatu back into the pot, giggling like a naughty little boy who had gotten away with something. Raava threw her hands in the air, saying, "That was the whole point of the tuber-vines: nobody bad can use them!" Kuvira continued, "If Varrick, Zhu Li, Asami and myself can manage to come up with a new power source that's strictly human, there'd be another plus. In the event that the Avatar and Raava lose, humans will have beam weapons capable of hurting Vaatu enough such that something like what Jinora did this time around can happen again." Raava was no longer angry, and she said rather calmly, "A failsafe does sound rather nice. Why don't you see if you can get the rest of the brain trust to stop fighting, Korra?" With that, Raava vanished back into Korra's chest.

When she turned to look at Firelord Izumi, Varrick, Zhu Li, and Asami, Korra realized with a start that they were staring at Kuvira and herself. Apparently, they had begun listening and stopped fighting at some point. Firelord Izumi said, pointing at a large lump of rock she knew to be the remnants of the ore Korra had raised from beneath the sea, "Now that we're done fighting, why don't you and Kuvira bend some of that rock into a mockup of Asami's new designs?" Glad to actually bend again, Korra used the Avatar State to tear off a medium-sized chunk of the rock, removing the metal from the ore and forming two large sheets of metal. Kuvira stared, saying, "Why didn't I just help you recover from your poisoning instead of becoming dictator, Korra? Had I got my hands on that residual mercury that was still inside you after Zaheer poisoned you, we could have just toured the Earth Kingdom together, restoring order when Mother Suyin refused, Korra providing a… moderating influence." Asami blushed in anger, saying, "Hey, Korra's mine! Back off!" Kuvira suppressed a laugh, saying with a snort, "I may have been into a rather feminine man, Asami, but my metal doesn't bend that way. Anyways, why don't you take those aircraft designs out again?"

Korra heard a large gust of wind and a small, excited voice saying loudly, "Aircraft designs? Military?! I want to help!" Meelo dropped down into the middle of the brain trust, followed by … Bumi? This latest arrival's much larger size and less refined bending knocked everyone onto their backs, and Korra heard an excited trilling. Some part of her brain translated it as, "Bumi never makes good entrances!"

While Korra was glad to have two goofballs to lighten the mood, Firelord Izumi was clearly not amused. She said drolly, fixing her glasses, "I know you were a military man, Bumi, but what does Meelo have to offer exactly?" Meelo said loudly, pouting, "My mom told me earlier today that my self-portrait seemed more appropriate for Firelord Ozai. He may have been evil, but at least he was a man of action, which is more than I can say for you, Miss Firelord Izumi!" Firelord Izumi took a deep breath, letting out a small flame of frustration and said, "Very well, Meelo - you can stay. Just try not to get in the way, please."

Meelo proceeded to do exactly that, pointing at the two aircraft blueprints Asami had gotten out during the commotion, saying, "Wait - you're still using two wings? Why? Lemurs don't have two wings, and look at how well they fly!" Meelo's lemur, Poki, poked his head out of Bumi's shirt and began flying around his owner's head. Firelord Izumi said, "Poki can airbend slightly, sweetie, and airplanes can't. That's why they need two wings - to generate more lift." Meelo surprised the Firelord by saying, "I overheard my dad talking with Bumi about these tuber-vines, and if you used one of those inside the airplane, I bet you could make something like this!" Meelo grabbed a surprised Asami's pencil, drawing a very detailed, realistic looking airplane in the corner of the blueprint.

It didn't look like any plane Korra had seen - or apparently anyone else, given how the brain trust was staring at Meelo's small doodle. Bumi said, "I know I talked about having only one wing, Meelo - but what's that weird pair of tubes near the … extra horizontal and vertical wings at the back?" Asami handed Meelo a blueprint page of his own and smiled as Meelo drew his plan on the entire page. Apparently, Meelo was quite bored when not flying around or harassing his siblings, as he drew a large assortment of what looked to be weapons "lying" in front of the aircraft. The plane was rather ugly but sturdy looking, and Meelo put the name "The Flying Hogmonkey" at the top of the blueprint.

Pointing first to the two odd, seemingly hollow tubes with what Zhu Li said was a condenser ring in the front, Meelo said, "Dad was talking about how Korra used her blue fire to send a boat flying around on the water's surface. Seeing the blasts that Kuvira's weapon made up close made me think - what if you let out a steady, controlled pulse?" Kuvira asked Meelo, "How do you know what a condenser ring is, and why haven't you ever shown anyone your ideas?"

Korra heard an exasperated sigh from behind her. Everyone - even Bumju and Poki - turned around to see who it was. Korra said to the new arrival, "Hi, Tenzin! You done talking with your dad yet?" Tenzin said, as he grabbed a squealing Meelo, "No, and apparently, Meelo will need to have a talk with his grandfather of his own." Tenzin reached out for the blueprint, saying "How many times have I told you, Meelo - no war drawings! They aren't fitting for an air bender!" As soon as she heard the words "aren't fitting for an airbender", Korra stood erect, her eyes glowing. She forcefully grabbed Tenzin's arm before he could crumple the blueprints.

Korra said to a terrified Tenzin in a multi-voice that was seemingly missing one voice, "Tenzin, son of Avatar Aang, who just finished lecturing ME on trust - what are you thinking? Your words 'fitting for an airbender' remind me an awful lot of what Hiroshi told his own daughter, Asami, when he tried to control her! Do you not _trust_ Meelo to be himself?" Korra felt an energy surge next to her, and she turned her eyes with fading light to see Aang next to herself. Aang said, pointing at Meelo while looking at Tenzin, "Son - you just recently released your control over Jinora's love choices. Given that the forces of good are soon going to be spread thin again soon, the five nations need any advantage they can get - even if they are weapons designed by a nine-year old airbender. I think it's time to let your son be who he really is - more like Bumi, less like you." Before Aang could continue, Asami said bitterly, "I never figured you, of all people, Tenzin, to be one to try and keep someone from being who they are."

In a combination of shock and what seemed to be remorse, Tenzin said through tears of his own "Ever since Meelo was a young boy, he always loved to play soldier. At one time, I let him draw his war pictures, but as he got older, his drawings became darker. When I caught him searching for red pigment, I decided that enough was enough. I should have connected the grumpy look on his self-portrait with this." Tenzin held his son in front of his face, saying, "Meelo, do you forgive me?" Meelo laughed, blowing the tears off his father's face, saying, "I don't know why Grandpa, Miss Asami, or Miss Korra were so upset, but I do know I want to draw some more! Yes, I forgive you. Now put me down before I sick Poki on you!" Meelo's lemur chose to land on top on Tenzin's head instead and purr contentedly instead, making Meelo groan slightly. A laughing Tenzin let his son back down, Meelo studying Korra and Asami's faces with curiosity. Meelo said, "Before I continue explaining The Flying Hogmonkey, I want you to 'infobend' me, Miss Korra. I figure there's a lot of things that no adult will tell me - even my sister Jinora seems to watch her words when she talks with me. I don't like it."

Before Korra could refuse, Meelo added, "Plus, if you want these designs to be effective, I have to know what we're up against." Korra sighed, remembering what Aang had told her about trust - and what she had just told Tenzin about trust - and gave the little boy his wish. Meelo looked at Asami and then Korra after, saying, "So that's why you two were holding hands! Don't worry, I won't tell Ikki." A mischievous grin crawled onto Meelo's face, who continued, "I figure I can annoy her more if I tease her that she doesn't know as much as I do anyways." He broke into a grin that rivaled Aang's, saying, "Thanks for all the information, Miss Korra. Miss Kuvira, will you help me tweak The Flying Hogmonkey?" Kuvira said, "Before we do that, Meelo, why don't you finish explaining what everything on the blueprint means?" As Meelo's eyes glittered, Tenzin let out a small sigh that earned him a dirty look from Aang's image, and walked away. Seemingly pleased, Aang's image moved back to where it had been before the little teleport.

Meelo said, first pointing to Zhu Li and then to the odd, large condenser ring, "Miss Zhu Li took me for a tour of Mister Varrick and her's boat after she finished hitting Mister Varrick over the head. She showed me all sorts of things, and I recognized one from my exploration of the Colossus' husk the day before. She told me it was a condenser ring, used to direct a flow of spirit energy." Pointing to what was apparently a side-view of the aircraft, Meelo explained, "My idea is that a low flow on spirit energy is released to the rear, providing thrust that can be increased or decreased. This plane is supposed to be hard to destroy and fly low, near the ground." Seeing that even Kuvira was staring at him somewhat blankly, he drew in what must have been the pulse on all the depictions of what must have been the aircraft's engines. Kuvira said, "It's a very good idea, but getting fine enough control of the tuber-vine's power to do that would be very difficult." Meelo said, pointing at Korra, "That's where Miss Korra comes in! She can channel Raava's energy into a stationary engine, and everyone else can take readings." Meelo pointed back at the aircraft, saying, "With what Miss Korra infobended to me, I can tell that the extra armor I added to The Flying Hogmonkey won't be enough. It sounds like Jinshu Kuangmai has a lot of vines." Meelo puzzled over the design until Asami got an idea, saying, "What if we put spiritwire on the surface and led the wires towards the tuber-vine? It might be able to absorb the energy of a spirit weapon."

Meelo drew lines on The Flying Hogmonkey's surface, resting a finger over the weapons in front of the plane, erasing and re-drawing some. Meelo pointed at what looked like an odd circular honeycomb and said, "This is a Lipowder firework launcher. I'll name them Meesiles, 'cause it's my idea! They launch from the tubes like a firework and have a Lipowder warhead that explodes when it hits. The plane can also carry bombs like the Equalist aircraft did. But those aren't The Flying Hogmonkey's main weapons." He pointed to two objects that vaguely resembled Kuvira's spirit cannon underneath the aircraft's wings, along with a strange form in the aircraft's nose that just looked like six holes. Meelo said, "The spirit cannons underneath the wings are directly connected to the tuber-vine, so they can fire longer pulses faster than Kuvira's weapon. The six little rings in the aircraft's nose are a Lipowder weapon that I thought up, but will need some help to make a reality. All I could think of is the barrels rotate in a circle, firing relatively large projectiles rapidly from a magazine like the thing Asami is making Miss Opal. I don't know how to make it work."

Bumi picked up Meelo and said, "My boy, you're a genius!" Firelord Izumi said, "This project sounds like it will take a long time and a lot of resources, from multiple nations. Meelo, I want you to come to the Ember Island conference with us all tomorrow, and present your idea." Firelord Izumi paused, saying, "You seemed to have another aircraft design in mind, given your glittering eyes. Something tells me it has to do with my aircraft barges. Care to elaborate for us?" Meelo snatched another blueprint from Asami, drawing another, slightly different looking plane, as well as an odd, long line on top of what Korra assumed to be an aircraft barge. Meelo looked at the aircraft barge, made a funny face, and asked Asami for another blueprint. Meelo drew his version of an aircraft barge, one that more closely resembled one of the URN Navy battleships that had proven oh so useful. Korra said so out loud, making Meelo laugh and say, "You might want to revamp those too - they didn't do so well against Equalist airplanes or Kuvira's Colossus."

Showing uncharacteristic focus - Meelo must have been really excited to finally be drawing "war pictures" after all - Meelo pointed back at the new aircraft, saying, "This plane - The Ferocious Lemur - is intended to take on air targets mainly, with the ability to hit ground targets as well. It can carry bombs just like The Flying Hogmonkey, and has a smaller repeating spirit cannon in its nose. That's not what is special about this plane, though. This plane would be best piloted by a metalbender, due to its main armament, but as long as it gets close to its target, even a nonbender should be able to pilot it. No offense, Miss Asami, Miss Zhu Li and Mister Varrick." Korra silently wondered why Meelo was being so polite - probably Pema's doing. Before any one of the three nonbenders could say, "None taken" Meelo pressed on, saying, "The reason a metalbender would be the best pilot would be this plane's special air-to-air Meesiles. They shoot forward and are guided by a long wire that a metalbender could guide with their bending, or anyone else could guide with a special control schematic that I don't know how it would work." Varrick said, after letting out a "Hmmm" or two, "Meelo, I think I know a way to make those missiles work even better. I'd need an extremely small camera, some kind of strong light source, and 'fins' on the missile, though." Varrick drew his idea to the side of Meelo's special Meesile. When he had finished, Varrick pointed to what looked like an eye on the Meesile, saying, "There's a camera in the nose that sees a point of light projected by the aircraft - or maybe a projection of Raava's energy from the tuber-vine. That would work better - Korra could 'paint' a target for it. Anyways, the camera sees the spot and helps control the fins of the rocket, guiding it towards its target. While Meelo's idea could be implemented almost immediately with metalbender pilots, mine would take more time than we have currently to perfect." Varrick drew a war balloon that closely resembled those Kuvira had used, saying, "Plus, if our opponent is this slow hunk of junk, we could just shoot it down with a spirit cannon. Given that, I'd say The Flying Hogmonkey should be given priority - its spirit cannons and Varrick gun would make quick work of any war balloons we come across."

Seemingly anticipating Meelo's grumpy face, Varrick said, "I'll be the one to try and get the six-barreled 'Varrick' gun working. I already have experience with lots of fancy machines. Speaking of machines - why don't you explain that weird line on the top of your aircraft barge, Meelo?" Meelo's frown vanished as he pointed animatedly to what he called an aircraft barge, saying, "From what I could guess, it sounds like the Fire Nation has no way of reliably getting their biplanes off the aircraft barge. A barge also can't hold very much. This aircraft _carrier _would have below-deck storage for more planes, ammunition, spare parts, and crew. This thing would be huge!" Meelo spread his hands as far apart as they could go, making everyone laugh. He continued, "For power, it would need more than just one tuber-vine, or a really big one. Why? The weird line on the top is like a catapult, but powered by… steam, I guess. It would launch the planes hooked into it on top of the deck at a high speed, generating lift. A cheaper option could be to have an airbender on board, helping generate lift, but we aren't exactly common." Meelo made a show of his "rare" talent as Varrick said, "I think I know a better way - electromagnets! After I saw the electromagnetic pulse take out everything but the Colossus, I wondered if I could use a big pulse of magnetic energy to propel a piece of metal. I remember my test run earlier today on the back of the Zhu Li shot clear through the wall and sunk an already panicked fisherman's boat - he kept babbling about some huge, random blue fire that almost torched him the day before when Zhu Li and I picked him up." Korra laughed, realizing this fisherman must have been who she nearly hit while mastering her blue flame, wondering what he had done to earn the Universe's ire.

Meelo said, "Think you can draw a gun based on that?" Varrick began doodling on another piece of blueprint, saying, "Tada! The VarriMag. If you want a big projectile, I think you'd need a tuber-vine power source. The piece of metal I shot was about as big as my thumb, and took a lot of power to shoot." Meelo shuffled through the growing pile of blueprints, clearly not finding what he wanted. Deciding to just describe his idea instead of taking Asami's last piece of blueprint paper, he said, "I think the URN battleships are cool, but they need an update. Tuber-vine power source, spiritwire coating to absorb spirit weapons or energy, some large spirit weapons of their own, a mix between Lipowder and spirit weapon anti-aircraft guns, and a single VarriMag gun." Korra said to a confused Kuvira, "You never know if Jinshu Kuangmai will come up with a way to stop spirit energy of his own. You did say he was always innovating."

Kuvira said, "I suppose you're right. One thing from all this, though - we only know of three tuber-vines in existence, and I doubt we're going to find a whole field of them any time soon. Care to project Raava out here?" Korra did so, Raava saying, "I'm afraid there aren't that many tuber-vines currently, and I can't make any more until the Spirit Civil War is over. You'll have to be very careful in your use of them - at the very least they have regenerative properties." Raava vanished back into Korra's chest, and Bumi finally spoke, saying, "I think it would be wisest to use the tuber-vines we do have for research and development of the two spirit energy driven aircraft and the VarriMag gun. The best weapon system to actually power with a tuber-vine is the battleships - two of them. I think the URN Navy has already salvaged parts of the ones Kuvira sunk, and we could always take a ship from the Fire Nation Navy and outfit it with Meelo's suggestions." Realizing something she should have done long ago, Korra said, "Let me see how many tuber-vines there are right now." Ignoring the conversation that erupted around her, she was shocked by the answer she got from her reading - there were almost thirty, scattered around Republic City! Most were inaccessible except by bending multiple elements at once, and she realized this was no accident, especially given they were Raava's gift.

Korra realized she was beginning to feel tired, and told everyone else, "I just found out there are a total of thirty tuber-vines - more than enough to actually produce limited numbers of aircraft and a single aircraft carrier. I will have to access most of them, however - it appears Raava placed them in spots that only multiple people working as a team or the Avatar can access." Seeing that some people had a confused look on their faces, she said, "For instance, one is located inside a large cavern outside Republic City on an old wooden relic behind a raging waterfall. A waterbender wouldn't be able to access the waterfall, and an earthbender wouldn't be able to get past the waterfall or bend the tuber-vine out. A metalbender trying to grapple it might slice it in half." Feeling her stomach growl, Korra said, "I'm starving, and need a bite to eat and something to drink. Given the look on Asami's face, she does as well. We're all out of blueprint paper anyways - Asami used the last one to sketch out Meelo's suggestions on the battleships. I think I'm done for today."

After she and Asami had eaten some good food that Pema had brought for dinner, drank plenty of water, they both saw the various guests off "their" private island. Given the gleam in Asami's eyes, Korra could tell they weren't going to bed just yet. Remembering what Asami had whispered in Raava's ear at the Republic City Spirit Portal crater and her "shopping trip", Korra felt the same wonderful feeling below her stomach again. As she brushed against Asami's body, Korra felt sparks course through her own.


	25. Chapter 25: Housekeeping

Chapter 25: Housekeeping

Korra knew that Asami had been busy while she was away getting Firelord Izumi, but she could hardly believe the mountain of stuff outside their house! Seeing that Korra was speechless, Asami just started pointing items out, first pointing at a large green box on wheels with tall steel spires sticking out the top. Asami said, "That's a modified generator and battery that Zhu Li 'bribed', shall we say, Varrick into parting with. Lin removed the gas tank and bent those steel electrical conductors on top. Since you can generate lightning, we don't need gas, and may not even need to be hooked into the electrical grid with this contraption - apparently, the batteries are very powerful, able to store a charge large enough to run anything for roughly 36 hours. They are something Zhu Li had been tinkering with on and off - she always did love chemistry."

Korra picked up one of many lightbulbs next to this generator, saying, "Yes - I overheard Zhu Li telling Varrick that his antics with Meelo were going to cost him tonight. I assume these lightbulbs and switches were also Zhu Li's handiwork?" Asami sighed slightly, saying, "Yes - and speaking of Zhu Li, once we get this stuff inside, I have something I want to talk to you about." Not quite sure what Asami was driving at, Korra pointed to a very large obnoxious purple mat beneath the stash of housewarming gifts, asking, "Is that just a rubber mat, or do you have a use for it in mind later?" Asami blushed wildly, saying, "That's not for now! Here - look at this wonderful bed Pema got Bolin and Opal to help haul from Upper Air Temple Island. It's brand new, never slept on, and is apparently a luxury model." Asami laughed before continuing, "Pema told me she caught an Air Acolyte making an overly profitable business deal behind her and Tenzin's backs a while ago, and they kicked him out of the Air Acolytes. They kept the 'excessive' bed he bought with a good portion of his profit, using it as a display to teach the other Air Acolytes a lesson." Korra said, "That doesn't seem very fair - he bought the bed, after all." Asami shrugged, saying, "I said the same thing to Pema. She just shrugged and said 'Tenzin's orders. Plus, I agree with his decision - avarice should not be tolerated, much less in an Air Acolyte.' You can't look a gift ostrichhorse in the mouth, though. It even still has the cloth covering it had in the store." Pointing to a lump of blankets, pillow covers and pillows at the foot of the luxury bed, Korra said, "I assume those were confiscated as well." Asami let out a sigh, saying, "Yes - I don't think those airbenders are quite as virtuous as they think they are. And Tenzin's treatment of Meelo didn't exactly help that impression."

Korra laughed at Asami's quip, then pointed at what appeared to be a motorboat, bobbing in the sea where water met house plateau. She asked Asami, "Is that _another_ 'gift' from Varrick? I hope you didn't tell anyone what it was for, if you asked for it." Asami laughed, saying, "Of course I didn't tell anyone about your idea for a secret basement and water inlet! I actually bought the boat from Varrick - I managed to get a good price, since Zhu Li was staring at him intently." Asami walked over and picked up a rug, and as she held it aloft, Korra realized with a start that it was of Water Tribe make! Asami could see the happiness in Korra's eyes, as she said, "I figured you might like this. I got two more as well - I bought them from some of the Water Tribe soldiers that came to help defend Republic City. Jinora helped me transport them on Oogi's back. We had to make multiple trips - I got more than just rugs. For some of the largest items, we needed Opal and Juicy's help. While I was in the camp, I also bought a tea set from the shop in Ba Sing Se that Uncle Iroh opened, making sure to give the seller a good price. He was from a company of Earth Kingdom loyalist soldiers who stood ready to fight Kuvira, and he told me of how his family was suffering under Kuvira, and he needed money more than the teapots." Korra ran over to Asami, hugging her lightly, saying, "That was awfully sweet of you. I assume there are similar stories behind the furniture?"

Asami put her hand on top of a solid wood cabinet, saying, "Yes - I was surprised by how many officers in the camp were willing to trade family heirlooms to feed hungry mouths. They were basically refugees at heart, even if they wanted to fight - Kuvira displaced a lot of people. We're going to have our work cut out for us in the Earth Kingdom, Korra - everything would be so much simpler if it weren't for that stupid Spirit Civil War!" Asami stamped the ground with her heel in frustration, causing her chest to move up and down. Korra shook her head suddenly - she noticed she had been staring in rapt attention, waiting for Asami to stamp her heel again. Asami said, "The sooner we get all this stuff in, the sooner you can see more of that. It's a good thing you made the front doors wide." Not wanting any further delays, Korra began helping Asami move items into the house, grunting under some of their weights, especially the wooden furniture. She made sure to bend the walls carefully to let them move in the larger pieces, including a massive circular table that she would have liked to take a better look at, if she weren't so tired. Why couldn't she bend wood again? Toph had managed to bend metal, after all. Anything with metal in it was very easy to move, at the very least.

Asami pointed to the two remaining items - the strange purple mat and the generator. Korra used her metalbending to move the generator away from the house, and she had seemingly read Asami's mind, as the next thing out of her mouth was, "Why don't you charge those batteries up? Your extremely sturdy house without windows is going to be very dark without lights." Using the Avatar State to save energy and make the process faster, Korra sent a steady stream of lightning into the coils, stopping when she heard a loud shriek from the green metal box. Asami said, removing her hands for her ears, "It's a good thing I got Varrick to install an alarm in that thing - had you kept going, the batteries would have exploded, and there's some pretty nasty stuff in them from what Zhu Li told me." After they both went inside, Korra inserted the legion of lightbulbs into their sockets with metalbending, then asked Asami for assistance with installing the light switches and controls. As she watched Asami fiddle with the copper in the walls, Asami said, "You might want to use some of that rubber mat to cover these wires - I don't want to accidentally touch one and get electrocuted."

Noticing that the purple rubber mat was still outside, Korra asked Asami, "Is this thing coming in too? It's too large to fit in anywhere." Asami said with a calm voice, as though she were restraining herself, "That, you need to slice up, use to cover the wires and then put on the floor in the main room. I have something else in mind for it later." Puzzled what Asami wanted with such an obnoxious purple rubber mat besides wiring insulation, Korra ripped a chunk off the remaining ore. She formed a blade she used to tear into the mat, finding the shredding satisfying. She made to toss the metal aside, but Asami held up a hand, saying, "Now that I think about it, you'll need that metal later as well." Korra shrugged, turning the metal mass into a ball and using bending to place it into a large ceramic bowl. After Korra covered the metal wires using her firebending and metalbending with Asami's directions, she noticed there was still a lot of rubber left. Purple rubber, metal - just what was Asami planning, making a rubber mannequin?

Feeling tired, Korra joined Asami at one of the large wooden tables she wished she could have woodbended - the largest. Asami got up and returned with the tea set she had bought and some tea packets, saying, "If you go outside and purify some seawater, we can have some tea and rice crackers. I figured you might be tired or hungry. Here - just bend that metal into a jug, get some water, and let me do the rest." Korra barely managed to manipulate the metal and purify the water without yawning. Seeing that Korra was in no mood for any hard work, Asami walked Korra through the steps to make some purple rubber tongs. Korra had no idea why she needed to make tongs until Asami asked her to make a small blue flame to heat the tea with. Korra smiled weakly as she saw what Asami was doing - she held the teapot above the flame with the odd purple implement. Korra was half asleep when she heard a piercing whistle - apparently, the tea was done. Korra withdrew her hand and crossed her arms under a heavy head.

Asami woke her later, saying, "Here - heat this tea again, and eat some crackers. It should help you wake back up - you'll need to be wide awake for what I have planned later." Asami patted Korra on the back as she heated the tea, saying, "You're probably going to need to bend us a stove, or let me install one - I like to cook, and we can't rely on your bending for food or drink apparently. You were exhausted." Korra's eyes opened wide as a wonderful energy woke her back up - apparently brought back in anticipation of this mysterious plan Asami had. As Korra drank the tea, she noticed something odd - it tasted sweet! At first, she wanted to spit it out, but found she quite liked it. Korra said, "That tea - it's sweet! Did you put some sugar in it? I've never heard of 'sweet tea' before." Asami said, after taking a drink of her own 'sweet tea', said, "I got the idea from the man who sold me this tea set - apparently, it's some new sensation in Ba Sing Se from Uncle Iroh's tea shop. The Jasmine Dragon! That's the shop's name. It's supposed to give you a lot of energy, and you'll need plenty of that in a while." Not entirely sure why, Korra felt sparks course through her body again - the suspense was starting to kill her! She almost asked Asami what this plan was, but then decided not to - the wonderful feeling below her stomach had returned, and she figured it might vanish if she knew Asami's plan. And she did NOT want it to vanish.

Once Korra and Asami had consumed two pots of tea, at Asami's insistence, Korra remembered a comment Asami said earlier about Zhu Li. Korra extended a hand to Asami's arm, caressing its form before asking, "You said you wanted to talk about something involving Zhu Li earlier. Care to discuss it?" Asami let out a sigh, saying, "Yes - I slapped Zhu Li when she was insinuating that I was against using tuber-vines for civilian power because it would make the price of oil crash, ruining the profit potential of your oil find this morning." Asami took a deep breath, continuing, "I even physically fought with her, driven by some strange rage. While I don't mind a fight with bad guys, afterwards, I just felt sort of shaken up about it. No, guilty is the better word." Korra could see that Asami was truly upset - she even pushed Korra's hand away so she could put both her fine hands to her chin, moping.

Korra pried Asami's morose pose apart, put her hand on Asami's chin and said gently, "Asami, we've all been through a lot lately, nobody more than me and you. Within a three day time span, you saw your father killed and your home city devastated, dealt with deep emotional hurt and a serious threat against your own life from a powerful spirit, found out that you're pregnant through extraordinary means, that said pregnancy was the igniting event for the Spirit Civil War, found out that Toph had an evil son who is now in charge of the remnants of the Earth Empire, and found out Long Yumao's horrible plan and the possibility of the end of the world - 'Sudden Death'. Just saying it all is hard… The fact that you didn't just whip out your electroglove and use it on Zhu Li after that rude comment says a lot of things about you - all of them good." Satisfied that she had comforted Asami well, as was Asami no longer on the verge of crying, Korra continued with a laugh, "Plus, as we spend more time together as lovers instead of friends, I think some of my attributes will wipe off on you, and vice versa. That's what my parents told me a committed relationship is like when I was little."

Asami gave a contented sigh, happy to let Korra's hand just lie on her face. Korra noticed a sudden rush of energy enter her system, and given Asami's widening eyes, she must have been experiencing the same thing. After a while, Asami said, "You're right, Korra - but I'm still going to apologize to Zhu Li tomorrow. About what you said about 'lovers' - you should have felt the same energy rush that I just did. Let me draw you a picture of what I want you to make using the same technique you created those tongs with. Given your sheltered upbringing, I doubt you will know what the items are, but that will just add to the surprise. After I draw the schematics, I will have some… preparations of my own to make."

Asami took out a pencil and a sheet of paper, drawing two odd forms that Korra didn't recognize. Korra said, with a frown, "Those look like they're going to be a lot harder to make than tongs, and you're right - I have not a clue what they are. I've never seen those odd bumps on any object, and it might take me a while to make them." Asami laughed, giving Korra a sultry look, saying, "You'll know what they are for shortly, beautiful. You need to make two of the smaller ones. Just try your best - the only hint I'll give you is you better make sure they're smooth aside from the bumps. Good luck!" As Asami left the room sloooowly, Korra noticed her pick up an indistinct bag, then unbutton her jacket, letting it fall to the ground outside their bedroom door. As a shirtless Asami shut the bedroom door, Korra's eyes darted around the room looking for some metal and the shredded purple rubber mat, her beating heart and the now intensified feeling below her stomach driving her on.

Korra's first attempt at making the smaller objects ended in disaster, with molten rubber escaping the form and dropping onto the marble floor below, her earlier success with the wires apparently not counting. Asami wasn't there to offer suggestions, after all. Bending a piece of metal, Korra scooped the excess rubber off the tile before it had a chance to solidify. Trying a different approach, Korra made a one-piece form using metalbending, carefully melting the rubber that had not fallen on the floor into it. After the rubber had cooled, she bent the metal away from the purple object, seeing that she had made a perfect copy of the schematic. She easily formed the next identical object, plopping it next to its brother on the wooden table. When she tried to make the next new object, she had to restart three times until she figured out she would need to use firebending to fuse the two halves together. While this technique succeeded in making the two halves one, she noticed that the border between the two halves left something to be desired. Remembering her earlier success with a one-piece form, Korra grumbled as she made the metal bend to her very specific will. Finally satisfied with the form, she again melted rubber with firebending into the form. Still hearing Asami shuffling around in their bedroom, Korra made a second copy of the larger object.

Korra grabbed the four purple thingies and brought them with her to the bedroom door, rapping on the sheer marble surface with her free hand. Asami said, "Just a minute!" and a short time later, she said, "Come in - I'm ready!" Korra opened the door and stepped forward, initially confused - all she could see on the bed was a bottle of high-quality sake and the flames of some aromatic candles at various points in the room. Asami said, "Close your eyes and hold out those three… thingies, Korra. No peeking or using your earthsense!" Korra obeyed eagerly, and as she took a deep breath, the aroma of the candles hit her. Seemingly as soon as her brain processed the smell, she felt an uncontrollable desire to… grab Asami's butt?

Asami tapped Korra on the shoulder, and after Korra went through with her impulse - noticing that she grabbed a fur coat, much to Korra's own disappointment - Asami said, "You can open your eyes now, and given that sudden grab, I take it the candles are having the desired effect. But we're not going to go through with those desires just yet - first, we need to drink some sake." As she opened her eyes, she saw Asami was wearing a heavy fur coat, and not much else - wide expanses of skin showed below Asami's shapely hips. The coat didn't even fully cover Asami's underwear.

Not wanting to spoil Asami's clearly intricate plans, Korra joined Asami on the bed. She removed her own shirt as well as her heavy pants, leaving only her bra, underwear and underpants on - she always dressed warmly, even when not at the South Pole. Asami poured them both a glass of the sake, asking Korra to use her waterbending to cool the alcohol in the bottle and glasses. After she finished, Korra took a drink of the alcohol, making sure not to take too much - she had never tasted it before. At first, she felt as though someone had poured scalding tea down her throat and she let out a cough, but she soon felt a warm sensation spread through her being. Loving the combination of this and the other ongoing sensations, she made to down the whole glass, but Asami stopped her, saying, "Whoa there, stunning - given that cough, this must be your first taste of alcohol. You're likely feeling as big a buzz as you need, or want - I don't want a drunken Avatar in my bed, and given what you showed me of Raava's behavior at the Avatar Party, I don't think you want that either."

Part of Korra felt like drinking the whole bottle, just to see what being roaring drunk felt like - Raava seemed to be having a lot of fun at the party. Korra gave her glass to Asami, saying, "I'll have to see what being drunk is like some other time - we've got that big meeting on Ember Island tomorrow as well, and if I were to act like Raava did there, that would be very bad." Asami laughed lightly, saying, "I guess it really is your first taste of alcohol - if you get really drunk, you have something awful called a 'hangover' the next morning, not more being drunk. Believe me, they aren't pretty - I used to raid my father's liquor cabinet whenever I was feeling down about his iron grip over who I thought was sexy." Although curious what this "liquor" was, Korra asked, "Surely you didn't have me make those thingies for them to just sit there. What are they for?"

Asami replied with a quick smile, "Later." Korra groaned, irritated with Asami's noncommittal answer. Asami laughed, saying, "I need to drink my own drinks anyways - it might take me a bit of even this high grade sake to feel a buzz, given my youthful indiscretion." Asami quickly drank her own drink, moving on to Korra's almost full glass, finally stopping after a _third _glass. Korra said sappily, "I didn't know you had that rough a childhood," making Asami giggle and say, "Not really - this is only slightly above what a normal person would take to get a buzz." Korra felt an extremely bizarre sensation, and something told her Asami was lying - and badly. Noticing that her hand had crept onto Asami's outer thigh over time, she realized with a start what had happened - she had sensed a change in Asami's heartbeat subconsciously! Remembering Toph and Tonga's "talent", she couldn't help but wonder if she was really Toph's fourth child.

_No, silly - you're just really talented. Remember, even that scumbag Aiwei could read people. Now quit thinking and start… groping!_

Quite sure what word Raava had intended to put last, Korra took her command literally anyways, which apparently pleased Asami to no end. Asami moaned as Korra's hands wandered of their own volition, "I see somebody must have told you about foreplay, at least." While still feeling Asami's wonderful body, Korra asked seriously, "What's that? I just started 'groping', like Raava told me." Asami snorted, "Wait, what? I never thought a spirit would be teaching the Avatar about sex!" Despite hearing the word "sex" making Korra even more tingly, she continued running her hands over Asami, who eventually held up a hand, saying, "Now it's time for me to return the favor."

Asami pushed Korra aside, pushing her against the soft bed. As soon as Asami began expertly tracing her hands over Korra's exposed body, Asami laughed, saying, "I never thought those stupid 'dating classes' would be of any real use. Prepare to have your mind blown." Asami deftly placed her hand on Korra's ear, and began tracing some invisible pleasure line. When Asami began playing with Korra's heaving chest, she felt her eyes glow strongly. Asami continued, saying, "Oh my - the Avatar State already! You're just going to _love _the thingies." Korra wasn't quite sure what could be better than this, but a disturbing thought occurred to her - what if she inadvertently bended and hurt Asami?

_Aang never did it, and neither will you. More feely, less thinky!_

Asami actually managed to make Korra cry "Yes! Oh, more!" with just her hands and adrenaline pulsed through her body. After Asami finished and Korra resumed breathing normally, she asked, still winded, "So now can I see what the thingies are for?" Asami laughed, getting up off the bed, saying, "I won't tell you - I'll show you. Now get ready." Asami threw off her coat with a dramatic flair, and Korra felt a rush of blood in her head. Before she could say anything, Asami told Korra, "These undergarments are special - they have metal in them. I inserted the strips myself, not wanting to make Lin, Su, Bolin or Kuvira uncomfortable. Good, good - I see you have removed those stupid pants and started on the other remaining pieces of cloth between you and me. Now, bend these off, and I'll show you what the thingies are for - real good." Korra's hands moved of their own, and she simply stood still, admiring Asami's raw beauty, everything feeling right. Asami chuckled with flushed cheeks, saying, "I never figured you for a romantic, Korra - I thought you'd just fly at me." Korra gave a surprised Asami a big hug, relishing the feel of her skin again Asami's - especially her chest, but not for the most obvious, lewd reason. It was what lay beneath that Korra found so pleasurable. Her heart was beating rapidly, a wonderful feeling gripping it tight. She felt the same sensation of oneness she felt whenever infobending Asami, but with undercurrents of a strong love. Some tears escaped her eyes from the pure bliss.

Korra felt a light thwap across her back after a minute or two, though it was clearly not made by a hand. Asami said, "Wow - you really _are_ a lover. Mako made a big mistake, I can tell you that much. This is by itself very nice, but I want to use these thingies - and once we start, so will you."

Asami was right - Korra _did_ love the thingies.

Korra couldn't even count the number of times she flashed in and out of the Avatar State over the next hour and a half, the spiritual power seemingly giving her superhuman stamina. Korra felt a wonderful, constant mix of love, lust, sparks - the list seemed endless. The time of her life finally ended when an exhausted Asami said, shaking her head, "I can't do any more - I need to talk to Katara about the Avatar State, your stamina is just… mind-boggling!" Asami tossed aside the thingie in her hand, collapsing onto the bed. Remembering the earlier embrace, Korra crawled in beside her, wrapping her body around Asami's side. Smooth, soft skin… warmth… as one. As she drifted off to sleep, she saw Asami's jade green eyes appear in the darkness that engulfed her like a warm, welcome mist.


	26. Chapter 26: Ember Transit

Chapter 26: Ember Transit

Even with the conference slated to start at lunchtime the next day on Ember Island in Zuko's old family home, Korra had not dreamed one bit about the big event. It was all Asami, all the time, and Korra felt betrayed when she was woken up. Mumbling something about Asami's body and her dreams, she heard a familiar laugh that got her attention immediately. Asami, wearing her fur coat and nothing else, said from the foot of the bed, "I see you had pleasant dreams as well. But, to business. We both need to wash up - you can't go to the conference like that, all sticky from our fun last night. Why don't you add in that basement you said we need, and we can wash off using purified sea water." Korra felt like just sweeping Asami off her feet and starting last night all over again, but she sighed, saying, "I guess we can always do something _interesting_ later, after the conference. I'm not putting my clothes back on until I have to, though - I haven't ran around free as the polar wind since I was a little girl."

Asami laughed, suggesting, "Who said it had to be _later_, Korra? Once the water feature is done, we can … save some time by washing off together beside it." Asami gave her another sultry look that made Korra's head spin. Asami smiled, continuing, "Korra - now it's my turn to stare. Why don't you start doing some really exaggerated bending moves to make that hideout." A large smile crept onto Korra's face and she leapt off the bed, relishing the freedom of motion, among other things. Korra struck her foot hard against the floor, the force shaking her body. Apparently, this is just what Asami had in mind, as she said, "Yeah - more of that, definitely" as Korra entered the Avatar State and processed the information about the rock beneath the house. Deciding to use her feet to earthbend - both for practical purposes and to tickle Asami's fancy - and her arms to alternatively lavabend and waterbend, Korra set about the sweaty work of creating a cavern below.

Wanting to make sure that the water entrance to the cavern was hidden, she put great care into making the cave entrance natural-looking. Before trying to create the underground sea inlet, Korra created a hidden door on the floor next to Asami, making her yelp in surprise. Korra formed earthen stairs beneath, stopping them near a large bubble in the volcanic rock she had detected with earthsense. Korra used this bubble as the base for a large room, only extending it when she had to. Thinking she was almost done, she created a large chasm near the "cave" entrance for sea water to rush into and an earthen dock at the point nearest the stairs. Before she could break the barrier between ocean and the inlet, she got an idea that she figured would please Asami to no end. Taking a deep breath, she used the power of the Avatar State and her upper body strength to instantly create a marble-lined pool close to the water's edge, intending to fill it with purified sea water. She made another smaller pool of a similar make next to it - a "hot tub". Remembering her longing for cold, she created another one next to it, intending to fill it with cold water and ice when she wanted a reminder of the frozen South. She didn't figure Asami would care much for it, but Korra didn't really see the appeal of a "hot tub" either.

Satisfied with her work, Korra exited the Avatar State - though not likely for long, she thought with a smile. Korra opened the door in the floor, saying, "Come on! Get some soap and a scrubber, lose the coat, and come see what I made!" Asami's coat hit the floor with a satisfying thump, and she ran off to get what they would both need to get clean, Korra watching intently as she did so. When Asami was deep in thought, apparently trying to find the scrubber, Korra snuck over slowly and grabbed Asami's butt. Asami let out a small whimper, saying, "Just give me a minute - I can't think when you're grabbing my rear!" Korra removed her hand, looking around the room, suddenly spotting the scrubber - apparently, all her bending had hidden it under a fallen tile. Korra said, "The scrubber's over there under that tile, but don't move - I think I have some repair work to do." Using a lighter strike this time, Korra did not sense any major damage.

Grabbing Asami's hand without explanation, Korra whisked her down the stairs to show Asami her handiwork. As they reached the last stair, Asami asked, "Where's the water?" and Korra slapped herself on the face - she had forgotten to let the sea in! Korra used earthbending to destroy the gap of earth between sea and interior, barely having time to react to the torrent of water that entered. She slowed the tide with her waterbending, realizing she had to take the elements a lot more seriously when doing construction. Entering the Avatar State as a precaution, she purified large amounts of sea water at the same time making sure the sea wouldn't rush in with such violence as it had before, placing a lot of normal temperature water into the largest pool and hot and cold water in their respective tubs.

Asami pointed at the hot tub, saying, "I don't know what the ice in the other one is for, but is that what I think it is? That would be perfect to get clean together in! Although, the hot water would make cleaning a little too fast for my tastes…" Before Korra could point out that they _did_ need to get clean quickly, Asami wrapped an arm around Korra's back, lying her hand on Korra's bare stomach, strumming her fingers on Korra's sweaty belly.

As they cleansed themselves together, taking turns on one another to make sure they didn't miss any spots, Korra yet again entered the Avatar State at random times, thoroughly enjoying this mutual bath. Korra said, her eyes glowing and her voice quivering, "We'll have to do this every night! Ohhhh…" Asami laughed, saying, "I'm glad you like it so much. It's why I got you up at 6:00 AM - I figured we might be down here for a while." Korra sensed a small alarm going off upstairs through the tile, her earthsense apparently magnified by the Avatar State. Korra said, "I think we were both clean a good while ago - my mind seems to have been hijacked by my body. What was that alarm I just sensed upstairs?" Asami stopped rubbing her back, saying, "I'm glad you can earthsense - that was my watch! It must be 8:00 AM by now, between your creation of this beautiful place and our excessive hygiene."

Using the Avatar State for an entirely new purpose - to regain control of her body from whatever had hijacked it - and bending the soap off both their bodies with large streams of fresh water, Korra said, "We better get going - you said when we were moving stuff that everyone was going to leave the new island at 8:00 AM on the Zhu Li, didn't you? I believe Tenzin set the time." A panicked look jumped onto Asami's face, who said, "Quick, get some clothes on and project yourself to Tenzin, and tell him we're going to be late!" Korra ran upstairs alongside Asami, having no time to look at her, and threw her clothes on, almost beginning to project herself before Asami said, "Wait, stop! You look like a mess - here, let me fix you up, then you can help me!" Korra stood still while an undressed Asami fussed with Korra's outfit and hair before handing Korra a Water Tribe comb, saying, "Hold onto this until I get dressed - my outfit is a little bit more complicated than yours, so you may as well contact Tenzin now." Korra said with a wide grin, "I don't see what's wrong with your current outfit, Asami - it _fits _you rather nicely." Asami blushed, seeing fit to give Korra one last bare hug before running off.

Despite the difficulty, Korra managed to stop focusing on Asami's energy - among other things Asami - and concentrate on Tenzin instead.

When she projected in front of Tenzin who was standing near Pema in a distant corner of the ship, he began laughing, saying, "Your expression… You honestly didn't think I expected to leave with everyone at exactly 8:00 AM, did you? That was just a number to keep you from doing… whatever it is two women do for too long. I know what I did with Pema the first night in our own house." Pema blushed slightly, saying, "He's right - plus, with that blue flame jet technique, we should be able to get there on time anyways. Zhu Li and I already assured Varrick no harm would come to his 'boat', and Katara offered to sit at the prow to reduce water drag with her bending." Tenzin said, as though he had been thinking while Pema talked, "I think Meelo, Jinora, Opal and I should be able to reduce air friction as well." Korra said excitedly, "You're bringing Meelo to a war conference? Thank you for listening to me yesterday!" Before Tenzin could respond, Pema said, "Yes, he is - through no small effort on my own part. Meelo didn't act very grumpy at all in our home last night, so I convinced Tenzin to let him go."

Satisfied that everything was in working order, Korra said, "Thank you both so much! See you soon!" and began to end the projection when she saw Pema and Tenzin wave. Given the way they looked at each other before doing so, Korra wouldn't have been surprised if they had been kissing in the secluded spot before she contacted them. Evidently, she had said so out loud, as Pema's face flushed again, saying, "Yes - now go!" As Korra vanished, she saw Pema slap Tenzin's butt with a coy smile on her face and a gleam in her green eyes.

When Korra came to, she saw Asami standing in front of her body, who said, "Quick, comb my hair, and help me adjust my clothes! We've got to go - I don't know what you were talking with Tenzin about for so long; it's 8:15 AM!" Korra laughed and stood up, placing a palm on Asami's forehead, going on to comb Asami's beautiful dark hair as Asami stood in temporary shock at what Korra had just shared with her. Korra was just finishing Asami's hair when she said, "Wow. It's so nice to be accepted for who you are, Korra - I just hope President Raiko doesn't have a fit at the conference. He never really struck me as overly tolerant - just enough to win elections, nothing more." Korra shrugged, saying, "So what if he doesn't like our relationship? Given that Republic City's core was destroyed three - no, four - days ago means he's not likely to try anything stupid. Plus, after that lecture from Aang on trust and President Raiko's less infuriating antics lately, I'm ready to be open with him. He had a statue of me commissioned for the incinerated Avatar Korra Park, after all."

Asami sighed, still not fully satisfied, saying, "Come on, let's go. I'll radio Varrick quickly and ask him where the ship is, and then you can do something to get us there quickly. Maybe the flame jets?" Korra laughed as Asami ran off, saying, "No - I don't want to roast you! Some airbending will have to do." After Asami told Korra the ship was parked right near their house, Korra grabbed Asami and used a large gust of wind to land on the rear of the massive ship. After lightly striking the ship's hull and sensing where Mako was, Korra made to run off to find him, but ran into a form that had seemingly teleported in front of her. Korra looked up, saying, "Watch where you're going, you - " before stopping in her tracks, seeing that it was Katara! Katara whispered, "I figured I'd find you here. Don't forget - we need to meet Ty Lee if you want to learn to block someone's bending without resorting to Amon's method." Returning to a normal voice, she finished "Plus, Asami will want to talk to them both - maybe you could even infobend some of their expertise to Asami and yourself, given the fact that neither one will be up to physically demonstrating. If they refuse, just offer to tell them about Azula - that should get their cooperation." Katara walked towards the prow of the ship, whistling innocently in a way that made Aang laugh in Korra's head.

While Korra would have loved to watch the other benders in action, given that she was the Avatar and the main source of propulsion on the ship, she couldn't. Once Mako joined Korra at the rear of the ship and everyone else was ready, they began shooting massive jets of flame. Asami sat watching her in a chair with sunglasses on, periodically yelling "Stop! Mako, Korra, switch - food and water break!" While Korra drank some tea that Uncle Iroh had somehow made - she still didn't get this whole "human spirit in the physical world" thing - and ate some meat on a piece of ricecake, Mako took over temporarily until Korra felt stronger again. Before she could relieve him so he could eat, she felt a familiar surge of energy, and the little white rascal in front of her said, "As I become more human-y, strange things happen. Just go with it." When Raava returned to her, Korra heard her intone _You're going to find more and more odd things happening - my front row seat last night and this morning just accelerated changes already happening. _Korra laughed loudly, causing Mako to drop his jets and ask, "What's wrong, Korra? What did Raava say?" Korra said, taking Mako's hand and then "assisting" him off the platform, "It's none of your business." Despite her better judgment, Korra said, "You had your chance," making Asami snort and spill some of her tea while laughing. Mako surprised Korra by saying, "I think I know what you're talking about, and I'm fine with it. I'm sure I'll find someone someday."

Korra took up her position on the back of the boat and began letting loose torrents of Avatar State powered blue flames. She nearly lost control of the flames when she heard a woman say, "Maybe sooner rather than later - fire and steel mix well!" Asami burst out laughing and given the wet splash and sound of breaking china that followed, Mako must have thrown a teacup at this unseen person. Mako yelled back, "Whatever, Kuvira. I'm not attracted to you in the least, change or no change! Now go back to wherever you came from so I can eat!" Korra snorted loudly, this time losing the flame for good - the same truthsense she had with Asami last night told her Mako was lying! Thankfully, no one but her knew about this new truthseer ability and Asami just laughed it off, apparently remembering Mako and Kuvira's blushing from the previous day. Just as she thought she could resume powering the Zhu Li, she spotted two figures coming up the ramp. When they both saw the shattered teacup and liquid around it, they both cried "I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but… it's just so sad!" in unison. Just adding to Korra's confusion, the two figures - Zuko and Uncle Iroh - hugged each other while… crying?

Sick and tired of all this weird crap, Korra stormed over to the two and forcefully projected Raava out, saying, "I DEMAND a better explanation for these two being able to hug than 'more and more odd things happening!' I can't do my job as Avatar properly when I have no clue as to what's going on, and all this constant change is making me crazy! Spirits coming into the physical world, new airbenders - that I can handle! But Uncle Iroh being able to hug his nephew in the physical world flies in the face of everything I've ever learned, much less Uncle Iroh being able to cry out here!"

Given the look on Raava's face - it closely resembled that of a really angry Katara - she was about to launch into a tirade, but before she could do so, a huffy Varrick bowled Zuko, Uncle Iroh and Raava over. His face was beet red, and he yelled, "I'm the owner of this vessel, and I order you all to shut your yaps! Do you want me to turn the actual engines on full throttle so you useless oafs can keep having your deep and meaningful interruptions, or would you mind actually doing your job and shoot fire off the back of the ship! I give you two one job, Mako and Korra, and we've been stationary for the last 5 minutes!" Raava got up and swelled to her normal size and boomed angrily at Varrick, "Oh, I'm sorry that the Avatar and the most powerful spirit in the world have a _slight_ conflict over the very nature of the world and that she cannot power your boat properly! I'll make a note that I need to start personally removing your calluses if you're so important, _Varrick._" Varrick's face was now a beet purple and he ran off screaming, "Zhu Li! Zhu Li! Save me, Raava's gone mental! AAAAAAH!"

Having apparently vented her anger, Raava returned to normal size, and said, "Iroh's tears are not physical - they are just things you mortals see as a communication of his feelings." Zuko said, "Look at my chest. See the wet? Does that _look_ like fake tears to you?" A clearly nervous Raava said, "I'm sure those are your own tears, Zuko. It's just not possible, and no big deal. Why don't you demonstrate for us, Uncle Iroh?" Uncle Iroh gave Raava a skeptical look, then laughed, saying, "What are you, crazy? I can't cry on demand!" Zuko placed a hand on Uncle Iroh's shoulder, saying, "I can think of one thing you don't know that will make you cry. Korra and Mako, come over here - we're going to need triple proof to convince Raava something is different." Korra knew the one thing that could make Uncle Iroh cry as if tea had just been banned or it turned out the Fire Nation had won the 100 Year's War after all. Zuko began telling Uncle Iroh about Azula's tale of woe, and as soon as his uncle started crying profusely, Zuko placed one hand on Uncle Iroh's back and one to the side. Zuko said, "Okay, now - Korra, Mako, place your hands under my Uncle's teardrops and see if they interact with you."

Uncle Iroh was too deep in his sorrow to mind, periodically wondering aloud why he had never seen it, so Korra placed her hand underneath Uncle Iroh's face, and to her shock, not only did a tear rest on her hand, it made her skin glow as if it were an Master Airbender Avatar's tattoo! When Zuko did the same, Korra's mouth fell open - the tear did the exact same thing! When Mako put his hand in the path of now subsiding tears, the tear interacted with his hand, but no glowing happened.

Raava was in complete, total shock, and she yelled, "Jinora! Tenzin! Come here - we have a problem!" Three figures came racing up the stairs - apparently, Opal had come along with them. Raava explained what had happened with Uncle Iroh's tears, and given the look on Tenzin's face, he was completely stumped. Mako, content his part in this was over, began propelling the Zhu Li again, and Korra could hear Varrick cheering at the head of the boat. As they moved, Raava finally managed to say, "This is… unprecedented. I'm not going to ask you to cut Uncle Iroh with a knife to see if he bleeds, but the tear's behavior is something I have never seen in ten thousand years." Zuko said, while hugging his sad uncle tightly, said, "The tears only produced glowing on my own hands and Korra's. I expected something interesting to happen when the tear hit Korra's hand, given she is the Avatar, but I have barely any idea why it would glow on my hand." Raava said, "Barely any idea is better than no idea at all. Speak up." Zuko replied, "My best guess is since I had an extremely close bond with Uncle Iroh during my lifetime, that is why my skin glowed as well. I've heard the word 'humanity' bandied around quite a lot lately." Uncle Iroh removed his nephew's grasp and said sadly, "I was closer to Zuko than his own father. I do not think it is familial, however - if Azula were alive, my tears might burn her." Uncle Iroh shook his head, saying, "No, no, I shouldn't joke like that. It is not nice. Wait… there is someone else aboard who knew me well, but not as much as my nephew, obviously. Katara! Come here, we need your help!"

Katara came as fast as she could, and Korra overheard Varrick yell, "Dagnabbit! Not again! I just lost the airbenders. Get back here and make us go faster, Katara! You may be old, but you're bending just as much as Kya, Senna and Tonraq!" followed by a loud slap that must have been from Zhu Li, given how he screamed, "Go do your thing Katara, I don't mind!". After Raava explained what happened, seeing that Uncle Iroh was already sad, Katara did something Korra didn't think would work - she picked up some of Uncle Iroh's tears off the deck! When she placed a tear blob against her skin, it only glowed slightly. Zuko's eyes opened, and he said, "I think this odd event has to do with that," pointing to Raava's human-y form. Raava said angrily, "Call me by name, at least! But what do you mean? Wait a minute…" Raava studied her small hands, felt her face, and played with her snow-white hair. "I think I get it now. With Korra and others as guides, I have become increasingly human, and any spirits aligned with me must be doing the same. I need to do an experiment. Get me Bumi and Bumju! On second thought, just Bumju - Bumi isn't going to like this."

Once Bumju had flown over, happily trilling, Raava's face took on a darker due as she said, "My little quip about cutting Iroh earlier? I'm afraid that may be what we need to do here. Korra, I want you to talk to and re-assure Bumju, then use a piece of metal to make a small incision. I don't think we'll be able to get Bumju to cry - he's too darn happy!" Korra felt a queasy feeling in her stomach as she bent a fork into a scalpel, holing it behind her back while she explained to Bumju what was going on in spirit-speak. Much to her surprise, he trilled loudly when she was done, which her brain translated as "If Raava needs me, I am happy to help."

With her hesitation evaporated, she made a small cut on Bumju's leg. At first, it didn't bleed, but to her shock, after about 15 seconds, a single, small drop of red blood appeared. After Korra felt Raava return to her body, her eyes began glowing. Korra found that she could actually manipulate the blood! She bent it onto her arm and the drop produced a glow much larger in diameter than Uncle Iroh's tear had, with Bumju's status as first and only spirit convert apparently making him very close to Korra and Raava.

Before Korra could test Bumju's blood on anyone else, Katara let out a delayed scream, saying, "Did you just BLOODBEND a _spirit's blood_ without any formal training in the Avatar State? What… How? Hama had to practice for years under a full moon, situation forced me to learn quickly, and the Yakone family had nasty talent on their side!" Katara shook her head violently, saying, "After we're done with this issue, I want you to try and bloodbend someone." After the shocked gasps around her, Korra figured the fireferret was out of the bag, and explained Katara's offer - though not where they would have trained. Suddenly remembering she forgot to put in a moon roof in the basement, Korra realized she likely didn't need it after all. Korra's eyes glowed momentarily, and Raava's form returned to the deck. Tapping Korra's shoulder, Tenzin said, "My offer still stands, Korra. But we have to figure out what in the blazes is going on here first. Anyone got an idea, past 'Raava is more human-y'? That doesn't seem sufficient to me, otherwise Uncle Iroh would have been crying at the party last night."

A bizarre idea occurred to Korra, and apparently Raava read her mind, as she said, "Well, in case anyone hadn't just inferred this already, last night Asami and Korra consummated their relationship, shall we say. If I am learning human-y things from Korra, perhaps this shared experience was enough to effect this change." Uncle Iroh shook his head, saying, "Early, early this morning, at about 4:00 AM - I don't need to sleep as a spirit - I dropped a teacup while trying to make some tea, and I picked up the pieces. One of them hit my finger in such a way that it should have made a cut in my skin if I were alive, but it didn't. Korra, let me see that scalpel." Uncle Iroh took the blade's edge and ran it along the palm of his hand in a short line. He actually yelped in pain, saying, "What is this? I'm bleeding! I can understand Bumju, the first spirit to join Raava's side in the Spirit Civil War - but me, a human spirit? I know I'm aligned with Raava, but…" Uncle Iroh's eyes opened wide, and he said, "I felt a very odd pulse of energy earlier today - before getting on this boat. Something tells me Avatar Korra was too busy to notice it."

Uncle Iroh turned to face the three present airbenders, asking, "Did any of you feel an odd pulse of energy?" Opal's eyes widened so big they looked like a child's finger would fit in the pupil, and she said, "The new Spirit Portal! It must have strengthened the link between the spirit and physical world, and given what's happened, considerably. I got airbending a week or two after Harmonic Convergence. Jinora, did you notice any odd energy pulses between the end of Harmonic Convergence and the first new airbenders?" Shaking her head side to side, Jinora said, "I was still too drained after the fight to feel any energy, and my dad still had some emotional blocks at the time - our problems didn't start with Kai." Opal said, with a shocked look on her face, "So that means we have no idea what else this new Spirit Portal has in store. I can't possibly see who would get bending - it's not like Republic City is closely associated with airbenders. The colony upon which it was founded was a mix of earthbenders and firebenders, and there's plenty of them around."

Tenzin said, with a final air, "Well, looks like we have our answer - a combination of Raava becoming more human-y, and a pulse of the new Spirit Portal's energy. I felt something this morning as well, but thought nothing of it." Clearly not done, Raava held up a hand, and said, "It sounds like we need to make every effort to close this Spirit Civil War, and quickly. There's no telling what the next, likely final pulse from the new Spirit Portal will do. I also have a confession to make - about my increasingly human-y nature." Raava took a deep breath, saying, "So far, apart from small actions, nothing has moved in the Spirit Civil War. I have the belief that this is due in large part to my increasing humanity - it acts as a sort of neutralizer, possibly, against Long Yumao's forces. So far, no minor Dark Spirits have managed to get out into the physical world - even before your new caps on the portals, Korra. Given the increasingly unpredictable nature of the physical and spirit worlds, I do not know if even those will stand the test of time. If the Republic City Spirit Portal does something unexpected, Dark Spirits could pour forth from it." Raava turned to face Jinora, saying, "This is why your mission is of utmost importance, Jinora. If you can, you will want to bring Kai with you - the spirits aligned with Long Yumao hate human relationships, much less romantic ones, and even your young one with Kai may prove useful as an additional deterrent."


	27. Chapter 27: Trial by Fire

Chapter 27: Trial by Fire

Jinora's face blushed slightly, and she took a deep breath, apparently projecting herself somewhere, but given her smile, it must have been near. How near became apparent a moment later when a box on the starboard side burst open in a blast of air. A thick burlap bag in the center opened, revealing none other than Kai. Tenzin pointed at him, saying, "I know what Aang told you about trust, but I'm overriding my father. You need to read him!" At first Korra wanted to object, but Jinora shrugged and said, "I don't see why not." Kai blasted over, apparently having heard Tenzin, said, "Yeah - I've got nothing to hide, Tenzin." Shockingly enough, Korra's truthsense did not raise any red flags - but then again, she wasn't too experienced with it, and Azula had managed to fool Toph.

Kai ran over to Raava, poking her small form, saying, "Who is this? Never seen her before." Raava said as she slowly grew to a size larger than Korra, "Your girlfriend, Jinora, may have told you about me - I am Raava, one of the two most powerful spirits in the universe, spirit of… well, I don't know exactly what anymore, but rest assured I really like humanity." Kai said, pointing back and forth between Jinora with a shocked expression on his face, "Wait… _that's_ who you saved during Harmonic Convergence? Jinora, sorry for all those times I yawned when you told me about her - she looks awesome!" Kai looked at Raava, asking her, "Just curious - are you good with killing people? Cause that's been a conflict between me and Jinora before - her father yelled at me for trying to hurt some people hunting airbison."

Raava shrunk back down to her smaller form, laughing, "Yes, I am _definitely _cool with killing people - why, I even rigged the regrown Great Banyan tree with a boobytrap that will incinerate anyone who tries to cut it!" Before Kai could ask anything else, Jinora said, "That, I'm more than okay with. My father, Korra and Opal have gotten me to see taking life in a different light since the last time I talked with you, Kai. Remembering how cute those baby airbison were, and what that awful man wanted to do with them, I might have just stolen his breath if I needed to." Opal grabbed Jinora's shoulder and said, "High five!" Raava and Kai joined in the celebratory gesture. Tenzin just shrugged, saying, "My nine-year old son designing war machines and my daughter willing to kill to protect airbison - they aren't much different than Sokka or Aang, I guess."

Raava's contact with Kai's hand had apparently been all she needed for a read, as she said, "Read completed. While Kai's past antics are despicable, it does appear as though he has changed enough to be trusted. His experience with Tenzin's judgment has had the same effect on him as it did Jinora. I also liked his righteous fury at the airbison hunter - it reminded me of the fury Korra produced her first blue flames with. If Korra sees fit to share her deepest secrets with Kuvira, Kai is no problem." Everyone began laughing loudly, with Kuvira's yell of "I heard that!" barely audible. Kai ran over to Korra, saying, "What's this about blue fire, and Kuvira? Did she pull a Zuko?" Zuko laughed, saying, "Her transformation was more dramatic and sudden than my own, but I don't think the world will buy the 'I-changed-so-let-me-free' ploy." A figure used bending to ride the Zhu Li's rails like a railroad and land near the group, managing to stay balanced despite having shackles around her wrists.

Kuvira said, "While Korra infobends Kai, I have something to say about just that. I imagine that President Raiko will be very hard on me at the conference - not many people know I will be in attendance." Korra heard the sounds of running footsteps, a voice she recognized as Lin saying, "Get back here - you're not supposed to just run off without telling me or 'Mother Suyin' why!" While Su did have a frown on her face, it was much softer than the one she had worn while dragging Kuvira away from the Spirit Portal to a wooden cage what seemed like an eternity ago.

Seeing that Kai couldn't wait any longer, Korra began pumping information into him, editing out the identity of Jinshu Kuangmai, along with the details of what happened between her and Asami last night and this morning. Kai, being perceptive, noticed the second censoring, saying, "Aw, come on - that was the best part, and you blacked out everything after you made those … thingies! I know their name, but I'm not gonna tell you until you show me the rest." Kai crossed his arms, looking away, and Korra laughed, saying, "Uh-uh - you're going to have to wait until you're older to do anything like that, and you have to win Jinora's hand first anyways!" Kai laughed, saying, "Asami got you in less than one night, but I think Jinora's going to be much tougher." Korra's face flushed in anger, though not at Kai, saying, "Hey, it's not Asami's fault it was so quick - she couldn't even make any real advances on me!" Feeling a familiar hand on her back, Asami's beautiful voice said, "Relax, Korra - it's not as if Kai hasn't been without his own trials in love-related matters. Plus, he's only … uh, I don't know how old you are, Kai - but I do know you're young enough that you aren't supposed to know the thingies' name." Kai shrugged, saying, "Hey - I found a whole box of them once while stealing to live, label and all. You wouldn't believe what people have in their houses!" Seeing that Tenzin was giving him a dirty look, Kai said, "I think I am 13, but given that I'm an orphan, I don't know," looking down at the ground with sunken eyes.

Kuvira, apparently having heard Kai say the words "I'm an orphan", ran over and whisked him off the ground, saying, "I'm an orphan too! Mother Suyin adopted me when I was eight years old after my parents abandoned me. I don't know how much Korra showed you, but I have an even more mixed past than you do." Kai struggled to escape Kuvira's strong grip, saying, "Ouch, let me go!" Once Kuvira let him back down, Kai continued, "I don't need Korra to show me a bunch of images and thoughts to know you have a mixed past, Kuvira. The best thing I can say about your campaign over the past three years is you didn't try and weaponize airbenders." Kai took a deep breath, as though he intended to continue, but stopped when he saw Kuvira looking at the deck in deep shame. Kai used the air to blow a big blast in Kuvira's face, followed by, "Hey, cheer up, Kuvira - I saw what you went through three days ago. Korra made sure that part was especially detailed. It looks like Mother Suyin wants to speak with you."

Su turned to Kai, a broad smile on her face, saying, "One orphan, two orphans - why not? Kai, you want a family?" Kai didn't take Su seriously at first, prompting her to say, "You called me Mother Suyin, and that gave me an idea - why not give you what you really need? Zaofu, my home, is a beautiful city - though I fear Jinshu Kuangmai may make it his base of operations." This terrifying possibility caused Su to withdraw her hand from Kai's face. Opal let out a snort, saying, "If I were you, I'd stay away - the Beifongs have been a dysfunctional family since Toph's time. Did Korra show you what happened to Baatar Jr.?"

Before Su could slap her biological daughter across the face, Kai said, "It sounds to me like Baatar Jr. has a lot more issues than he has sense. Correct me if I am wrong, _Mother _Suyin, but it sounds like he has deep-seated daddy issues from what Jinora has told me. He's named Junior, for crying out loud!" Su swooped him up in her arms again, ecstatic at his apparent acceptance of her offer. Tenzin said dryly, "You do remember he was a thief, right, Su? And he stole from his other rich, definitively _ex_ adoptive parents?" Fishing out an attractive gemstone, Su said, "When we re-take Zaofu and I get my city running again, he can have all the gems and gold he likes!" Much to everyone's shock, Kai pushed the gemstone away, saying, "From what Korra decided to show me, and especially what she _didn't_ show me, I'd rather have a different gem. Her name is Jinora." A blushing Jinora tugged on Su's robe, saying, "Put my boyfriend down - there's something I want to do to him!" Jinora proceeded to kiss Kai deeply, making him fall over much as Bolin had the day before after his kiss with Opal.

Satisfied with how things had turned out, Korra asked, "What were you talking about when I was updating Kai?" Lin and Su said at the same time, "Kuvira's punishment." Lin continued, while Su picked up Kai, "We think that her expertise in weaponry, the Earth Kingdom and on her former forces is sorely needed, and any formal punishment should be put off. We did come up with an idea, however - my sister and I could take Kuvira on a tour of the Earth Kingdom. Community service and a direct showing of her effects on the kingdom, if you will." Remembering what Su had said about Zaofu, Korra asked, "Would you consider making the tour of only the northern Earth Kingdom? I don't want Jinshu Kuangmai to get his hands on Kuvira - he'd probably torture her using blood-iron bending without end." Korra saw Su, Lin and Kuvira shudder violently, Kuvira saying, "Yeah - I had thought of that. Plus, if I stay in the northern Earth Kingdom, I would be much more available for technical consultation. If you need me, Tenzin, Jinora or Korra can contact me remotely. I imagine that I won't be needed in that capacity until the various projects get started - and hopefully the Spirit Civil War will be over by then, or at the very least my supervised 'community service' and guided tour will be over." Lin interjected, "When we were talking, you hated the idea of the guided tour, saying you'd already been through so much with your awful visions, only good with the community service part! Why the change of view?" Kuvira responded, pointing at a distant speck on the horizon to the prow of the ship, "I know individuals can be persuaded by Korra's infobending, but the world? I now realize that's something else entirely. Plus, there's a special someone I want to find - the orphaned girl from my vision. I have hope that fate will cross our paths while I am on tour."

Su hugged both Kai and Kuvira tightly, saying, "I guess you really have changed, Kuvira - I never figured you to be a motherly figure." Kuvira said, choking back tears, "I didn't either, until I shattered that horrible metal vision. It's also a symbolic act - healing a wound close to my heart that my own actions created. As a side effect, if the world sees me adopt someone whose orphanage I caused, it will likely mend wounds other than my own." After shedding a few tears, Kuvira added, "Though I probably will need Korra's help to convince her - I know that such wounds run very, very deep. My own loss was part of the reason I turned into a monster - though, I am not sure it is a loss, to be abandoned by people willing to cast off their child..."

Korra took a deep sigh, taking in the endless sea and thinking about what Kuvira said. Suddenly realizing what the now larger point in the distance was, Korra said, "I support this plan of technical consultation, the guided tour and community service. I imagine the tour will be harder on you than any physical punishment. Now, to get President Raiko and the other world leaders to agree - that speck in the distance is Ember Island." Suddenly realizing that Mako had propelled the boat most of the way, Korra added, "Anywhere we go after we arrive at Ember Island, I'll propel the boat, Mako - you need to get some rest. I have a feeling we will need to visit the Fire Nation's capital sometime soon." Korra let out a surprised yelp when Tenzin tapped her on the shoulder when she was finished, saying, "I was serious about that offer of my body as a training dummy. No, Mother - I can make my own decisions, so don't even give me that look!" Katara stormed off with "that look" on her face towards the prow of the boat, grumbling as she went, people avoiding her and "that look".

As everyone else returned to their previous positions, Asami said, "I have something I need to do myself. See you in a bit, Korra - I'm going to go talk to Zhu Li." Remembering that the conference was slated to take place at noon, Korra asked, "What time is it? Do we have enough time to visit Mai and Ty Lee before the conference, or talk to Eska and Desna privately?" Asami poked her head back around the corner, yelling, "The bending must have done wonders for speed. It's only 10:00 AM, so we should have more than enough time! Don't hurt Tenzin!"

Tenzin just shrugged, saying, "I've been bloodbended before, by a much less friendly individual. Though, you will be using the Avatar State, so try to be careful. Here - why don't we start with blood that's not within the body?" Tenzin picked up the scalpel, had Korra sterilize it with purified sea water and flame, let it cool and cut a line on his other thumb, squeezing it to get blood out. Korra took a deep breath and entered the Avatar State, focusing on the large bead of blood on the deck. To her surprise, it was extremely easy to manipulate - Bumju's single drop of blood had been harder to move. She almost thought she could bend it without the Avatar State, but didn't want anyone asking even more questions than they would already.

Tenzin, having seen the ease with which she manipulated the blood, said, "Okay - let's move on to something a bit more complicated. I'm going to open my mouth, and I want you to close it very carefully. I think Katara is right, Korra - controlled bloodbending could be a nonviolent form of waterbending, if developed highly enough." Korra smacked herself on the forehead, realizing she must have let something slip. All these stupid secrets! Tenzin laughed, saying, "You didn't slip up any, Korra - Katara talked to me about this last night. Now shut my jaw gently."

When Korra turned her glowing eyes to Tenzin's open jaw, she was surprised by how much blood she could feel flowing in the face. Pretending she was controlling a surge of seawater, she stopped its flow and moved the liquid upward as one "mass", without trying to mimic the bloodbending forms she had heard about. When she finished, Tenzin coughed, saying, "That was very different from what I remember of Tarrlok's technique - you stopped the flow of blood and moved it as one unit, gently. Let's see how detailed you can make your movements, Korra - I want you to put me into a proper airbending stance, but this time, I will try and resist you. Are you ready for that?" Korra found her head shaking up and down, as if controlled by the Avatar State.

Before she started, Korra got an idea - use her earthsense along with bloodbending to make positioning easier. Eyes flaring, she struck the deck of the Zhu Li in a controlled manner, reading Tenzin's form more accurately than sight could. She then performed movements she realized were very similar to those Amon used when he wasn't using his psychic ability. Tenzin did resist, but given the lack of screaming or even any sound at all, Korra realized what she had done had the desired effect - no yanking of veins, only control of patches of blood. Letting go of the individual "cells" of blood inside Tenzin's body, she said, "I think I found a way to not hurt people while still controlling their movements. I didn't just yank on the blood -I manipulated different patches of it in unison to reach the desired effect. Did it feel different than Tarrlok's? I noticed that even though you resisted, you did not make any sound."

Tenzin said, with surprise in his voice, "Yes - that was exactly how it felt, as though my arms and legs were being moved around without strings." Before Tenzin could continue, Korra spotted a large water-bound form approaching the Zhu Li, fast! Tenzin must have seen it too, as he said, "What in the… that's the biggest shark whale I've ever seen! Quick, Korra - bloodbend it so it doesn't ram the Zhu Li's hull! I don't care if it dies - pretend it's Jinshu Kuangmai!"

Korra turned to face the threat fully, eyes flaring as she copied the form she had just used on Tenzin. She realized with a start that this shark-whale was almost as big as the Zhu Li, given the massive amount of blood in its body! At first, she tried to stop it, merely increasing the force she used in her movements and focusing solely on the shark whale. While the shark whale did let out a loud shriek as it thrashed its head above the water, finally stopped, Korra realized that with all her earlier exertions today, she would not be able to hold it long enough to let the Zhu Li escape.

Korra remembered the form of bloodbending that Katara had inadvertently came up with, and realizing it was her only option, she began to form ice crystals in the creature's brain and massive heart. In a series of frenzied motions, she thrashed the ice crystals against the arterial walls of the brain and the inside of the heart wildly. After about 30 seconds, she saw a large cloud of blood in the water around the beast's mouth and its razor-sharp teeth. She could hear cheers erupting from the front of the boat, and as they started to pass the beast's corpse, the Zhu Li suddenly slowed.

Turning around as her eyes dimmed, Korra saw Mako was no longer shooting blue jets off the deck, instead pointing to the massive dead shark whale and saying, "It'd be a shame to let all that meat go to waste! I'm going to bring us closer, Korra - why don't you find some metal object to bend into a big hook and cables, adding dryly, "Perhaps if you tell everyone at the conference what you did, and offer the shark whale's meat up for lunch, they will respect you and your wishes." Korra said, incredulous, "WHAT? I'm not going to try and 'gain respect' through bloodbending - that would likely backfire. I do agree that leaving it here would be a waste of meat, however, and we could use it to feed everyone at the conference." Mako coughed, saying, "I never told you to say you bloodbended it to death - just that you killed it." Korra knew what he had actually said - an ambiguous "what you did" that was more fitting coming from President Raiko's lips than Mako's - but didn't push the issue. Instead she ran to the prow of the boat, explaining to everyone what had happened, including her training with Tenzin and her new, less painful bloodbending form. Katara said, "I think you don't need any training, Korra - you saved our lives with that feat. Now let's go pick this thing up before another one smells the blood in the water and comes swimming at full speed." Katara seemed to want to say something else, but she was interrupted when the Zhu Li bumped into the shark whale's immense bulk.

As Korra, Su, Lin and Bolin created a massive hook to place in the shark whale's maw, Kuvira used her more limited mobility to create a single, strong cable. Varrick ran around, yelling "My deck! What are you doing to my deck!" before Zhu Li grabbed him by the collar and said tersely, "I'm sure the Avatar can find an undersea deposit of metal to repair the deck. Now quit running around like an idiot." Not wanting the meat to spoil and needing an easier way to tug the massive body, Korra asked Katara with glowing eyes, "Will you help me encase it in ice? My parents and Kya can help too! If we do that, then the scent trail will be lost!" After positioning the beast at the back of the boat using what little blood it had left, Korra helped Katara and her daughter Kya encase it inside a massive iceberg, making sure not to freeze it too quickly, her own parents assisting.

Realizing that propelling the boat from the rear would turn their prize to ash, Korra asked Mako, "Can you stand on the side of the boat and shoot a flame at a 45-degree angle?" Mako shook his head, saying, "I need a rest - why don't you and the airbenders propel the boat?" Korra, Tenzin, Kai, Bumi, Jinora and Opal did just that, with even Meelo "helping" - as a supervisor, of course.

Even after all this delay, they still managed to reach Ember Island at 10:45 AM, leaving plenty of time for preparations. Not being able to stand the nagging from Varrick any longer, Korra used the Avatar State to find and reclaim a chunk of ore from the ocean floor, noting that they were plentiful in the region, realizing this metal would come in handy for the war effort. Korra told everyone about her find, Firelord Izumi saying, "Good - maybe I can have my merchant fleet and a good navy after all. Good work, Avatar Korra - you can help Asami map out their locations." Before doing so, Korra took a tour of the boat, making sure everyone was doing something - they still had over an hour to the conference. Korra repaired Varrick's deck carefully before her tour as Lin, Su and Bolin used the remainder of the ore to cut the shark whale into smaller chunks, Kuvira watching enviously as she restrained Naga with a strip of metal. Kya was helping with the ice around the creature, Bumi was playing with Meelo and Bumju on the roof, the other airbenders and Pema were taking a rest, Poki and Pabu asleep in Kai's lap. Mako talked with Uncle Iroh, Zuko and Firelord Izumi about his Fire Nation heritage, Firelord Izumi staying silent. Her mother and father were talking with Katara about her bloodbending feats and what they meant for the legality of bloodbending in the future.


	28. Chapter 28: Ember Island

Chapter 28: Ember Island

Satisfied they wouldn't be needed, Korra took Asami ashore on a piece of ice, and given the way Asami laughed happily, she had never been surfing before. Korra earthsensed the location of the ore deposits again, pointing to the location on Asami's drawing for each deposit. She even sensed a deep, inaccessible vein of various precious metals in a long line far away from the island, including platinum, given how part of it was "black" to her earthsense. Asami said, as she drew the huge vein, "Wow - there must be all kinds of riches around these islands! It's a good thing the Fire Nation didn't find them during the 100 Year's War, that's for sure. All this, so close to the capital…" Korra pointed to the most valuable feature - the long, deep vein of precious minerals - and said, "I'd probably have to have a good rest before even attempting to tackle that monster - there's no way anyone but a fully realized and rested Avatar with good mental and physical condition could get it out."

Korra paused, her eyes wandering to her arm and what she considered its weak physical condition. Korra said, slapping her "puny" arm, "Speaking of physical condition - I just had an idea. When we get home, I'll create a private gym as an addition to our island." Seeing the gleam in Asami's eye, Korra added, "And I'll even put locks on it, in case exercise gets either of us … interested in the other." Now remembering the comment that Kai made earlier about the thingies, Korra asked, "And just what is the proper name for the thingies, anyways? I feel ignorant, a 13-year old knowing their name and not having known what foreplay was." Asami laughed, sighing, "Korra, Korra, Korra… names don't matter, and I don't care if you didn't know what foreplay was - just that you knew how to do it so well."

Korra giggled, flattered that Asami saw her performance as more than adequate. She heard a rustling in some shrubs near a palm tree, and struck her foot to the ground to see who it was. The answer surprised her to no end. She struck the ground again, moving the earth beneath her two cousins, saying, "I know you're there, Chief Eska and Desna, and if you're going to ask about the heir help again, the answer is no!" Ignoring Asami's confused "Huh? What heir help?" Korra walked over to her twin cousin's location when they didn't come out. When Korra saw them, she actually fainted from shock, unable to believe her eyes.

When Korra came to, a cheery Eska was staring in her face, saying, "Korra, why were you so surprised to see us? You just talked to us yesterday!" Korra stammered, "B-b-but… your hair! The black one-piece swimming suit! And your face - you actually have real makeup on and not those weird purple smears! And your brother… wearing a t-shirt and _swimming shorts_?" Eska said with a smile, "My brother and I decided we needed to change a lot of things. Now that I think about it, we have some information you might find useful, in some small way. Plus a lot more that will probably make you and Raava happy." Asami said, pointing at Desna, who was sporting a bowl cut and wearing swimming shorts and a tacky shirt, "Uhhm… are you sure that these are your cousins? Where's the boredom, the weird clothes, the almost identical appearances?" Desna burst into real, actual laughter, saying, "We finally broke free of our father's emotional grasp, due in large part to your own childhood story of repression, Asami. Did Korra not tell you anything about our meeting?"

Wanting to defuse any questions Asami might have, Korra said, "Eska, I believe the last thing you said to me was 'Now I am bored of this conversation, so please allow me to be bored while creating this exclusion zone and bored while in transit to Ember Island. Good day, Avatar and Cousin Korra.' Hmm, never figured Raava could help me have such exact memory. Anyways - that doesn't include anything about huge changes." Desna joined his sister above Korra, yanking Korra up to a sitting position, saying, "You mentioned this 'infobending' - I believe it might be useful to quickly update you and your lover, Asami, on recent events in _our_ lives." Desna added, patting his sister on the back, "And don't tell us anything with the infobending - we want you to react to what has happened to us first. I think Asami will find our story especially inspiring."

Korra shook her head violently - neither of her cousins were making any sense, or even talking like they normally did! Korra took a deep breath, projecting Raava out, to see if she would be of any help. Rather than asking "Who are these people, and what did you do to the rulers of the Northern Water Tribe?" or "Why are you calling these beach bums Eska and Desna?" Raava's eyes opened wide, and she began… crying?

For the first time in her life, Korra started to curse, but before she could ask her emphatic question, she noticed her jaw was frozen. As Raava extended a hand to both of her cousin's foreheads, she felt her whole body freeze, apparently because she wanted to ask another strong question. Asami was immobilized, but not from Raava's influence. When Raava took her hands away from Eska and Desna's heads, she sniffed deeply and said, "I just read your cousins, and… Korra, I think your cousins are actually _human-y_ now! I didn't tell you, but I felt an interesting energy associated with Eska and Desna yesterday. It was actually an energy we had just dealt with - Unalaq's." Feeling herself more curious than anything, the vice grip Raava had over Korra's body vanished, and Korra immediately began infobending the siblings - for their own information.

She was stunned, speechless. Korra ran over to Asami and shared the information with her, not even noticing the feeling of oneness, she was so shocked. Asami said the first word, choking back happy tears, saying, "Wow, really - _my _story was the inspiration for your revelation, Desna? I can hardly believe it! We really do need to share our story with the world, Korra - I never thought in ten thousand years that Eska or Desna would be dressed like, well, this, and actually be happy!" Korra finally managed to speak, saying, "Those ice prisons both your three-year old selves were in… they were thicker and more energetic than the ones Unalaq trapped the _Avatar_'s past lives in. Raava has been learning about the power of love and light in human form, but this? It's just plain disturbing! I mean, I'm glad you broke through it, but… I guess this means that human emotional hurt and energy is more powerful than Raava or I thought." Suddenly realizing that she had just talked only about what could be considered business, and not much about either cousin's personal transformation, Korra added, "That gift to the Ember Island Players - that was amazing! I just hope The Tale of Korra is better than the original 'Boy in the Iceberg' from what Zuko told me about it - I don't want them casting Bolin as a sassy girl or myself as a man like they did Toph." Asami laughed along with Eska, Desna, and Raava, who said in a young boy's voice, "I'm the Avatar, and you gotta deal with it!" Korra burst out laughing at the mental image of a four-year old male Korra bursting through a wall in front of the White Lotus, quipping, "The casting change would make my relationship with Asami less likely to cause an uproar."

Eska and Desna were both staring at Korra in a more typical fashion, apparently very confused about her earlier reference to the ice prions, or why Korra's relationship with Asami would cause an uproar. Eska said, grabbing Korra's hand with a smile, "Yes - even I didn't know what I was doing when I gave the manager one hundred thousand yuans. Something called 'generosity' took over, and like I told him, we don't really need the money anyways." Eska continued, with a more serious look, "I still don't get what's wrong with you and Asami being together. I think Uncle Iroh was wrong to advise caution. Maybe he's just out of touch with how the world is now." Pointing a finger at Korra with a stern face like Lin might have made, she said, "Enough chitchat - the suspense is killing me. Your turn to give us information now. And given the impact that your relationship with Asami has had on us both so far, don't censor anything. We want the whole story." Eska returned to a warm smile, more eager to see Asami and Korra's story than anything to do with statecraft given the way her cousin's heart was pounding. Korra could sense Desna's heart beating in a similar fashion. As Raava placed her hands on Korra's cousins again, Korra felt some odd feeling, which reminded her of what she felt when around her mother and father, that drove her to place her hands on both her cousin's foreheads, spilling everything but Jinshu Kuangmai's identity. Korra noticed that neither one of them were cross-eyed or woozy, as she might have suspected they would be after so much detailed information.

The first thing Eska said was, "Oh man - I gotta find me a guy! The feelings you had, last night, with Asami… screw the heir, I just want to feel those!" No longer having a wild, desperate look in her eyes, Eska continued, "After that, I can safely say there is absolutely nothing wrong with your love for Asami. At the conference, you should probably - " Desna interrupted, saying, "Yeah - certainly nothing wrong there. I also no longer care about getting an heir for purely political purposes - I anticipate being a father for its own sake, and not having a child just for a political pawn or 'safety net'. I'm not going to repeat the sins my father." Eska said, pushing her brother aside playfully, "Hey - you interrupted me! Speaking of Unalaq… that should be a saying all of its own. Anyways." Eska pointed to her hair - which now resembled Opal's, Korra realized with a start, Eska saying, "Obviously, given our childhood, or lack of one, we didn't come up with this new look ourselves. We had to use flat irons and some weird chemicals to get my hair to look like this, provided by a cheerful old lady." Eska giggled, saying, "That old woman who told me she was an acrobat helped us both have more 'human-y' appearances and outfits." Eska's eyes widened, losing her train of thought temporarily. Shaking her head, then grabbing her brother, she said into his face excitedly, "Wait a minute… I know who she and her glum friend are! They're from 'The Boy in the Iceberg' - Ty Lee and Mai!" Desna snickered, saying, "Who I can only assume was Mai seemed slightly disappointed when I took to Ty Lee's advice so enthusiastically and thoroughly. Mai said, 'Just when I think I see a boy I would have liked in my youth, you have to go and ruin him, Ty Lee,' and flicked her daggers back and forth the rest of the time, occasionally muttering, 'Stupid Zuko and his Fire Nation secrets' or even just leaving the room entirely."

Korra felt a surge of energy, and Aang's image said excitedly in front of her face, "Wait - they're alive, and here? Korra, you've got to take me to see them!" Desna asked Aang, pointing at a large building in the distance, "Wait - Avatar Aang. The guy who crashed our meeting yesterday temporarily. Would you say that the play we saw last night is accurate?" Korra groaned as Aang said, grinning broadly, "I don't know, but there is one way to find out - we can watch it again!" Korra growled, "Sorry, Aang, but given you're my past life and already know your _own history_, and I know yours, I'm not going to spend what time I have to go watch a play before the conference. Here - get back in here, and help me infobend the time between your iceberg ball breaking and you kissing Katara to Eska and Desna." Oddly enough, this took almost no time whatsoever - apparently, the events of a past life were easier to transmit than those of the current. Eska said, "Yes, the play is pretty accurate now. Aang showed us the original 'The Boy in the Iceberg' as well, and I didn't like the casting or ending at all. Especially the ending. Although, the male Toph was rather funny."

Desna coughed, saying, "Anyways - you know us, and we know you better now, Korra. I think I better understand Raava's little gift to you and Asami now - given your preferences in mates, I mean, partners, you could never actually have children. It was also a reward for all your hard work. Eska and myself are decidedly not gay, although other children thought we were, given my father's ridiculous fashion sense. I mean, really - twins, one a boy, one a girl, and dressing them exactly the same? I guess he really was crazy, long before his evil plan with Vaatu." Asami laughed, saying, "I always wondered what other kids thought of you two." Her smile vanishing, Asami said, "What Korra showed me about your childhood, and how your father repressed your emotions… I thought my dad, Hiroshi, was bad. Unalaq was just plain evil."

Eska, showing actual, real discomfort, changed the subject, saying, "So I guess the only world leaders who _don't_ know what is going on are Prince Wu and President Raiko." Eska laughed, continuing "Oh, and Iroh II - but he's fairly useless anyways. At least Prince Wu evacuated some refugees, and he can't even bend! All Iroh II has managed to do lately is get his ships sunk. Twice. Maybe those two new battleships will help him stop failing so badly." Her face turning serious again, Eska said, "Given your description of this 'Sudden Death' option, Korra, I think when my brother and I return to the Northern Water Tribe, we will beseech our ancestor turned spirit, Yue, for aid, just as Jinora suggested. We'll also enact a control zone around the Spirit Oasis - Koh has been known to frequent its waters, as I am sure Avatar Kuruk is all too aware of." Desna said, with a curiously neutral face, "Your new bloodbending form was very interesting - but I am very glad neither Yakone nor his sons thought of the trick you used on that shark whale. We'd probably be talking to a four-year old Earth Kingdom avatar right now if they had."

Korra had been so focused on her cousin's renewed love of life and their discussion that she was completely taken by surprise when a familiar voice said, "Who are these two, and why are you talking to them like they're family? I didn't know you had two more cousins, Korra." Giving each other a mischievous look that made Raava laugh and snicker, Eska and Desna turned to face Katara with identical serious expressions, saying in a more familiar bored monotone, "Hello, Waterbender Master Katara. We are Chief Eska and Chief Desna, cousins of Avatar Korra and rulers of the Northern Water Tribe." Eska pointed to her hair and one-piece swimsuit, and Desna pointed to his tacky shirt, saying in a more … normal? tone, "And we're here to party!" An already shocked Katara hit the black volcanic sand, much as Korra had hit the black igneous rock currently under her feet earlier. Despite being mad that her cousins had made Katara faint, Korra laughed along with them, Asami and Raava. Apparently their mirth was so loud it woke Katara back up again, who said, "Wait - what? These two are Eska and Desna? What happened?!" Realizing that they might take this the wrong way, Katara said, "I mean, whatever it was it must have been wonderful, but still - what in the name of Tui and La is up with you two?"

Korra said, "Come over here, and I'll show you." Katara said, "I'm a lot older than you are, so come to me, please - that fall made my back ache." Thinking something was amiss, Korra tried a technique she had heard Toph used on Ember Island - sandbending. Finding the volcanic sand to be extremely malleable, Korra formed a platform of fused sand underneath Katara, being careful to not make the sand too hot with her lavabending. After Korra linked it to the rock she was standing on, Katara said, with a confused look, "I don't see how making me a warm platform to stand on will help my back, but I guess I could just lie down. I can feel the heat through my boots, and it would do wonders to soothe my back pain." Before Katara could lie down, Korra pointed at Katara's feet, saying, "I don't think that's necessary - I can tell you're lying now. I'm guessing you just want me away from Eska and Desna so you can ask me to infobend you something… personal."

Katara's face flushed in embarrassment and shock, saying, "Wait - so you can truthsense now? When did that happen, and why didn't you tell anybody?" Now it was Korra's turn to blush, as Asami said, "Wait a minute - when your hand was on my outer thigh last night, and I told you three glasses of high-quality sake was a normal amount to need to drink to get a buzz…" Asami paused, trying to remember specific information, finally saying, "Given how you stopped moving your hand for almost half a minute, you must have somehow sensed I was lying. I can understand why you wouldn't tell me about your sense until after we got on the boat, but you didn't. Why?" Korra shrugged, face still flush, saying nervously, "I figured that with Raava's reading ability that this earthsense was useless, until it told me that Kai wasn't lying on the Zhu Li when he said he had nothing to hide." Raava snorted, saying, "I can only read one or two people at once, but this truthsense will let you see if anyone around you is lying. This will be very useful at the conference - I only trust some of the people there as far as I could throw them." Raava looked at the ground out of the corners of her eyes, suppressing a laugh, saying, "Well, obviously not in this human-y form - I wouldn't trust anyone if I used its strength as a measuring stick."

Glad to see an opening in the conversation, Korra laughed and said, "Before we go meet Ty Lee and Mai as we had planned, Katara - it appears that Eska and Desna have already met them - it seems like you have something you want me to show you. What is it?" Having apparently just thought of a rationalization for her request, Katara stuttered out, "I-I have some information for you as well, given your former interest in boys. Want to trade?" Before Asami or Korra could react with a unanimous "NO!" Eska said, "Korra already showed me and my brother what you're looking for, Katara, but given some events you don't know about, they were relevant. I fail to see anything beyond curiosity behind your request, but Korra and Asami are the ones to decide." To Korra's surprise, Asami said, "Eska's right - you already have shown two people, and Katara did seem genuinely curious that first horrible night after the battle in Republic City. Katara also does have experiences of her own - with another Avatar, no less." Asami chuckled slightly, finishing, "Just for the sake of seeing how you were able to go for an _hour and a half_ last night, Korra, I am fine with an information swap."

Raava looked a little too excited for Korra's liking, so she forced the dirty minded spirit back into her chest, despite her protests. Once everyone had finished laughing, Korra said, "I'll swap 'information' with you, Katara. Now just hold still." Before Korra's palm pressed against Katara's forehead, Katara said, "Wait - stop. I want you to show me what happened to Eska and Desna first - I have the feeling it will be a lot more relevant to the conference than this other infobending. And don't just lump it in with the _other_ information, Korra - I'd like to talk to Eska and Desna afterwards." Surprised by this change in request, Korra channeled Eska and Desna's experience, as well as their conversation with herself and Asami, stopping at the point where Katara snuck up.

Katara said, playing with a gray hair loopy, "I think I'm gonna need a while to wrap my head around that, Korra. I mean - an ice prison more powerful than the one that imprisoned my dear Aang? All from Unalaq's horrible parenting?" Katara shook her hide side to side violently, going "Blblbluhh" as she did so in obvious disgust and unease. Katara said, with a tear in each eye, "I need something uplifting after that. Why don't we swap that other information now - Unalaq always did leave a bad taste in my mouth when I thought of him. I regret not getting involved in the Water Tribe Civil War now that I know what a horrible man your father was, Eska and Desna - even before he made his alliance with Vaatu." Katara let out an angry humph, saying "What Bolin told me today, that Toph said a while back …she is wrong about 'leave it to the kids'. I mean, just look at what the White Lotus did in Ba Sing Se 74 years ago! Bumi was 112, for crying out loud!" While Korra did find this interesting, she remembered she had some deadlines, so she told Katara, "Why don't you calm down and just watch. I'll take your information first."

As Korra took in Katara's experiences with Aang, she did feel aroused, but realized it wasn't purely for the reason she thought. Apparently, Aang was specifically helping her with this bizarre transfer, and his excitement rubbed off on her. When she saw Aang's tattoos glowing and his own stamina, she stopped the transfer temporarily, yelling, "Aang glowed too, and tired Katara out as well!" Once she heard a snicker from Katara and a relieved sigh from Asami, she finished taking in, and began giving out. Katara had a similar reaction to Korra, but when Korra finished, Katara was crying tears of happiness. Katara said, "Forget what Uncle Iroh, Avatar Wan and Avatar Garkan said about hiding - your love for Asami is no different than what I felt with Aang, feeling of oneness and all! They've been stuck in the spirit world for years. Garkan was right for his time but knows nothing of today's world, Wan doesn't exactly have a high opinion of humans, and Uncle Iroh likely remembers the deprivations of his own nation more than anything." Katara took a deep breath, frowning as she said, "What Zuko said about Fire Nation schools… that's just dumb. At least talk about homosexual relationships in biology class - even animals have them!" Seeing Korra's confused look, Katara said, "Given your shared memory and link with Aang, do you remember the 'enemy birds' Sokka pointed out?" Korra's head shook of its own, as Katara continued, "While touring the Fire Nation a bit with Aang after our kiss, we saw two female birds sitting in a nest together. When Aang asked Avatar Roku about it, Roku told Aang that the two were 'another way for the wind to blow'. Aang understood it immediately, but given how confused I looked, he explained the Air Nomad's decree to me."

Katara said, with a soft expression on your face, "I never thought it would actually be relevant, but his explanation was part of the reason I was so… inquisitive the first night." Katara coughed lightly for emphasis, adding, "When I was experiencing the fun you and Asami had together, I found that my mind wasn't focusing on the physical technicalities much. The same part of me that loved Aang so much was obsessed with the feeling of love you experienced for Asami. Given the lack of blushing on your face as I say this, I assume you had similar focus when experiencing my point of view with Aang." Korra nodded her head, saying, "While it was interesting to feel physically what I might have with Mako, I didn't focus on it too much either. Given that I was aroused, I do think I am slightly bisexual, but just in the opposite direction from where I was before. My experiences with Asami have associated her with wonderful things, never to be broken."

As Asami stuffed her map into her pack and ran over to embrace both Korra and Katara, Desna said, "It sounds to me like nobody here wants to hide themselves any longer - me and my sister are out of our shells. Literally, given what Korra showed us about the Avatar prisons. Katara thinks 'Uncle' Iroh, Avatar Wan and Avatar Garkan are wrong about hiding my cousin Korra's relationship with Asami, and given how Asami is grabbing Korra's butt so tightly, I think Asami agrees." Korra listened intently - she couldn't speak right now, not with Asami's hand finally repaying Korra for all of her own butt grabs. Katara took the chance to step aside, letting Korra hug Asami more directly, the groping hand staying still now. Katara said, "I didn't say that those three wise people had no point, just that I thought hiding their relationship was not a good idea." Katara finished, with sadness in her voice, "It's not like they can get married like Zhu Li and Varrick just did." Korra felt tears coming to her eyes, and given Asami's angry grunt, this fact stung her as well.

Surprising everyone but her brother, Eska said, "Wait - maybe, just as a test, after Korra tells President Raiko about the conversation 'Uncle' Iroh had with you and Asami on yin and yang and Asami's childhood repression, Tenzin could talk about the Air Nomad scroll. Katara can then tell the story about the 'enemy birds', then my brother and I will then suggest that President Raiko make gay marriage legal in Republic City. Korra, you and Asami will need to be silent for this part, however - it needs to seem like it is un-orchestrated and spontaneous." Korra stopped hugging Asami and ran over to Eska, hugging her cousin while saying, "Eska - that's ingenious! It's not like we'll have much to talk about at the conference, anyways, aside from detailed political and military matters. I'll just be telling Prince Wu, Iroh II and President Raiko what has happened over the past three to four days, and even without infobending, that shouldn't take more than an hour and a half, if other people help. Especially if I keep it to what is strictly relevant, though I imagine all three will want an immediate explanation for why Kuvira is going to be sitting next to Su." Eska didn't make to stop Korra from hugging her, even during her long speech, saying once Korra had finished, "I think Katara, Asami and you wanted to visit Ty Lee and Mai. My brother and I are going to the Ember Island Players theatre - I think the manager wanted something with us. Something about 'consultation' and 'editing' after the play last night. Don't worry - I'm not going to say anything to do with the past month. I get the feeling that story is nowhere near complete."

Korra waved her hand madly as Eska and Desna left, shouting "You should probably change your clothes before the conference - President Raiko won't take you very seriously in swimwear!" As they entered deeper in the forest, Korra heard the last of their laughter fade. Actually feeling a strange tug inside before Raava apparently tried to apparate out, Korra flashed her eyes, keeping the spirit inside. Korra said, out loud, "No, you can't be in the room with us with Ty Lee and Mai, Raava!" Katara laughed, saying, "We'd never get any information or help from Ty Lee with Raava's human-y form in the room - she'd be too busy fawning over Raava! Mai just might run from the room screaming. If she can run, that is." Katara let out a snicker.

Again, a rustling in the bushes. What was with this stupid island? Korra struck her foot against the ground, noticing two figures in hiding that reminded her of Katara somehow - old, but not down and out. She heard what sounded like an old human-y form Raava's voice say, "Quick, dart her before she bloodbends us out!" Korra heard an odd "Ffft" from the bushes, and time slowed. Some instinct taking over, Korra used an airbending form to "be the leaf", narrowly missing a dart. As she wrapped the two figures tightly in the volcanic soil that surrounded them, she realized where part of the instinct must have come from - Piandao and Sokka! Yanking the two forward inside their earth prisons, she recognized their faces, yet she didn't. The glum looking one in black, who looked as good as Katara did for her old age, said gruffly, "See! I told you we shouldn't have followed those two waterbenders here. Eska and Desna? The latter, I may add, you completely _ruined_." Katara ran over to who Korra must have assumed was Ty Lee and said, "Well, I certainly didn't expect you to be out of the house, or in such good shape! You actually look like you aged slightly better than I did. And I see you still love pink."

Ty Lee chirped, with a surprisingly young voice, "It's not just benders who can live a long time, you know! I exercise every day, and eat right. Tell me - did that cutie Sokka ever marry?" Katara said, coughing, "Yes, he did - to Suki. As you may have heard, he died quite some time ago, but his spirit lives on in the Spirit World." Ty Lee said loudly, "Really? Can I see him?" Mai shook her head in disgust, her middling gray bangs swishing, saying, "We overheard a lot of your conversation, and it sounds like you need us. I assume you want Ty Lee to show chi blocking points to both Korra and Asami, though I'm not sure you want with me." Korra explained her interaction with Piandao and Sokka to both Ty Lee and Mai, finishing, "And yes, you are right Mai. I do want Ty Lee to show me the chi blocking points she used on Team Avatar all those years ago, and I also want to infobend your own knowledge of physical combat into Asami. She's a nonbender, just like you two are."

While Ty Lee said "Sure! Just get me out of this earth prison first," Mai did not look like she wanted to be "infobended". Then again, Korra really couldn't tell what her expression meant. Mai confirmed Korra's suspicion by saying, "This infobending sounds weird, and I noticed that you didn't give Piandao or Sokka anything in return. If you want my cooperation, you'll have to give something. Now let me out of this stupid thing - there's some bugs biting my arms." Korra said, having discerned Mai's intentions through truthsense, "Okay - but only on the condition that shirshu poison dart blowpipe stays with Asami until we're done. By the way - was that a knock-out dose or just paralyzing?" Mai's cheeks stayed the same as she said, "Ugh, fine. I just wanted a little payback for being in this stupid cone, but I guess you can't 'infobend' while on the ground. You go first." Korra laughed and said with a smile, "I do know you two can be infobended inside those cones - what would you like to know?"

Ty Lee had a sad look in her eyes, saying, "I don't think I ever learned what happened to Azula after she ran off with Zuko to find their mother. Zuko's mom came back, but apparently Azula just ran off into the woods." Wanting to break the news delicately, Korra said, "I'm afraid she hasn't been seen since, but there is something I think you would both like to know about her childhood. I'll take information first, and then give you something not many people know about Azula. Then I will remove the prisons - I don't think you'll feel like trying to get even after you see what I know." Mai said, "Fine - I'll take it. Just get me out of this - there really are bugs in here!" Korra placed her palm against each of their foreheads, taking in information about where to block chi lines first - it was the simplest, just locations on the body. However, Korra found there was certain key parts to both chi blocking and Mai's large variety of skills that, just as swordmastery had proven, could not be transferred. Asami and Korra would have to learn them physically as well. Keeping her promise, Korra began feeding information to them both about Azula's now "extra complicated" youth.

As Korra stepped back, freeing the "prisoners", she could see her guess was right - both Ty Lee and Mai had shocked expressions on their faces, Ty Lee looking sad and Mai slightly disgusted, though at what was anybody's guess. By the time Korra had finished transferring their combined knowledge to Asami, both friends had shaken themselves out of their shock. Ty Lee was the first to speak, saying, "I know that Azula's dad was mean, but I never thought he had a possible reason to kill her - I only thought that was for Zuko! I guess that explains why Azula was so crushed when we betrayed her - maybe she saw us as more than friends?" Mai shook her head, saying, "I never really cared to ask myself why she wanted two girls as her closest confidants and allies, but I guess I know the answer now. It was the closest she could come to an actual relationship - though, Azula being Azula, I'd pity the poor girl who was her girlfriend. Even before the age at which this… event happened, Zuko used to tell me there was something wrong with her." Mai took a big sigh, continuing, "Azula's pent-up desires certainly didn't help anything, though. I never really understood why they taught us in Fire Nation schools that a relationship was between a man and a woman." Mai smiled slightly, saying, "That was one of the few lies that I believed from my schooling - I just couldn't fathom liking a girl, even at a young age." As though remembering some long since passed transgression, Mai actually laughed, saying, "Azula's desires might explain part of the reason why she tried to pry Zuko and I apart when we were young, or tease us. I still remember the incident with the pond inside the palace. The irony is, I ended up doing Azula's job for her by leaving Zuko."

Given the serious look on Mai's face and the way that Ty Lee was tugging on her robe, Korra could tell both were done now, probably wanting to go talk by themselves about Azula's time in the closet. Korra said, "It looks like you two are done. But before you go - would you mind physically showing me the points to strike to chi block, Ty Lee? I get the feeling that will be more useful than infobending." Ty Lee walked over to Katara to demonstrate, who was clearly not fully on board with this plan - she had been chi blocked by Ty Lee before, after all. Ty Lee giggled, saying "Don't worry, Katara - I'm not going to actually chi block you. Plus, remembering the way Sokka went limp from my pokes, I didn't choose you because you were a bender anyways - I just figured Korra might be weirded out by me poking her girlfriend."

Korra said, mouth agape, "Just how much of our conversation did you hear exactly? Be truthful." Mai said, with a smile, "Let's just say based on what we both heard, Ty Lee regrets never finding a man and I regret breaking up with Zuko. Now let's get this over with - some of the bug bites are starting to swell." Korra turned to the sea and purified some water, using it to soothe the angry welts. Remembering what Avatar State healing could do, her eyes flashed, making both Mai and Ty Lee flinch. Korra said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to see if I can get rid of the bites completely." Since neither one had heard the Avatar speak in a non-multivoice before while in the Avatar State, they let out a yelp before Korra removed the welts entirely. After she explained the reason behind her voice being normal - Raava - Ty Lee said, "What's this human-y form I heard about? Is it cute?" Feeling a familiar tug and seeing the way that Ty Lee's eyes were glittering, Korra took a deep breath, making sure that Raava wouldn't pop out and distract Ty Lee for the next half hour. Korra said, "Just a second, Ty Lee - I'll let Raava out once you show the chi blocking points on Katara."

Sighing with disappointment, Ty Lee pointed out the chi blocking points, with Katara saying, "A lot of those are the same as the points on those healing dolls, Korra - including the major one under the arm that we, uh… talked about the other day." Smiling at Katara's save - she didn't trust Ty Lee or Mai completely either - Korra took another breath, letting a fuming Raava out. Raava crossed her arms, saying, "I really don't like it when you force me back in, Korra!" afterwards sticking her tongue out at Korra. Ty Lee said, "Wait - I thought you were a spirit? Why are you so cute? All the drawings of you that came out after Harmonic Convergence were of this big white kite." Raava changed forms, swelling to a size only slightly bigger than Korra, saying, "This look familiar?" Ty Lee shook her head up and down, flopping a long gray ponytail into Raava's "face". Raava shrunk back to normal size, saying, "Look - we even both have a ponytail! Though I have a lot more of them." Raava turned to face Korra, who was dreading whatever question Raava had for her - probably something along the lines of "Can I learn more human-y things from these two?" When Raava said exactly that, she said, "No, we accomplished what we came here for. Now don't you dare try and read these two - we've got a conference to make!"

While Korra had found it hilarious when Zhu Li "abused" Varrick with the ledgers, she did not find it funny when it was her turn - Asami lightly whapped Korra over the head with the map she had made earlier. Korra turned around, and saw Asami wearing an expression that closely resembled "that look" Katara made at times. Given Katara's laughter, she knew what Asami was going to say. Asami pointed to her watch, saying, "Come on, Korra - be reasonable! We've got a while. 10 minutes before lunch starts - all this only took slightly over 30 minutes after all, even though it may have felt like forever at points." Korra didn't want to upset Asami, so she told Raava, "You can read Ty Lee and Mai without me yanking you back in. I'm interested to see what you have to say about Mai anyways - you never did get to read Eska or Desna before the change." As Raava moved to both their backs, Ty Lee giggled in anticipation, Mai flicking out a blade and saying "Whatever. Do your spirity 'fortune-telling'." Raava stopped after this remark, saying, "This isn't fortune telling - I'll be looking at who you are and, to put a bad spin on it, judging you." Mai nonchalantly said, "It's not as if Zuko hasn't done plenty of that over my decision to leave him, even if we remained on relatively good terms after for a breakup. Go right ahead," flicking her blade again.

Puzzled at Mai's attitude, Raava said, "Come over here, Korra - Mai acts like no one I have ever seen before. If you don't mind, Mai, I want to see more of your life than just your physical skills Korra infobended earlier." Mai laughed slightly as Korra walked over, saying, "Based on what I heard earlier, and our own talk with Eska and Desna, I can see why you're curious, wanting to learn about humanity and all. I don't feel much, so I don't quite know what you're going to get from me." Mai put her blade away, and said, "Feel free to start now, Korra." Korra and Raava first performed the reading on Ty Lee, and the results were not very surprising, as Raava said, "Read completed. Fun-loving all these years later, Ty Lee had some serious identity issues in her youth, leaving her vulnerable to Azula's manipulation. I was impressed with your 'betrayal' of Azula - you have a strong friendship with Mai." Ty Lee gave Mai a big hug, who surprisingly didn't struggle or complain.

Raava walked behind Mai's back, saying, "And now, for the main event. I always wanted to say that. Korra, let's see what Mai can teach me." Before infobending her, the Avatar and her power source read Mai, Raava saying, "Read completed. Quite honestly, I didn't expect much, but right away, I could see you have a lot in common with Eska and Desna, except you've hidden your pain for decades, given your constant attitude. Until I infobend you, I'm not going to say any more, and when I do, you probably won't like it." Mai's face became distorted with anger, growling, "Oh, great, it's the beach all over again! I remember that night by the campfire, all that moaning and whinging. It was one of the last times I felt close to Zuko before he ran off to run his nation and hide secrets, leaving me in the dust." Asami surprised everyone by saying, "Hey, Mai - I had my eyes on Korra since the day I met her, but I couldn't do anything about it until very recently. I was apart from her a lot, given her duties as the Avatar." Connecting some unseen dots, Asami added, "You didn't happen to have a controlling father too, did you?" A single tear escaped one of Mai's almond-shaped eyes and she said through clenched teeth, "Just infobend me already - I don't want to talk right now!" It seemed managing to not cry was taking every bit of strength Mai had. Korra noticed that Raava was walking towards her "host", vanishing slowly back inside Korra's body.

_It looks like you might need to show Mai some of your own experiences as we go, Korra - I didn't think humans were supposed to be like her or your cousins, and it appears I was right. Given how she reacted to Asami's comment, something tells me you actually have something in common with Mai - a controlled youth, courtesy of her parents and your predecessor along with the White Lotus._

Korra put her palm to a nervous Mai's forehead, but she somehow knew Mai was not fearful - just hurt. As events of her own childhood flowed into Mai's head and Korra witnessed Mai's prim and proper upbringing, Korra fully understood what Raava had meant. Korra and Mai had not been allowed normal childhoods, Korra because of Aang's last order and Mai as the oldest child of an influential politician. At some point, one of them started hugging the other, and Korra couldn't tell who had initiated the gesture. Korra realized that as the Avatar, she had been able to channel her rage and resentment into three, then four different elements, but Mai? She had no sink, no release for her anger at how she was raised. All she could do was fling blades with anger and hatred. Korra felt Mai nodding, as though she had just "heard" what Korra thought. Mai's father being the leader of this "New Ozai" movement shocked her, and given how Mai was slightly weeping as though through clenched teeth, Mai shared Korra's shock all these years later. As they finished, Korra still didn't understand why Mai had left Zuko.

Mai's voice, crackly from emotion and age, said, "I don't either! You're right, Korra - you had all four elements to bend and use as outlets, and as the Avatar, you could ignore more people. Me?" Mai blew her nose on her dark sleeve, continuing, "I was a bird in a gilded cage - my father's political position meant everyone in our family had to be perfect. I think I might even know why I resented my little brother, Tom Tom, at times." Mai looked ashamed, avoid Korra's glare - she had seen what Mai did, or rather, didn't do, with Tom Tom. Seeing her look, Mai admitted, "Well, more than at times... I'm not proud of my decision to not trade him for King Bumi in Omashu. The reason I resented him and treated him so callously? I think it's because he wasn't the oldest child, and during some of the hardest years of my life, I got to watch him be innocent and carefree, while I had to toe the family and national line." Mai took a deep sigh, regaining most of her normal composure, continuing, "I thought things would change when my boyfriend became Firelord, but they didn't. He was inaccessible and didn't tell me what was going on, and I broke up with him over his stupid precious secrets. Then, finding Tom Tom in that awful place, being 'cared' for and indoctrinated by my father…" Korra could see the rising anger in Mai's eyes, and Asami said, "That's it - feel the pain. Don't try and drown it with alcohol like I did." Given Mai's look of confusion, Korra saw the need for another, _very _carefully edited bit of infobending.

Mai laughed when Korra finished, saying, "I'm not sure why you censored so much - we did hear a lot of your conversation, after all." Seeing that this was not the reaction Asami had expected, Mai said quickly, "Though your story is no laughing matter, Asami. I knew your father just as an industrialist, then as an Equalist from the news, Asami - I didn't know about his control of you in your youth, or his sacrifice four days ago. I'm sorry for your loss." Asami hugged Mai lightly, not entirely sure how hard was too hard, prompting Mai to say, "My bones aren't going to break - I've followed Ty Lee's regimen over the years as well." Mai added with an awkward laugh, "Though I'm not going to be capturing the Avatar anytime soon, even if Korra couldn't metalbend, bloodbend or dodge darts like that." An angry beeping went off, causing Asami to say, "Uhoh - it's almost lunchtime. We've got three minutes! I must have missed the five-minute alarm."

Remembering their unnecessary haste this morning, Korra said, "Before we start running around like madmen, let me ask Tenzin if everyone else is ready for lunch. As far as I am concerned, Ty Lee and Mai can come to the conference if they want - Firelord Izumi, Iroh II, Zuko and Uncle Iroh are going to be pretty lonely at the Fire Nation part of the table. Princess Ursa II will likely not be present - her mother left her in charge of internal affairs at the capital during Firelord Izumi's absence, and given I've never seen her before this, I doubt we'll see her today." As Korra heard Ty Lee and Mai yell, "Wait, what? 'Uncle' Iroh?!" she figured she'd let Katara explain, and focused on Tenzin's energy after a deep breath.

Now it was Korra's turn to burst into a sneak-attack of laughter - given the way Tenzin was cursing under his breath with a radio in his hand, someone important was going to be late. Tenzin yelled into the receiver, oblivious to Korra's laughing presence, " 'Prince' Wu, I don't care how many pretty firebending girls love your singing on this island, you need to come to lunch!" The receiver made a slight noise, prompting Tenzin to slam it on the table, then he yelled into it once again, "No, we didn't bring any badgermoles, Wu!" "Prince" Wu must have been pretty upset, as Korra could actually hear a tinny voice say, "You were on a battleship, for crying out loud - the Zhu Li! If you could bring the shark whale that Korra killed with bloodbending, you could have at least _tried_! I mean, I'm no _bender_, you know - I needed them for security!" Feeling an expression forming on her face that Korra knew was "that look", and quite enjoying it, Korra screamed, "You told Prince Wu WHAT, Tenzin? Ugh, of all the… I can't believe it!" Tenzin let out a yelp, turning around and saying in a panic, "Wu wouldn't stop singing to me until I explained what Meelo told him! My son, Bumi and Kai have been touring the island nonstop since you left, talking with strangers left and right." Korra was still not pleased, but found Wu's little "technique" hilarious saying, "Tell Wu I said hi, and to get his butt to lunch! How big of a delay are we looking at, Tenzin?" Tenzin sighed, saying, "At least 15 to 30 minutes - contacting everyone is going to be a pain, even with projection!" The last word giving Korra an idea, she said, "Bye, and try not to tell President Raiko how I killed the shark whale!"

She ended the projection, noticing that Ty Le and Mai were still present. Korra said, "I see you decided to attend. Maybe you can talk with Zuko after, Mai - even though he married another woman, talking with you about, well, everything might make him feel better." Ty Lee said, "Let's go - I want to see 'Uncle' Iroh! What Katara told us about the spirits just now was scary, but amazing!" Mai said with a frown, "Given her description of this 'Long Yumao the Opportunist', I'd really like to land a blade in between his eyes." Korra laughed, saying, "No offense, but if I need to avoid direct combat with him and just imprison him every time he crosses my path, I don't think you'd fare very well. I've told even Jinora to be careful." Mai apparently taking the jab in stride, Korra continued, "Now, for the most interesting part of the conference."

Korra took a deep breath, temporarily entered the Avatar State, then let her eyes dim and projected Raava at full size into the sea, the great spirit's massive form floating above the water. Raava must have "heard" Korra's idea earlier, as she boomed - hopefully so that only those who needed to hear could - "Attention, all conference attendees! You are to stop what you are doing, and go to Zuko's father's home! And no excessive singing, Wu! That is all!" As Korra felt Raava return to her body, she began laughing hysterically - apparently, spirits appreciated obnoxious singing as much as Tenzin did.

Raava's appearance was quite effective, as within ten minutes, Korra was seated next to her parents and Asami at a massive table, awaiting the first course. Aside from the formality of the affair - Eska and Desna were in their usual clothing - Korra was starving, and eagerly looked forward to eating the shark whale she had killed earlier. Given the nervous glances she was getting from Iroh II, President Raiko and his wife Buttercup, she bitterly realized word must have spread about her feat. Her frown turned into a small smile, slowly - maybe Mako was right after all.

The food was slow in coming, so Korra found time to change into the more formal dress she had worn for Zhu Li and Varrick's wedding as others idly talked, figuring the threat of Avatar State bloodbending was rather off-putting. She needed a softer appearance to help offset the "advantage". On the way back to her seat, she noticed that Eska and Desna were talking to Tenzin, and Korra smiled slightly - that plan should go through. As she sat back down, Asami looked at her with eyes of desire, and Korra saw another "benefit" to her change in clothes.


	29. Chapter 29: The Ember Island Conference

Chapter 29: The Ember Island Conference

After what seemed like an eternity, a cook with a fancy hat came out to the table and said, "We are having some difficulty with the shark whale meat - it will be a little while. The individual killed must have been very large, gargantuan, as some of the meat you provided burst into flames from its fat content. The meat wasn't sliced properly, as we discovered some blubber content, which is not useable. Its heart was also… quite unusable." Korra heard everyone but Tenzin, Pema and his kids groan loudly, Mako saying, holding a blue flame in his hands, "No offense, but if I can sear it on my first try, I see no reason you can't! I'm starving!" The cook replied, "My apologies, Mako - we were informed that you propelled the Zhu Li almost the entire way. I would not recommend eating seared shark whale meat, however - at least not from an individual this size. It must have been old. Old enough that it likely had parasites in its flesh." Seeing that Mako was no longer frowning, the cook continued, "However, if Avatar Korra and yourself wish to help, the blue flame would be most welcome in the kitchen. I will direct its use, as I am the head cook, Zhao." Jumping up shortly before Mako did, Korra said, "Sure - anything to get the food moving faster. Come on, Mako, let's go!"

Given the surprised shouts from the staff, Iroh II, "Prince" Wu, President Raiko and Buttercup, Uncle Iroh had come into the room from his hiding place. He ran after Mako and Korra, saying, "Wait - I'll help with the tea!" Korra collided with a stunned head cook Zhao, Mako adding to the impromptu pile on the floor as the head cook yelled, "Wait, WHAT? That's Zuko's dead uncle, the original Iroh! I thought he was dead! What's going on here, Avatar Korra?" Zhao whispered in her ear, "Don't tell me you can raise the dead as well as bloodbend in broad daylight now!" Seeing Korra's shocked expression, he said quietly, "We saw what the inside of the beast's heart looked like - we were hoping to use the massive organ in a stew, but it's just useless mush now."

Seeing that multiple people had come from the kitchen to stare, Korra got up, and as she helped Mako and head cook Zhao off the floor, she said, "You will find answers to Uncle Iroh's presence in a press release, sometime tomorrow. It is one of the matters we will be discussing at this conference. When you are around Uncle Iroh, treat him as though he is physical." Korra heard a waiter say meekly, holding up a teacup, "We already figured that out - he started making tea while you three were on the floor, even gritting his teeth in pain when he apparently got his finger too hot." Another cook added, "That better be a good press conference, Avatar - we had heard about the new Spirit Portal, but this is just plain weird." As she and Mako accompanied a shaky head cook Zhao into the kitchen, Korra said, "If it's any consolation, Raava was just as puzzled as you all are by Uncle Iroh's… interaction with the physical world." Korra didn't want to tell them that Uncle Iroh could bleed - she'd likely have a mass panic on her hands, including those world leaders not in the know.

Satisfied with her answer - for now - a more normal air returned to the kitchen, though the staff did steer clear of Uncle Iroh, much to his annoyance, but he said nothing, apparently not wanting to upset the staff any further. Just as Korra was about to begin following Zhao's directions to cook a large piece of shark whale properly, she felt a familiar tug on her mind, and had to take a deep breath and tell Zhao, "Excuse me for a moment - I need to wash my hands again. I accidentally wiped them on my dress." Zhao said, "I'm a firebender too, and I know that's a load of hippo cow crap," so Korra whispered in his ear, "Let's say it's an Avatar problem. It will only take a moment." Ignoring the head cook's confused grunt, Korra stepped aside and took another, deep breath with her eyes closed - she didn't want anyone to see her eyes glowing. Before returning to help, Korra thought to herself, "Not now, Raava - at the very least, wait until I have explained more recent events to President Raiko and his wife, Wu, and Iroh II. Given the panic Uncle Iroh caused, I do NOT want to see what your human-y form would elicit from those not in the know."

_Fine - I guess I need to start respecting your wishes more, Korra. I'm just excited to learn firsthand instead of through the filter that is your own eyes._

Satisfied that Raava wasn't going to crash the kitchen or dining table without her approval, Korra returned to the kitchen, eyes now normal. Mako gave her a small smile as she walked in - he must have known what was going on. With Korra's help, they finished cooking rapidly, and once she thought the staff was more comfortable, she used the Avatar State and some knives to rapidly chop the shark whale into suitable portions. As her eyes faded, she heard clapping, head cook Zhao saying, "I guess we need to hire some metalbenders - that was amazing! We could charge people to watch us cook using bending moves for show." Glad she hadn't freaked anyone out, Korra said, bowing slightly, "Thank you, Head Cook Zhao. One of my past lives finds your name very funny - you wouldn't happen to be related to Admiral Zhao, would you?" Head Cook Zhao groaned as Uncle Iroh laughed hysterically, saying, "No, I am most definitely not. I get that a lot. I don't know why my mother chose that stupid, stupid name. At least she didn't name me Ozai - I still remember that kid got a lot of teasing in school. Regardless, all we need to do now is prepare the greens. I have the feeling you will be very useful in that, Avatar Korra." Head Cook Zhao bowed, returning Korra's proper use of his title.

Korra had to watch Head Cook Zhao a couple of times before she felt comfortable with using the Avatar State to chop vegetables and lettuce. Taking a deep breath as the second round of applause faded, Korra heard Head Cook Zhao say, "Good, good - I think we are ready to serve our labors. Say, Avatar Korra - I have an idea. Why don't you use your bending and the Avatar State to serve everyone? The plates and tea sets are all made of china or metal, there are no wooden chopsticks, and the sake glasses are high quality volcanic glass." Before Korra could ask any questions, Head Cook Zhao whipped out a seating chart, with annotations for who wanted what. As Korra memorized the chart, Head Cook Zhao said to an unseen figure, "Hey - you aren't supposed to be back here! Wait… that mustache! You're not by any chance Varrick, are you?"

Korra turned away from the chart to see Varrick reaching into his vest as he said, "I heard your little business idea, and liked it a lot. Don't ask how - I just have a natural talent when it comes to money." Varrick removed a large stack of yuans from his vest, saying as he flipped the bills, "Speaking of which - how would you like your own restaurant in Republic City, once things settle down? It would be a profit split, of course - 80/20, the larger chunk going to you once I get my initial investment back." Seeing Head Cook Zhao's face and knowing he had the cook hooked, Varrick continued, "We've never had a very high end dining establishment aside from Kwong's Cuisine, which is now rubble, and I will make sure you have good equipment and skilled metalbenders." Head Cook Zhao said happily, "Of course! This island doesn't receive the visitors it used to, and I'd love to get out of the Fire Nation. I'm just plain sick of people asking me if I am related to Admiral Zhao, and then either saying 'Thank goodness!' or 'Ah, well. He gets a bad rap.'" Head Cook Zhao sighed deeply, saying, "I must admit, the latter group does grate me a lot more - still hard to believe there are die-hards 74 years later. Most of them are pretty old, at least." Seeing his employee's nervousness, Head Cook Zhao finished, "Of course, all my employees will be coming with me. I've worked with some of them for 20 years. And don't worry about hiring firebenders - over half my staff can bend, though some will need practice."

Varrick put the money back into his vest, extending the other hand and asking, "We have a deal?" Varrick jumped slightly in shock when all the staff said in unison, "Yes!" As Varrick left after having shaken an enthusiastic Head Cook Zhao's hand, he walked away without an apparent swagger for a change. Korra said, glad the distraction was done, "Okay, I think I know where to bend everything. You'll need to go and warn people what to expect, and not be putting their hands or arms on the table. Not that most of them would, anyways - although I can imagine Kai, Bumi or Meelo might." As Mako and Uncle Iroh laughed, Korra struck her foot against the floor to sense her surroundings. She made a show of walking elegantly into view of everyone in the dining hall in her formal dress, saying "Food's ready!" with her final step. Eyes now glowing, she carefully bent out the tea sets, sake bottles and sake glasses first, along with what Head Cook Zhao had called "appetizers." Taking a minute or two to rest as she listened contentedly to random applause and compliments, she ate some food herself and breathed deeply. She sent out the plates with the main course next - vegetables with a sake sauce and a side of lettuce and beans for Tenzin and his family, and shark whale meat over top of soy-sauce soaked fried rice and a side of seared vegetables for the rest.

All this work had made Korra even hungrier, and she made to dig in, but stopped, remembering where she was. She tried eating as she usually saw Asami eat, as opposed to her sloppy manners on her "date" with Bolin four years ago, and found she actually enjoyed the food more, making sure to compliment Head Cook Zhao and his staff as Asami would. Looking around the table, Korra laughed, saying, "I've learned some manners over the past four years, so you can stop staring at me now. Plus, I'm enjoying the food more this way." Glad to see that Iroh II, President Raiko and Buttercup were no longer looking at her like she was Amon, Korra began to turn to Asami beside her. Before she could pick up her sake glass to make a toast to world peace with Asami, President Raiko surprised her by saying, "I know you don't see me as much more than a politician and ally, Avatar Korra, but I'd like you to explain just how 'Uncle' Iroh is here, much less how he's drinking tea next to Zuko. Official start of the conference or not, I'd like to know just what in the blazes is going on. There's been all sort of funny, weird business over the past four days - aside from Kuvira's attack." Briefly looking at Kuvira, who was seated next to Su, Prince Wu, Lin, Kai, Opal, who had Bolin and Mako at her own side, then back at Korra with a sterner expression, President Raiko continued, "_Especially_ after Kuvira's attack - I saw that glowing earthen shield around the Republic City Spirit Portal, and I don't think it's for decoration, especially given it has the four elemental symbols on it."

Korra was shocked, and had to try very hard to hide it - this wasn't very like President Raiko at all, and given Firelord Izumi's surprised small gasp, she was shocked as well. Korra was going to start talking, but she noticed something odd out of the corner of her eye. One of the waiters had shown an excited expression far beyond any his co-workers had shown, then quickly jerked, as though he had betrayed something. Looking at his face, Korra didn't recognize him from the kitchen - at all. Korra said, "Just a moment - I need to fix my shoe," making to bend over and adjust her shoe, striking the ground lightly with her hand instead and keeping it there. That "waiter's" heart was beating awfully fast. As though he could sense her action, he said immediately after her hand had struck the floor, "Oh gosh, I have to use the bathroom - I've been holding it until I needed to take plates back to the kitchen. Be right back."

Once he had left in a controlled run, Lin said, pointing at Korra, "I felt you earthsensing that waiter, Korra, and given the way he ran off after you struck the floor, he has something to hide. Given your broadening smile, you must have been able to sense it before he even left." Korra said, smiling as she shut the door through which the "waiter" had left and locking it for good measure with her bending, "I believe we might have a spy on our hands. I haven't told anyone aside from Desna, Eska, Mai, Ty Lee, Asami and Katara, but I can do the same thing Toph can now, and his heart was beating like he was torn between terror and joy." Before anyone could interrupt, Korra continued, "Given the fact that he said he needed to use the bathroom at the exact same time my earthsense reached him, I'm pretty sure who he is a spy for - Jinshu Kuangmai. I'm not going to apprehend him just yet - we're going to play a little game with him. When he's in the room, we will _not_ talk about anything too secret." Seeing President Raiko's grumpy expression, Korra said, "Don't worry - I've got a little trick of my own. With Raava's help, I can read people now, as well as give and receive information without speaking. I call it 'infobending', and will use it to update people after we've had our 'fun' with this spy, in case there are any other, more competent ones present, or a listening wire." Noting with displeasure that President Raiko still looked annoyed, Korra added, "We have plenty to talk about that isn't highly sensitive anyways - the fate of the Earth Kingdom, a bit about recent events in the Spirit World, Kuvira's sentencing, though parts of that will not be discussed and only infobended, as well as a little something else I came up with to yank Jinshu Kuangmai around." Korra felt her father tap her on her shoulder, Tonraq saying, "I don't know where all this came from - when you were growing up and during your first years as active Avatar, you were never one for subtleties." Korra laughed, saying, "The past four years has taught me a lot, and I infobended more than just physical combat knowledge from Mai - her experiences with 'cloak and dagger' during Aang's time were very useful. Not to mention how I broke Baatar Jr."

Breathing a sigh of relief as President Raiko's expression softened, apparently finding her exchange with her father humorous, everyone present pretended to not notice how the "waiter" opened the door by himself. Still clueless, he said, "Okay, I'm good now. It doesn't look like the Avatar is done eating, so I will wait here to personally take her plates back to the kitchen." _Man, this guy is bad - really bad. I'm pretty sure I'd make a better spy than him. _Suppressing the snort caused by Raava' internal comment, Korra said, "Given the fact that almost everyone but myself is done eating, we may as well start the conference. First item of business : the fate of the Earth Kingdom. Prince Wu, why don't you tell everyone what you told me and Mako at the Zhurrick wedding? I don't think many people know your exact plan. You have been… singing a lot over the past three days, as you said while we were waiting on the food before Head Cook Zhao came out." Before Prince Wu could speak, Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, Tenzin, Pema, Kya, Bumi, Katara, Jinora, Asami, Zhu Li, Varrick, Su, Firelord Izumi and Iroh II all laughed loudly, Zuko quipping "Good - it sounds like Admiral Zhao finally got demoted." Uncle Iroh barely stifled a chuckle of his own, failing to contain it after Zuko's witticism. Apparently Head Cook Zhao had heard, as he popped his head out into view, saying blankly, "It's a pity I can't get that blasted name changed. And before you ask, I am not related to Admiral Zhao, and I despise him. I have heard rumors he's trapped in some awful spirit prison, as he deserves richly. That is all." His neutral tone and the way his head vanished instantly just made everyone start laughing, people joining in who had no idea who Admiral Zhao was. Forgetting herself, Korra said, "I'll have Aang help infobend who this Admiral Zhao is to those who don't know later." Her mouth curled slightly in a small frown when she saw the spy's eyes glisten - she would have to be really careful with her words, as would everyone else. Given the stare Lin was giving Korra, she had noticed the unnamed spy's expression as well.

Given Prince Wu's unusually controlled expression, he must have seen Lin's stare as well - he was seated in between Su and Lin, after all. Given how he was rubbing his arm, Lin must have given him a slightly more obvious reminder as well. Prince Wu took a deep breath, saying, "While I do enjoy a good laugh - you simply must show me who this Admiral Zhao is later, Korra - I think it is time for business. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can siiiing!" Prince Wu gulped, apparently put off by Tenzin's glare, ignoring a laughing Pema next to Tenzin. Prince Wu continued after smiling at Pema, having apparently noticed her after all, "Only a few people in this room know what my plan for the Earth Kingdom is. After seeing so much of Republic City lately and seeing the flaws in both monarchy and dictatorship, I believe the people of the Earth Kingdom should rule themselves." Prince Wu stopped for a moment, letting the applause die down, Korra noticing the spy clapping half-heartedly. If this was the best Jinshu Kuangmai could offer, once Long Yumao was dead, Toph's estranged son would offer no challenge. Prince Wu said, pointing at President Raiko, "Specifically, a republic, but with more freedom for the individual states. I figure after years of oppressive monarchy and Kuvira, the people have had enough. My dream is for every state to be like Zaofu."

Su stood up, pointing to Kuvira, and keeping an even voice, she said, "Prince Wu, I know you're light-hearted and a little out of touch, but I never figured you for a complete fool. The Earth Kingdom has never been a very cohesive whole - just look at what happened after Earth Queen Hou-Ting's death. All the chaos came from the states being weak by themselves, many unable to even handle bandits. Do you honestly think Kuvira's armies are going to just vanish and give up without a fight? Especially considering what everyone else knows about Ji - Ow, Lin, stop that!" Su made to give her sister a light slap, but instead her eyes widened, realizing why Lin had used metalbending to slightly contract her sister's headband. The spy was frowning slightly. Su continued, with a more controlled demeanor, "I can't think of a system of government from my learning that would be appropriate for the Earth Kingdom, but I do know it needs to be strong, yet representative." Asami coughed loudly, saying, "I assume you have heard of a board of trustees, Su - it's a group of individuals who help restrain the boss of the company and make sure he doesn't run it into the ground." Asami sighed bitterly, continuing, "I guess my father's board must have been Equalists as well, given their reaction to his actions. I didn't replace them until Korra's absence, as I had no time to form a new board and didn't feel like I needed one until I began working on Republic City's transportation system overhaul." Seeing Lin and Su's quizzical looks, Asami continued, "I see no reason that a whole nation couldn't be run on a similar system. Each state would have a certain number of representatives, based on both population and economic contributions, to ensure fairness. Zaofu would have as many representatives as any of the largest states, given its wealth and economic influence." Now it was Prince Wu's turn to interrupt, saying, "That sounds like a really good idea, Asami, but there's one problem - what about the dirt-poor states with low population? To make sure smaller states are on board with this plan, there should be a second house, with more power than the larger one, made up of, say, 92 representatives, if I remember the number of states correctly." Noticing an odd energy course through her and her eyes glow, Korra said in an all too familiar voice that was not her own, "You forgot Kyoshi Island, Prince Wu - don't forget about my homeland." As what must have been Kyoshi faded, Korra wanted to hit something, but she heard a serious female voice in her head say, "I liked what you did to that shark whale - maybe you aren't so soft after all. Now go, and help heal my homeland, and I might not hate you quite as much."

Everyone who didn't know about the return of the Avatar's past lives yelped in surprise, Korra noticing with frustration that the spy was among them. Buttercup said, much to her husband's irritation, "Oh wow - was that Avatar Kyoshi's voice?" Before she could continue, President Raiko coughed into her ear, "Waiter!" and Buttercup's eyes widened. Wanting to make up for her slip, she said, "Waiter, me and my husband want some more tea. Can someone get some more? I feel a little airheaded." Buttercup gave Korra a wink, with her last comment apparently a subtle apology. Korra asked Prince Wu, "Okay - why 94 representatives? Aren't there only 47 or so states in the Earth Kingdom?" Prince Wu held up a finger, saying, "I'm glad you asked, Korra. I figured that since there are almost always two sides to any issue, we should have two representatives per state." President Raiko let out an "Ahem" then continuing, "The people of Republic City have experience with elections, even before the massive change four years ago that let nonbenders have an… equal voice. I am afraid I cannot say the same for the Earth Kingdom, however, and given the rumors I have heard about activity in the south, I don't think the Earth Kingdom will be holding nationwide elections any time soon." Taking a breath and then pointing at Su, he said, "This is why I believe that interim leaders should be appointed until a time when the Earth Kingdom stabilizes, and no representatives or elections just yet."

Prince Wu took a big sigh, saying angrily, "No - I want at least some input from the people right away, or this whole Earth Kingdom to United Earth Republic will mean nothing! I know of one individual who would be worthy of appointment, whose only loyalty is to the state - Minister Wong. He served under Earth Queen Hou-Ting and Kuvira alike, but from what I hear, his involvement with either one's unsavory activities was practically nothing." Prince Wu took a deep breath, his face no longer flushed in anger. Asami said, "You could have three 'rulers', elected separately from the representatives. It would be easier to get people to vote for two individuals as a taste of a representative government. Whoever gets the most votes wins and wields the most power, but not enough to override the other two on important matters." Lin's face brightened slightly and she said, "You mean like the Triple Threat Triads? My, uh, experience with the criminal world let me see how that gang worked, and apparently, very rarely, on really important matters, Lightning Bolt Zolt could be overridden for the good of the gang. The waterbender they call Viper was his second in command." Lin crossed her arms, saying "Though I never did manage to find out who the third leader was - probably some earthbender we could never get our hands on." Reaching over Prince Wu's small body, she elbowed her sister, saying, "I think I might have just found _her_." Su's face flushed in annoyance and Kuvira began laughing hysterically.

President Raiko said, "On another note, I am utterly baffled by why a war criminal was invited here to a conference of world leaders. Let's finalize our plan for the Earth Kingdom so we can move on to Kuvira's sentencing." Over the next 15 minutes, their discussion finalized the plan: the Earth Kingdom would have two different representative houses, to be filled at a later date. Any major court disputes would be referred to the three "Principal Representatives", one of which would be Minister Wong as Second Principal Representative, the other two elected soon in areas that could… handle elections. When people thought the structure was completed, Asami said gently, "I think we may have missed something. Given how Tarrlok was an elected official but still acted like a dictator when he could, and the history of abuse of power in the Earth Kingdom, perhaps there should be some sort of rulebook for the government. It would help protect ordinary citizen's rights - given they pay taxes and some will serve in the military, they're a lot like investors, and investors have rights." President Raiko said, "That's a really good idea, Asami - I might just implement it in Republic City myself. There are already certain rights there - but they're not set down in stone. But who will write the rulebook? The government itself, the people at this conference, or the people of the Earth Kingdom?" Asami shrugged, and a familiar figure near Zuko's side stood up and said, "Why not all three? The unanimous decisions of the three Principal Representatives could be used as legally binding law, only being able to be overturned by themselves or the smaller house in conjunction with two of the Principal Representatives. I am sure that we can come up with some basic rights right now, and the people can add more later - though any new rules should be passed with a large percentage of the vote."

Everyone began clapping at Uncle Iroh's suggestion, and they came up with some basic rights - freedom of the press, no unwarranted searches of private property aside from using earthsense, the right to a fair trial, and everyone over the age of 16 being able to vote, to name a few. The actual list was much longer and included various rules on how the government could operate itself. Asami finished writing the "United Earth Republic Charter" on the top of a piece of blueprint, and Prince Wu signed the line at the bottom of the last page, officially abdicating his power. Now formerly Prince Wu stretched his arms into the air, yelling, "Time to siiiing!" A blast of air from the Tenzin family's side of the table knocked him onto the ground, and he stood back up, saying, "Wu not down! I guess no singing, then."

As Mako laughed hysterically, Kuvira said, "I believe we can now move on to my sentencing. Part of this will need to be infobended." President Raiko shook his head, saying, "Given that we just took advice from an apparently partially physical human spirit to create a new form of government, I want to know just what is going on that would make Korra see the need to shut off that Spirit Portal. I mean, the walls look like they were made to contain Vaatu himself - surely, there's no spirit running around that's a major threat, right? Not three years after Harmonic Convergence?" Seeing how uneasy everyone was around him, with the exception of his wife, Iroh II and Wu, President Raiko said, "Why don't you start with when you left the party with Asami, Korra - I heard reports that an airbison moving rapidly was seen leaving the crater the night after the battle in my city."

Seeing that this was her opportunity, Korra began explaining the events of the night after the battle, pausing to let Asami tell her own story. Korra was staring at a clearly pleased but slightly nervous Uncle Iroh when Asami "accidentally" burst into hysterics after telling her childhood woes - though her sadness seemed very real and still raw. Before Tenzin could begin his part of Korra's plan, President Raiko threw him off guard, saying, "I had heard rumors about your father forcing you to attend that 'dating school', Asami, and I could never figure out why someone as beautiful as yourself would need help dating. I guess we know the answer now - Hiroshi Sato always did strike me as slightly off." President Raiko said with a sour face, "And to be quite honest, this disturbs me only slightly less than his Equalist sympathies and helping Amon." Asami burst into real tears, taking some deep breaths before saying, "Thank you, President Raiko. I never figured you for the sentimental type." A single tear escaped one of President Raiko's eyes, and he said, "As someone who wanted children of his own but never had any, it makes me sad to think that you two will share a similar fate. Wait… what's that look on your face, Asami? What…"

Sensing now would be a bad time to talk about his Air Nomad scroll and its decree, Tenzin sat back down, as Korra began spilling everything up to the time she fell asleep in the artifact house. President Raiko looked happy but shocked, as did his wife, Wu _was_ down this time, and Iroh II just kept pointing back and forth between Asami and Korra with a confused look on his face. Firelord Izumi told her son, "Iroh, it isn't nice to point and stare! Now, please, put your hand down." Uncle Iroh chuckled, saying, "I'm not doing anything!" Iroh II burst into laughter, which helped break the tension in the air. Wu stood up and wobbled slightly, asking, "What did I miss?" President Raiko beat Korra to the punch, saying, "Nothing. It sounds like this Long Yumao the Opportunist is the reason you made that 'capstone' around the Spirit Portal. I fail to see why a medium-sized spirit would need what appears to be Avatar energy to contain him, given how the pulsing lines are white." Seeing that President Raiko was beginning to take a big breath, apparently asking more questions, Korra said, "I'm afraid further details of this 'Spirit Civil War' that Uncle Iroh warned us about will need to be infobended." With a satisfied look on his face, President Raiko said to an ill-at-ease Tenzin, "It looks like you have something you want to say - now spit it out! I may be patient, but it looks like you can't keep yourself silent much longer."

Tenzin told everyone about how he found Korra and Asami together the next morning, followed by the scroll and its contents. While Katara talked about the 'enemy birds', Korra thought "Now that wasn't in the plan." _I believe one of our past lives read a book of quotes, and one of them said, "No plan survives contact with the enemy". If you can handle a spy, I think you can handle a little deviation in this plan of yours_. In the time it took Raava to "say" her piece, Eska and Desna must have started their bit. Korra looked up in time to see a surprised President Raiko open his mouth, but something unexpected happened. Everyone at the Fire Nation end of the table let out a surprised yelp, except for one. When Korra turned to see who it was, she felt tears welling up in her. Firelord Izumi said, standing tall, "I'll do it. I'll change the laws of the Fire Nation. From what Avatar Korra showed me on that boat, especially about my father's sister, Azula, I want the suffering to stop, and government recognition of homosexual relationships would go a long way." Turning to face Katara, she continued, "One of the first things my father did when he finally got a chance to rest and make changes in the Fire Nation was overhaul our abysmal schools and their lies, and I have continued his legacy. I will make sure to include your story about the 'enemy birds', Katara - including your brother's hilarious antics." Firelord Izumi let out a loud "Ooof!" as Zuko and Uncle Iroh hugged her tightly, finally managing to say, "Thank you. I love you, dad," with some tears of her own.

Korra felt a strong hand on her shoulder, and she turned to look through happy tears to see her father say, "I never really thought of that. I bet Korra will make you a beautiful betrothal necklace, Asami. I'm in as well - it's the least I could do for my daughter, the Avatar, and given how she helped the Southern Water Tribe three years ago while others watched - no hard feelings, President Raiko and Katara - I do not think many people will find fault with my decision." Now it was Korra's turn to stand up and hug her father deeply, saying, "Thank you so much. I certainly never expected this."

When she heard a now standing Eska and Desna sighing enviously, jealous of Korra's good relationship with her family, Korra turned to look at her cousins as her mother joined the hug. Eska and Desna said in unison, pointing to their hair, "Asami, we owe you a great debt." Desna continued, as Eska hugged her brother lightly, "It was your story of childhood repression that inspired us to finally break free of Unalaq's emotional prison." Asami took a deep breath, recollecting herself, and said, "So I assume you are going to follow in Firelord Izumi and Tonraq's footsteps then? That's wonderful!" As they answered "Of course!" in unison, Asami made to walk around the massive table to hug them, but was stopped suddenly. Breaking her own hug, Korra laughed when she saw who it was - Wu! Apparently, Asami was not pleased, saying, "What are you doing, Wu? And why are you grabbing at my pack - there's nothing but the… United Earth Republic… Charter… in there," finishing by hugging Wu when she had figured out what Wu wanted. Wu said, shaking his ridiculous hair slightly, "I have a change to suggest in that document, a new _universal _right specifically, and I think you know what it is, given how you're crying again." Wu stopped for a moment, continuing, "You know, crying a lot isn't good for your skin - I think it makes you break out if you leave the tears. Something about salt clogging the pores." Asami laughed deeply, saying, "I'll keep that in mind next time I have sad tears - these are happy ones, and I like them."

Turning to see what the remaining world leader had to say, Korra noticed with an intense fury that the spy was yawning, looking at the clock on the wall. Korra had half a mind to do to him what she did to the shark whale, but stopped herself - she couldn't let people's hate or indifference get to her. And she wasn't done with him yet, either. President Raiko finally managed to say, "I'll also legalize gay marriage, especially seeing as every other leader here has decided to do so. I think what 'Uncle' Iroh said to you in the Spirit World was wrong, Korra - the world is a changed place, mostly thanks to you. Consider this a gift for all your help over the years, and a much more permanent one than your incinerated statue in Avatar Korra Park." Uncle Iroh said loudly, "I never thought I would see this day, Korra. You still will need to win hearts and minds, however - just because something is legal doesn't mean people will like it. That was the whole reason I advised caution in the first place - prejudice. I look forward to the press conference tomorrow, to see how the world reacts."

As everyone settled down again, Kuvira said, "That was certainly unexpected. I cannot imagine that a certain individual in the Earth Kingdom will be along with this change, however - he never struck me as the loving type." Given Kuvira's wink to Korra and an exasperated Lin, she had made this last comment out loud on purpose, probably to rankle Jinshu Kuangmai. After returning the wink with a smile of her own, Korra said, "And now, to the sentencing of Kuvira the Great Flipflopper." As Korra listened to the laughter around her, she though inwardly, "This could be fun." Given how Raava was giggling in her head, she thought so as well. Before Korra could begin speaking, President Raiko said, "In the interest of saving time, why don't you just infobend the reason why Kuvira is here and Baatar Jr. is not. You may as well throw in what you have in mind for Kuvira." Shocked at his request, Korra began with Wu, who said as she walked towards Iroh II, "Why didn't you just turn good in the first place, Kuvira?" Kuvira gave him an angry glare, but before she could say anything, Zuko interjected, "Sometime we have to be brought to our lowest point to make the greatest change. I'd say that horrible vision that Kuvira saw was pretty low. I thought the two dragons in my fever dream were creepy - that metallo-Kuvira gave me chills!" Korra turned slightly to look at Zuko, seeing him giving her a knowing look. After the delay, she transferred Kuvira's struggle and other events into Iroh II, who said, "Man, my life has been pretty easy - I'm lucky I had such a great mom." Firelord Izumi gave him a big hug as Korra walked to President Raiko and Buttercup, who both looked thoroughly confused. Before Korra placed her hands on their foreheads, she said, "You'll know in just a minute." As Korra infobended, she realized with a start that it was much easier and faster than it used to be, so she stopped momentarily. Seeing President Raiko looking at her, she asked, "Do you want everything? Prince Wu already knows a bit more than you do thanks to Meelo, and given your expression, you don't seem to mind." President Raiko said, "Yes. Buttercup may as well know too - I don't feel like keeping secrets from my wife." Seeing Buttercup nod in agreement, he continued, "I noticed I could also feel your thoughts - specifically, how this is 'much easier and faster than it used to be'. Put your hand back - I want to try something." Korra began transferring information once more, with the usual censorings and starting with the beginning, she heard President Raiko's "voice" say, "The sooner we get this over with, the less chance someone will slip up in front of that spy. Why don't you go do what you're doing now to Wu and Iroh II so you can play your little game with him and 'Jinshu Kuangmai'."


	30. Chapter 30: The Ember Spy

Chapter 30: The Ember Spy

As Korra stepped back, she nodded slightly once she caught President Raiko's eye. Making sure to first remind Iroh II and Wu to not react to the information too strongly, Korra gave them a fuller - but not complete - account. When she removed her hand from Wu's large forehead, as he was last, he said, crossing his arms tightly, "Awww, what rotten luck. I _finally _get the chance to sing as a career, and now the world might end! This sucks." As he pouted, the Beifong family - including Kuvira - erupted into laughter, Opal saying, "While I have confidence in Korra, I don't like the 'Sudden Death' option either. It's no fair - Korra and Asami have been together four days and Asami's already pregnant, and I haven't even groped Bolin yet!" Korra and Mako laughed as his brother fell to the floor yet again. Korra asked everyone else to put their feet on the floor, except Bolin, who was already down, flashed her eyes, then used the Avatar State to make sure everyone knew the punishment plan for Kuvira, making very sure to not "hit" the spy. Then, Korra asked loudly, "Are we all in agreement on Kuvira's sentencing?" Seeing everyone bob their heads in agreement, even Meelo joining in and Bolin letting out a weak "Uhuh", Korra said, "Now, to another important item of business."

Now, it was time to enact her little plan. Before she could even speak, she could feel Raava was _very _excited, and Korra thought this little trick might win Avatar Kyoshi over. Korra said, after Bolin was seated again, "As you all know, Kuvira used vines from the Great Banyan tree to power her weapons once her access to Republic City vines was cut off. I have sensed somehow that the damage done to the tree has been reversed, but this is not all a good thing. If any of Kuvira's stragglers get their hands on spirit vines again, we could be in big trouble. To my knowledge, there aren't any stockpiles of spirit vines left." Seeing she had the spy's full attention, she told a decidedly _white_ colored lie, adding, "From what I could sense of the Great Banyan tree, it had a great amount of energy infused into it. If anyone tries to cut it, it will likely fight back more strongly now, but I fear it could still be overpowered by a large group of elite metalbenders. If they manage to cut the more powerful vines… they might just be able to make a bomb powerful enough to wipe cities off the map. Think center of Republic City, but going for miles instead."

She was barely able to resist giving an evil laugh, seeing the spy's reaction. She even heard a little tinny voice coming from his ear - so Jinshu Kuangmai had managed to get his hands on some fairly good equipment then. Remembering what Toph had said about her son, Korra realized with a start that there was a reason this spy was so bad - he was disposable! Putting this together with the tinny voice, Korra's eyes widened - there was probably a listening wire in the room!

Apparently, the spy had seen her eyes, as his own widened and he used earthbending and metalbending to smash through the wall behind him. As Korra's eyes began to glow and she stepped back to avoid upending the table, Zuko said, "Oh, rats! I finally finish renovating this house and expanding it, and the spy goes through the wall!" She could hear Katara yell once she was outside, "Stop him! Use your bloodbending, Korra - it's the only way!" Korra had to run a distance away from the house before using her flame jets to avoid burning Zuko's retreat. She carefully took off her formal dress to reveal her normal clothes beneath as she did so, making sure to toss it far from her current position - she'd need to be able to move well to catch the spy, and didn't want to burn the dress Asami loved so much. Her initial delay and change of clothes let the spy escape a fair distance using a move Bolin had told her about - "earthwalking". Already glowing eyes flashing, she struck her foot against the ground, trying to see where the spy was fleeing. She noticed he was slower than Bolin, but was making a beeline for the other end of the island. Using her firebending to propel herself rapidly, she caught up quickly, surprising him by saying "Game's up!" as he earthwalked, sending him tumbling.

He recovered quickly and whipped out what looked like a medicine pill, saying, "I may not have gotten much, but you won't 'infobend' me! I'll be too DEAD! Glory to Jinshu Kuangmai!" Time slowed as he began to put his hand closer and closer to his mouth, but Korra just smirked and began to halt his movements with Avatar State bloodbending, making him flick the capsule away. Seeing the panicked look of his face, Korra said, "I'm afraid you won't be taking your medicine today, spy. I'm going to bring you back to Zuko's house now - someone there can help me pry your little secrets. And don't even bother trying to send reinforcements, Jinshu Kuangmai - I know about the little earpiece and the listening wire." Relaxing her bending grip on his head, his features started moving again. Given the expression on the spy's face, he must have just gotten an earful from his boss, as he looked slightly distraught, saying, "He told me I'm disposable and dead to him anyways for my failure. But I don't care - he's right! The Earth Empire must prevail!" After he spat in Korra's face, she vaguely considered following through with her impulse from earlier, turn his insides to mush, but decided not to.

Once she had bloodbent him back to the house, she noticed plenty of people were staring at her in disbelief. Korra yelled out, "Mai, I need your help! Give this rat a paralyzing dose - I need him conscious!" The spy screamed, "Wait, NO! No no no!" Not wanting to hear whatever drivel he had to say, Korra clamped his mouth shut, Tenzin saying, "I guess that part of the training did come in handy after all." As she told everyone about the spy's words, Mai said, "Want me to give him something to permanently knock him out after? It sounds like he's quite the zealot, and given his bending abilities, it doesn't sound like he'd be an easy prisoner."

Korra sighed, still focusing on maintaining her hold, "I'm sure I will figure something out. Just go ahead and paralyze him so I can get started." One "Ffft" later, and the spy's body was so rigid Korra was afraid she'd kill him if she continued bloodbending. She laid him on the ground gently. She had no smile on her face as his eyes looked at her in terror while Korra placed her hand on his forehead.

After finding out where the spy's microphone was located and crushing it, the first major thing she found out when she resumed infobending was the location of the listening wire. The spy had hidden it on a potted plant's strong stem out of sight and out of detection by earthsense. Figuring Kuvira would enjoy destroying it, Korra again stopped temporarily and told her the location of the listening wire. Kuvira came back out, holding the medium-sized microphone and large battery in her hands, saying to the microphone, "I guess you figured we were going to be talking a long time, didn't you, Jinshu Kuangmai? You should just give up, and stop fighting your conscience, if you have one. I did, and it's the best thing I've ever done! I feel so much lighter - Mother Suyin considers me her daughter now." After a little bit, Korra heard loud tinny cursing from the spy's right ear, and everyone began laughing, making the curses even worse. Meelo said, no longer sitting on Bumi's shoulders, "See, mom? THOSE are the words I want to learn!" Remembering what he had been told about Jinshu Kuangmai, Meelo said as he returned to Bumi's shoulders, "I may be a nine year old airbender who designs weapons, but your blood-iron bending is just sick!" A short time later, more cursing, though Korra managed to hear the low words, "What weapons, TELL ME! Do your job, you fool! I don't care if you're paralyzed." Korra laughed, saying, "I think Meelo has something else to say to you," and after she told Meelo what she overheard, he puffed out his chest, saying, "I'm not gonna tell you, Jinshu Kuangmai! And I'm not gonna call you Mister either - only good people get that honor!" Zuko snickered after the word "honor", and as Korra turned to look at him, she noticed Uncle Iroh was crying.

Uncle Iroh yelled, pointing at Korra, "Can't you just end this already? It's not nice to toy with people, even if they are your enemies. And I don't think you should kill this spy, either - we can always make him a wooden prison like Kuvira and Baatar Jr. were in." Thinking for a moment, Uncle Iroh continued, "Though, I don't see why Baatar Jr. needed a wooden cage - he's no bender." When Uncle Iroh finished, Korra removed the earpiece from the spy's ear so everyone could hear. A voice that sent chills down her spine said clearly, "Whoever you are, I need none of your sympathy or pathetic _mercy_. That spy is a failure, and deserves death, as he knows." As Uncle Iroh's face filled with sadness, Jinshu Kuangmai continued, "You should have heard about my special talent, and if we ever meet, I'll be sure to choke you real nice and slow - I love making weaklings suffer. Ah, the fear in their eyes…" Uncle Iroh let out a loud, sad grunt, saying, "Whoever you are, you must have a lot of hurt inside you. My other nephew, Princess Azula, was like that. She never trusted anyone, and eventually, she went insane." The earpiece howled in a sound more bone-chilling than Vaatu's voice, "You know NOTHING about true power, old man! Azula was a genius! When I choke the life from Avatar Korra, bloodbending or not, then we'll see who's crazy! NNNNGUUYYYAAAHH!" With that final grunt, a static sound came from the earpiece - apparently, Jinshu Kuangmai didn't want to talk anymore.

As Uncle Iroh just shook his head sadly and Kuvira crushed the listening wire, making sure to not spill the battery's juice on anyone, Korra distracted herself by infobending the spy again. The next thing she found out required immediate attention - there was a relay boat nearby, and she could somehow sense she knew one of its passengers! After a short explanation, she ran to an outcrop of rock and used flame jets to soar into the sky, and she spotted the large boat immediately. It was disguised to look like a fishing boat, but it had a fairly large radio tower on its deck, and she assumed it must have been metalbent together on the deck. Apparently, it had defenders, as she had to dodge incoming metal projectiles and what she could have sworn was a small blast of energy that brought back bad memories. Not wanting to hurt or drown anyone, she used her bloodbending to black out the hostile soldiers, remembering what Kuvira had done to the guard outside her cell with the necklace. She then encased each their bodies in a ring of ice so if they woke up they wouldn't be able to bend metal. She had sensed one figure cowering by the radio tower who she felt no need to bloodbend - she recognized him quickly. Or rather, his trembling voice - his appearance took longer to register. He was a wreck.

The figure ran over, apparently very glad someone had come to his rescue. Korra said, "It's okay, Shiro Shinobi - all those soldiers will be out for quite a while, and they won't break out of that ice easy. Why are you here?" Shiro Shinobi began sobbing even harder, saying, "My family and I were kidnapped a day after the battle in Republic City from our tents, and we were taken to Zaofu by rail, where this horrible man said he'd choke my family to death if I didn't help him with his radios. He wasn't right, Korra - I have read of Azula, and he reminded me of her a lot." Taking a deep breath, Shiro Shinobi continued, "There's a lot I need to tell you - some of the people who were handling us were careless, and we saw things we shouldn't have." The same voice she had heard earlier that chilled her to the bone boomed from a loudspeaker on the deck, saying, "I know I said I'd kill your family if you failed, Shiro Shinobi, but now we have a new 'deal'! Take the pill I gave you, or your family dies!"

Shiro Shinobi looked like he seriously considered it for a minute, panicking Korra back into the Avatar State - she wanted to be able to stop him if need be. Shiro Shinobi instead took out a receiver from his tattered trademark vest, slamming it onto the deck and then spitting next to it. Before Jinshu Kuangmai could react, he yelled, "I talked about this with my wife, if either one of us should be threatened with death. She said not to do anything like your order! I don't know who you are, but you certainly don't understand love! I'm not helping you and your horrible plans anymore!" Jinshu Kuangmai said, with anticipation in his voice, "Very well - I see you have made your decision. I look forward to their looks of terror and their final gasps." Before smashing the receiver, Shiro Shinobi said, "My wife will still try and spit in your face, even with that horrible talent of yours! Scumbag!" The crunch satisfied Korra deeply - she was pretty sure she was going to kill Jinshu Kuangmai when she got the chance.

Shiro Shinobi collapsed to the deck, weeping profusely. Korra said, "I will leave this ship alone after we take a little look around. I'll bend a warning into the metal deck." Korra pointed at what appeared to be a solitary "small" spirit cannon on the prow of the boat, saying, "I get the feeling that's what shot at me on the way in. Is that one of the things you saw? In… wait. Zaofu?!" Shiro Shinobi looked up, with steely eyes, saying, "Yes. Apparently, Kuvira had developed smaller spirit weapons but did not feel comfortable using them in the battle four days ago. I read the text on one inside Zaofu and it said, 'WARNING: Prototype. Not for battle use.' Shiro Shinobi shook his head, continuing, "Speaking of Zaofu - the soldiers following Jinshu Kuangmai were making preparations for some massive earthbending project, given the lines they were creating around the former domes of Zaofu. They even diverted the rivers, to some unseen location, apparently in the mountains. There were at least a thousand soldiers there in elite metalbending armor. But, the thing is - there were no building materials. As I left on the train again, I noticed that central Zaofu looked… lower somehow, as well as the other five lotuses. Well, they aren't lotuses any more… It was like they were gradually sinking Su's city into the earth, to make the central lotus and its five sisters into an underground stronghold." Suddenly remembering another detail, Shiro Shinobi added, "That might explain the massive thin sheets of shiny metal lying around. If they somehow were able to surround the sunken portions of the city with platinum, not even the best earthbender could detect them."

Realizing that what Shiro Shinobi had to say was very important, Korra bent her warning to Jinshu Kuangmai onto the deck - basically, that he was as good as dead if she got her hands on him - and then formed an iceboard like she had earlier with Asami. Both were silent as they returned to Zuko's property.

After everyone was seated at the table again and the spy gagged and bound to a wooden chair out of earshot, the silence that Shiro Shinobi's downcast presence caused finally proved to be too much for President Raiko. He asked, "Why does Shiro Shinobi look so crushed, and why is he here, Korra? He looks like someone just killed his family or something! Are you all right?" Shiro Shinobi wailed, "You're right, President Raiko - that evil scumbag Jinshu Kuangmai did just kill my family!" As everyone stared and some wept, Shiro Shinobi explained what had happened to him over the past days, finishing with Korra's warning to Jinshu Kuangmai on the boat's deck. When he finished, Su was weeping bitterly, saying, "Your family… My city… that's just awful! Did you manage to see if the civilians were safe, away from Zaofu? That man is a monster… your whole family, asphyxiated!" Shiro Shinobi took a deep breath, saying, "I believe that all nonbender civilians had been taken somewhere else, benders forced to help. I did see a suspicious looking 'crack' in a nearby mountain's foot - maybe that's where they are. Now that I think about it, that's where the water was diverted to as well - that horrible man must have made a secondary hideout, deep inside the mountains." Having heard the story a second time, Korra said sadly, "It sounds like whatever Jinshu Kuangmai has planned for Zaofu, it's pretty serious. If what Shiro Shinobi said about the number of elite metalbenders is true, once we win against Jinshu Kuangmai, it will take me a long time to get Zaofu back above the surface, even with help." Kuvira finally managed to wipe the glare off her face, saying, "It's a good thing I never promoted Jinshu Kuangmai past third in command - given his behavior, it probably wouldn't have been long before I had a mysterious death. And what he's done to Shiro Shinobi's family, and my adoptive home… it just sickens me."

Meelo said loudly, jumping up onto the table and somehow managing to not break any dishes, "I know one thing we can do to stop Jinshu Kuangmai - kill him! And yesterday, I helped Asami, Kuvira, Zhu Li and Varrick come up with some good ways to do so!" Asami took this as her cue to move aside the plates in front of her, but before she could whisk out the blueprints, Head Cook Zhao said loudly, "Staff, please clear the table - it looks like. Wait. What are you doing, Avatar Korra?" Korra had entered the Avatar State and was using it to clear the table, saying, "Helping out!" Knowing full well that for the next part of the meeting she wouldn't be of much help, Korra slowly walked to a corner of the room, and fell asleep curled up from cumulative exhaustion.

When she woke back up, she saw Asami's face in front of her, Korra's fancy dress in hand. She made to grab for Asami and kiss her love on the lips, but Asami said, "Not right now. We aren't done just yet. As we talked, we realized that a lot of what we need depends on you, Korra - you have to retrieve most of the tuber-vines, you're the one who needs to bend up the ore from around Ember Island, and I'd like it if you would provide design input as well." Still sleepy, Korra groaned as Asami picked her upper body off the floor, saying, "Without your input, we never would have been able to get the armblade design finalized yesterday. Come on - I'll get you some leftovers. There was plenty of meat."

Once Korra had eaten and drank plenty of tea, she actually felt like a human again and not some wispy, sleepy spirit. The large table now clear, Meelo was sitting in the middle with a long stick, pointing to all the blueprints that Korra recognized from yesterday, as well as some new ones. Given how Meelo avoided these, they must have been someone else's idea and he was just the artist. Pointing at the one nearest to her that was new, Korra asked, "What's this thing? It looks like a tank, but not any that I've ever seen. Where are the firing ports for the benders?"

Bumi grinned broadly at the same time that Asami said, "Bumi and I created that. You might recognize the lines from yesterday as spiritwire, but given how your finger is lingering over the scales, you don't know what those are." Bumi said, pointing to the overall shape of the tank, "I was the one who came up with this shape, using inspiration from different bending arts. The overall form is much sleeker than old tanks, increasing speed. Drag will be a consideration, if we use tuber-vines to power it." Before Korra could object, Bumi continued, "I know you said there were only 30 tuber-vines in existence, but this is just an idea at the moment. I don't think we're going to be using the land vehicles against Long Yumao, and we'll be busy constructing the aircraft carrier, the Flying Hogmonkeys, the Ferocious Lemurs and retrofitting the battleships as is." Korra said, pointing to the scales again, "So this tank is designed with fighting Jinshu Kuangmai in mind. What are these scales made out of?"

Asami looked down to the table sheepishly, as though that had been her main contribution to the idea. Asami said, looking up now with a frown, "Originally, they were just iron, and the hull beneath was coated in platinum. I don't think there's enough platinum in that mineral vein to coat all the tanks and scales with it." Given that Firelord Izumi did not interrupt, she must have already been told of the massive vein's existence. Korra said gently, "I still think the scales are a good idea, but not against a bunch of mad, zealous metalbenders. Maybe we'll find another use for them." Korra pointed to the tank's main gun, saying, "I assume this weapon here is similar to the spirit cannons underneath the Flying Hogmonkey's wings?" Meelo shook his head enthusiastically, and Korra asked, "Then what's this thing on top of the tank's turret? The turret, I may add, looks very odd - more like a really angular box than anything." Bumi pointed to the odd form, saying, "That's where the airbending inspiration, as well as waterbending, comes in. Any physical attack made against it should bounce or ping off due to the angles, doing no damage." Zhu Li said, "The gun on top is something Varrick came up with. It shoots a smaller projectile than the Varrick gun on the Flying Hogmonkey and uses a spring mechanism to self-reload and eject something he called a 'shell'." Zhu Li laughed, saying, "Varrick always has had such an imaginative mind - I haven't even gotten a chance to make the first batch of Lipowder, much less test it, and he's already thinking of ways to use it." Varrick said, pointing to an odd large 'shell' below the tank, saying, "Spirit energy isn't the only thing this tank can shoot. That shell contains a large amount of the same compound I used to attack Asami's shipments, back before my change of heart." Asami stuck her tongue out at Varrick slightly, making him laugh. Varrick finished, saying, "It explodes on contact, much like the Meesiles. I figure this thing needs a secondary weapon in case Jinshu Kuangmai comes up with a spirit weapon deterrent of his own. I figure I might be able to make a solid version of the shell as well, for armor piercing."

Before Varrick could finish picking up another schematic - apparently he wasn't done talking, as usual - Korra asked, "How are we going to produce the aircraft and aircraft carrier fast enough for them to make a difference? Republic City was gutted pretty badly by the blast, and as such I don't think the URN is going to be doing much manufacturing soon." To Korra's surprise, Bolin raised his hand, putting it back down again when he saw Korra looking, and said, "Firelord Izumi suggested that she could help manufacture the planes, so I added that metalbenders could help. Avatar State metalbending could be a huge timesaver on the aircraft carrier. Also, there's no platinum in the planes, and if we can get even a small number of metalbenders loyal to Kuvira and not Jinshu Kuangmai to join us, they should be good help." Kuvira said after coughing, pointing to herself, "There were plenty of naïve idealists in the army, just wanting to help their country like Bolin did. Once they see that Jinshu Kuangmai is in charge, they will likely leave." Seeing more than just a few people were giving her odd looks, Kuvira finished, "I may not have been the nicest person myself until recently, but Jinshu Kuangmai makes no effort to hide his malice. I just hope he doesn't catch any running off - death by choking is no fun. I've seen his little trick in full action before."

Looking glad to see an opening in the conversation again, Varrick pulled two blueprints closer to Korra. One had a body and turret that resembled the unnamed tank, except the weapons were pointing upwards, and the other had the same body as the tank but a very different weapon and no turret. Pointing to the first, Varrick said, "This vehicle is more specialized than the tank - its role is anti-aircraft duties. Given that we have no idea what Jinshu Kua - ugh, I'm sick of saying that horrible name, especially given it means 'Metal Veins'! I'm just going to call his army the Metal Vein Army." Before he could continue, multiple people nodded their heads in agreement, Kuvira adding emphatically, "Sounds like a good idea to me. Every time you say his name, I see his face… Those cold, dead eyes…" She shuddered slightly as Varrick continued, "Given we have no idea what the Metal Vein Army is going to look like tomorrow, especially with what Shiro Shinobi told us about smaller spirit weapons, we need to be prepared. Anything we've designed so far could take down the slow moving war balloons, but this anti-aircraft vehicle is designed for faster targets." Varrick pointed at a long, four-rod arrangement in the lower center of the skyward facing turret, saying, "This is a VarriMag gun. I want these to be able to hit both air and land targets. The four smaller guns above it are scaled down versions of the tank's main gun. They can be fired in a pattern, continuously, or in bursts. This vehicle is also driven by tuber-vine energy, and is a concept only." Seeing Korra point at the six holes she recognized as a Varrick gun, Varrick finished, "And my namesake gun is on the side, using an ammunition belt stored in a drum to feed it."

Mako leaned over, pointing at all these different guns, saying, "What's to prevent someone from bending these into scrap? You could coat the outside of the guns with platinum, but that would be expensive." Asami let out a small "Hmm", and as Korra turned to face her, she saw Asami was getting out her electroglove. Mako said at the same time Asami did, "Electricity!" Mako said as Asami admired the glove idly, "It might not help against really good metalbenders, but you could put an electrical current over the hull and turret to discourage physical contact. You could probably even do it through the spiritwires." Korra had an interesting thought, and finally let Raava out, careful to put her in a seat and not on top of the blueprints. Korra asked a pleasantly surprised Raava, "Do you think that the spiritwires could be configured so that they could discern friend or foe, and help serve as close in, uh, protection? Like the Great Banyan tree's new ability." Raava shook her head, just making those who had not seen her new form before stare deeper, saying, "I'm afraid not. That relied heavily on the energy of the tree itself, so it wouldn't work with just a tuber-vine."

Seeing the odd looks, Raava got out of her seat and grew to twice Korra's size, accidentally knocking a potted plant over in the process. Not missing a beat, she said, "I am Raava. The little girl you just saw was my new 'human-y' form. I know you were all informed of my changing nature, but," she continued, now in her smaller form, "I can see you were surprised by this. I do not wish to interrupt, so I am going back into Korra now." Korra's mouth was wide open when she felt Raava return, and she said, "Looks like she's actually learning some manners! Maybe I won't make such a horrible mother after all." Korra could hear Raava laughing in her head along with everyone else and herself.

Varrick said, pointing to the other vehicle with what Korra knew must have been a sizeable VarriMag gun in place of a turret, "This vehicle is kinetic only, no spirit weaponry. It is intended for direct fire support - the gun packs a nasty wallop! Its main weapon, obviously, is a VarriMag gun, and it needs tuber-vine power to shoot the metal projectile with sufficient force. Even if the Metal Vein Army has platinum-coated vehicles with some sort of protection against spirit energy, the kinetic force alone should destroy or punch a hole in all but the toughest targets."

Meelo picked up and displayed his schematic of the battleship excitedly, saying "Iroh II helped me with the design a bit - he has firsthand experience with aircraft and ships," prompting a laugh from all four Fire Nation family members present as well as President Raiko. It looked much as Korra had imagined it would - Meelo was a master artist. As Meelo trotted out his aircraft designs once more, satisfied everyone liked the battleship, Shiro Shinobi interrupted when Meelo was showing the Ferocious Lemur. He looked slightly confused, saying, "This plane looks a lot different than what you called a Flying Hogmonkey. Where did you get its shape? I swear I've seen something like it before, but I'm not exactly sure what." Meelo looked like he was going to yell at Shiro Shinobi at first, but he shut his slightly open mouth, took a deep breath, and said, "Its shape was inspired by the new airbender suits. It was Bumi's idea, but I added the two vertical 'tail fins' and moved the two engines to the back in between the tail fins." Meelo, now smiling, finished, "Given where you're pointing, Mister Shiro Shinobi, you noticed the condenser ring at the end of the engines. It's there for finer thrust and direction control - it can move, sending the spirit energy pulse up or down." Shiro Shinobi looked slightly embarrassed, apparently remembering the airbending suits. Pointing his finger at a Meesile, he said, "Wait. On the guidance of these weapons. Have you considered using radio control? An airbender could accompany the plane and use their arms to control the bomb or missile somehow, like a remote control toy." Tenzin said dryly, "While that would be a good idea if there were lots of airbenders, there currently are not that many. Many of us may be more willing to go to war, given the price for failure if we don't, but we're still too few." Shiro Shinobi scratched his head, saying, "Wait - what? I know your son is designing weapons, but I am not sure I understand what is going on. Airbenders other than Zaheer willing to kill? Price if you don't go to war? I've been cooped up by that psycho for the past few days. Is there something big I'm going to need to announce? I don't like the looks I'm getting right now."

Taking a big sigh, Korra said, "Well, you already know about Jinshu Kuangmai obviously, so I suppose letting you in won't hurt. Plus, you _will_ have something big to announce tomorrow. Given you just lost your family, I'm not going to insult you by reading you. Just stay still." Korra could see, then feel Shiro Shinobi's confusion, and once she was done, he said, "I thought things couldn't get much worse than Vaatu and Harmonic Convergence. I guess I was wrong. Say, Korra - you saved my life. As a repayment, as small as it is, I am willing to throw my support behind your relationship with Asami and the decision on marriage by the world leaders." Varrick walked over, seemingly having gotten an idea from what Shiro Shinobi had said, saying, "I've had an idea for a while - Avatar interviews! With the new SpectroMover camera, if you project out and talk to your past lives, Korra, they should show up on film." Korra asked hesitantly, "What does this have to do with what Shiro Shinobi said, again?" Varrick said, with a gleam in his eye, "I remember your talk with Avatar Wan and Avatar Garkan from the 'party', and I think we could exchange favors. You interview the last five Avatars and give me rights to the films, and I'll let you use my camera to interview Avatar Garkan, as well as the sob stories you haven't heard yet. Their stories would be useful in winning over people, as 'Uncle' Iroh suggested." Zhu Li got up and said, "Varrick, that doesn't sound like a very fair deal - We'd make a lot of money off the last five Avatar's interviews, and Korra would get not a single yuan. Plus, I don't think Avatar Kyoshi would be on board with this, given her… relationship with Korra."

Varrick pointed in the direction of the kitchen, saying, "If I go through with my deal with Admi - I mean, Head Cook Zhao, I'm going to need money! Quite a bit of it." Zhu Li said in an angrier voice, "Oh, so it's okay to exploit Korra and Asami, but not some guy you just met today? Screw the money, we have rules! Such as 'Don't exploit people like Varrick did Bolin.'" Asami, Korra and Bolin began laughing wildly as Varrick's face turned beet purple just like it had earlier on the boat. Bolin added, "You may have gotten a lot of the profits off Nuktuk, but at least I got to hang out with Ginger!" Bolin was knocked back into a wall by a blast of air, Opal saying with a false curiosity, "What was that, Bolin? Something about getting to hang out with herbs?" Bolin stood up and shook his head violently up and down, saying, "Yes ma'am. I loved hanging out with the ginger spice on the set. It tasted great in my food. Mmm-mmm good." Varrick burst into laughter, pointing at himself and then Bolin, then at Zhu Li and Opal, finally saying, "I guess you and I have something BIG in common!" This remark earned them both light slaps, Opal adding, "At least Bolin knows it," Zhu Li snickering lightly.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Korra asked Varrick, "How about we split the money inversely - you get 60% from the five Avatar interviews, and Asami and I get 60% from the other ones, which will include biographies - maybe more than one - about my own life and Asami's, what they cover depending on when they are made. For the last two series, you will provide good, _accurate_ actors, at no cost to us." Given Varrick's expression, Korra must have made a good deal, given how he was standing idle, saying, "Dang Zhu Li." After mumbling, "Aang, Roku and Kyoshi will sell like hotcakes," Varrick extended a hand and said, "You've got a deal. Now let's finish this conference."

As Korra shook his hand, she could tell his heart was not racing as it might have been had his reaction just been a show to get her agreement. Korra let out a sigh, saying, "And now, back to the business of war. Every world leader here has been shown what will happen if they don't do their part to ensure Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't take over the northern Earth Kingd - I mean, United Earth Republic." Shaking her head slightly and taking a deep breath, Korra said, "Team Avatar is going to be spread thin, and I'm not really quite sure what the first moves in the Spirit Civil War should be, but I have already asked Eska and Desna to ask Yue for help. If any of you know friendly or neutral spirits who might have sympathy for humanity, especially powerful ones, please ask them for help. Do so cautiously, however - there is no telling who Long Yumao has converted and who he has not. I can see your look Katara, but no - don't plead for the help of spirits who are tied to a place like the Painted Lady, or even Hei-Bai, unless they want to help." Seeing Firelord Izumi's look, Korra added, "We can go to the Fire Nation for the special address tomorrow. Shiro Shinobi, see if you can contact the world press with Varrick and Zhu Li's help - I am going to need to give a press conference before the speech at the Fire Nation's capital. Tell them to come to Ember Island, then the capital, if they wish." Firelord Izumi added, "Tell them to not bug my daughter if she doesn't decide to come to the speech, or else they'll have access to future events in the Fire Nation revoked!"

Remembering she was on a tropical island, Korra said, "I didn't come all the way out here to just talk, and have no fun - we're on the legendary Ember Island! Unless anyone has an objection with what I just said, I'm going to go surfing with Asami."

No one had any objections. Korra grabbed Asami, knowing full well that tomorrow would likely be very stressful, especially the press conference. She would need to relish this time, and when she told Asami as much, Asami replied, "Like you don't relish every moment with me anyways. Now let's find some skimpy swimsuits and go surfing." As they changed, Korra admired Asami's pale, beautiful body, prompting Asami to say, "I remember that bubble you made under the sea with Katara - maybe you could make an ice bubble like Aang made." Asami fished in her belongings, pulling out a familiar form that made Korra _very _excited. Smiling, Asami said sultrily, "We can have some fun - I know you love the cold _and_ the thingies."

Once Korra tired of surfing with Asami, she chose an isolated, shallow spot near the shore. Korra made the ice ball's wall thick enough so she couldn't see out or, importantly, hear anything. With a giggle, she bent the characters for "Keep Out" onto its visible surface and proceeded to have fun in the "sun".


	31. Chapter 31: Hardened Steel

Chapter 31: Hardened Steel

Jinshu Kuangmai did not smile often, but as he saw the labors of his soldiers and the "volunteers" from Zaofu who were benders in the morning light, he could not help it. Zaofu had been gutted of all civilian comforts, replaced with different things in the various sections. Kuvira had already started some of the work, making sure to leave room for the residents who chose to stay, for some emotional reason. He had just kicked them out, having his soldiers create living quarters for them inside a nearby mountain, except for the bender "volunteers" now helping him in his own undertaking.

Suppressing a snicker - he had always found emotional attachments baffling and slightly funny, even Kuvira's weak ones - he returned to his thoughts. Turning away from the actual more than slightly sunken city and the tamed river, he looked at the blueprints he drafted the night of Kuvira's betrayal of the Earth Empire. He had made sure to make a show of them to his troops, to much applause.

_I regret showing them so soon. I should have just choked the idealists when I had the chance._

Shaking his head violently, preferring to not think anything and only admire his work. One former dome was now a basic science lab, another, a manufacturing facility for minor but necessary equipment such as uniforms and boots. Two of the remaining former domes were devoted to a combination of training and breaking of "recruits", as well as training of loyal soldiers, making sure to mix the two. A lot of his most ardent supporters did his work of instilling fear for him, relishing the chance to yield power themselves. The thought of soldiers and power gave him a fierce scowl, dragging back what he had brushed aside just a minute ago - a whole company's worth, maybe more, of metalbenders had managed to escape while he was admiring his completed plans for Zaofu on the train, having torn a hole in the back of the train carrying himself and those who _were_ loyal towards their new stronghold.

_The nerve of some people._

The sneer vanished when he remembered who they were - idealists, fools, like that naïve Bolin yuckity-yuck who betrayed Kuvira a good time ago.

_What a gullible idiot. "Nuktuk"…_

As far as he was concerned, Kuvira or the remnants of the Earth Kingdom were welcome to them, and none of them had paid his blueprint much attention anyways.

This last thought brought to mind something that made him so mad he wanted to use his special skill on someone, and not to choke them - something far nastier. The fact that most of the northern Earth Empire had declared itself independent through actions in Ba Sing Se had infuriated him. Before he even had a chance to contact Kuvira's troops in the city, a bedraggled lot of loyalists had appeared on the tracks while he was in transit to Zaofu. They told him of how Kuvira's conscripts and citizens of the city had destroyed all military-grade radio equipment in concert and then attacked, taking those relative few elite soldiers stationed in Ba Sing Se by surprise. His mood only darkened further when he remembered how the soldiers told him some random peasant girl had given a "stirring" speech, causing everyone but the soldiers who had come to him to defect!

_For being so weak, certain emotions sure manage to make a lot of trouble, love being one in particular._

If he were a powerful spirit, he'd destroy every emotion except for one - fear. Taking his anger out on an annoyingly cute creature that had landed on his blueprints of the new Zaofu, he felt better as he watched the life leave its eyes, tossing its slightly bloody corpse away, again using his special talent to do so.

As he looked up, he saw a shimmer in front of him - that of a three-year old boy crying. Dismissing it as a trick of the light and ignoring a small voice in his head he had thought he killed long ago through his actions, he returned to his study of the blueprints.

_Some little nagging goody two-shoes isn't going to break me. Not after this long._

As he looked at the blueprints, he thought of one upside of the destruction of the military-grade radio equipment in Ba Sing Se - they would not be able to contact the outside world. Given how he had not heard of the Avatar visiting the area, he knew his assumption was right. Shaking his head to regain focus and swat away the annoying gnat of a voice in his head, he looked at the blueprints once again. The final smaller "dome" was to be used to store supplies, especially food - the stockpile Kuvira had left behind would only last so long, and he would need to "acquire" food from the surrounding lands soon. As he closed his eyes in anticipation of the peasant's fear, he saw a glimmering medal - in the shape of his accursed mother's family crest, a flying boar.

He imagined crushing it with his metal bending, and to his surprise, the vision crumpled, letting a single drop of blood fall and making sad, almost human groan as it did so. Laughing to see his mother's symbol crushed, he opened his eyes again, loving what he saw in front of him. The central portion of the city, which he had personally gutted himself the first day in Zaofu along with some of his most enthusiastic soldiers, was to be a manufacturing facility for much larger pieces of equipment. Only things like tanks, mechasuits, basic spirit weapons and parts to war balloons were to be manufactured there. Turning his gaze to the portion of the blueprint in which he was standing now, after restless nights of work from himself and the soldiers he felt feared or respected him the most, a tear came to his eye in admiration. In the base of the largest mountain near Zaofu, he had constructed a large, sprawling secret complex using a combination of bending, spirit weapon blasts and explosives. It was intended as his command center, reservoir of water, vault for spirit vines, research facility for the next generation of Earth Empire weaponry, as well as a place to manufacture said equipment in secret. He had even sensed deposits of various metals during construction, removing them and setting the precious resources aside for later. Thinking of metal, he smiled as he remembered that platinum had been found near the civilian's quarters. Flipping to a relevant blueprint, he looked, erasing and re-drawing portions of what was on the page, smiling at its slightly different form.

_This is far superior to Kuvira's version. I always hated those stupid, long feminine legs - weak physically and emotionally! Just like her, in the end._

When the next model of the Colossus was complete, he would have to assemble it outside, of course, but he feared no mortal - not even the Avatar. His only "fear" was that his underlings would not perform, or worse, soften or defect.

Remembering that the work outside was not done and that he had a conference to spy on later in the day, he went outside to alternatively "inspire" the "volunteers" and actually help in the sinking of Zaofu, though not out of any sympathy. As he closed his eyes and struck the earth to better sense where the next crack should be created to insert explosives, he saw the same three-year old boy from earlier again. This time, the boy spoke, asking, "Why?" He barely suppressed raucous laughter - he recognized the voice as his own! What did his conscience hope to achieve exactly - all it was doing was providing him entertainment!

_You've lost. Go bother someone else._

Later, as he savored the scent of fear in the camp, he once again closed his eyes, blocking out distracting visual stimulus. When he did, the same young self appeared, but it felt as though his own older physical body was locked in place. When he tried to move, he saw a metallic hand move as though it were his own against the blackness. Liking what he saw, he said, "All right - I always wanted to live up to my name! To what do I owe the honor, you little pest?"

A white-haired girl appeared beside his younger self, who had an odd teapot around her neck. Feeling repulsed by the energy of this being but attracted to that inside the teapot, he said, "I don't want to talk to either of you - you both look like you just want to yammer at me endlessly about how horrible I am. I'd rather talk to whoever is in that thing around your pencil-thin neck, girl." The girl's eyes opened wide in shock, and she began to cry at the same time his younger self did. As the comfortable presence within the teapot let out a deep laugh, he saw an orb he hadn't noticed before flash, with a thin red line appearing that eventually formed the shape of yin and yang, except there was no white present. The little girl said, "I think he's hopeless. I haven't seen a human attracted to that scumbag's energy since Unalaq. You're on your own, I'm afraid, Tonga Beifong." Before he could yell "Don't call me that, you little insolent whelp!" both the girl and his younger self vanished, and so did the vision.

_I hate unnecessary delays. What is up with this crap today?_

The time in between this half tantalizing, half annoying vision and the start of the conference went by in a blur of hard work, intimidation, and solid progress on the other, physical efforts. As long as they could work without anyone knowing, he would have his perfect base.

_Of course it's perfect. It's built out of that traitor Kuvira's home! They won't even be able to earthsense it once we're done with that platinum coating. Shiro Shinobi better not spill his guts. Maybe it was a stupid decision, but I didn't know anyone else competent enough with radio who was expendable to run the relay boat._

Anticipation running high, he joined Chief Intelligence Officer Jang in the radio room, with no one else present. Knowing his deliberate assignment of an incompetent to the physical spying job, he oversaw the direction of the operative and his radio feed, while Chief Intelligence Officer Jang used his skills to monitor the listening wire the spy had placed on a plant in advance of the conference. Over the past days, he had noticed Chief Intelligence Officer Jang no longer trembled in his boots, but respected him instead, detecting no signs of lies or fear when Chief Intelligence Officer Jang spoke to him.

_More power can do that to people. Just look at how happy the elite metalbenders are with their "recruits". I still have to be sparing with any level of trust or power sharing, though - those idealists taught me a painful lesson, as did those elephant rats in Ba Sing Se._

While the original plan had been to monitor the conference itself, Chief Intelligence Officer Jang had suggested that the lunch be monitored as well. Apparently, there was some sort of issue in the kitchen, and after the Avatar left, there was idle chatter in the room. Muting the feed to the spy, he listened as Chief Intelligence Officer Jang said, "Some of the chatter is mildly interesting, though most is idle conversation. I hear a young male voice intermittently, talking about some drawings he made of a 'Ferocious Lemur' and 'Flying Hogmonkey', but a stern adult female shushes him before he can continue. No great loss - it's not as if a boy could design weapons." Chief Intelligence Officer Jang scoffed a short time later, saying, "Sir, it appears that the Avatar and her boyfriend can now make blue flame, according to someone who just spoke. The trademark of your favorite firebender, I might add." Jinshu Kuangmai scoffed, "I'd have to see it myself to believe it - both are far too weak willed and soft to yield Azula's fire." Chief Intelligence Officer Jang nodded his head in agreement.

Some time passed before Chief Intelligence Officer Jang heard some sort of commotion from the kitchen, saying with a confused look, "I heard something indistinct about Zuko's uncle after an old man offered to help with tea, though I don't understand his relevance." Jinshu Kuangmai said with a laugh, "Just some irrelevant, long dead, weak-minded fool who stood in the way of Azula." Glad to see Jang smile at mention of his favorite firebender, they both waited a bit longer. Jang snickered after a while, saying, "It sounds like the Avatar is… cooking? Maybe she really can make blue flame. There was a round of applause from the kitchen for the Avatar after she gave some sort of show, given how a cook said 'I guess we need to hire some metalbenders' loudly after. Whatever, cooking is woman's work, and I wish she'd stay in the kitchen instead of bothering the Earth Empire."

Jinshu Kuangmai burst out laughing, saying, "I wish she'd come close enough for me to splatter her blood across our current holdings. I have to say, **Jang**, I never thought you'd rise to fill your station so well." Seeing Jang smile, he could tell this had the intended effect - he could feel Jang's heart beating fast in excitement through the metal chairs they were both sitting in front of the massive radio controls .

_Given my own feelings for women - especially my accursed mother - that wasn't just a test. I meant that gesture. _

As he placed a hand on Jang's shoulder, he thought to himself, _Jang is no longer the fearful and loyal young man he was when I promoted him - just loyal now. He's even begun to admonish "volunteers" properly - though there are none of their ilk anywhere near us. We're in my secret lair, after all._

Jang continued after the strong hand left his shoulder, saying, "Apparently, I was right - I heard the Avatar say 'Food's ready!' followed by a bunch of plates hitting the table in a remarkably controlled manner." Listening for another minute, he finished, "Not that you or I care, but I heard people complimenting her cooking and use of the Avatar State to serve sake, tea and appetizers. Such a blatant waste of power - it disgusts me." Jinshu Kuangmai nodded his head in agreement, saying, "It's a pity she wasn't killed by Amon and a proper Earth Avatar born into what was once the Earth Kingdom. But then, if she had died, we wouldn't be sitting here today - that foul Queen would still rule the Earth Kingdom, the events that put our formerly great leader Kuvira into power never occurring." Jang nodding in agreement of his own, he returned to listening, yawning in boredom, "The chatter is insipid now - just pleasantries and the sound of people eating. I don't particularly care about whatever moronic plan Eska and Desna talked about before the Avatar left to perform her proper role in the kitchen. The twin Water Tribe barbarian chiefs talked with Tenzin before the Avatar brought lunch out." Laughing hysterically, Jang continued, "It's apparent that somehow, homosexual marriage is important to the Avatar. Whatever the blazes that could mean." Snickering, he added, "Surely, she isn't even weaker than we thought? A lesbian Avatar who uses her endless power to serve food - what a joke."

Jinshu Kuangmai made to start laughing hysterically, but Jang held up a steady hand, saying, "Wait. That fool President Raiko is speaking, and it sounds important." Surprised he didn't immediately blood-iron bend Jang, switching on the spy's feed again instead, his subordinate gave the console in front of him a confused look. "Sir, if what President Raiko just said is true, it appears that somehow, the original Iroh is attending the conference. Even more puzzling, the Avatar has created a glowing shield around the Republic City Spirit Portal - as though to keep something in." Shaking his head with a smile, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Maybe the Avatar thought it looked pretty. I just heard the last part - she put the four elemental symbols on it for decoration, I guess." Jang used his metalbending to switch on recording of his own feed and Jinshu Kuangmai's - he had no time for anger at the slight by his underling.

He didn't like the long pause, much less the Avatar's tone as he heard her say "Just a moment - I need to fix my shoe." He had to work very hard to suppress an angry scream as he heard the operative say a very short time later, "Oh gosh, I have to use the bathroom - I've been holding it until I needed to take plates back to the kitchen. Be right back." Given how Jang slapped his forehead, he shared his own frustration. As they both listened, Jinshu Kuangmai made no move to let his operative know he had been compromised - he was a skilled bender, but a _very_ disposable spy. Jinshu Kuangmai thought to himself, _Especially after that horrible performance_. Given Jang's intense face, he must have anticipating some good information, and after getting the order, he flipped a switch to make the sound from the wire audible to both himself and Jinshu Kuangmai.

He had given the order just in time, given what he heard said next. Jinshu Kuangmai felt like reaching through the radio and choking the Avatar, old fashioned style - apparently, she knew of the spy. This late bloomer could earthsense _and_ truthsense now, like his accursed mother and himself! He heard a door close in a controlled manner, along with the noises of metal being bended. Remembering what Jang had said earlier about the Avatar and her boyfriend's blue flames, he barely avoided smashing the console. He wouldn't put it past her to use Azula's blue flame, even though the Avatar was unworthy of doing so. His rage only intensified when the Avatar said, "Given the fact that he said he needed to use the bathroom at the exact same time my earthsense reached him, I'm pretty sure who he is a spy for - Jinshu Kuangmai."

_How does she know my name, much less who I am? _His eyes opened wide in anger, saying, "Kuvira must have ratted me out!" Jang shook his head, saying, "You better listen to this - apparently, the Avatar had another dirty trick now too." Jinshu Kuangmai listened to the Avatar's description of "infobending" and saw fit to take a quick break, telling his operative quietly, "You are to not allow the Avatar to make physical contact with you. She has some weird new technique she calls 'infobending', and it sounds like she could use it to rip the secrets from your skull. You got that?" The operative gulped so loudly it was audible through his vest, saying, "Yes, Glorious Leader," knowing full well what his new order meant. When Jinshu Kuangmai was done, he noticed that Jang had used metalbending to write "Korra suspects listening wire" on a stray piece of paper with a metal pen.

Silencing his link with the spy, Jinshu Kuangmai yelled, "This conference just keeps getting worse and worse! Damn it! Curse her stupid 'infobending' - I wish I could choke her over the radio! GAAAH!" Jang actually gave him an angry look, saying, "With all due respect, sir, we need to be quiet - your yelling meant I could barely hear, and only managed to barely hear the Avatar say something about something meant to 'yank you around.' I couldn't hear what they planned to talk about before that. We'll have to listen to the recording later." As Jinshu Kuangmai listened to the audio feed, he was too stunned to slap Jang for his insolence. Apparently, one of Azula's traitorous friends, Mai, was still alive, at the conference, and even worse - the Avatar's comment confirmed his worst fear that she could now take information from people with "infobending". She could even take experience and skill, making them partially her own, given how she had laughed when she said, "I infobended more than just physical combat knowledge from Mai - her experiences with 'cloak and dagger' during Aang's time were very useful."

Shortly after, he heard the sound of creaking metal from the spy's feed, and began cursing loudly - the fool had opened a door that slammed shut earlier using metalbending. He had half a mind to yell into the spy's earpiece, "Even if you succeed, you're going to a 're-education' camp - you obviously need to work on your spying skills, or else!" but stopped at the last moment, remembering he needed to be kept in the dark as much as possible. He could chastise him later. Though, given the lame excuse the spy gave for his absence and why he needed to stay, Jinshu Kuangmai was half tempted to just choke him slowly as the spy forced him to listen to his own ineptitude.

His ears perked up when he heard the Avatar say, "We may as well start the conference." Although it interested him to know what his enemies were up to, he groaned loudly as he heard the first topic of discussion - what they planned to do to the northern half of the Earth Empire, as well as any _other_ traitorous lands. Jinshu Kuangmai didn't know whether to smile or frown when he heard the name Zhao - he was another firebender after his own heart, but he was nowhere near Azula, making his association with the 100 Year's War sour him in the end. As he listened to the Avatar and her foolish friends laugh like children, he recognized another name - Aang. He began to say something, but stopped short in confusion. Jang said with perplexion, "Sir, it appears that somehow, the Avatar can contact Avatar Aang - as I am sure you heard, given your look, she plans to use his help to tell people who Admiral Zhao is later. Such a childish waste of power."

They both listened half-heartedly to the foolish plan Wu had in mind, laughing hysterically when he got to the part about Zaofu. That plan would never work, and Jang said, "They have no idea of the depth of the irony. Zaofu is ours now." Jang resumed laughing, saying, "That's Su's voice, I believe - I heard her voice plenty when the Earth Empire did not yet rule Zaofu." He stopped laughing quickly as Su talked about Kuvira's armies, and Jinshu Kuangmai felt his own expression sour. Before he could finish thinking, _I really need to not underestimate these adversaries. Together, they are str - _his eyes widened as he heard Su say, "Especially considering what everyone else knows about Ji - Ow, Lin, stop that!" followed by a light slap from what must have been Toph's other accursed daughter. Feeling an odd tug, he dismissed what was probably his younger self, wanting to lecture him on family. The little insufferable pest. He realized with relief that it was Jang, saying, "I think the game's up, in many ways. We're going to need to make sure we're ready for an attack, although as long as Shiro Shinobi doesn't spill his guts, they won't know where we are."

Although he had serious doubts about the secrecy of their location, given those idealist's defection, Jinshu Kuangmai wasn't about to admit it to Jang - Jang instead of "Chief Intelligence Officer" or not. They both returned to listening to the deliberations in half boredom, half disgust at what those fools had in plan for the Earth Empire. Both himself and Jang jumped slightly when they heard a female voice that was completely unfamiliar yet intimidating say, "You forgot Kyoshi Island, Prince Wu - don't forget about my homeland." Before either could puzzle through who this was, some foolish woman said, "Oh wow - was that Avatar Kyoshi's voice?" Jinshu Kuangmai let out a sigh, saying, "So I guess it's confirmed then - the Avatar's past lives are back. Our spies had reported some odd happenings in the Swamp, and that the Great Banyan tree had regrown. One even told me he could see _white_ spots and lines on the tree's trunk, seemingly glowing."

Nothing interesting was said for a while - just more blabbering - but after Wu said the name "Minister Wong", Jang's face took on an evil grin that would have been at home on his own face. Jang said, anticipation in his voice, "From what I have heard of this 'Minister Wong', his only allegiance is to power, although he is unfortunately rather squeamish. I wouldn't be surprised if he contacted us at some point - those Republicans may have the Avatar on their side, but we've got iron will, manpower and spirit weapons. The choice should be obvious." Laughing, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Yes - all the other nation's militaries are pathetic compared to even our reduced strength. I heard the soldier's descriptions of their version of mechasuits - those things are practically relics. They rely far too much on benders - if it weren't for Varrick's and Future Industries' assistance in the form of those hummingbird suits, I'd be sitting with Kuvira in Republic City right now, planning our campaign of scorched earth against the Fire Nation." A particularly pleasing image came to mind, and he continued, saying, "The Avatar would be dead, having had some _unfortunate_ trouble breathing, and you would be searching for the next proper Earth Avatar. Or should I say, Earth _Empire _Avatar_._"

After some soft-voiced old man had given what those fools thought to be a good suggestion, a while later, both Jinshu Kuangmai and Jang put their hands to their ears, not wanting to listen to Wu, lest he begin actually singing. Both laughed as they heard a blast of air, followed by a whump - at least some of those idiots shared his distaste for singing. After who Jang said was the Avatar's boyfriend, Mako, laughed like his idiotic brother might have, Jinshu Kuangmai started laughing himself when he heard Kuvira say, "I believe we can now move on to my sentencing." After a "Shhh!" from Jang - Jinshu Kuangmai wasn't used to this, and vaguely wondered if that insufferable three-year old self was winning somehow, Jang pulled on his hair in frustration. Jang said quickly, in a low voice, "President Raiko said something very puzzling. I'm not sure what to make of it, but apparently there is a human spirit at the conference with a partially physical form." Jinshu Kuangmai heard out of his other ear that the earthen barrier was made strong enough "to contain Vaatu himself." From what Kuvira had told him of world events that happened while he was locked up by his "parents", this did not sound good.

He saw a brief flash of a pitch-black sphere with red lines on it and felt the comfortable energy from the teapot around the girl's neck around his heart. What he could have sworn were red characters that said "I am not powerful enough. No Dark Avatar. Maybe in ten thousand years, Jinshu Kuangmai - I did love your energy from earlier today, and how you made Raava cry," flashed above the now-visible orb again for quite some time, then everything was normal. Remembering what Kuvira had said about the Dark Avatar and Unalaq, he felt honored - the little pencil-necked girl must have been Raava, and the teapot's occupant Vaatu.

Apparently, this had taken real time, as when he came to, Jang was laughing hysterically. Seeing that his superior was "awake" again, he said, "Oh man, whatever that was, hopefully it was awesome, because you just missed something hilarious. Remember my quip about the Avatar being a lesbian?" Jinshu Kuangmai chuckled, saying, "Yes, it was _very _awesome. Now tell me more." Jang could barely control himself as he said, "It appears that the Avatar _is _a lesbian! Apparently, after Zhu Li and Varrick's wedding, Avatar Korra and Asami ran off into the spirit world together on a 'vacation'. They met 'their' Uncle Iroh, who prattled on and on about love and yin and yang, then Asami started telling some sob story about her childhood, which she is finishing now. We should take these tapes and distribute an edited version to our forces - it'd do wonders for morale, and would make the elites and officers howl hysterically. It might even inspire the conscripts and volunteers, and not in the 'usual' way." Though he did not usually care for laughter, he said through stifled laughter, "Sounds like a good idea - we'll have to edit and splice the tapes ourselves for maximum effect."

After some sappy exchange between Asami and President Raiko, even Jang had difficulty following the next bit. All Jinshu Kuangmai got out of it that Raava had given her little pet a gift in the form of an unnatural child and that this made a lot of other spirits very angry, including a "Long Yumao the Opportunist." Jang said, "Wait… one of Iroh's prophecies. It talked about what was essentially a Spirit Civil War, and it sounds like Long Yumao the Opportunist is the likely leader, given Korra's description of his eyes. The yellow is associated with Dark Spirit's eyes." Putting this together with the earthen barrier, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "I think we know the reason for that barrier. Given how strong it sounds, Long Yumao must have gotten more powerful - powerful enough to cause concern for the Avatar." Rapping his strong fingers together, he said, "This will provide the perfect distraction for our own forces to consolidate, perhaps even expand to the point that we rule the southern portion of the continental mass outright - beyond traditional Earth Empire lands."

President Raiko and the Avatar confirmed his suspicions, given that she did not want to discuss anything about Long Yumao, but rather, only infobend about the issue. As he thought _Damn that stupid ability of hers_, he listened to what must have been Tenzin blather about some Air Nomad Decree, causing him to laugh out loud and say, "Typical Air Nomad weaklings. Maybe once we eradicate the Fire Nation, we'll finish what Sozin failed to do - and given how few they are now, it should be quite easy."

Both he and Jang howled when the Firelord started her piece, but something she said made him stop cold. In a voice of disbelief, he asked Jang, "Did the Firelord just say what I think she did? Somehow, Azula is connected to her decision to approve of these unnatural relationships? Surely, Azula wasn't…" Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Jang said, "I wouldn't worry about it - remember how the Avatar said she wanted to yank you around? I'm guessing this is one of her ploys. Perhaps she 'infobended' the plan to the Firelord." Something told Jinshu Kuangmai this wasn't right - there had been genuine surpised reactions to the Firelord's new decree. After he told Jang as much, he said, "I noticed too - I just didn't want you angry enough to take it out on the nearest person, which would be me." Jinshu Kuangmai sighed deeply, needing a short time to recollect himself.

Given both he and Jang missed the other leaders following in Firelord Izumi's footsteps, Iroh's voice and advice, Jinshu Kuangmai had taken a lot longer to recover than he thought he would.

Jinshu Kuangmai heard a familiar voice, and given how Jang turned to the controls up from the floor, he recognized it as well. The "Great Uniter" said, "That was certainly unexpected. I cannot imagine that a certain individual in the Earth Kingdom will be along with this change, however - he never struck me as the loving type." Jinshu Kuangmai cursed loudly, saying, "I guess you were right, Jang - they are toying with us! Gah! But we can't just quit listening either…" Taking a deep sigh, he returned to the conversation on Ember Island, and for once found himself agreeing with the Avatar as she called Kuvira "the Great Flipflopper," though he found it not the least bit funny.

He certainly was not smiling after President's infobending request. That cursed ability the Avatar had was making this spying mission a huge failure, and he couldn't even threaten someone back into line to fix it. He found Zuko's comment about a metallic Kuvira inspirational, however - he remembered his earlier vision and his own metallic hand.

_Looks like I am winning the internal war after all._

Nothing of note happened for a while, except President Raiko apparently being able to feel the Avatar's thoughts while she infobended him. Kuvira's laughter at that pathetic fool Wu filled him with disgust, which turned to confusion when a young woman talked about a 'Sudden Death' option. Confusion gave way to frustration as the Avatar apparently used her infobending to communicate Kuvira's sentence, with some part of it she did not see fit to say in front of his spy.

When the Avatar said, "Now, to another important item of business," he could feel his heart start to beat faster in anticipation. Jang said cautiously, "Sir, this could be a trick, but we'll have to see. Let's just listen." Given Jang's expression as he listened to what the Avatar had to say about the Great Banyan tree, he had abandoned all sense of caution. Those fools thought that all stockpiles of spirit vines were gone, and not only that, the Avatar had confirmed his spy's report on the Swamp. Apparently, whatever energy had re-grown the tree had infused it with great power - enough to wipe the Fire Nation off the map if used properly, much less Republic City. He ordered Jang to call for five war balloons and 100 elite metalbenders once they were finished to begin harvesting the Great Banyan tree's much more powerful vines. Jinshu Kuangmai said to the spy carefully, "If you can get out alive, you might have just earned yourself a promotion! Be careful."

About five seconds passed before a massive crashing sound came through both the listening wire and the spy's feed, and the conference went from horrible with a ray of light to abysmal. The operative had seen some reason to flee, and an older woman yelling, "Stop him! Use your bloodbending, Korra - it's the only way!" sent Jinshu Kuangmai into a small panic. He said through gritted teeth, "If she can somehow bloodbend in broad daylight, my one advantage over her is practically worthless!" Jang said, in a defeated tone, "It's not like we could make special armor to counter bloodbending either - I doubt even platinum could block Avatar State bloodbending, if my hunch is right." Jinshu Kuangmai suddenly had a horrible image of a glowing Avatar Korra's eyes thinning to slits as she yelled, "This will teach you to call me 'unnatural'! Now DIE!" and moved her hands in sickening movements, unlike any form he had ever seen.

As he faded to black in the vision, he was greeted with a familiar, pesky visage and red-lined orb. Pointing out a massive metallic hand at his younger self in anger, annoyance and hatred, he said, "I don't have time for this! Now be gone!"

Apparently, he must have made some physical noise, as he heard Jang say, "Sir - are you all right?" Jinshu Kuangmai just let out a growl, saying, "After this, I have something else I need to kill - aside from Shiro Shinobi's family, should he fail." Turning his link to the spy back on, he asked the fleeing operative, "Can you see the Avatar, and if so, is she using blue flames?" The nameless spy responded in a panic, "No, I cannot, though I did see Mako making one before lunch, shortly before he and the Avatar went to cook." Suddenly realizing the spy _had _gotten a chance to tell him this information, he screamed, "You stupid fool! You should have told me that while you were 'going to the bathroom'! Now try to escape, and if you can't, take the pill I gave you!"

Before the "spy" could answer anything but a stunned "What the… jets of blue fire?", he heard a strong female voice say about 10 seconds later, "Game's up!" followed by an alarming tumbling sound. Apparently, the Avatar was using blue flame propulsion, and quite skillfully - even that bumbling oaf of a "spy" should have gotten far away from the conference by now. Jinshu Kuangmai was pleased to hear his spy remain loyal to what he thought was the end, but he knew it was not to be - the Avatar had stopped him from taking the pill. Jang's conjecture had been right after all, and the Avatar confirmed that their listening wire had been discovered, though the fact that they heard the older woman talk about bloodbending through it meant they still did not know its location. Not entirely sure what the Avatar had to help her infobend the spy or why she thought he'd send reinforcements to a doomed mission, Jinshu Kuangmai cursed into the spy's earpiece loudly, saying, "Why didn't you take the pill as soon as you saw the flame jets, you stupid fool! No matter - you were disposable, you're dead to me anyways, and I hope she freezes your blood solid!" While the spy was still a miserable failure, at least he knew so, given what would probably be his last words.

After about five minutes, he heard the Avatar say, "Mai, I need your help! Give this rat a paralyzing dose - I need him conscious!" Jang took a gasp, saying, "Shirshu poison!" as the spy screamed "Wait, NO! No no no!" pathetically. The spy's feed let out a faint "Ffft" after the Avatar had talked of what he had said, then talked of finding a way to spare his life - she really was soft. After a light thump, he heard static from the spy's feed - apparently, the Avatar had taken that information first and crushed the receiver. Shutting it off himself so the static would not distract Jang, given his subordinate's reaction to an odd loud noise from the listening wire and sounds of chatter, the listening wire had been the next to be found.

Kuvira's voice rang clearly through the last remaining source of sound, the traitor saying, "I guess you figured we were going to be talking a long time, didn't you, Jinshu Kuangmai? You should just give up, and stop fighting your conscience, if you have one. I did, and it's the best thing I've ever done! I feel so much lighter - Mother Suyin considers me her daughter now." He let out a string of curses, not appreciating the reminder of his annoying brat three-year old self. His curses only grew worse as he heard loud, raucous laughter. Who Jang said he recognized as the nine-year old boy and his "Flying Hogmonkeys" and "Ferocious Lemurs" said, "See, mom? THOSE are the words I want to learn!" After a slight pause, the gratingly adorable voice came back, saying, "I may be a nine year old airbender who designs weapons, but your blood-iron bending is just sick!"

The only thing Jinshu Kuangmai could manage to do is curse even louder - the nerve of that little boy! Suddenly connecting "Flying Hogmonkeys" and "Ferocious Lemurs" and forgetting that the spy's feed had been crushed, he screamed to the spy, "What weapons, TELL ME! Do your job, you fool! I don't care if you're paralyzed." He heard the Avatar laughing as she said, "I think Meelo has something else to say to you," and then the little brat's voice returned, saying tauntingly, "I'm not gonna tell you, Jinshu Kuangmai! And I'm not gonna call you Mister either - only good people get that honor!" After an adult snickered, a voice Jang recognized from earlier as the man who wanted to help make tea said, "Can't you just end this already? It's not nice to toy with people, even if they are your enemies. And I don't think you should kill this spy, either - we can always make him a wooden prison like Kuvira and Baatar Jr. were in." Before Jinshu Kuangmai could laugh at the image of that nonbending wimp in a wooden cage, the voice continued, "Though, I don't see why Baatar Jr. needed a wooden cage - he's no bender."

After a pause in the exchange, Jinshu Kuangmai said in his best intimidating, condescending voice, "Whoever you are, I need none of your sympathy or pathetic _mercy_. That spy is a failure, and deserves death, as he knows." Taking a breath, he finished, "You should have heard about my special talent, and if we ever meet, I'll be sure to choke you real nice and slow - I love making weaklings suffer. Ah, the fear in their eyes…" A sad voice said slowly, "Whoever you are, you must have a lot of hurt inside you. My other nephew, Princess Azula, was like that. She never trusted anyone, and eventually, she went insane." What this old man had said enraged Jinshu Kuangmai and made Jang yelp, "The human spirit at the conference - it must be Iroh!" Not wanting to betray that he knew his Royal Kookiness' identity, Jinshu Kuangmai howled in pure fury, "You know NOTHING about true power, old man! Azula was a genius! When I choke the life from Avatar Korra, bloodbending or not, then we'll see who's crazy!" He stood up straight and screamed in anger while using his metalbending to crush the feed to the spy's earpiece, finishing by crushing the feed from the listening wire once it produced nothing but static.

Knowing what would likely come next as the Avatar pried the secrets from that spy's feeble mind, he radioed for Shiro Shinobi's family to be brought out in shackles into a nearby room. He could see Jang looking at the partially ruined console in anguish, so Jinshu Kuangmai said, "It was outdated anyways, and we can tear out the crushed pieces. Better some metal than one of my only competent underlings - that was some good work, identifying that old man as the original Iroh. Immortal human spirit…" Jang, curiously not nervous, made a deep bow in front of his own, much larger body, saying, "Thank you, Supreme Resistance Commander Jinshu Kuangmai. It is my honor and pleasure to serve - and that's not just a pleasantry. I hated how Suyin Beifong just stood by while the Earth Kingdom burned, but I did not get a chance to leave Zaofu in time to join Kuvira." Jang sighed, saying, "Those three years were some of the longest in my life - Suyin knew of my desire to leave and my talent with intelligence, so she assigned me to guard duty instead, apparently telling the other guards to keep an eye on me."

Before he could tell Jang what he thought of the whole Beifong family, a panicked call came through the more sophisticated piece of equipment Shiro Shinobi had set up before leaving in a different location. The elite metalbender was yelling, "Sir, we've got incoming, and it appears it's the Avatar! We managed to get one spirit cannon shot off, but she's dodged everything we've thrown her way so far with her blue flame jets! Wait - what's this? My men are grabbing their necks, and my throat is killing me!" The apparent officer let out a yelp, saying, "She must be bloodbending us! Can't - see - vision - fading - gaack!" The radio still on, Jinshu Kuangmai heard the sounds of ice forming close by. Jinshu Kuangmai cursed loudly as he listened to the Avatar speak - she had found Shiro Shinobi!

As soon as he said, "There's a lot I need to tell you - some of the people who were handling us were careless, and we saw things we shouldn't have," Jinshu Kuangmai bent the microphone for the ship's loudspeaker to his mouth. He said, trying to instill as much fear as possible, "I know I said I'd kill your family if you failed, Shiro Shinobi, but now we have a new 'deal'! Take the pill I gave you, or your family dies!" Given the silence that followed, Shiro Shinobi appeared to be taking his new deal seriously, but much to his displeasure, another speaker that he knew was linked to Shiro Shinobi's personal transmitter let out a loud clunk. After a wet splat, it continued, "I talked about this with my wife, if either one of us should be threatened with death. She said not to do anything like your order! I don't know who you are, but you certainly don't understand love! I'm not helping you and your horrible plans anymore!"

Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Very well - I see you have made your decision. I look forward to their looks of terror and their final gasps." His mood was slightly ruined by failing to get the last word, with Shiro Shinobi making one final jab before crushing the microphone, given the static that followed. Jinshu Kuangmai said, "We're done here - I have an execution to carry out." He strode quickly out of the room towards where the Shinobi family should be by now; he wanted to take out his frustrations on human targets instead of that insipid critter he killed this morning.

When all three members of the Shinobi family were lined up in front of him, Shiro's wife did indeed spit at him, saying, "Your mother must be ashamed of you - at least Kuvira had a national crisis on her hands! You - you ARE the crisis!" Jinshu Kuangmai let out a deep laugh, saying as he pointed at the two children in front of him menacingly, "Yes - I am the crisis, and I will soon be the ruler of the new Earth Empire!" intending to scare the two brats at her side. To his surprise, the little boy said, "My father told me he loves us, so you can't scare me! You're weak - you have no chance of beating the Avatar!" Disappointed to see his sister sticking her tongue out at himself, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Enough! It's time for you weaklings to join that furry critter I killed this morning! All three of you, annoying pests! Now, stand witness to my true power!" Much to his chagrin, the little girl managed to get out most of a yawn before all their bodies stiffened and they began to float in mid-air, gasping for breath.

Just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, his eyes shut and he was engulfed in pitch black darkness. He saw a three-year old self on the other side of a familiar orb that was pulsating with energy, the red lines that formed the shape of yin and yang on its blackened surface throbbing beautifully. He saw his fleshy doppler crying bitterly, saying, "The only reason Toph abandoned 'us' is because 'we' became unstoppable. She loves 'us', Tonga - I don't understand why you find Vaatu's energy so appealing." Jinshu Kuangmai screamed, "DON'T CALL ME THAT NAME! I AM JINSHU KUANGMAI!" His three year old self looked down at the "floor" sadly, saying, "I guess you really _are _'Metal Veins' now. Just look at your awful body, shimmering. I guess that means I am Tonga Beifong then, and it's time I used my _mother's_ trademark on you."

Tonga moved with surprising speed, making to strike his foot into his own metallic appendage. As he dodged Tonga's strike and the little boy landed on the floor, he noticed something odd - he had a heartbeat. Moving his hands, he said, "That was pathetic. Now I'll show you _my_ specialty - and no one else's." As he made the motions to begin blood-iron bending Tonga, he noticed that his smaller self was susceptible to his technique, but not completely. Frowning as he realized he couldn't just choke Tonga, he came up with a different plan.

Holding Tonga as still as he could - which was not very - he formed a large blade with his left arm, using his right to maintain his bending hold. When he got close enough to slice the brat's head off, he cursed as the blade deformed when it got close to Tonga, apparently able to metalbend even while in a partial hold. He asked Tonga, as he approached the orb extremely slowly, hopefully such that Tonga would not notice, "How did you do that, you little scumbag! I put a lot of energy into that!" Tonga broke his hold enough to stick out his tongue and say, "Love is more powerful than hate, you know. Kuvira's metal form didn't put up this much of a fight, if what Raava told me is correct." Himself laughing at the mention of the little girl, Tonga continued, "Humans have a dual nature - yin and yang, dark and light, Vaatu and Raava. Since the current Tonga Beifong is so dark, I am going to fight to the death. If I win, you go insane, just like your horrible idol Azula did, and if I lose, then I hope that Avatar Korra dispatches you mercifully. I know that would make you the angriest - a quick death."

Jinshu Kuangmai laughed, saying, "Well, if a quick death would make me angry, I don't know why you are holding back so much." Distorting his left arm into a long, needle point that was almost invisible to the naked eye, he made to touch the orb. Something told him it was the key to victory. A black mass hit the point, partially shattering his left arm, forcing him to drop his hold on Tonga and re-form his now slightly smaller left arm. His eyes widened as he saw what Tonga was trying to do - touch the orb.

The small child's hand of flesh and his own massive hand of metal hit the orb at the same time. Even though he was significantly bigger than Tonga, the little brat was somehow not losing what little ground he had against his much bigger foe. Jinshu Kuangmai could feel a small sliver of light inside the sphere, and to his horror, it was growing. A sudden flash appeared above the orb, a familiar metal medallion left in its place - a very darkened flying boar. Jinshu Kuangmai could feel all sort of vile emotions - love, happiness, everything weak - leaving Tonga's being, growing the size of the sliver of light inside the sphere and lightening the metal medallion.

Knowing what he must do, Jinshu Kuangmai let loose a torrent of proper emotions into the sphere - hatred, violent intentions, love of power and control, spite, malice, everything strong and destructive. Opening one metal eye, he began laughing as the Beifong family crest began to shift shape into a more pleasing form, his deep laughter accelerating the process. Where there had once been a flying boar, there was now an insignia of the Earth Empire - with a single drop of blood in the center. He began laughing hysterically, relishing the look of absolute horror on Tonga's face. He could feel Tonga's weak heart pounding wildly, and the shard of light inside the orb begin to rapidly shrink. He could feel his form hardening, as though being tempered in a furnace of hatred.

Feeling power coursing through him and seeing the pitch black orb's lines glowing a bright red, he said, "Look at the medal in front of you, Tonga. Look at my body, and the tempering of hatred's effect upon my metal flesh." As there was a pathetic hissing sound from the orb as the last of the light inside it faded, Tonga tried to bend his arm away, but cried when he couldn't. Smiling, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "You must have felt the light die inside the orb, Tonga." Laughing maniacally, he finished as he removed his own hands from the orb, "There is no Tonga Beifong now, aside from your own, soon to be destroyed, pathetic little form." Picking up his three-year old self, he yelled, "Now, there is only JINSHU KUANGMAI!" Something happened that he'd never seen before, not even when he took out his frustrations on the smallest creature. His younger self turned into a beautiful, fine red mist, quickly dissipating before he could relish it.

A large, dark, undulating form appeared behind a now violently pulsating orb, which was itself slowly moving towards his heart and shrinking. A serpentine voice said, "I've not seen evil win very often - usually, the weakling goes insane, or the good side wins. A pity you're so attached to the idea of ruling yourself, and not serving a mightier individual such as myself." While this individual's energy strongly reminded him of Vaatu's, something was amiss - no chaos, replaced by a desire to rule with an iron fist. Not finding anything wrong with this change, quite liking it, Jinshu Kuangmai decided to try his luck, saying, "I can sense you are much like Vaatu, but just like me, you want to rule with an iron fist instead of allowing chaos to reign. I have an army of loyal soldiers, and I can sense you might just have an army as well. I hate the Avatar and all her friends, especially my mother's relations. Want to help me take over and rule the world?"

He jumped back when a massive beak pierced the darkness, followed by long, oddly colored feathers, and then the strong yellow eyes that opened beneath them, surrounded by a pulsating black and purple hide that had small "eyes" of a familiar red inside the constantly moving patches. As the spirit opened his beak to speak, a mane on his back pulsed between the yellow of his eyes and a familiar red. The spirit closed his beak, somehow sensing that Jinshu Kuangmai recognized him as the spirit the Avatar was trying to keep out of the physical world - Long Yumao the Opportunist. Jinshu Kuangmai said, "You're Long Yumao the Opportunist, aren't you? The spirit that weak excuse for an Avatar wants to keep locked in the Spirit World with that barrier?"

The spirit said, in a dry voice, "Let's be clear on the answer in which I am answering your questions. The second set first - yes, I am Long Yumao the Opportunist, though hopefully it will be Grand Dark Spirit Long Yumao after I strip that fool you seem to like so much, Vaatu, of his title. Even you, a human, display enough common sense to despise chaos, unlike that Zaheer fool and his Red Lotus cult." The spirit showed his long, massive body as he said, "Which brings me to your first question. No. Hah! I have my own designs on absolute power! No Earth or Metal Vein Empire for you, 'Jinshu Kuangmai'." With that, the spirit whipped a powerful tail, sending him flying back to the physical world, cursing.

When he came back, he was surprised to see Jang standing with a bloodied blade extended from his arm, who saluted him and said, "Sir! I noticed you were in some kind of trance, and given the noises you were making, it was not a whitewash victory for you, but you killed whoever 'Tonga Beifong' is - or was, given your smile." Jinshu Kuangmai was glad he hadn't betrayed his ancestry, but noted the Shinobi family was absent, and when he asked Jang about it, he said, "Given what we learned at the conference, especially that Shiro Shinobi has given our position away, I ordered the airships and elite metalbenders halted, and re-directed them to finishing the submersion of Zaofu, along with all available explosives and spirit weapons." Jinshu Kuangmai, feeling charitable after his victory, said only with mild annoyance, "Given the blood on your armblade, you disposed of the Shinobi family for me. Good, I guess. I would have liked to do that myself, but got to kill something far more annoying instead." Jang shook his head in confirmation.

Jinshu Kuangmai did not rest, nor did his soldiers, "volunteers" or even civilians, until all of Zaofu was sunken into the earth. The combination of bending, spirit weapon beams and explosives let them cut into the earth deep enough to finally allow them to lower each former dome down below the landscape using bending. It greatly helped speed the effort along that his forces did not need to coat the sections in platinum - if the enemy already knew of their new use for Zaofu, the precious metal could be used for more important projects, such as the new Colossus model. After he ordered the spirit weapons re-loaded and hidden along with a stockpile of spirit vine capsules in the surrounding mountains, he did something very atypical - he threw a massive feast, for civilians and soldiers alike. Maybe, just maybe, through fear _and _some positive reinforcement, he could get more people to serve him willingly and zealously, as his elites and officers did. As he walked around, eating plenty of food himself, he smiled slightly. At first, he told himself it was because he liked seeing the soldiers happy, but it dawned on him he was glad to see the civilians happy as well.

_Surely, that little brat didn't win after all? No, no - the civilians earned their share. Tonga Beifong is dead._

As he drifted off to sleep at some ungodly hour in the morning, his forces having finally covered the tops of the former domes - no, bases - with metal sheets and earth, he saw a very dark, small feminine figure in the darkness that was enveloping him. A strange though occurred to him: _Light cannot be extinguished, nor can dark. One can subsume the other, but never truly destroy the other - it is the way of the world, yin and yang, as my mother tried to teach me._ The figure looked happy somehow, but that changed when he continued to think: _That means I need to be on my guard against softening at all times._

The last thoughts that went through his brain were not his own, but that of the figure: "And even still, a sliver of light remained."

End Part 5


	32. Chapter 32: Atokara

Chapter 32: Atokara

Korra had a horrible nightmare the night after the conference - a three-year old boy who somehow seemed familiar had lost his fight against a massive metal monster of a man. As she remembered more and more details of the dream, she realized it was anything but. Kuvira had killed her metallic self, but apparently, "Tonga Beifong" had not been so lucky -"Jinshu Kuangmai" had prevailed. After she thought of the horror, emotional wounds she thought had been healed throbbed with terrifying rawness. Korra found her eyes shut against her will, witnessing Vaatu's horrible message of approval for Jinshu Kuangmai she hadn't seen before that apparently preceded Tonga's "death". She wanted to scream as she heard that monster alternatively laugh "There is no Tonga Beifong now, aside from your own, soon to be destroyed, pathetic little form," or yell "Now, there is only JINSHU KUANGMAI!" over and over while she witnessed Tonga Beifong's demise, this time in excruciating detail. The arm blade… the emotions pumped into the sphere… Toph's family crest transformed into what must have been the new Earth Empire symbol, and its sickening drop of gleaming blood… the evil laughter… how his metallic skin had hardened as if forged in hatred… that awful red mist! For the love of everything good, that MIST!

Once the mist dissipated, she finally found relief from the horrible repeats. As she wanted to scream so loud that windows would shatter for miles, she watched Jinshu Kuangmai's attempt to woo Long Yumao in terror. She felt relieved that her foes were not cooperating, but knew full well that Jinshu Kuangmai's campaign of terror would help Long Yumao's forces grow anyways, adding to her horror. She felt the impact of the horrible spirit's tail, again and again, and the dark energies of both spirit and human alike. When she finally felt as though she were about to break, she screamed in a vision of her own.

The sphere in front of her was pure white, with blue lines forming the symbol of yin and yang. This was small comfort, however - the vision she saw behind it chilled her to the bone. It was the form she had called Dark Korra, but when she saw what was slowly dripping from her dark opponent, she began crying, and felt as though she were shrinking much as she had before Harmonic Convergence.

Dark Korra said in a raspy voice, "You thought I was gone for good, didn't you? When you removed that mercury from your system and got Zaheer's help, you just weakened me to a point where I could no longer harass you in the physical world." Dark Korra howled in insane laughter, screaming, "Well, you're not IN the physical world now, and Raava isn't here! You're as good as mine!" Dark Korra continued, in a slow and intimidating voice, "You… are… weak… powerless, in fear's grip. You hate what you see - fear the consequences of your own actions." Korra put her small hands over her eyes, wanting to shield herself from having to watch…

The blood. The dripping, horrible blood. She didn't find Dark Korra's new orange eyes to be the most frightening - Korra knew why the blood was there. It was her own doing, and that made it all the more terrible.

As though the doppler could read her mind, Dark Korra said, "I appreciate this new blood, little girl. You may think that bloodbending can be used for good - but you're wrong." Dark Korra swung her arm such that hot blood splattered onto Korra's face, and she screamed in terror. She could hear maniacal laughing. "I never thought you would use bloodbending, not after what you witnessed Tarrlok and Noatak - no, Amon, I like that name much better - and their father Yakone's feats." Dark Korra pointed to a small speck of black that was appearing underneath a drop of blood on the orb, saying, "Look how, even now, it taints your soul. Hah - so weak, so soft, so LOVING! You may think you're willing to kill something other than a shark whale, but you aren't. I am."

Korra's small eyes opened wide in terror and her body trembled as she saw Dark Korra's eyes glow a brighter orange - this shouldn't be possible! Before her body began to levitate, she just barely managed to scream "ASAMI! HELP ME!" at the top of her tiny lungs, Raava's name not even occurring to her. Hoarse feminine laughter filled her ears, and time slowed - was this really the end? Even after all these years, all this progress, a whole list of vanquished foes? All that personal growth - for nothing? Forget Unalaq - would she really become the first true Dark Avatar, four elements and all?

* * *

Asami had slept well the night after the conference, especially after the fun she and Korra had together - both inside that weird but wonderful ice sphere and in the comfy bed Zuko had provided for them both. As she rolled out of bed, naked as the day she was born, she noticed something troubling. Horrifying.

Korra was sweating, her bare dark skin crowded with beads of sweat, the sheets soaked. Before Asami could decide whether to shake her awake or use a light electroglove shock in case it was something spiritual and serious, she heard a scream, though Korra's lips did not move.

"ASAMI! HELP ME!"

Time stopped, Asami's heart beating wildly…The terror in Korra's voice, the helplessness - it sounded as though Korra were four years old, being choked by Jinshu Kuangmai at the same time Long Yumao snatched the teapot from Raava's neck. The end, for both Korra and the world. Tears escaping her almond eyes, Asami yelled, "I LOVE YOU, KORRA!"

As soon as she did so, she was transported to a black vision - but she knew it was just another reality. Asami made to gasp in horror at the unnatural form in front of her. A dark form of Korra's eyes were glowing in a sick, intense orange light, with red blood dripping from her form. Seeing that "Dark Korra" was apparently bending, Asami turned to her left, and was stunned. Korra was floating in mid-air, crying as though the world was about to end, jerking violently, her tiny body flailing.

Asami pushed with all her might against what appeared to be the ground, jumping at the dark figure, screaming, "YOU LEAVE KORRA ALONE!" as she felt love for the one she was defending course through her. As soon as her bare skin contacted Dark Korra, the horrible being let out a piercing shriek, howling in pain as its skin appeared to boil and its eyes dimmed to pinpoints of orange color.

Asami was surprised the beast didn't shatter like Kuvira's evil self. Dark Korra let out a weak laugh, saying, "I can't be killed - just as Raava has Vaatu inside her, Korra has me inside. **Permanently**." Before Dark Korra could continue to speak, Asami heard a loud, angry yell from beside her, turning to see Korra at full size. While Asami did admire her beautiful body, she admired what Korra did and said next even more.

Korra said, pointing a finger at her dark self, "Love is stronger than hate, you wretched fiend. I may not be able to call upon the power of Raava right now, for some reason, but I've got all the power I need beside me." Asami said, forming a fist, "Let's see how this Dark Korra likes a double whammy."

Feeling a sense of oneness as Asami might have when hugging Korra or showing her love in a more intimate way, she leapt with an outstretched fist at the same time Korra attacked. Before her punch connected, Asami said, "Have a love sandwich, scumbag! HYEAH!" feeling facial bones give way as her strike connected. Dark Korra crumpled to the floor after her lover's foot struck her square in the stomach shortly after. A shrinking form beneath her screamed, "You haven't seen the last of me, Korra and Asami! I'll be back, whenever you're at your weakest and most fearful, Korra!" The blood-dripping, insanely laughing little girl vanished into the distance.

Hearing her lover breathing heavily, Asami hugged her, relishing skin-to-skin contact as she asked, "Are you okay, Korra? I thought that… thing we just fought was dead." Korra sobbed, saying, "I think I did something to strengthen her, Asami - my bloodbending. The orb was turning dark from a splatter of blood… I'm such a failure - using the technique Amon used on me." Korra pushed Asami away slightly, saying with eyes full of shame, "Maybe Avatar Kyoshi is right - I'm no legend." Breaking the embrace just enough to see this orb, Asami said, "No she's not, Korra - look. The orb is all white again. You're fine." Seeing Korra was not convinced, Asami pressed her face up against Korra's, saying, "It's okay, Korra. If you are to stand a chance against Tonga Beifong, you need everything you can get -even if it is bloodbending." Asami saw a flash of light near her face, hugging Korra tighter as she entered into the Avatar State - finally.

Korra's body went rigid, her eyes dimming, and a familiar little white-haired girl appeared. As Korra sniffed deeply, Asami turned Korra and herself to face Raava, who had an extremely proud look on her face. Raava started to cry what must have been happy tears as she hugged both Korra and Asami as best as her little human-y form would allow. After a while, Raava said with a pleased sigh, "I can't believe you two managed to fight Dark Korra off, no bending, no Avatar State - no me. I knew human emotions were powerful, but I never hoped that your bond would let you reduce Dark Korra to a more proper size." Korra asked, with a slightly angry tone, "Where were you, Raava? What happened?! I almost died, and if I had, I'd be the Dark Avatar right now, if that horrible vision I had of Tonga Beifong's defeat is accurate."

Raava let out a deep sigh, apparently out of regret or defeat - possibly both. Seeing something had happened that she had no idea what it was, Asami asked, "What are you talking about? Tonga Beifong is still running around, probably blood-iron bending people to his sick will as we speak." After Raava described Tonga Beifong's reaction to Vaatu's energy, Asami barely avoided retching, her skin crawling. Given how Raava said nothing more, she really had given up on Tonga Beifong. Korra continued, describing her awful "nightmare".

When Korra got to the start of her own vision, Asami stopped her by kissing her deeply on the mouth and embracing her again, saying to a fluttery Korra after the kiss, "I don't think Dark Korra was able to do what she did because you bloodbended yesterday. She was able to get to you because of the horror and fear you felt while watching the demise of Tonga Beifong." Asami cried, hugging Korra again as she said, "I don't want to lose you, Korra - not after a lifetime of pain and longing. If something like that ever happens again, just think of me and the baby, your parents, our friends, Raava… Stop those awful feelings in their tracks." Touching Korra's soft chest, Asami said, "Being the Avatar isn't your only strength and attractive attribute, you know."

Korra snaked a hand onto Asami's belly while laughing, causing her to shudder in pleasure. Korra was about to grab Asami's butt - something she loved, especially with no clothes - but Korra let out a surprised yelp, breaking the sublime embrace. Korra said, "Let's take this party back to our room - I need to do something. Something wasn't right when I put my hand over your stomach - it almost felt like a shard of Raava was in there." Placing her hand back on where Asami knew the very young fetus must be inside her body, Korra said, "And a fairly large one at that. Come on, let's go - I have no idea what time it is, and you aren't wearing your watch." Korra giggled, saying, "You have my favorite outfit on - nothing." After Korra grabbed Asami's butt, laughing, Asami felt a wonderful heat on the other side that had nothing to do with bending.

When Asami came to, she was still standing in her indecisive pose between the bed and her pack. Seeing Korra smile broadly and move her glistening, dark-skinned form out of bed made Asami reach into her pack and take out what Korra only knew as a "thingie". Before Asami could properly savor the feeling she had when Korra's hand groped her bare butt, Korra took a deep breath, projecting Raava into the room with them. Tossing the thingie at Raava, who seemed inappropriately fascinated with it, Asami tackled Korra back onto the bed, saying, "It's thingie time!" Korra laughed, saying, "Think with your head, Asami, not your 'hips'. Which, I may add, are very shapely." Seeing this as an opportunity to think with her hips, Asami pressed into Korra, who looked like she might just go along.

As Asami drew closer to give Korra a kind of kiss she had loved the previous night, Korra dodged her mouth, saying, "Wait - the baby! Get off me, please - maybe after." Still not wanting to cooperate, Asami went in for the kiss, but Korra wrestled her over onto her back, leaving Asami wildly trying to pull her lover on top. Korra barked, "HEY! This is serious, so stop screwing around, Asami - literally. You need to be still for this." As a slightly angry Korra made to place her hand below Asami's bellybutton, Asami tried to redirect it in a last attempt at pleasing her hips, but Korra knocked it away with a blast of air. Korra then used her bending to sweep water from the air and create ice handcuffs for Asami, using one hand to keep them locked together as the other sat on Asami's stomach.

For some reason, she found this more pleasing to her hips than a butt grab, then Asami laughed, remembering aloud how Korra looked so sexy in the Earth Queen's little Avatar prison getup. Korra laughed, saying, "I didn't know you were into bondage, Asami, and apparently neither did you. Now be quiet so I can finish _this, _then maybe I can finish _you_." Asami took a deep breath of anticipation, only knocked out of it when Korra barked, "Raava, quit playing with the thingie and get over here! I don't think spirits have the necessary equipment for them anyways." Raava cursed, saying, "I hope I do! What do you want, spoilsport?" Korra pointed to Asami's belly, saying, "Do you have any idea why the baby now has _more_ of your energy than the first night?"

Raava shrugged, saying, "Hey- until now, I've been inside Korra's heart when something interesting happens between you two, so I have no idea." Korra said irately, "Then get over here and feel it manually. Maybe you can tell us if the baby is a bender or not." Asami was disappointed when Korra's large, sweaty hand was replaced by a small hand that almost felt as though it weren't there. It didn't help matters when Raava apparently used the same trick Uncle Iroh could do and pushed her hand inside, apparently trying to get a better feel. Korra grabbed for Raava's arm, her hand passing through it. Raava removed her hand, saying, "I'm done now, Korra - it's a good thing I made my whole arm nonphysical, or I wouldn't have been able to take as good a look as I did."

Raava looked uncharacteristically nervous as she glanced back and forth between Asami and her lover. Finally not able to stand the suspense, Korra said, "Now it's YOUR turn to get on with it! Come on - tell us what you found!" Raava chuckled, saying, "Okay, first, the good news - your waterbender child is at maximum carrying capacity of my energy without being the Avatar herself." Asami's eyes widened when Raava said "herself", Korra asking "Wait - how can you tell the sex already? You only gave us this gift, like, less than a week ago!" Raava laughed, saying, "There's no way this baby could be a boy - you're both girls!" Seeing Asami and Korra's confused stare, Raava said, "Oh - I forgot, mortal science isn't very advanced yet in many fields. Even with my intervention, you two don't have what it takes to have a baby boy - you need a-" Raava said something that sounded like "Wai Chromo Somm." Asami said, "What's a Wai Chromo Somm, and what does it have to do with not having a boy?" making Raava snicker then laugh. Raava managed to say with a smile, "I can't tell you that - your scientists have to figure out how these things work themselves. Perhaps if Varrick weren't so obsessed with money, you humans would know more about yourselves."

Asami asked, somewhat offended, "Okay - so what's the bad news?" Raava sighed, saying, "It appears that whenever Korra gets really excited, she transfers some of my energy to the closest living thing that is receptive." Korra said with a scowl, "Wait - what? Aang went into the Avatar State plenty of times when he was _excited _with Katara, and none of his children have your energy in them." Raava made a rather crude set of gestures with her small hands, saying, "Since you two aren't like my hands, I had to intervene to make this pregnancy possible, meaning the baby already had some of my own energy in it. Thus, any children you two have with my assistance will be 'receptive', and thus unlike anything the world has ever seen." Asami asked, "Is there any way we could have a normal child, other than adoption?" Raava let out a sigh, saying, "The only way for any children you have - all girls, by the way, unless you come up with some crazy solution - to be normal is if you abstain from sex completely during the pregnancy. I can tell that that won't happen, given how you somehow managed to fill your baby girl with my energy in the course of two to three days."

Korra smiled slightly, saying, "Okay - so we're not going to have any normal children. Do you know any other effects this energy of your might have on the baby?" Raava said neutrally, "I'm not sure if you will see this as a positive or negative, Korra and Asami, but it is likely any child you have will be _extremely_ precocious. The little waterbender girl, from what little I know of human development, is a fair bit larger than a normal baby would be at this stage. You should probably expect an early delivery."

Asami sighed, sitting up and pointing at her pack, saying, "I guess if we have no idea when the baby will be due, I'll need to cancel my plan for surprise 'pregnancy gifts' made during the last three months. Given how chaotic things are right now, it might be best to get the different members of Team Avatar their 'presents' early anyways. Here, let me show you what I mean Korra - hey, what's up with the ice shackles again? Are you feeling frisky or something? Because I'm down with that - especially if it involves the ice shackles."

Korra had the same loving, sentimental look in her eyes after she had first embraced Asami without any pesky clothes to get in the way. Korra said, dismissing the ice shackles, "I want to name the baby, given that we know it's a girl waterbender! Your tech stuff can wait." Asami grabbed the notebook anyways, turning from the page that had her own "present" on it to a blank one, saying, "Sounds like a good idea to me, stunning. What did you have in mind?" Raava jumped up and down, saying, "How about after me? It was my gift, you know!"

While Asami didn't think it was a terrible idea to at least incorporate Raava's name into the mix, Korra laughed, saying, "No - I get enough of you as is, Raava, and I want our little girl to have a completely human first name." Korra said, after Raava crossed her arms grumpily, "Maybe the next baby, Raava - you did say we could never have a boy, after all." Now that the great spirit was no longer pouting, Asami suggested, "How about we name her after a mix of our own names, Korra? Maybe something like Satorra."

Korra put a hand on her chin and the other on her hips, distracting Asami temporarily, but what Korra said next grabbed her attention. "I don't have a last name of my own, but you do - Sato. I think I'll take it." Korra smiled, watching Asami's broadening smile with pleasure. Korra said, while idly playing with a little spit of ice she had drawn from the humid air, "If our last names will be Sato, Satorra Sato would sound a little odd. If we took off the first 'letter', we'd have to make up a character of our own for our girl's written name." Asami laughed, pointing at Raava and saying, "Something tells me 'Atorra' is going to be a character anyways, given Raava's energy and what your parents told me about your own youth, Korra." Raava picked up the discarded thingie and tried to hit Asami with it, but Asami stepped aside nimbly, more so than she might have a few days ago. Raava cursed, saying, "I guess you did pick up some of Ty Lee's acrobatics after all, Asami." Seeing Asami's angry look, Raava said sheepishly, "Sorry about that - I'm just mad that Korra is right about me not having the proper equipment for the thingie, and that you two didn't take my name suggestion."

Korra began laughing hysterically, saying, "I guess you won't be able to have fun with Avatar Wan, even if you do manage to convince him it's a good idea. Katara would find this hilarious." This mention of Katara gave her lover an idea, who said as Korra fixed her messy short hair, "'Atorra' sounds sort of awkward, and I always did love Katara's name - and not just because she used to be my wife in a past lifetime. How about 'Atokara'? The first part of your last name, Sato, changed slightly, plus the last part of Katara's, with the sound 't' replaced with a 'k', for the first sound of my own name." Asami said, "I love it! Now, just to make this new character for her name." Asami tried multiple times to capture the essence of Atokara's unique name on paper. In resignation, she idly wrote down "Zhu Li Moon" on the paper next to the odd symbol she wanted to represent her daughter's difficult name, followed by the symbol for "Sato".

As she idly traced her finger over Zhu Li's full name, when her finger crossed the character for "Li" a second time, she got a strange idea. Erasing the character meant to say "Atokara" and re-drawing it to the left, adding in a small symbol for "yang" to its right end, Asami added the character for "Raava" in between the first and last names of her unborn daughter's name. Making sure to show it to Raava herself first, Asami smiled when the spirit said, with wide eyes, "I can't read very well, but I know my own name when I see it. That's a wonderful idea!" Korra grabbed Asami's butt to get her attention, but Asami was too happy to even feel with her hips - only her heart. After Korra looked at the characters, she said, "'Atokara Raava Sato'. It may be a mouthful, but I like it. I guess that would make me Korra Raava Sato, and you and your delightful butt Asami Raava Sato. Now, to just get it made official when we return to Republic City." Asami laughed as she heard Raava cursing loudly, barely managing to get out, "Aw, come on, spoilsport!" before she apparently vanished back into Korra, whose eyes were now glowing brightly.

Asami thoroughly enjoyed Korra's intensity and caresses, wanting to forget all about the horrible experience with Dark Korra they had both had earlier. Apparently, in a fit of passion she had cursed Dark Korra quite strongly, as Korra stopped, her eyes no longer glowing, her beautiful blue irises instead open wide in terror. Feeling an intense love in her chest, Asami hugged Korra tightly, saying, "It's okay, Korra - she's not coming back anytime soon." Korra seemed inconsolable, and Asami realized with terror that Korra's eyes were transfixed on where the closed door to their room must have been.

Asami turned around to face the source of a young girl's hoarse, grating laughter, hugging Korra tighter - for both their sakes. The little abomination she recognized from earlier said, "You're very easy to scare, aren't you, you little wimp. I may not be able to do anything to you here - not yet. But I can certainly savor the fear in your eyes, Korra - Jinshu Kuangmai considers fear a delicacy, as do I." Blood dripped from the small form, though it did not pool on the wooden floor. Asami continued to hug Korra tightly with one arm and place her hand over Korra's racing heart with the other, saying, "Get back! You aren't welcome here…" with a slight hint of fear in her voice. Asami pushed both herself and Korra into the bed as Dark Korra began to grow slightly, laughing maniacally, "Or maybe I CAN do something to you both - I love the feel of the growing pool of blood around my feet, and my growing size."

Remembering what she had told Korra earlier, Asami pressed her hand hard into Korra's chest while thinking of their shared love, feeling a wonderful sense of oneness replace her fear. As Asami turned Korra's face to kiss her, she noticed Korra's eyes were no longer wide in terror - they were thin, angry glowing slits. Given Korra's own maniacal laughter, her younger, vile self must have been shrinking, Korra saying, "It looks like you're three instead of four now, monster. Let's see if I can make you two, with Asami's help." To Asami's double surprise, Korra's eyes stopped glowing and gave Asami one of the sloppy kisses Korra loved so much. Completely forgetting about Dark Korra for a moment, Asami moaned and moved her hand to a different, more exciting part of Korra's chest, barely noticing the awful screeching coming from by the door. Apparently, Korra had registered the disappearance of Dark Korra, as she said, "Now that that horrible thing is gone, we can finally pleasurebend." Korra shocked Asami by licking Asami's face playfully, Korra saying in a sultry voice after, "I can see you liked the tongue. Good - I'm not done with it."

When Korra was done and panting in a combination of arousal and exhaustion that just made Asami want more, especially of _that_, she heard an odd, small thump from beside the bed. Korra looked like she wanted to curse, but ended up joining Asami in her own light laughter. Standing up and using her notebook to lightly slap a passed-out Raava's face after Korra splashed some ice-cold water on the spirit's head, Asami said, "Looks like somebody couldn't handle thingies, let alone Avatar Wan. Why don't you just stay inside next time - Korra is exhausted, without the Avatar State's help." Clearly nervous, Raava chuckled weakly, "Curiosity killed the fireferret. While you two get ready for the press conference, why don't you - hey, Korra, I'm supposed to be the foul mouth! Surely, you didn't forget you have a press conference at 10:00 AM, did you?" Korra wildly cleaned up the mess Dark Korra had left on the wooden floor with a towel and then used bending to wring out the sheets, tossing the liquid out the door into a pot and incinerating the bloody towel. "Yes, I did! Asami, check your watch - I have no idea how much time has passed." Asami joined Korra in her panicked rush as she pointed to her watch, saying, "We don't have time to clean up properly, Korra - you need to give us both a quick rinse with air water, and get dressed! It's 9:30!" Raava tried to help, picking up some decidedly non-practical underwear that Asami had made the previous day, saying, "Is this something you need, Asami? They feel heavy!" Laughing along with Asami while she washed Asami and then herself with bending, Korra said with a snicker, "Those are for fun, not actual use!" Korra bent the water into the now-full pot as Raava picked up some more useful clothes.

Surprised that her watch only read 9:40 AM, Asami said, now fully dressed, "Let's make sure we both look presentable - I want to be at your side for this press conference." Seeing Raava had picked up Korra's formal dress, Asami said, "Not yet, Raava - thanks for all the help. Korra needs to project strength, not grace." To Asami's surprise, Korra took the dress and placed it on top of a now dry bed, saying, "Femininity is not weak, Asami. You wear makeup while beating bad guys, so I don't see how a dress is any different." As Asami found herself agreeing heartily, Korra added, "Plus, if word _has_ gotten out about my bloodbending, I'm going to need to look as disarming as possible. It's part of the reason I wore the dress to the conference anyways."

With Raava's help, they were both ready to go a mere ten minutes later, including most of Asami's normal makeup. Korra had insisted Asami skip the more time intensive parts, saying, "You don't need all that eyeliner, Asami, or that stupid powder I once tried - your face is beautiful enough without lipstick." As Korra and Asami ran outside to a blackened rock, Korra's eyes began to glow, Raava having been apparently recalled. Asami loved the way Korra said with a big smile, "Ready to blast off, Asami? You'll need to be in _my _arms for this. I want to make a big entrance to this conference - I didn't hem up my dress with metal bands for nothing." Asami felt herself nodding with excitement as Korra picked her up, saying, "You're no wimp, Korra - your arms are strong as is, weight training or not."

* * *

Laughing at Asami's compliment while staring at Asami's beautiful, full lips, Korra said, "The weight training wouldn't be just for strength, you know. I see how you admire my body, and it's not because of my dark skin or my curves." Asami blushed slightly, asking, "The curves won't go away, will they?" Korra shrugged, bringing Asami closer to her face accidentally, saying, "I don't know if they will, but I doubt it - I've been somewhat curvy all my life. You've seen my baby pictures." After Asami laughed and said with anticipation in her voice, "I can't wait to see what Atokara looks like. I'm sure she'll be beautiful," Korra warned Asami, "Get ready - after I earthsense the exact setup of the press conference, we'll be taking off."

Korra shifted her feet and lifted a single foot off the ground slightly, not wanting to lose her balance. Korra was surprised to feel herself not wobbling at all, Ty Lee's acrobatic skills having apparently rubbed off after all. Korra said glumly, having just sensed the press conference's setup, "Those idiots must have used wood for the podium's base - I can't sense the podium itself. I won't be able to land on it as I had hoped - I don't want to burn it up." Realizing she could just land using airbending, Korra said, "Time to blast off!"

Finally using the Avatar State for something interesting, Korra took a deep breath and launched herself into the air using her legs and earthbending, propelling herself slightly higher with a blast of air. Once she was sure she wouldn't torch any trees, she shot powerful, concentrated jets of blue flame from her legs, with the Avatar State and her renewed link with her past lives letting her skip the hand jets. Asami was screaming happily like a little girl all the way, and Korra used her airbending to touch down a distance aways from the press conference, calculating the angle she'd need to shoot herself and Asami at with a spit of earth to land close to the podium. Asami said with exhilaration, "That was amazing! I wish I were a bender sometimes." Korra couldn't respond or even carry out her bending move before Asami said, "Wait - why don't I go first, and give a full account of the Battle for Republic City, with you giving me the bits I don't know through infobending. I don't know how accurate the accounts are that are floating around right now."

Korra put Asami on the ground, transferring her fight with Kuvira in full, as well as other bits she had heard about second or third hand. Satisfied she was done, Korra picked up Asami again and propelled them onto the podium, making sure to make a show of her blue flame with a skyward blast once Asami was behind the podium. After Asami started speaking, Korra quietly made her way to the refreshment table after letting her dress down and drank tea with sugar in it, as well as eating some sorely needed food. The horrible experience earlier in the morning, the sex, and this latest bending feat had really taken the wind out of her.

As Korra walked back to Asami's side, she could barely contain her laughter at how well Asami was playing and handling the press. One exchange in particular made her smile, as some annoying, square-jawed male reporter with weird black hair and expensive clothes asked, "Asami Sato, can you offer any comment on _why_ Avatar Korra spared Kuvira's life, and how that plays into the rumors Kuvira has been spotted with Team Avatar?" Before he could add anything else, Asami said, "If you had been listening, you would have heard my account of the exchange between the Avatar and Korra." After the reporter looked sufficiently sheepish, Asami continued, "Korra saw herself in Kuvira in many ways, and Kuvira had initially good intentions three years ago, but went out of control. I'll let the Avatar herself talk about your last comment, so you better get ready to listen." Apparently, his peers held a low opinion of him, one woman with thick glasses quipping, "Yeah, 'Geraldo', wherever your mother got that horrible name from - it looks like you might actually have to listen for once, and shut up. You know, like a real journalist."

The raucous laughter of the press and Geraldo's flushed face providing a good transition, Korra tapped Asami's shoulder, saying, "I'm ready to speak my part now. I have a lot to say, and not all of it good." As Korra stood behind the podium, she let the press murmur among themselves, finally speaking again, but in response to a question. The woman who pestered Geraldo asked, adjusting her thick glasses, "Avatar Korra, you've dealt with a lot of threats over the years: Amon and his Equalists, the close victory over Unalaq and Vaatu, chaos in the Earth Kingdom, being poisoned, and Kuvira and her Earth Empire. You have, not without struggle, defeated them all. What could have possibly happened over the course of less than _five days_ that could compare?" Korra gave a genuine sigh, saying, "A lot has happened that the world does not know of. First, I will give the good news, then that which is neutral or likely to cause uproar, saving the terrible for last. A lot of these events are interconnected, so I will start with the simplest good news."

Korra said, with a smile that rivaled Aang's, "Everyone thought the Avatar's past lives destroyed forever by Unalaq, but we were wrong. With the help from four individuals who knew Avatar Aang in his lifetime - Toph, Zuko, Tenzin, and Katara - as well as my own friends from this lifetime, we broke all my past lives free from icy prisons that Unalaq had placed them in. I call this the 'Restoration'." Seeing the crowd's look of disbelief, she continued, "Allow me to demonstrate. Avatar Aang lives - though not in the form you are most familiar with." Korra took a deep breath, projecting Aang out for the assembled press to see. When she opened her eyes, she spotted a familiar pair in the distance, hidden behind some greenery with a glinting lens visible. Varrick and Zhu Li were filming the press conference, and given their reaction, they must have produced more SpectroFilm in her absence.

Hearing roaring laughter, she turned to look at Aang's image, who was frustratedly trying to perform his spinning pebble trick for the crowd. Korra picked up a piece of the nearest earth, removed a pebble and mimicked his form, saying, "Sorry, Aang - I'm the Avatar now." Aang's eyes widening, he asked, "When you get those blades made, can you do the wind sword?" Frustrated at Aang's slip of the tongue, Korra said, "Not now - let me do my speech!" The woman in the glasses laughed, saying, "I once interviewed Katara, and she mentioned something about a wind sword. I guess Avatar Aang really is back." Geraldo said after Aang vanished, in the same annoying voice as before that made Korra groan, "I don't believe it, Avatar Korra. Show me some more proof - I want to see Avatar Roku and Avatar Kyoshi, just to be sure they're _all _back." As Asami said loudly, "Avatar Roku should be no problem, but Avatar Kyoshi might just start cursing if Korra projects her out," Korra's eyes glowed momentarily, hearing a voice in her heard she recognized as Avatar Kyoshi's say almost instantaneously, "After all you've done since we last met, especially your trap for Jinshu Kuangmai and crushing of Dark Korra, I no longer hate you - if that horrible man falls for the trap like I think he will, I might even like you. I'm not quite the Avatar the world sees and reveres me as, _Avatar_ Korra - but that's something for another time."

After Korra projected Avatar Roku out, he said, "I am Avatar Roku, the one who failed to stop the 100 Year's War by showing mercy instead of common sense. I hope that Avatar Korra gets over her encounter with Dark Korra earlier today quickly." Korra groaned - at least the information that Aang let slip was fairly innocuous! As she saw Geraldo's eyes gleaming, his stupid pointy chin starting to move animatedly, the woman in the thick glasses came to Korra's rescue, saying, "I have heard rumors of a terrible vision you had multiple times during your recovery, Korra, that no one else could see. Is this 'Dark Korra', and how did she return?" Korra took a deep breath, keeping in mind her love for Asami as she said, "What Avatar Roku referred to was indeed Dark Korra, but I will talk about her later, if at all. Let's get on with this, shall we?"

Geraldo was waving his hands wildly, Korra knowing he wouldn't let the issue rest, so she replaced Avatar Roku with Avatar Kyoshi, hoping to throw off his train of thought. Korra laughed madly as Avatar Kyoshi said, "Geraldo, mind your own damn business, and leave Avatar Korra alone." Apparently having heard Asami's surprised yelp, Avatar Kyoshi said, "On further thought, as well as some of Avatar Korra's more recent actions, I realized that my initial hatred of Avatar Korra was driven by horror at the destruction of property and artifacts that occurred in the Earth Kingdom following Earth Queen Hou-Ting's fall, as well as a more personal feeling - shame." Waiting for the surprised gasps to die down, including Korra's, Avatar Kyoshi continued, "While many remember me as a strong Avatar, killer of Chin the Conqueror, the truth is, he fell to his death - I didn't kill him. He just refused to move while I was breaking Kyoshi Island away from the mainland. On top of that, I only acted when he threatened my homeland, while Avatar Korra tried to stop Kuvira the 'Great Uniter' before she threatened Republic City, despite having been recently poisoned. The only reason that she did not kill Kuvira outside Zaofu, from what Raava has told me, is Avatar Korra hallucinated Dark Korra's face instead of Kuvira's, weakening Avatar Korra's resolve."

Avatar Kyoshi turned to Korra, actually bowing, finishing, "Now go make me proud, **_Avatar_** Korra: the Earth 'Kingdom' isn't out of trouble yet." With that, the Earth Avatar vanished, along with any hope Korra had of an orderly press conference. Just as she was about to give up hope and start from the time she walked into the new Spirit Portal with Asami, she looked up after hearing a running sound. Smiling to see who it was, Korra heard Varrick say, "Geraldo, you little pest - If you shut your yap and quit interrupting Korra's planned speech, I'll give you five thousand yuans." Geraldo made a cheesy smile, asking, "Ten?" causing Varrick to shell out considerably less than that and use it to thwack the annoying twerp over the head, saying, "Four thousand, just for the delay! Now be a good reporter, or Korra might kick you out of the press conference all together!" Although Geraldo clearly wasn't satisfied with the smaller amount of money, he said with wide eyes, "Oh, no, anything but that! My boss would dock my pay more than six thousand yuan's worth!"

Korra managed to get the press conference back on track, talking about Kuvira's horrible vision and change of heart, segueing into the Spirit Civil War after questions about Long Yumao and Koh, making sure to stress Raava's undying support for humanity. Although Geraldo wasn't supposed to ask any prying questions, he asked to see Raava, so Korra projected Raava out, who at first appeared in her spirit form. Raava only switched to her human-y form when Korra finished explaining her increasingly human nature, some of the women -and men - in the audience saying, "She's so cute!" as Raava vanished. Feeling a little tired, Korra let Asami explain the "Sudden Death" option as Korra ate and drank some more. As Korra overheard the woman in the glasses asking, "And what exactly caused this Spirit Civil War?" she sighed and walked back to the podium, not anticipating the next part.

As Korra explained Raava's gift, then her relationship with Asami, Korra was pleasantly surprised - there were only a few negative reactions from within the audience, with only a few more being indifferent. She had always figured most reporters as annoying, but a cosmopolitan lot. Once she had talked her fill on the matter, Geraldo's eyes glistened as he said, "I'll have to conduct interviews on the street about this - my boss is going to love the emotional responses, especially from people on the extremes on this issue!" Korra could hear some angry yammering from Varrick, now closer to the press conference, but Korra held up a hand, saying, "Given that all nations are going to be legalizing gay marriage soon, I am curious to hear people's reactions. I do not mind your plan, Geraldo - though I would appreciate it if you heckled the interviewees who aren't open to my love for Asami." Geraldo laughed deeply, saying, "Oh, yes, I will, Avatar Korra - that's one of my specialties. You may not remember it, but I did some interviews with Equalist supporters and made them look like fools. It's great for keeping listeners." The woman with thick glasses, who had finally identified herself as Li Jun earlier, laughed, saying, "Yes - one of your few good works, I might add."

As Geraldo kept a stony face, Li Jun continued, "No offense, Avatar Korra, but so far, what you have told us, especially the order of events, is very confusing. I know you cannot possibly divulge everything, as there are obviously a lot of secrets, but do you think you could help Asami tell what you feel comfortable revealing to the public, in order? Just forget the good news bad news format entirely - it's not as if you've been following it anyways."

Korra let out a deep sigh, knowing she couldn't just infobend everything - there were radio crews present as well, and the whole proceeding was live, not to mention the surprise SpectroMover camera. The next three to four hours went by in a blur, Korra swapping off with Asami, back and forth, so they would not get exhausted. Neither allowed questions during this time, as every event from the "vacation" to this morning was re-told, with plenty of editing, of course. The most notable deletions being the bloodbending, Jinshu Kuangmai's identity, Azula's secret, the fact that the Great Banyan tree was a trap - in case Jinshu Kuangmai were listening in, the military details aside from what Korra now called the Four Elements Task Force, the various technologies and tuber-vines. Korra was about to give a very bare-bones explanation of her vision of the "young boy" and her own experience, but Geraldo said sternly as Korra began her own experience, "Avatar Korra, if you think you're going to whitewash the details of your experience with Dark Korra, you're already too late. A little boy named Meelo was talking loudly to anyone who would listen this morning about how you killed a shark whale that was going to sink your boat, and I snuck into the kitchen to see the beasts' heart for myself. There were rumors it had been turned into mush, and they were right - there's only one thing I can think of that could pulverize such a massive heart, as though from the inside out."

Korra heard surprised gasps and screams from the audience - one of her biggest secrets was out. Korra said calmly, "At first, I was loathe to consider using the outlawed practice known as bloodbending, but Raava convinced me otherwise." Korra explained Raava's words, then continued, "You remember the general turned leader, Jinshu Kuangmai, correct, and his awful blood-iron bending ability? How he crushed his three-year old self, turning him into a fine mist?" Korra waited for the fearful nodding in the audience to stop, and she said, "That is why I decided to try to learn bloodbending. I have to be in the Avatar State to do it, so don't worry - I'm not Tarrlok or Amon's secret daughter." Korra paused, letting the nervous laughter die down. "I do not think any other form of bending would have been sufficient to stop the shark whale - you must have all seen its bones by now, if Geraldo managed to sneak a peek at its heart." After the fearful nodding died down again, Korra said, "You're right, Geraldo - the bloodbending does have a lot to do with Dark Korra. I will give the full details here, without infobending, so if there are any younger listeners in the audience, you may want to stop listening. I just need to 'talk' to Asami for a moment - I don't want the first time she hears of everything to be in front of the press."

* * *

Korra took Asami aside, clearly tired, as Asami asked quietly, "Is the questionable content our naked bodies, or all that blood and terror? Korra - you never did tell me what happened between you going in, and screaming for my help." Korra choked back tears, saying, "What you're about to experience, and what the world is about to hear, is very disturbing, Asami - all I can say is, I would probably be helping Long Yumao right now if you hadn't come to my rescue." As Korra hugged Asami deeply, she felt a familiar feeling of oneness, followed by pure, untainted terror. Those orange eyes, the laughter, the helplessness… the horrible blood!

Asami looked over Korra's shoulder into the press, saying loudly, "I'm sorry - we just need a minute," then asked Korra, "Just where was Raava for all of this? How could she abandon you?" Asami felt Korra's body stiffen and saw her eyes glow momentarily, and a familiar voice said, "Korra's awful vision of the 'three-year old boy' must have struck some raw, primal nerve, and fear welled up in Korra's heart, greatly empowering Dark Korra to the point where I couldn't intervene. You can't let terror grip your heart like that, Korra - just think of what Asami said to this morning."

Asami could hear shouting from the press, demanding to know more about what happened this morning. Korra was still unsure, saying, "Should we really divulge all this, so soon? People might think I am weak." Asami felt anger well up inside as she saw Korra's eyes fixate on a point, as if on a distant figure again. Not wanting Korra to even see five seconds of her dark self, Asami grabbed Korra's butt, whispered "I love you" into Korra's ear, then forcefully kissed the beautiful Water Tribe girl. Apparently, Dark Korra must have been around still and the actual Korra still terrified, as Asami heard a familiar evil cackling that reminded her all too much of Long Yumao.

Turning to see where Korra had been looking, Asami was just in time to see the two-year old shrink to the size of a baby as multiple people in the press said things like, "Aw, how sweet!" or "I wish I was young again - young love," some even saying, "Now that's attractive." Somehow still capable of speech, Dark Korra yelled, actually sobbing, "I'll get you someday! I might be a baby, but I can still grow…" With a final screech, she vanished in a fine, dark mist that Asami realized may have been blood.

Needless to say, Korra told the press everything relevant to Dark Korra about what had happened earlier that morning after a deep male voice intoned "Listening discretion advised" over a loudspeaker above the podium. Asami was about to say something, but Raava said, "Human love is one of the big reasons for my constant changes over the past few years, especially over the past half-week. Love has a big effect on Dark Korra - she just turned into the size of a baby just now, in case you hadn't noticed Korra staring into the distance in terror before Korra's explanation." Seeing that Raava was done, Asami grabbed the microphone and said with intensity, "That is why, if any of you or anyone listening is attacked by a spirit that you think falls in line behind Long Yumao, you need to think of your friends, families, lovers, comrades in battle - anyone you love - as you attack. The new Dark Spirits all find this energy to be vile and repulsive. Korra and I managed to reduce Dark Korra to the size of a two-year old with love strikes, and with your exclamations, you, the press, shrunk her to the size of a baby."

Tears in her eyes, her girlfriend said loudly, "This press conference is over. I need to make a trip to the Fire Nation capital now, as Firelord Izumi has requested my help in convincing her isolationist nation to go to war." Geraldo asked an actually useful question, yelling at the top of his lungs, "What about the information blackout from Ba Sing Se? Do you know what that was, Avatar Korra?" Asami said, while lightly putting her hand on a confused Korra's shoulder, "I don't think she knows anything about that, Geraldo! And to be frank, neither do I! My best guess is that the city revolted after news of Kuvira's defeat reached the city, and given the blackout, all the good radio equipment must have been destroyed, probably on purpose!"

As Asami accompanied a slightly confused Korra back to their room, Korra said, "I hope that those possible rebels in Ba Sing Se are friendly… Anyways, only part of that thing about Firelord Izumi was true - the Firelord's speech isn't for another, what, four hours? It's around 2:30, right?" After Asami checked and nodded, Korra continued, "The only people who really need to go are myself, Uncle Iroh, Zuko and Firelord Izumi, so we can leave on a small boat. No need to drag the Zhu Li along." After they got back and shut the door, Asami made to pick up a thingie, but Korra stopped her, saying, "I'd prefer a pencil, not a thingie - for now. Why don't you show me your other, unnamed projects for Team Avatar? You mentioned you'd need to speed their development, since not even Raava knows when the baby will be due. Literally."

Asami made to grab for the pencil initially, but took Korra's hand and placed it on her forehead instead, saying, "Infobending would be much faster than showing you drawings. Time we could use for _other_ things. Like getting you out of that dress, for one." As Korra blushed and shuddered slightly, Asami could feel her four remaining "gifts" temporarily leave her head, then return. Before Korra could say anything, Asami told her, "Try and keep those secret - three of the gifts have already been exposed, and I'd rather Mako and Jinora especially not suspect anything." Korra nodded and ran outside, her formal dress flapping as she did so. Asami didn't know what she was doing until Korra returned with a large chunk of ore ten minutes later, eyes glowing.

Korra said, "The most interesting one first - yours," as she tore a chunk or ore off and formed a metallic representation of the suit Asami had in mind for herself, watching in fascination as Korra grew it to full size and fitted it around Asami's body. Even though Asami knew it was a mockup, she admired what she could see of the metal form from the helmet, and was surprised when she found she could actually move it around.

Asami said, "Wow - I didn't expect you to be this good at translating my internal blueprint into reality! Given how your hand is still, you aren't moving the metal for me either - it works!" Korra chuckled slightly, saying, "I am helping it move - I've got a hand hidden behind my back, metalbending. You're right that it would need a tuber-vine power source, especially if you want the twin blades to be effective against Dark Spirits." Korra took a hand from behind her back and moved the two long blades with lines that must have been representations of spiritwire in and out, saying, "Those blades will be a lot easier to hook up than mine - I'm still not sure how I will handle the pain of the wiring for my armblades. All you need to have done is to hook the tuber-vine to the spiritwire in the blades." Asami laughed, saying, "We could just get you really, really drunk - you wanted to know what it felt like anyways." Korra nodded while smiling, adding, "I had more than a slightly sheltered upbringing, and look forward to you showing me more things others thought inappropriate for a lady or the Avatar."

Asami said with a gleam in her eye, "I can show you more later, though we've already done much of what I know about the bedroom." Returning to business, Asami tried moving her fingers, and to her disappointment, she could not. Pointing to one of the suit's hands awkwardly with the other hand, she continued, "I see you couldn't get the electricity or flames to work, or even the fingers - the weapons will likely need to be powered by the tuber-vine." Asami jumped slightly as Korra placed her hand underneath one of Asami's metal-clad arms and used her bending to mimic the effect of the flamethrower. Korra said, done with her blue fire, "I'm not going to try and mimic the lightning you want to shoot from the palm - I don't want to start a fire in Zuko's property." Asami could feel Korra manipulating the interior of the mechasuit's arms, saying, "I just modified the suit slightly so that a firebender could actually use their bending to power the flames, but from the palm instead - I imagine this suit would go over well with the Fire Nation military as the first of the technology sharing. Once we have enough tuber-vines, of course."

Part wanting to see how it looked in person, part wanting to distract herself from the possibility of her suit not being unique, Asami raced to the nearest mirror, admiring her metal-clad form. Asami realized with a laugh that certain parts were not as she had thought they were. While she had designed the suit to be much less cumbersome than Kuvira's suits, she noticed Korra had further reduced the armor plating on the suit, letting her feminine form show much better, especially in the chest, legs, arms and hips. Korra joining her side, Asami asked, "Is there any reason this thing's breasts are bigger than my own? I look sort of ridiculous!" Korra laughed, saying, "I figured one side contains the tuber-vine power source in the extra room, and the other side could contain communications equipment of some sort. I'm sure Shiro Shinobi and Varrick can come up with something." Slapping Asami's metal-clad hips, Korra said, "The rest is for eye-candy, though I'm sure that the reduced weight will help with the other feature. Watch out - I'm going to remove one of the mechasuit's legs."

As Asami lifted her leg and the metal slid off with Korra's assistance, she could immediately notice a big change from her design. There was a big groove, apparently representing spiritwire, running down the back and into the sole of a significantly larger boot. Korra turned the leg such that the bottom was visible, and Asami said with a start, "Wait - that's a condenser ring. Did you make the modification I think you made? I can fly?" Korra nodded her head up and down, saying, "I figured that Kuvira's suits would not be of much use against Long Yumao, given he can fly and all. If you're worried about your suit not being unique, this should fix that - there's actually a condenser ring inside the electric shock projector as well, so you can fly like I do. I guess this suit might just need two tuber-vines: you could probably use the ones in your hands as weapons."

After Korra replaced the leg, Asami closed her eyes, visualizing what the final suit would look like. One retractable spirit-wire laced blade on each arm linked to a larger spiritwire, just as she had discussed with Korra. When she visualized the forearms, she saw a hatch open and close underneath, spitting fire out when opened. She saw the suit's palm next, it alternatively letting loose a large torrent of electricity or a controlled blast of spirit energy. Refocusing off weapons, she saw the suit -coated in platinum to avoid metalbender trouble - and its feminine helmet painted in black and red. There was a green visor that resembled her favorite goggles to see out of, the whole head sitting on top of slight but armored shoulders that had smaller, custom-fit green ball joints. Her "enlarged" chest was emblazoned with the Future Industries logo instead of an Earth Empire insignia against a black and red background. The feminine form ended in large black boots with jade green insets - the same color as her eyes. The odd dark green skirt of Kuvira's mechasuit was gone, cut for increased agility, as were the large protrusions on the back. Making a mental note, the image in front of her changed slightly - the ankles now had a small ball joint all to themselves, needing additional maneuverability for the spirit jets to work at maximum capability.

Apparently, she must have been talking to herself, as Korra shook her slightly, saying, "That sounds amazing, Asami. Why don't you go make a blueprint while I bend the other three 'presents', at reduced scale." Korra made to take the suit off, but Asami resisted, saying, "Just make it able to move without metalbending - I want to keep it on. It makes me feel empowered, confident - like I could punch Long Yumao in the beak." Korra's eyes glowed and she placed her hands on Asami's exaggerated armored breasts, saying, "This should help it run - but only for a bit." When Asami looked in the mirror, she was surprised to see the Future Industries logo on her chest - but it was glowing blue! Finding she could move the fine metal fingers now, she carefully created a blueprint, making sure to make a note that said "Discuss with Zhu Li and Varrick." She called her suit "Asami's Reach", writing down the names "Iron Varrick" and "Zhu Li's Thing" next to her metal baby's name.

When Asami turned around, she saw that Korra had created small-size representations of the gifts for Mako, Jinora and Opal. Feeling the suit starting to tense up, Asami asked, "Can you go ahead and take this thing off me? Just solidify it - I want to show it to Zhu Li and Varrick while you are off in the Fire Nation, in secret." After the suit was off, Korra had to tap Asami's shoulder to get her attention away from the Asami's Reach mockup, saying, "So, Mako's vest - I didn't have any rubber for the insulation, obviously, but I still didn't understand all the weird fibers underneath the electrifiable wire mesh and rubber. What are those - you 'said' something about it being body armor?" Asami coughed, saying, "Yeah… it was an idea I had about a lightweight armor that can stop a projectile, but I'm not sure how to make it work. I'd need some chemistry help from Zhu Li on that one, I think." Asami took the vest, saying, "Anyways - there were some gloves and leggings that went with the vest. Did you make those?" Korra shook her head, saying, "Since I had already made something similar for your mechasuit, I didn't figure I needed to. Although, honestly, I didn't know how to make the gloves - that weird little circle in the center was difficult to make. If I remember right, it was intended to let Mako firebend out of it, but also somehow project ball lightning after he generates a charge." Asami found herself again needing help, saying, "That's an idea I got when you showed us what the Restoration looked like. I'll need Varrick's help with that."

Eager to get away from presents that needed other's help, Asami pointed to a miniature staff on the bed, saying, "Why don't you give me Jinora's special staff? I really liked that one - it's pretty simple. It can act like a glider, due to its thickness towards the head, and there are holes along it so Jinora can use it to whip up a tornado or cyclone rapidly using the tornado-shaped head of the staff. The holes will have little pieces of tuber-vine embedded, my hope being that they will increase her power. The little handgrips you're poking with your finger are coated in spiritwire, which runs through the staff to the holes to let her better project herself and communicate with spirits better, as well as let her channel her airbending into the staff."

Korra picked up the other, simple item, saying, "This is Opal's buckler, and the final present. You 'told' me about how she can create an air barrier using it, with spiritwire enhancing its power enough that she can shield herself from everything but the fastest of projectiles or spirit weapons. Can this absorb spirit weapon energy, Asami?" Asami shook her head, saying, "No - I think you have to be hooked to a tuber-vine for that. You forgot to mention the little hole in the shield where Opal can shoot out steel projectiles, including Satot rounds once the brain trust makes them." Asami let out a sigh, saying, "I guess we'll need to replace Kuvira with Meelo, given her sentence. We should be able to meet with Kuvira one last time, while you're going to the Fire Nation. At least Meelo's a bright nine-year old, and can probably help us in making the suits fly well, as well as any airbending related troubleshooting."

Feeling like they had _finally_ finished, Asami asked Korra, "I'm out of my cumbersome 'dress' - now how about you get out of yours, and we have some more fun?" Korra yawned sleepily, saying, "Sorry - no sexy time right now. I could go for a bare cuddle, though - make sure to set an alarm for about 5:00 PM. I don't want to be late in taking Uncle Iroh, Firelord Izumi and Zuko to the capital."

Though at first Asami was disappointed that Korra just wanted to cuddle, as she embraced Korra again, she still had a feeling of oneness that was more satisfying than anything her hips could give her. She snuck a hand onto Korra's bare chest, her lover sighing contentedly as she slept, Asami soon joining her in peaceful slumber. As she drifted to sleep, she could have sworn she heard her father's voice say, "I am so proud of you, Asami - and so sorry for all the hurt I caused you over the years. I love you."


	33. Chapter 33: Isolation's End

Chapter 33: Isolation's End

For once, it was Korra who heard the beeping of Asami's watch first, given how Korra was shaking Asami awake. Asami mumbled angrily, "What do you need me for? I was in the middle of a dream about that move you used earlier, and didn't want it to end. I had no idea you knew about that." Korra laughed deeply, shaking her brown chest in a way that made Asami want to reach out and grab, saying, "I was being playful when I licked your face, pretending to be Naga. Then something else entirely took over." Asami did not like the way Korra sighed after, nor what her lover said next. Korra said, pointing at her formal dress, "I know what that beeping meant, and I need to go - neither Firelord Izumi nor Zuko are powerful enough firebenders to get us to the island on time, and plus, I need to project Avatar Roku for Firelord Izumi." Sitting up and following through with her earlier desire, Asami said, "I've got almost a decade of pent-up desire to satiate, Korra - can't you just project yourself and Avatar Roku to the Fire Nation capital like you did when talking to Eska and Desna?" While Korra obviously liked the new kind of grabbing, she said, pushing Asami's trembling hand away, "I'm sorry, Asami, but you have something you need to do as well - show the brain trust your new projects." Korra said, as she began to get dressed, "Any time you have with Kuvira is especially precious - she's going to the northern United Earth Republic tomorrow to begin her sentence, and won't be available for quite some time directly."

Asami made a deep sigh, saying, "I guess we can look forward to our wedding in Republic City - I want a really nice traditional Water Tribe betrothal necklace." Korra laughed, saying, "We have to wait for President Raiko first, and given that I'm the Avatar, I had a different kind of betrothal necklace in mind. In fact, I'll go make it now - I just need some raw materials first. Can you give me the map with the mineral information on it? I'm going to need it temporarily." Asami leaped up, fishing through her pack for the map, barely noticing her own movements. Korra took the map and disappeared for about thirty minutes, Asami was unsure what Korra had in mind, but whatever it was, she liked how happy Korra was as she ran off. Asami was also glad Korra apparently forgot about the speech, given how Korra ran off. Maybe after Korra made the necklace, Korra could do _that _again to Asami, or Asami could repay the favor.

While Korra was gone, Asami reluctantly got dressed, and even found time to draw out proper blueprints for all of the members of Team Avatar's new equipment, including modifying Bolin's lavabending sword with spiritwire such that only he could manipulate the weapon. As far as Asami was concerned, Korra's armblades were perfect, as was the design for the airbending projectiles. Realizing the dispenser left something to be desired, Asami was busy re-working its design when Korra walked in laughing, eyes glowing brighter than the gemstones she was keeping aloft with her bending.

Asami didn't notice her presence until she felt a strong grab on her cheeks - the more pleasurable ones. Asami twirled around, ready to pounce on Korra, but Korra held up a hand, saying, "Uh-uh - not yet. Maybe tonight, once I get back from the Fire Nation. I think you will want to watch this." Asami looked at the different gemstones Korra had, staring at their beauty. They included a large piece of stark white quartz, a huge crude sapphire, a blocky piece of deep brown quartz, a jagged orange topaz with small red pieces of ruby inside, and an opaque piece of quartz.

Asami was too stunned by the gems to realize where Korra had been at first - she must have somehow dived down to the huge mineral vein and gotten these gems out. Asami said, shaking her head lightly to regain her focus, "So I see you went to the huge vein we found yesterday - how did you avoid getting crushed by the pressure?" Korra chuckled nervously, admitting, "Even with the Avatar State, it was pretty hard to get there - there were a couple of close calls, but I got out fine. I had to maintain an ice bubble until I got close enough to bend a huge metal sphere around me from the closest metal deposit." Placing the gemstones carefully on the bed, she continued, "Once I got to the sea floor with my metal sphere, I used my earthsense to try and feel, as I could not see properly. I realized that the metal would hold and I could project myself out of the sphere. I had to go back in to make 'headlights' with Raava's energy - it was very, very dark. After that, I found what you see here." Korra took the pencil from Asami's hand, sketching a piece of ore, then asked for a yellow pencil. Obviously, whatever this odd ore was, it was unlike anything anyone but Korra had seen. Korra said, after she colored the ore a stark yellow, "I saw this and wanted to use it instead of the jasper with opal fragments, but when I went over to it inside the ball, I didn't think it was a good idea. That ore… it's like nothing I've ever heard of, or felt."

Curious what could make Korra hesitate, who Asami knew wasn't generally the cautious type, Asami asked, "Why did you decide to not use it? Was it dangerous?" Korra nodded her head up and down, saying, "This ore - I could feel it radiating energy, as though it had a fire inside it, but it was on the sea floor, so that's impossible." Asami gasped, saying, "Wait - the only things I know that radiate energy are spirits, bending, and things like electricity. The next time we get a chance, you should retrieve some of this mystery ore - I think Varrick and Zhu Li would love to study it, especially given what Kuvira said about reliance on tuber-vine energy. This could be our source of clean power we need." Korra looked uneasy as she said, "I don't know if it would be clean - when I tried to purify the metal slightly, I noticed some of it felt 'heavier' and some 'lighter' with Avatar State earthsense. When I moved a large chunk of the lighter metal ore towards the ball, I felt unnatural warmth - even through the metal shell. With Avatar State earthsense, I was able to determine that it was actually _shrinking _very slowly, almost imperceptibly, the energy apparently given off by this process. When I earthsensed the heavier ore, I did not detect this phenomena." Korra shook her head, finishing, "I do not think this metal - let's call it Korranium - would be a good idea to use for energy. I just had an uneasy feeling in my gut when manipulating it. I'll leave it up to the brain trust to decide, and the only known deposit is highly inaccessible, and I refuse to drag any up for study out of my reservations."

While disappointed with Korra's decision, Asami remembered the chaos spirit weaponry unleashed, and if someone figured out a way to harness "Korranium" for a weapon, she knew it would be bad - very bad. The energy emitted from the ore led Asami to say, "I think that's a good idea, to approach it with caution. It could be an alternative to tuber-vines, but I doubt it." Shaking her head at the implications of what she was about to say, Asami said uneasily, "Something tells me that this metal could be weaponized, given its high energy, and that any blast would emit … let's call them Asami particles. Too small to see, but energetic enough to penetrate a metal shell - maybe even damaging to living things." Asami pointed at the gems on the bed, saying, "Enough of this borderline war talk - I want to see you make me my betrothal necklace. I think I know what you're going to do with those four different colors of gemstones, but let's see if you surprise me."

Asami stood shocked, as Korra used a slice of metal from Asami's pack to cut her thumb, keeping the blood that came out suspended in a sizeable sphere. The huge sapphire was next, Korra opening a hole in it to place her blood inside the sphere. Before Asami could ask about this odd display of bloodbending, Korra's eyes flashed a brighter white as she manipulated the huge sapphire into a ball shape. As Asami watched Korra place her hands on it and channeling energy into it, she still had no idea what Korra might be doing. Asami gasped - there was a white glow inside the orb now! Asami's suspicion of whose energy this was inside was confirmed when Korra flattened both sides of the orb slightly, using lavabending to carefully form a twin extruded image of Raava on one side. Korra used the stark white quartz and extensions of the sapphire to form the image, Raava's larger spirit form next to her human-y form. With another channeling of energy, the twin figures began to glow as well. Korra said, wiping sweat from her brow, "I figured you might want a part of me to carry with you, and my blood gave me an idea - put Raava's energy in it as well. Since it is the blood of an Avatar, I was right in my hunch that her energy would find a sink inside. It should be a good amulet against any spirit who tries to attack you, as well. Now, for the easy part."

Korra's eyes dimmed slightly as she created the symbol for Water on the other side of the medallion in the upper left corner, extruding the sapphire slightly outwards. After Korra took another deep breath, she cracked a piece of the brown quartz off and heated it slightly, turning it into a more earthy color. Using lavabending, Asami's soon-to-be betrothed made another elemental symbol, in the upper right corner - Earth. The symbols for Fire and Air followed, Korra using the jasper for Fire and the opaque quartz for Air. Korra used the last of the white quartz to fashion a chain, linking everything together with lavabending. Before Korra could completely finish, Asami asked Korra, "Our relationship is unconventional, and I think you could use a reminder of our love as well, given your trouble with Dark Korra today. Why don't you make yourself a necklace, 'from' me? I'll design it." Korra was crying as she held the beautiful necklace out towards Asami, saying formally, "Asami, will you marry me?" Asami said, "Of course! I'll just take your wonderful betrothal necklace and design your own."

Apparently, Korra wasn't done, as her eyes flashed again and the four elemental symbols moved apart just enough for Korra to form a circle in the middle. She etched the symbol for yin and yang in the space, along with a glowing image inside the sapphire of Korra holding Asami's hands, exactly as they had before their ill-fated vacation. Korra finally did something to the sapphire such that the glowing from the opposite side and the center did not obscure the image of Korra and Asami holding hands. Asami stood up, with happy tears in her eyes, saying, "Thank you so much, Korra" as her lover placed the betrothal necklace around her neck. Korra hugged Asami tightly, saying, "Why don't you design my necklace while I contact Firelord Izumi and let her know I'll be a _little_ late." Korra let out a yawn, saying, "If you want any gems from the vein, I'll be even later. I don't have any sapphire or white quartz left over, so you'll have to use something else as a base."

After Korra sat on the bed with wide, normal eyes, Asami said, "I'll see if Zuko has any jade - once he sees my necklace, he'll understand why we'll be late." As Korra began to contact the Firelord, Asami ran to the most likely place Zuko and Uncle Iroh might be, and she was right. Zuko was talking with Uncle Iroh in the kitchen, Zuko holding a teapot that was exactly what Asami wanted - jade. Uncle Iroh was so overcome by Asami's betrothal necklace that he couldn't speak, actually spitting out his tea and not mourning its loss. Zuko said, his one normal eye tearing up more than the burned one, "I guess you and Korra decided to make your relationship official. I look forward to the wedding, Asami - but given how you're eyeing that antique teapot, you didn't just come here to break this wonderful news. Why do you need Uncle Iroh's teapot?" Asami explained her idea for a necklace, and Uncle Iroh managed to speak, saying, "I am very happy for you and Korra, Asami, and would gladly give you my teapot for a betrothal necklace. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have." Uncle Iroh gave her the teapot, bowing emotionally after he did so. Before Asami left, he added with a wink, "If Firelord Izumi is upset we did not leave on time, I will explain what happened. Now go, and make your necklace!"

When Asami returned to the room, Korra looked better, and she had apparently gotten her hands on some tea of her own. While Korra breathed in and out, apparently meditating on something, Asami drew up her plan for Korra's necklace. She'd need Raava's help to impart Asami's own essence into it.

When Korra looked up to it, Asami showed her the necklace design, and Korra began manipulating the jade teapot carefully, eyes glowing again. Asami's necklace was a lot simpler than Korra's creation - it was simply an image of Asami's eyes, with deep pockets taken out of the jade for the whites and pupils of her eyes and slightly raised eyebrows. There was an image below of Asami holding Korra's hand and the words "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk or ... anything," written beneath. Asami let Korra take a fair bit of her own blood using the same technique she used earlier, Korra encapsulating Asami's blood beneath the lines etched into the jade carefully. Knowing her part was over, Korra collapsed onto the bed, projecting Raava out to help Asami use the blood as a sink for Asami's energy. Raava reached out, flipping a kneeling Asami's betrothal necklace over multiple times, saying, "I like it! Nice touch with my image on the back, and the elemental symbols. Now let's get Korra's done - this might take a few tries. I've never tried something with a non-Avatar quite like this." Asami said, "I think you'll find it easier than you think - you're just going to be a channel for my love for Korra. I want you to touch my heart and the jade pendant at the same time, and when you can feel me thinking of Korra, I want you to channel my feelings into the jade."

After Raava touched Asami's heart and the pendant, Asami began thinking of Korra, trying to keep things non-sexual at first, but quickly failed. She let out a torrent of feelings, not editing herself at all in her passion, finishing with multiple repeats of her advice to Korra on what to think of to counter hate or loneliness. When she was finished, Raava said, "Wow - that was pretty intense, Asami. Look - it's even glowing like your own necklace! Why is it glowing red and yellow, though? You aren't a bender." Asami said, as she heard Korra sit up and say, "What?!" in surprise, "I have Fire Nation ancestry, despite my green eyes, and I guess my passion makes me closer to a firebender than an earthbender. Here, Korra - why don't you try it on?" After Raava disappeared, Korra jumped off the bed eagerly, grabbing her own, Asami and Raava's work, putting it on around her brown neck. Korra shuddered in pleasure, eyes now glowing lightly, then stopped, asking, "Just what did you put in here, Asami? Everything? Any time it sits over my heart, I just feel an immense peace." Korra added, laughing, "And arousal, you nymphomaniac." Korra flipped the pendant over to what should have been a blank back, and began laughing hysterically, saying, "Whatever you channeled into here, it must have been pretty sexual in nature aside from what I saw - there's an image of you naked on the back beneath the surface, pouting sultrily, with exaggerated… attractive features." Asami's face flushed, saying, "I didn't draw that on my design! Quick, leave the Avatar State, and see if it vanishes." Asami actually started nibbling her nails nervously - she didn't want her nude self flapping around in the wind! Korra said, staring intently at the image, "Nope - still there. Of course, I am still quite aroused from all the emotions you put in this, so let's see if it goes away when I think of… Tenzin instead." Asami breathed a huge sigh of relief as the lewd image vanished, Korra saying with a laugh, "I guess whenever I feel down or lonely, I can think of you and thingies and get my fix. Here, give me your pendant - let me channel my love for you into it, and see if something similar happens."

After Korra took Asami's betrothal necklace away and entered the Avatar State, channeling her love for Asami into the much fancier pendant, Asami took the pendant back and placed it over her heart. She could immediately feel all sorts of wonderful things, noting that they were mostly sentimental. Asami gave the pendant back, saying gently, "I love how sentimental you're becoming Korra, but I have different needs - more in line with the image on the back of your necklace. I'm a lot more excited by sex than you are, so think you can put more of that in there?" Korra blushed, saying, "Sure - your necklace for me was perfect, no problem." Korra took the betrothal necklace again, inserting a piece of the brown quartz into it. Korra spent a lot more time channeling, periodically moaning or licking her lips in a way that made Asami want some excitement - right now.

When Asami took the betrothal necklace back and placed it over her heart, she noticed a huge difference right away - it actually felt like Korra was having sex with Asami, right then. Managing to pry herself from the wonderful feeling, she looked at the back of the betrothal necklace, and laughed when she saw a nude Korra grinning widely with exaggerated legs, hips, breasts and muscles waving back at her through the images of Raava, as though the image were an animated sign, periodically blowing kisses. Realizing what the brown quartz had been for, Asami looked again, seeing the image even had brown skin! Showing it to Korra, Asami said, "I love all the feeling you put in here - it should help when I get lonely, in multiple ways. I _love_ the animation of it, the color even more, and your muscly legs, arms and abs. I hope you get them for real soon - they're a huge turn-on to me." After Asami put the betrothal necklace back on, Korra said, "I have time for one final act - I'm going to add skin color to mine as well, but such that it's only visible when lit up - just like yours." After Korra had used the rest of the opaque quartz and brown quartz to make a match to Asami's skin tone and inserted the piece inside the jade, Korra frowned, saying "As much as I hate to leave you, I've got a speech to get to, Asami, and we're already behind schedule. We'll have to make sure to not let anyone see us when we're caressing our necklaces - I'd have a lot of explaining to do to Meelo if he saw the back of mine in all its curvy, exaggerated pouting glory, especially with the added gemstone."

As Korra left the room, she said, "Hey - remember you have something to do too, and can't just caress your lewd betrothal necklace until I get back, as much as you'd love to." Asami sighed, taking one last look at the hilarious yet sexy waving brown image on the back of her pendant, savoring the last of her arousal.

* * *

As Korra had admonished Asami to not just sit and cradle her betrothal necklace, Korra knew that she was very tempted to do the same herself. Giving in, Korra touched the jade pendant Asami had "given" her, and she felt a wave of feeling rush over her - especially as she looked at the back. Her eyes now glowing, some foreign part of her realized that Asami didn't have any hair except lines, and felt offended by this oversight - Asami needed black hair!

Korra rushed out as fast as her legs could take her to the beach, taking a large amount of volcanic sand and compressing it into a good-sized black ball of glass. Flipping the pendant over, she saw another flaw that the back shared as well - Asami's eyes had no whites to them, only recesses! Remembering that the image of herself on Asami's betrothal necklace did not have any detailed eyes either, she took a large chunk of non-volcanic earth and turned it into white marble with Avatar State lavabending, making sure to match the color of the marble in their house. She finally picked up a small amount of dark brown quartz from a close-by volcanic vent, as well as a small ruby from the same place. Running back to where Asami was probably looking at her pendant, Korra could see what she wanted to do with both, even though she didn't have an artistic bone in her body, aside from whatever inspired her earlier beautiful creation for Asami.

As she thought on where this new talent may have come from and closed her eyes, the image of a serious middle-aged looking man with a large sword in one hand and a brush in the other appeared briefly. As Korra said, "Asami, I need to fix our necklaces!" Korra realized she must have gotten more than sword skills and knowledge from Piandao two days ago. Taking a deep breath, she let her new artistic side take over, liking her finished result a lot, and given the blush on Asami's face, she must have as well.

Asami's betrothal necklace now featured a more accurate yet still erotic image of Korra that no longer moved, with marble and sapphire eyes, black volcanic glass for pupils. Korra noticed that the eyes even had an inset of marble, slightly darkened, to simulate the gleam in her eyes. Her image now sported fully accurate hair, with Korra's newer hairstyle on her image's head. Asami gushed, holding the side with a naked Korra on it visible, "This is gorgeous, Korra! You even added shading to your body, and made everything anatomically correct! Where did this come from?" Korra chuckled, saying, "I guess I picked up more than sword skills and fighting from Piandao - I saw an image of him earlier when my eyes were closed. Now it's my turn."

Korra picked up her own necklace, admiring her handiwork on both the back and the front. Asami's large eyes glittered realistically on the front, also having a highlight in the pupil. The text on the front was made of black volcanic glass insets now. Korra had even somehow managed to accurately color both their hands with lavabending, clothes and all, even though she knew she hadn't gotten any more blue gemstone. Korra admired her work on the back the most, however - she had captured _all _of Asami's beautiful black hair perfectly, with most of it being volcanic glass with the odd white marble inset here and there in the hair on her head. Asami's eyes were very striking on this side as well, despite being much smaller - Korra could still see the jade green irises clearly, despite their relatively small size. Korra felt like she wanted to kiss the ruby lips, especially since they seemed to glisten just like Asami's eyes and hair did.

After staring at the back for a good five minutes, a little nagging voice in her head reminded her that she'd need to depart soon. Realizing that her new handiwork would be quite visible, Korra managed to get Asami to hand over her betrothal necklace reluctantly, saying, "I need Raava's help to make sure that only we can see the most _interesting_ part of my work." Asami laughed, saying, "I don't think even Raava can hide what you just did, Korra - they're both beautiful, even as artwork now. I think you should just leave it as is, no, make them visible all the time. You could hide the images inside - like a locket." Korra said, her eyes gleaming, "Sounds like a great idea, Asami - I just need some metal, and to move the inner core of yours slightly."

Once Korra had returned with some metal ore, she spent the next 15 minutes carefully modifying both into lockets, making sure to not destroy any part of either necklace. She didn't want someone idly managing to open either one with a key, so she projected Raava out, asking the spirit, "Raava, can you help me and Asami make it so only we can open these, with our love for the other? I don't want a physical key - that would be a lot of explaining to Meelo or Ikki, particularly the anatomically correct hair." Raava laughed, saying, "Sure I'll help, but before I do, can I see for myself? I snuck in some of Piandao's art knowledge, if you hadn't noticed, Korra, during Bolin's 'training'. Maybe he'll make Opal a nice necklace of her own someday."

Raava whistled like the dirty-minded spirit she was becoming, saying, "Damn, you two look fine. Good job, Korra. Now let's try and see if we can lock these images away - though I'm not quite sure why you'd want to. Let's get started then."

After a few botched attempts that let Raava open the locket, Korra and Asami finally managed to get it right with the spirit's help, though Raava whined like her human-y form might have were it an actual little girl. Korra laughed, saying, "Come on now, Raava - you actually got to watch us make out earlier. I've got a speech I am very late to get to." As Raava crossed her arms and vanished, Asami laughed, saying, "What's up with you and the word 'sex' anyways? And 'breasts'? Are you still not comfortable with it, or something? You sound like a teenager, Korra." Korra's cheeks flushed as she said meekly, "My childhood was actually more formal than your own, Asami - your dad let you do whatever you wanted." Seeing that Asami might cry from her slip of memory, Korra added, "Except have _sex_ with women, of course. You're right - that word does feel good to say. Maybe next time we have _sex_, we can use the **_dirtier_** one. I'll make sure to grab your _breasts_. Man, those words are fun to say." Asami gave Korra a trembling hug, saying, "That sounds great, _sexy breasts_. I guess we have to leave each other, for now. I'll probably be sneaking looks into my locket on 'bathroom breaks' when I'm not needed." As she laughed, Korra felt very light somehow, liberated by finally saying words her White Lotus mentors had stressed were _very_ inappropriate, much less the dirty word she felt like yelling at the top of her lungs while clutching her wonderful necklace.

Korra howled in laughter, knowing full well what Asami carried around in her pack. As Asami left, Korra opened her own locket, savoring the feelings a _naked _Asami and the other contents of the locket produced. If Korra was going to marry Asami, she may as well do it proudly, without any insecurity or self-consciousness. Korra closed her eyes, said the dirty word loudly, then began laughing out of glee, savoring the thought of doing exactly that to Asami later. She could have sworn her feet left the ground while doing so, but didn't think anything of it, just figuring she had let loose some passionate flame jets at first. Remembering with a start that she was _inside_, Korra looked around the room in a panic, expecting it to be on fire. When she saw that it _wasn't_, she grasped her necklace tightly, saying, "Whatever this is, I'm sure Asami can help me handle it. I hope." As she closed her eyes, letting the raw sexual energy from the jade flow through her, she felt a painful thump on the top of her head, and when she opened her eyes, she nearly fainted - she was staring at the ceiling, up close! Knowing she was already _very _late, she shook her head violently, saying loudly, "Damn if I know what's going on here, but I don't have time for it! Gbllbthubuthuh!" with a final shaking of her increasingly confused head. Korra immediately hit the wooden floor, saying the dirty word she had earlier, though this time in a decidedly unhappy manner.

With all the delay her little adventures had caused, Korra realized she'd need help if she hoped to get to the Fire Nation capitol on time. Korra took a deep breath, focusing on Mako's energy. When she was projected near him, she said gently, "Hey, Mako - how'd you like to take a little trip?" Mako turned away from his brother, Kuvira and Opal, asking, "Are you going to ask me to go where I think you are - the Fire Nation capital? I'd love to - I've never seen any Fire Nation architecture up close, and it might help make the loss of downtown Republic City less raw." Korra nodded her head, adding, "There was a _slight_ delay in leaving, if you hadn't already figured that out, so I'll need your help to get there on time anyways. You can wander the capital while Firelord Izumi gives her speech." Before she could break the connection, Opal pointed at the jade necklace Korra was wearing as Kuvira stared at it intently, Opal saying, "Is that what I think it is - a jade reverse betrothal necklace? It's beautiful - it even looks like it's glowing!" Korra nodded, saying, "It was Asami's idea - if you listened to the press conference from earlier, you'd know that Dark Korra is back. Asami did something special with Raava to put Asami's love into the jade, hence its glow." Opal turned to Bolin, giving him ideas for a lavabended, partially marble Air Nomad necklace when they were ready to get engaged themselves, Bolin for once not fainting but actually contributing ideas. It appeared some of Piandao's other famous talent had rubbed off after all. Kuvira moved her shackled hands as best she could, trying to manipulate a nearby piece of metal herself, prompting Mako's cheeks to change color almost imperceptibly, saying, "Okay - I'm ready to leave, Korra. Just tell me where the boat is, and we'll go to the Fire Nation capitol. I can't wait to see the extinct volcano, and the Fire Nation palace." As Korra broke the connection when Mako ran off after getting the location of the boat, she heard Kuvira grunt angrily, catching a curse Korra had just said not long ago herself, though Kuvira's matched the tone of Korra's last use of the word.

When all those who were going to the Fire Nation's heart - Firelord Izumi, Uncle Iroh, Zuko, herself, and Mako - were on-board Firelord Izumi's boat, Korra stood up, preparing for "launch". As Mako maneuvered into position, he asked Uncle Iroh, "Hey, Uncle Iroh - what do you do if there's someone you have mixed feelings about trying to hit on you? I won't say who." Korra held back her laughter as it was Zuko who said, "Don't be afraid to let a relationship grow, Mako, or to nurture it - I still regret keeping secrets from Mai, and given what she told me after the conference, she regrets breaking up with me, over half a century later." Zuko apparently not wanting to talk anymore, Uncle Iroh said softly, "My nephew has had much heartbreak in his life, romantic and not, and I would hate to see one as young as yourself make the same mistakes he did. Love comes from the most unlikely of places, you know."

Given Mako's flushed face and beating heart, these were not the answers he wanted, so he just said "Thank you, Zuko and Uncle Iroh," politely and turned to the rear of the boat, making ready to project blue flame alongside Korra. As soon as Korra entered the Avatar State and began propelling the boat with blue flames, Mako joined in. Mako exclaimed, "Why are these damn flames not blue! ARGH!" Korra maintained her concentration as Mako tried again, saying out loud "Bolin dead, Kuvira lost to metallic self," actually managing to produce a fair bit of dragon's fire as well as his new blue. Korra kept her hands in place, still propelling the boat as she looked at Zuko and Uncle Iroh, the latter giving Korra a knowing wink. Mako blurted out, "The last part was just because of what I heard about Jinshu Kuangmai killing his three-year old self, nothing more," though Korra could tell this was a bigger lie than the one he told on the Zhu Li, even without earthsense -dragon's fire didn't just come from nowhere.

Korra groaned internally as Uncle Iroh exclaimed, "I heard Zuko tell me Korra managed to produce dragon's fire in the Swamp, but nobody told me you could as well! I won't contradict you - I just advise you that unrequited love can do horrible things to a person." Tearing up and letting himself get carried away, Uncle Iroh finished, "Just look at what happened to my other nephew, Azula - you wouldn't want that to happen to Kuvira, would you, not after her victory over that metal monster?" Mako surprised everyone by softly saying, "No, I wouldn't - and not just because Team Avatar would lose a valuable member. Now just leave me be - I need time to think." Suddenly realizing that with all of Kuvira's help and transformation, she really was becoming a part of Team Avatar slowly, Korra said, "You take over for a little bit, Mako - I have something to ask of Asami quickly." After Mako replied with a stony voice, "Sure thing, chief," Korra laughed as her eyes stopped glowing and the flame jets vanished. Before she tried to project herself to Asami, she told a still serious Mako, "I'm not your police chief or your boss, Mako - I'm your friend, and love you, just in a different way than I do Asami." After hearing a small dejected sigh from Mako, Korra focused on Asami - and most definitely not her butt, or what was inside Korra's locket.

When she saw Asami, she was pleased to see Meelo, Bumi, Kuvira, Varrick and Zhu Li with her, Lin and Su acting as "bodyguards" for Kuvira. Su had a sappy look on her face, with Lin looking like she had been repeatedly hitting her forehead, given the red spot in its middle. When she heard what they were talking about and put it together with Su and Lin's expressions, she said, "While I do find it touching you're trying to help Kuvira with decidedly non-military matters, I have a request to make." Seeing everyone turn away from what must have been Kuvira's idea, Korra said, "Just now, Mako called you a member of Team Avatar, Kuvira, and it made me realize that even if you still have to serve your sentence, in many ways you are a member. You gave us some solid advice after you got out of that wooden cage, Kuvira - and not just on military matters. I don't know if Asami mentioned Korranium yet, but it is a good possibility for a human power source, even if I think it is too dangerous." Given the nodding heads, Asami must have mentioned it already, Kuvira saying, "Given my own experience with spirit weapons, I agree with you strongly on Korranium, Korra." Korra nodded her head, laughing at Varrick and Zhu Li's defeated looks. Kuvira said, once Korra had finished laughing, "I don't even think it should be used as a power source - something tells me that any Korranium used for civilian purposes could still have military use - a 'dirty bomb', designed to spread Asami particles and misery." Zhu Li and Varrick were nodding their heads, having clearly disavowed of any use of Korranium - period. Korra couldn't help but smile broadly.

Kuvira said, apparently satisfied that Korranium would never be used, "I don't think you came here to tell me that handsome firebender considers me a part of Team Avatar. Wait - let me guess. You want us to come up with a piece of equipment for me, just like the other projects?" Korra nodded her head, adding, "I'm not sure what we could make you, aside from another Colossus, and we don't have that kind of time, unfortunately." Kuvira placed a hand on top of Asami's suit deign, saying, "I want one of these. It will need things I can metalbend, like grappling hooks and steel projectiles - the Satot rounds would do nicely. Instead of twin blades, I want plasma saws that are also hooked to the tuber-vines, in case I need to fight with a spirit." Seeing Varrick give Kuvira an odd look, she added, "I may not have mentioned this yet, but Jinshu Kuangmai is in possession of all my blueprints and a significant amount of platinum, as well as the largest spirit vine stockpile near Zaofu, so I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to build an improved version of my Colossus." Varrick said, his fingers unfolding as he counted, "Okay - so that's eight tuber-vines out of thirty used for personal projects, another four for the two battleships, two for the aircraft carrier itself, and ten for five of each of Meelo's planes. That doesn't leave us very much room to use the tuber-vines as anything but a power source, but I think we can manage, especially considering Mr. Tuber-Vine and the others have regenerative properties."

Korra almost broke the connection in shock when she heard an odd "HMMMMM HMMMMM" come from what she had thought was a decorative plant, but quickly recognized as what Firelord Izumi had picked up during their tour of the city - a tuber-vine. Varrick laughed, saying, "What, Korra, you didn't know Mr. Tuber-Vine came along with us? Zhu Li and I don't have a baby yet, unlike you lucky two lovebirds, so he's sort of a stand-in." Zhu Li said, with slightly widened eyes, "After what I heard about Atokara from Asami, I can definitively say I don't envy you and your gift - I want to raise any children I have normally, and not have a newborn who can talk, or worse." Seeing both Asami and Korra's angry expressions, Zhu Li added, "I love the name, by the way: Atokara Raava Sato. Though, the middle name doesn't fit with your name very well - 'Korra Raava Sato'." Korra laughed, saying, "I probably will just go by Korra Sato - everyone knows I'm the Avatar already. On that note, I'm going to go help Mako with the boat. I won't tell him about that piece of jewelry you were designing - he was emotional enough after Uncle Iroh's last comment."

With that, Korra broke the projection, and was surprised to not feel the wind in her hair or her dress flapping in the wind. Apparently, Mako had stopped propelling the boat a short distance after she "left", and was talking to Uncle Iroh about his former relationship with Korra. Not wanting any anger to well up inside, or Raava forbid think about Asami at all when the smooth side of her necklace was facing out -which she quickly fixed - Korra busied herself by propelling the boat in the Avatar State. At first, she was slightly annoyed she could still hear every word they said, but a cool feeling in her chest defused her anger, listening to the conversation instead, her head facing rearward.

Uncle Iroh said, apparently pointing at Zuko, "My nephew tried to keep secrets from Mai, and had a similar outcome as your own lie produced, Mako. Opal is right, Mako - you can't just lie to people you love like that. You don't want to be like Azula, do you?" Mako must have silently shook his head no, as Korra heard Uncle Iroh continue, "You are very right on one thing - both sides in a relationship need to want the other. Right now, Kuvira is probably infatuated with you after her traumatic breakup with Baatar Jr., who can't seem to believe she's changed or get past her despicable act. Mako, you are right to want to keep your distance - for now. If something does develop, most likely during or after her sentence is completed, you shouldn't let past failures hold you back from investing in a new relationship." Uncle Iroh chuckled, saying, "She is right, you know - fire and steel do mix well. Now why don't you go do what you want to - it looks like we're getting closer by the minute."

After Mako joined Korra at the back of the boat, his heart no longer racing, Mako said, with what sounded like some happiness in his voice, "I'm ready whenever you are, Korra." Korra realized with a start she had stopped propelling the boat when Uncle Iroh had said "fire and steel do mix well" and had been standing in a fool's pose. Korra said, letting Mako get into position after she nodded, "Let's go - I can't wait to see the Fire Nation capitol. Aang hasn't shown me what it looks like yet, and look forward to seeing non-aggressive Fire Nation culture."

Firelord Izumi chuckled nervously from the back of the boat, prompting Zuko to laugh and Uncle Iroh to ask, "Firelord Izumi - did you do something to the capital city?" Firelord Izumi gave no answer, making Zuko laugh even harder.

* * *

Mako could only see one upside to what Firelord Izumi had done to the Fire Nation, the gutting of everything historical. She had even changed the throne room, which he was now wandering aimlessly. He had looked forward to seeing the dancing flames behind the throne he had heard so much about - a chance to get in touch with his ancestry and his dead mother. Feeling like reversing Firelord Izumi's foolish decision on the flames himself, he stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes tight, briefly seeing a twin image of Kuvira - one metal, one flesh, the metallic one melting - as though by an intense flame.

Now remembering the upside to there not being much to see outside of the inner caldera, which was locked down for Firelord Izumi's speech, he just sat, and thought. Remembering Korra's special ability, infobending, he realized that he could still see the capital in all its past glory. Korra could just transfer the Fire Nation capitol as Zuko knew it to Mako - she'd done something similar for Bolin and his sword "training".

He had been transported on some secret train directly to the Fire Nation palace to explore, not getting the chance to look out into the inner caldera, the guards citing security issues. He wanted to see real Fire Nation buildings, not the skyscrapers that just painfully reminded him of twin losses - the gutting of Republic City, and the fact he never got to connect with his mother beyond the level of that of a small boy.

As he finished this thought, one of the things that Korra had shown him came back, unbidden - Kuvira's experience with feeling the loss surrounding the eight-year old orphan she had to endure to be able to challenge her metallic self. Mako said, out loud as he hit his forehead twice, "Stupid! Oh, so stupid!" prompting one of the security guards near the throne room entrance to ask loudly, "Are you okay, Mako? Would you like to see the inner caldera, aside from the palace? I have clearance." Mako shook his head, not turning to face the nameless guard, saying, "Thank you, but I need to sit and think for a while. Maybe later." Remembering his manners, Mako asked, "What was your name, sir? I didn't catch it." The man walked over, saying once he was nearer, "Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong." Mako said, with some horror, "Wait - you've been trailing me ever since I got here. I recognize your face. You had middle-class clothes on when I was scowling at the skyscrapers, and every time I formed a blue flame in anger, I heard a coughing. Just what is Firelord Izumi doing?!" Officer Jeong-Jeong sighed, saying, "She thought you might have a negative reaction to what she had done to the Fire Nation, and given how you looked like you wanted to reverse her decision on the flames behind the throne, she was right. We did not intend to offend, Mako - she just didn't want the maelstrom of feelings you have felt over the past half-week leading to any… incidents."

Mako felt his face flush in anger as he stood up and pointed a finger at this Jeong-Jeong, asking, "Just how much did she tell you, exactly?" Jeong-Jeong produced a two-way radio from his uniform, saying, "Quite a lot, including how Kuvira was showing interest in you on the Zhu Li while in transit to the Fire Nation. I assume this is related to your outburst of 'Stupid! Oh, so stupid' earlier, in some way." Mako let out an angry grunt, involuntarily forming a blue dagger as tears came to his eyes. Jeong-Jeong shook his head, saying, "I can see you have a lot of hurt still inside you, Mako, though not as much as you once did. I can tell you're angry with what Firelord Izumi has done to the Fire Nation - like she robbed you of your heritage before you even got to see it." Mako nodded his head, adding, "It doesn't help that the entire city looks like Republic City - it just reminds me of my more personal losses!" The blue fire dagger swelled to the size of a small sword as Mako said through clenched teeth, "First my mother and my father, then my relationship with Korra… then a large crater in my city. Home!" As the other guard yelped in fear, Jeong-Jeong said coolly, "While I am glad you can say your frustrations out loud now, Mako, be warned. If you decide to act on your anger destructively, friend of the Avatar or not, we'll have to detain you." Before Mako could ask how they could hope to catch him, the other guard appeared at Jeong-Jeong's side, wielding a familiar weapon. Mako said, dismissing the sword, "Okay, okay - sorry, I'll try and calm down. Just when did the fire nation get Equalist stun sticks anyways?" The other guard laughed, saying, "This isn't driven by a battery - I can charge it up using lightning generation, and it won't release the energy until I press a button. Shock, stun, or kill - I prefer the second setting myself." Jeong-Jeong gave Mako a soft look, saying, "I just realized why you were calling yourself stupid earlier - you realized both you and Kuvira are orphans."

As Mako made to turn away from the two unwelcome intruders, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, Jeong-Jeong saying, "I find if I have something that is troubling me, it is best to think of something else. Why don't I carry through with that offer I gave you earlier, and take you out of the palace to the rest of the inner caldera. Firelord Izumi should be finishing soon, even after the delay the Avatar caused with her romance, and Zuko is out next. I'm sure you'll want to hear what he has to say more than his daughter anyways." After shooing off the other guard, Jeong-Jeong finished quietly, "I also do not share Firelord Izumi's taste in architecture - the least she could have done was make thoroughly Fire Nation looking skyscrapers. Let's go and see some _real _buildings." Mako asked, "Then why didn't you let me go see the rest of the crater after my disappointing tour of the palace?" Jeong-Jeong said as they entered the secret transport, "I figured you'd need something uplifting after seeing what Firelord Izumi did to the throne room - that holding back was my doing. I'm not Intelligence Officer First Class for nothing, you know."

After finally leaving the dark, brooding palace, Mako stared out around him in wonder, savoring the authentic inner city fully, completely ignoring the last of Firelord Izumi's speech being broadcast as he carefully used his jets of blue flame to soar a fair height above the city for a better view. The other guard finally caught up, yelling, "Hey - you can't do that here, Mako!" Before he could call the other guards on him, Jeong-Jeong groaned, deftly taking the lightning stick from the guard and knocking him out with it, yelling, "I'll tell Firelord Izumi what you're doing, Mako - just make sure to not burn anything!" Mako yelled, "Of course - why would I want to torch something so beautiful?" before landing on a random street, listening to Zuko's speech as he did so.

Mako took in the stunning inner city passively as he walked, hearing Zuko's voice over the loudspeakers say, "When Firelord Ozai was defeated and I was crowned as the new Firelord, I gave a speech about an era of war being over, and that we could begin an era of love and peace. For those of you who heard Avatar Korra's press conference, you should know that even though Kuvira is a changed woman, helping instead of hunting the Avatar - just as I did in my youth, I might add -" Zuko paused as Mako heard tinny laughter coming through the speakers, and from where the speech must have been. Zuko coughed lightly once the uproar faded, continuing, "Even though Kuvira is no longer a threat, instead an ally, we face two great foes at once, both intertwined. If the monster known as Jinshu Kuangmai manages to conquer the new United Earth Republic, Republic City, and one of the remaining nations, the world will end before Jinshu Kuangmai can spread his Earth Empire, as my father wanted to do with the Fire Nation." Zuko paused, letting the loud booing from mention of Ozai die down, continuing, "The spirit known as Long Yumao the Opportunist grows in strength and in followers as humans behave more rottenly. It is therefore paramount that the Fire Nation ensure that not even a single village in the new United Earth Republic falls to Jinshu Kuangmai, the remnants of Kuvira's forces that did not desert, and his terrible ability. From reports, his forces go far beyond that of a simple warlord - not many but idealists and conscripts deserted, and he retains spirit weapon technology, as well as a new fortress below what was once the peaceful city of Zaofu of unknown make." Zuko said, wanting to bring any talk of Jinshu Kuangmai to a close, "If you listened to the press conference, you will know what a monster that man is, and he has no hope for redemption. I saw more goodness in my conflicted sister, Azula." As booing came from the loudspeaker once more, Mako heard a choked-up Zuko say, "There is something you do not know about my deceased sister that might make you cry to hear her name instead of booing, but that is a matter for another day. Now, to the most pressing foe - Long Yumao." Mako couldn't help but agree with Zuko on Azula, especially after learning Asami's _true _story.

Zuko said, apparently pointing to Korra, "Even with Avatar Korra's shields around the Spirit Portals, enhanced with the power of her past lives and Raava, there may come the day when one or all shatter. I am sure you have noticed Uncle Iroh standing next to me on the podium, as further proof of what was said at the press conference today. We do not know when the final pulse of energy will come from the Republic City Spirit Portal, or what it will do." Zuko sighed deeply, clearly not liking what he was going to say next, finally saying, "In the event that the barrier is shattered, or even worse, the Spirit Portal stuck open, every person of every nation will have to be cautious. If you are attacked by a Dark Spirit, think of your loved ones, just as Korra and Asami did this morning to best Dark Korra. Without any help from Raava, I might add, which pleased Raava to no end."

Speaking loudly, Zuko finished, "Uncle Iroh had originally planned to give a speech, but he is satisfied with mine, as I hope you all are as well. My final words: the Avatar and her friends will be trying their best to bring a close to the Spirit Civil War as quickly as possible, meaning that the Fire Nation will need to remain strong and committed to keeping Jinshu Kuangmai in check, along with the Water Tribes, the few airbenders that exist, any United Earth Republic forces and the military and minds of Republic City." Hearing some booing from the crowd, Zuko yelled, with a hint of anger, "I never liked sending soldiers to die needlessly - I can thank this scar on my face for that. You all surely know the story of how I challenged a general who was using soldiers as thought they were toys when I was Prince Zuko, and paid the price. On my face." Once the crowd was no longer making any noise Mako could hear over the speaker, Zuko continued, "This is not a needless war - if this effort fails, Long Yumao will enslave humanity to the end of days." Zuko's voice reached a climax of rage after scattered booing, saying "The Fire Nation faces a choice: losing many of its sons and daughters to ensure all of humanity's freedom, or sitting back and foolishly squandering what little time it has left between now and enslavement by Long Yumao." Someone in the audience must have been paying attention and asked about Sudden Death, as Zuko said, "I know of this Sudden Death option, fellow citizen, and share your concerns. I will say one thing: should it come to pass, we can fight like lion turtles and make Long Yumao hurt as much as possible on our way down, or become good little slaves like koala-sheep. I ask you, citizens of the Fire Nation - what is your choice?"

After a unanimous yell of "LION TURTLES!" came through the speakers so loud that it hurt Mako's ears, he finally decided to try and find where the speech was being given. To his surprise, he saw it immediately, in the one place he hadn't looked, wanting nothing to do with its location - the palace itself! Not wanting to upstage Korra, who was now approaching the podium in her formal dress, Mako touched down a distance away from the crowd, filing into the mass of people. Apparently, Korra had noticed him, as she said, "Given that Uncle Iroh is more than happy with Zuko's speech - I think he's actually hugging his nephew right now - I would like to invite Mako to speak after myself and Avatar Roku." Mako didn't want to speak, so he tried to hide in the crowd - he just wanted time to think by himself once Korra and Roku had finished. Korra closed her eyes, putting her hand on the podium, then said, laughing slightly, "You can't hide, Mako - I think your personal story about Republic City will strike a chord, and need you to speak. You can think about other things later."

Groaning in resignation, Mako walked towards the podium as Korra said loudly, "I won't tell you anything that Firelord Izumi or Zuko have said already, or what was said at the press conference. I'd just like to stress Raava's increasingly human-y nature, and her undying support for humanity as a whole. Even if you don't see yourself as particularly spiritual, aren't a bender, or both, if you see a neutral spirit, you should do your best to convince them to join Raava's cause: us." Korra continued, after the light applause died down, "Long Yumao isn't like Vaatu - Vaatu stood for chaos and darkness, and wouldn't bother trying to rule humans - just make them suffer. Long Yumao is like the spirit version of Zuko's evil father, Firelord Ozai." After the booing died down, Korra continued, "There is one spirit that was mentioned at the press conference, but not here - Koh the Face-Stealer. He has joined Long Yumao out of a personal quest for faces. I will use some ice to illustrate his form, so you can recognize him properly." As Korra formed an ice sculpture of Koh from moisture in the air, Mako felt chills run down his spine, actually yelping when Korra made the form move. Korra said in a chilling impersonation, "My, my - what a huge number of pretty faces. Let's see how many I can get in one go…" The icy mask turned into the face of a savage monkey, which screamed loudly, eliciting a mass reaction, then cackled as it "said", "Your faces are all MINE now, fools!" Mako jumped at the same time almost four out of five people in the audience did, a good portion of the remainder starting to cry.

Korra turned Koh into a block of ice, sighing deeply. With a stony face, entirely devoid of emotion, she said, "If you meet Koh the Face-Stealer, he will try to get a reaction out of you like I just did now with the ice puppet. I had hoped a lot more of you would have not reacted." Re-forming Koh and making him scurry through the crowd for emphasis, Korra finished, "If you _do_ react to him, he will steal your face, just like he did Avatar Kuruk's lover centuries ago. Long Yumao threatened Asami during our ill-fated vacation with a similar fate. You must emulate my own expression - no emotion, no reaction." Seeing the crowd's terrified look, Korra added for levity, "Just pretend you're Mai - that should help." As the crowd erupted in laughter, Korra said, "Given how poorly you fared with Koh, I think a demonstration with Long Yumao is in order." She turned to the side, yelling, "Can I get some pigments here, and more water? I exhausted all the water from the air for Koh!" As servants ran to get what Korra asked for, she manipulated the icy Koh back to the stage, making him clack his many free legs together to mimic her own boredom and impatience.

When servants returned with multiple big containers of water as well as various dyes and pigments, Korra erased Koh's form slowly, playfully making him "scream", "Curse you, Avatar Korra! I wanted Asami's face! So… pretty…" as she did so, making Firelord Izumi, Zuko, Uncle Iroh and Mako howl in laughter, along with a good portion of the audience. Korra said, before moving on to form Long Yumao, "Human laughter and mirth is a very bad idea if Koh is around, but anything light coming from a human, such as laughter or love, will give this next villain pause for thought. Enough pause for you to run away, at least." Long Yumao must be massive now, given how Korra's eyes began to glow and her limbs moved in forceful, controlled movements, slowly forming an intimidating mass three or more times the size Koh had been.

Once the part ice, part dye creation was finished, Mako could hear screams from the crowd as the huge serpentine form opened its dark beak, "saying" as its yellow eyes stared into the crowd, "I am Long Yumao, rightful Grand Dark Spirit. That fool Vaatu knows nothing of power - he just wants to cause chaos!" Korra let out a sickening laugh as the spirit's beak moved in synch, saying as it drew closer to the crowd, "I've always hated you filthy _humans_, and Raava even more - she's so soft, thanks in large part due to her time spent with _humans_ \- the 'Avatars' you all revere so highly." Mako watched as Korra made the beasts' mane, hide and eyes pulse sickeningly by bending the pigments, finishing by making Long Yumao "say", "I am the perfect foil for Raava now - not Vaatu. That weakling wants chaos, and doesn't care if it is humans or himself causing it. I want to rule all of humanity with an iron beak, and destroy Raava, once and for all."

Korra made a show of giving Long Yumao wide-open eyes as she yelled, "I know one thing you can't stand - human love!" dragging the ice puppet back to the stage, her eyes glowing. Korra said, holding up a necklace Mako had seen her wearing earlier, "Let's see how you like this - my betrothal necklace!" She was about to press the jade amulet into a "shaking" Long Yumao's side, but stopped suddenly, her face flush. Mako ran over to see what was wrong, prompting Korra to say, "Wait - no, no, no! Not right now! Don't look at this thing, Mako - it's… chipped on the back!" Korra sputtered out, "At least I'm not floating" as Mako looked at the somehow opened back anyways, quickly suppressing a surprised snort. Mako said in Korra's ear, very quietly, "I didn't know you were an artist, Korra - that picture of Asami is amazing." Korra blushed, saying softly, "Thank you for the compliment, Mako, but it wasn't supposed to open like that. I guess I got carried away by the moment, and thankfully, not literally. I'll need to bind it in metal strips at future events." Mako was disappointed to see Asami's artwork quality naked body vanish, bitterly remembering she had once "dated" him. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Mako tried to see Asami's form again, failing miserably, making him even more frustrated. Mako opened his eyes in time to see Korra finishing through with her original motion. Korra pressed the jade amulet into the ice puppet's side, using her bending to turn him to steam at the same time bending the pigments back into their respective containers.

Apparently seeing a familiar face in the crowd, Korra said, "Just what you are doing here, Geraldo? How'd you get here so fast?" "Geraldo" - wherever that name came from - laughed, saying, "I took a biplane as soon as the press conference was over. Avatar Korra, do you care to share what was on the back of the jade amulet with us?" Korra's faced flushed red in anger, and then she formed a wet, sloppy snowball from the remnants of the steam from the ice puppet Long Yumao and flung it into Geraldo's obnoxious face, saying, "No, I do not! Now be quiet!" While Mako knew everyone was laughing at this Geraldo, Korra thought they were laughing at her for some reason, prompting her to say huffily, "I guess you're all done with what Avatar Korra has to say, but I'm not. Just remember - no emotion when dealing with Koh; think of those you love when dealing with Long Yumao. If my foot and Asami's fist can reduce Dark Korra to the size of a four-year old, someone thinking about their loved ones when striking a Dark Spirit with a blade or bending should hurt them. That is all - now, for an Avatar closer to home: Avatar Roku."

Her eyes finally no longer glowing after Roku appeared on stage next to her, he said, "I am Avatar Roku, the last Fire Nation Avatar. I may be remembered for stopping Sozin once, but I deeply regret sparing his life. I do not have much to say, other than this: hold no quarter against the enemy, be they spirit or human. If you decide to show mercy, make sure to do something like what my successor, Avatar Aang did, and neutralize your enemy properly, or imprison them as Avatar Korra did until Kuvira's second, much greater change of heart. In the case of someone like Firelord Sozin or Jinshu Kuangmai, show no mercy: they are both irredeemable individuals." As Avatar Roku finished to cheers, he vanished - to be replaced by another Avatar, this one a lot more familiar.

Given Korra's face, she was as surprised as anyone else to see Aang's image, the little boy saying, "One of my greatest legacies as well as Zuko's is Republic City. Someone here knows a lot about it - Mako. May I present Mako, friend and one-time romantic interest of Avatar Korra, as our next speaker?" As Mako came closer to Korra and Aang, Aang whispered, "You better get Kuvira while she's available, man - I think Zuko still regrets not snagging Katara." Apparently, Zuko had heard Aang's comment somehow as he said, "Shhhh!" loudly at the same time Mako did, Aang vanishing with a more typical laugh. Thankfully, Mako wasn't blushing as he faced the crowd. He told his childhood story of loss, poverty, illicit dealings, how much Republic City meant to him, finishing with a tear in his eye, "Once the Spirit Civil War is over, I would hate to see the Fire Nation back out. Without your support, Jinshu Kuangmai may just re-form the Earth Empire completely - Republic City and all. It would not be long before he turned his sights to a different target - the Fire Nation." Letting the murmurs die down, Mako continued, "Given the hatred he holds, a lot of it likely for the Fire Nation after the disgrace the Earth Kingdom suffered during the 100 Year's War, and the power of the regrown Great Banyan tree in the Swamp, he will try to enact a reverse genocide. This time, the Fire Nation would be on the receiving end. Think craters like the one in Republic City, but going for miles - there would be nothing left of my mother's ancestral homeland left but craters and volcanic glass."

After he stepped down, Mako barely noticed the loud applause he had received and was surprised to hear yells of "I'll volunteer!" or earthier proclamations of service involving personal vows to incinerate Jinshu Kuangmai's… equipment. Korra took him aside, saying, "Good job - especially with making sure the surprise isn't ruined for our favorite earthbender." Korra gave Mako a big hug, and as he savored her form, Mako realized he did miss the embrace of a woman. Badly. Korra must have noticed, as she said, "I'm Asami's now, Mako - but I did see a lot of myself in Kuvira, remember. Maybe that will be some consolation."

When Mako closed his eyes after he broke the hug with Korra, he saw two young orphans holding hands together - one with a mole, the other wearing a red scarf.

The little girl giggled happily, saying, "Don't worry, silly - I won't hurt you," to the fearful red scarf-wearing boy. The little boy with the red scarf let out a quivering sigh, hugging the little girl deeply, pleading desperately, "Don't leave me like your parents did - please. I don't want any more hurt." The little girl cried some, saying, "If you'd accept me, I'd never leave you, cutie. Don't reject me - please."

As he smiled and took a deep breath, thinking of Korra's locket and his own longing for something more in life, the little girl with the mole stopped crying. She grew to full size as the boy in the scarf vanished, finally wearing nothing but a soft smile on her distinctive face.

Mako kept his eyes closed for a long, pleasurable time.


	34. Chapter 34: The Painted Lady

Chapter 34: The Painted Lady

While Korra dealt with the press before heading to the Fire Nation for her part in Firelord Izumi's call to arms, Jinora and Kai had been searching the islands near Ember Island. They had been looking all morning and into the afternoon, trying to find a special village while on the wing. They weren't having much success, unfortunately - even the spit of islands at the tail end of the Fire Nation was spaced far enough apart that it was difficult to find anything. Jinora said, barely managing to out-speak the howling wind, "I wish I had Pepper, a map and a spyglass for this - it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack." Kai yelled over the airbending-created wind, "The Zhu Li was pretty heavily laden as it was, with everyone aboard. Korra was pushing it by bringing her polarbear-dog, Naga, along. If we had brought Pepper, we'd have needed to bring Juicy, Lefty and Oogi too." Jinora laughed, saying, "You're right, Kai - even though she wishes she had a different airbison, Opal still seems to love juicy, snot and all." Laughing harder, Jinora added, "Opal was telling me she likened the reason she keeps Juicy to why she kept Bolin around after his work for Kuvira."

As her own laughter and Kai's was drowned by the wind, Jinora felt something odd - an energy that somehow seemed familiar, though she had never experienced it personally before. What was even stranger was that it wasn't associated with her grandfather - it was associated with grandmother Katara! Knowing that the island they were approaching just might be the right one, she told Kai, "I just felt an odd energy, and I think this might just be the place. Let's go see what we can find." As they landed out of sight of what must have once been the village, Kai said, "I thought this was a fishing village, Jinora - I didn't expect houseboats and electrical lines!"

Whipping out a drawing that Asami had made for her based on Katara's descriptions the previous day, Jinora was amazed at how much the village had grown since her grandmother's time. Pointing at one of the biggest surprises, Jinora said, "I didn't expect a factory to be at the head of the river - that and its pollution was one of the reasons my grandparents Katara and Aang stayed longer than they had planned!" Kai whipped out an eyeglass Varrick had parted with reluctantly before they left this morning, saying, "The water looks clean, though - I guess Zuko or Firelord Izumi made the factory being clean a priority, given the old Team Avatar's experience here." Jinora heard an audible grumble, Kai saying after, "Why don't we go into town for something to eat - something tells me the fish won't be like they were in your grandmother's time, given how the water is sparkling." Given what Kai said next, he really hadn't been lying to Jinora or Su on the Zhu Li yesterday, as he said, "Sparkling like your eyes, do, Jinora - I don't need any gold." Jinora didn't even fuss when he kissed her on the cheek without permission and put his dark arms around her tighter than usual.

Jinora's eyes widened in surprise. She knew she had grown a lot over the past four years, both physically and emotionally, but… this was unexpected. She had only heard descriptions of the small sensation she felt, and not from other airbenders, aside from Opal. Cheeks blushing, she said, "That sounds like a good idea, Kai - I'm hungry enough to eat some fish myself, vegetarian or not. Plus, I wouldn't want to be rude - the 'villagers' might recognize me if they have electricity now and houseboats, and they will certainly recognize the arrow on my head." In a comment more fitting his usual nature, Kai said, "I don't see why Opal doesn't have her tattoos yet - she helped you save Korra from Kuvira outside Zaofu, and if she uses the new projectiles Asami came up with make to full effect, she might just help take down Jinshu Kuangmai." Seeing Jinora's vaguely horrified look, Kai explained, "If that's not worthy of tattoos, I don't know what is - airbender pacifism or not. That man's a monster." Kai picked up a rock that closely resembled one of the "Satot" rounds Asami had described in-transit with Opal to the other airbenders before the commotion on the back of the boat, his eyes gleaming. After shouting, "This is for Zaofu, Jinshu Kuangmai!" Kai shot the projectile with great accuracy at the head of a nearby large flightless bird she didn't recognize, it connecting with a thunk that made Jinora wince. Kai ran over, using his airbending to dust it off, saying sheepishly, "Oh, sorry - I should have just killed the bird without comment. I just don't know how comfortable you are with taking life yet." Jinora asked softly, "What did that gray fluffy bird do to you?" Kai coughed nervously, saying, "Mother Suyin was telling me before we had to propel the boat yesterday that it's good manners to bring food if you're a guest, and I figure I may as well start somewhere." Jinora was still staring at the bird's body, Kai reassuring her, "Don't worry, Jinora - I'll carry it. I know killing still bothers you."

As Jinora and Kai walked towards the village, Kai carrying the odd fluffy grey bird over his shoulders with no small effort, Jinora said lowly, "Despite what I said yesterday about me being more willing to kill." A single tear escaped Jinora's eye, and she continued, "Kai, honestly? I'm not sure what it would take for me to be willing to kill. Even the bison rustler would be pushing it, for now." Jinora sighed deeply and said "I guess I need to start seeing more shades of gray, if I'm to be of any help once the Spirit Civil War is over. We'll be fighting living beings, not unambiguously evil Dark Spirits who want to enslave humanity." Continuing in a less morose voice, she said, "At least the bison rustler was a fairly clear-cut case of what my father, Raava and Korra have started to convince me would be a morally okay time to take a life." Seeing Kai had stopped with a confused look on his face, apparently not sure what to make of her own swinging feelings, Jinora said softly in his ear, avoiding the strange grey bird's body only barely, "You know - if it looked like he was going to kill _you_."

What with Kai's unusual reaction to her following kiss, he must have felt a sensation equivalent to what Jinora had experienced earlier, though his wide grin indicated he clearly knew what it meant. Given Kai's age, it couldn't have been very strong anyways - Katara had told her that boys mature slower than girls when Tenzin wasn't around during the chaos of the past weeks. Jinora remembered with a deep frown that Meelo had interrupted before Jinora could learn exactly _what_ would be aroused in Kai, or anything really specific. Typical siblings… she still resented Ikki slightly for interrupting Katara when she was about to say what happened to Zuko's mom. Jinora found herself resenting Meelo _much _more now, as these unusual thoughts made her cheeks flush - but not in embarrassment.

Kai started to speak, but stopped, saying, "I like the color of your cheeks, Jinora - prettier than a ruby." This just made Jinora feel that sensation again - but stronger - but she didn't dare let Kai know. She was still trying to make sense of it herself. Kai continued with a laugh and a joking voice, "Your father's right - no grandchildren yet. If Aang could wait, so can I." Kai let out a genuine sigh, saying, "I don't feel like I'd make a good father yet anyways, even if I were old enough - I bet I won't even be able to see this Painted Lady we came here to try and win over." Jinora didn't have a good answer to the last part, so she just put her arm around Kai's waist, just refreshing the flush on her cheeks and the other feeling. She said, tussling Kai's jet black hair while looking in his jade green eyes, "You've made a lot of progress, Kai. Let's go meet the people in town before we think about our official business." Jinora made a mental note to ask Opal as well as Kai more about sexuality - she remembered how Kai knew the thingie's real name, whatever they were. Even Korra, a 22-year old grown woman, didn't know their real name, despite Korra having apparently used them herself. Opal could help Jinora with what even Jinora knew were decidedly feminine feelings.

As they both approached the town, Kai said, "Maybe we can help each other grow - I'll help you get over your reluctance to kill. More importantly, you can help me make sure I never take life without cause by teaching me more about what spirituality means." Jinora found herself nodding before she had time to think. Kai laughed nervously, saying, "Though I think you'll have a lot more to teach me than the other way around - I was pretty rotten until the Earth Queen imprisoned me." On an odd impulse she couldn't restrain, Jinora started speaking with a softer, more playful version of her own voice akin to something Asami might have made while talking to Korra. Her lips moved, as though possessed, as she said while grabbing Kai's shoulder, completely ignoring the soft feathers of the dead bird, "You'll have plenty of things other than violence to talk about, Kai, given my upbringing and your own knowledge. I remember the thingies. And you knowing their name when Korra didn't." Jinora let out a loud "Eep!", covering her mouth. Where had that voice come from, let alone the words she said it with in, or her hand grab! Jinora heard a loud thump while thinking, Kai apparently having fallen over much as he did yesterday.

Kai remained down for some time, as though he didn't ever want to get up, his cheeks flush and letting out a contented sigh. Once he stood back up and dusted off the odd bird, Kai hugged her tightly. Jinora noticed something odd added to his embrace, somehow instinctively knowing what it was. Her face flush with embarrassment and pleasure once again, she listened to a deeply blushing Kai say, while he laughed, "That… would be something for a later time, Jinora. A _LOT_ later. You seem like you don't even know what part of my body felt good earlier and just now, much less ready to know the name or shape of a thingie. Let alone its use." Kai laughed, saying, "Though that grab makes me think it might not be as far off after all. You didn't even avoid this weird bird's body, you were so intent." Jinora giggled, her cheeks still red as she was pointing at the part of Kai he was trying to talk around, saying, "You're right - I didn't know, until just now, when you hugged me." Jinora heard her father's voice in her head, yelling "Now don't YOU make me a grandfather before either one of us is ready, Jinora!" before a shocked Kai said, "Oh. So I guess you know more than I thought, Jinora - good." Not knowing what to make of all these confusing new feelings, Jinora said, "I need to think on all this, Kai - maybe after we try and convert the Painted Lady to our cause we can talk some more."

Both Jinora and Kai didn't say much after that while they approached the edge of the lake the town sat on, out of a combination of thinking and getting more comfortable with her obviously more mature body. She half considered projecting to Asami and asking her for more information, but realized with a start she wouldn't be of much help, given Jinora liked Kai and not one of the new girl airbenders. Even Asami's lover, Korra, might not be of much help, given Korra had never got past dating Mako, and some primal part of Jinora wanted to do more than just date Kai. Confused by all these thoughts, Jinora stopped momentarily, saying, "I need to meditate, Kai. I won't be going to the spirit world, either - I just hope this works."

As Jinora sat down, she was pleasantly surprised to see Kai joining her side in a meditative pose, though he did not close his eyes. Kai said softly, "I don't know if I'm ready to truly meditate yet, Jinora - I need to open my mind and deal with purely emotional hurt first." Before Jinora could object and suggest Kai meditate on what was troubling him, he said, "I'm not going to meditate like you are for a bigger reason - if I have an experience like Kuvira's I don't want to be booted into the Spirit World like she was. I don't have an Avatar to come and rescue me. Even your own father, Tenzin, needed rescuing, and he's a very spiritual man." Some tears coming to her eyes, Jinora said, "I wouldn't want Koh the Face-Stealer to snatch your handsome face, Kai - you're right. We both need to be cautious, even if I have an Avatar's blood running in my veins."

Jinora took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing on her father's father's energy. When she opened her eyes, she was disappointed to sense she was in the Spirit World after all. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes once more, she remembered the stories of grandfather Aang's youth in a torrent of thought. As the memories went beyond what she had learned, the previous ones simultaneously becoming crystal clear at the same time grandfather Aang's life unfolded before her, she realized something special was happening. She even knew what happened to Zuko's mother now!

She watched grandfather Aang's life mesmerized. The wonderful memories associated with Katara, Team Avatar and grandfather Aang's children, including Tenzin, and horrifying memories of Yakone, "Phoenix King" Ozai, "Princess" Azula and the encounter with Koh the Face-Stealer were transmitted with special intensity. When she opened her eyes, she rubbed them with disbelief - she knew grandfather Aang was close, but she didn't expect him to be anything but a blue image!

Grandfather Aang said softly through fleshy lips, "You look like you're surprised to see me as anything but a blue projection. You should be safe here, Jinora, for the same reason you don't see me as a spirit." Grinning broadly, grandfather Aang said, "You can just call me Aang, Jinora. You should be safe here, since my blood runs through your veins - or more accurately, my _genes _and _deoxyribonucleic acid_ , or _DNA_." Laughing lightly at Jinora's perplexed expression, Aang said, "I don't care what Raava thinks of sharing scientific knowledge with humanity, especially given that Korranium will not be a suitable replacement for tuber-vine power - only _fusion _will. Korranium has too much destructive potential, as Asami has already figured out by now." Jinora said, still very confused, "I came here to get your advice and help on taking life away in good conscience, or creating it with Kai - not science. You'll have to talk to one of the brain trust members about any information you find important - Meelo might be the best, given he shares these 'genes' and 'DNA' with me." Aang laughed, saying, "Varrick or Zhu Li might figure out those two by the time Meelo is ready or even inclined to try meditating. He inherited my playfulness and Katara's attitude, along with a warrior's mind, I can only guess from where Bumi got his." Jinora laughed, remembering that genes and DNA weren't the only things Aang mentioned - whatever they were. Jinora asked, "What about Korranium, Asami, and this 'fusion'? Given you didn't mention those, it sounds like any use of Korranium or 'fusion' is a long ways off."

Aang's expression turned to that of horror, clearly not liking what he had to say next. Aang sighed, saying, "You better hope that Jinshu Kuangmai gives up on the idea of turning the Fire Nation to glass after the trap Korra set for him succeeds, or that he doesn't find any Korranium. Korranium could be used to create a nasty weapon that would cause far more damage than the spirit energy blast caused in Republic City. What Asami has named 'Asami particles' would linger at the blast site, even spreading across the landscape beyond the blast." Jinora had started crying at Aang's description of what a Korranium weapon could do, and she began crying even harder when Aang kept talking, his own eyes watery. "If enough of these weapons are set off, the Asami particles would envelop the globe, eradicating life as we know it with their ability to break down the DNA I mentioned earlier, as well as causing cancer and many other, horrible side effects." Aang took a deep breath, continuing, "If Jinshu Kuangmai can manage to make these weapons, he should be able to create even worse weapons soon after - fusion bombs. Partially using the very process I hope will someday replace tuber-vines, I might add."

Jinora asked, feeling as though she were shrinking, "Wait - what could these weapons do that's worse than a Korranium bomb?" Aang did not speak, but instead asked her to close her eyes, and Jinora saw a horrible vision - more disturbing than what Long Yumao desired to do with humanity.

As though from space over another, much larger world, she saw a cityscape that looked much like Republic City, with unfamiliar metallic forms flying over it peacefully. All that changed when she saw what looked like a very advanced and large Meesile that was being powered by something closer to the power of Sozin's Comet than Lipowder, given the huge flames propelling it. The odd Meesile gradually grew smaller and smaller, the end constantly falling off. A cone on its head -the only thing left - opened when it reached a slightly downward position relative to the curvature of the unnamed planet. This sent at least seven smaller cones flying, these individual cones somehow honing in on individual targets. She noticed many more of these horrible large Meesiles approaching the odd landmass in various stages of breakdown, as well as what looked like more leaving it, though these were all intact. Jinora's soul chilled when she realized what she was witnessing - the extinction of life on another planet, not much different from her own.

Her vision was brought back to the peaceful city. In a flash of blinding light near what must have been its center, she saw an immense sphere spread outwards, incinerating everything in its path, vaporizing most of the heart of the city. She heard a massive roar, as though this planet had been rent in two, and saw a massive shockwave come screaming from the massive central explosion. Jinora realized the sphere was very close to the white of that of Raava, except with a sickening orange hue that resembled what a Dark Avatar's eyes might look like. As soon as the shockwave ended, her vision was thrown back to a planetary view, seeing a thousand suns erupt on its surface, even the dark side illuminated. Most of the points showed a horrifying mushroom cloud up close instead of the big explosion like she had seen.

Her eyes finally opened by themselves and she was panting in terror, cradling her small, small body while sobbing - Jinora felt as though she were four. Aang walked over, no longer 12 but a much more reassuring older age, saying through a choked, deeper voice, "That, Jinora, is the potential for beings to destroy their own world. To plunge it into a darkness more final than anything Long Yumao could hope to do, or even Vaatu if he won every Harmonic Convergence from now until the end of time." Jinora asked, "How could they do that? All those living things, snuffed out in less time than it takes to boil a pot of tea… what happened to this world, to make them fail so miserably and thoroughly?" Aang hugged Jinora tighter, saying, "What you saw was a failed world, one from a different plane of existence entirely. A world without bending, and most importantly, **one whose love ran out**. Vaatu won, even though they have a different being of darkness associated with their plane of existence, as well as one _very, very_ sad being of light."

Aang hugged her deeply, and she could feel herself return to normal size. Aang said, with uncharacteristic glumness, "You saw what happened there, Jinora. Even if Long Yumao is defeated, if Jinshu Kuangmai is not crushed soon enough, the Fire Nation will probably share a similar fate to the unnamed country I showed you." Jinora asked, "Can I at least know its name? The images… I need to know." Aang said quietly, "Its name is not important - the planet is nothing but a lifeless shell now, all of its peoples, animals and history lost forever. Much as our own nation, the Air Nomads, once were, except for me." Breaking the hug, Aang had an extremely angry look as he said, "Except in that planet's case, there was no last airbender. They made their own attempt at forming a moderating body, similar to the United Republic of Nations, after a particularly devastating war that saw the use of one Korranium weapon and another using a metal derived from Korranium." Before Jinora could cry, Aang finished while crying himself, "Except their organization did not have enough power to make a difference. On their plane, there is no Avatar, no accessible spirits - only the two beings I mentioned, the physical realm, a good place for people like Uncle Iroh or us, and another akin to the Fog of Lost Souls."

Aang continued, his face sullen, saying, "I didn't show you that to expand your knowledge of the vast, infinite universe and other planes of existence, Jinora. I showed it to you to drive home that even when Long Yumao is defeated, if the United Earth Republic doesn't eliminate the Earth Empire quickly enough, Jinshu Kuangmai may find a way to use spirit vines to mimic these horrible fusion and Korranium weapons. Or, even worse, make the actual weapons." Jinora asked angrily, half feeling like stepping on Aang's foot in anguish and anger, "I want to know what that has to do with becoming more comfortable taking a life, much less making a new one with Kai when we're ready emotionally and physically."

Aang sighed without any sadness in his voice, saying, "Everything, Jinora. I know a lot more of that planet's history than you do, and multiple times, if someone had been willing to kill one individual, its history would have taken a very different course. You wouldn't recognize any of the names, as they had many languages instead of one, so most would mean nothing to you." Jinora asked, not caring about a dead planet anymore, "What about what Katara called 'sex ed'? What does that have to do with the vision?" Aang laughed, saying, "That sounds just like Katara. Jinora, do you remember what I said about the planet? How it had run out of love?" Jinora nodded, liking this new twist in the conversation. "I don't know what you said to Kai earlier - along with Raava, I can only take in information that's near Korra, with only Raava able to sense past Korra in extreme situations. But I think I'll 'say' this without knowing what you and Kai talked about. Just know this: you shouldn't let your love run out - even if it runs counter to what your father taught you about being an airbender, especially as it relates to sex. You wouldn't be here if I had followed the Air Nomad rules _exactly_." Aang sighed contentedly at this oblique reference to his relationship with Katara and their family, continuing, "Times are changing, Jinora, and from what I have seen and heard, so has what it means to be an airbender."

Closing Jinora's eyes with his hands lightly, Aang said as an image of a younger Katara appeared, "I may have been unwilling to kill anyone myself, preferring to take people's bending away instead, but if anyone looked like they were about to kill Katara, I'd cut them down in a second. Even if it meant death for them." An image of "Firelord" Ozai appeared in Katara's place, Aang saying, "When dealing with individuals such as Ozai, you should always try to take the peaceful route." An image of Aang with eyes and tattoos glowing appeared, trying to get the image of Ozai to surrender much as she had seen Aang try before energybending. Aang must have deliberately changed the outcome of the vision from what really happened, as Jinora was surprised at what happened next.

Ozai managed to break Aang's tenuous hold, knocking the smaller form to the ground with a powerful punch. Ozai began generating lightning to finish what Azula had failed to do, all those years ago in Ba Sing Se. Jinora saw Aang yell, eyes normal and crying, "No - I won't die here, not yet!" Aang's eyes glowed strongly as he yelled at a surprised Ozai, in an angry multivoice, "I won't let you kill, me, Ozai - I have too much to live for!" As the light from Aang's tattoos and eyes became almost blinding, his 12-year old form yelled, "I want to be with Katara, you monster!" The Aang in the image re-formed an elemental bubble, Ozai somehow managing to break it by unleashing the large amount of lightning he had generated. Aang said angrily, "I wanted to spare your life, but you leave me no choice!" as Ozai began to generate more lightning, intending to finish Aang off, and given how much lightning he was creating, Aang wouldn't be able to deflect enough to live.

Eyes flaring again, the image of Aang began to perform an odd airbending form Jinora had never seen before, but quickly realized what it was when she saw the breath leave Ozai's terrified being, his own lightning finding a sink in his dying body, causing burns everywhere. Aang said, "I am sure Zuko will understand - he told me to just kill you in the first place," as the life slowly faded from a terrified Ozai's eyes and the last of the electrical current dissipated.

Jinora's eyes opened, her father's father's hand leaving her face. Jinora said, "I think I understand now. It's okay to kill in self-defense, or in defense of those you love." Aang added with a weak smile, "You might want to take note of that airbending form, Jinora - it's also okay to kill preventatively, though only in extreme cases, such as Ozai or Jinshu Kuangmai. Raava was sharing with me something Korra witnessed in a vision over the night before you 'called' me here, and trust me - there is nothing redeemable in that man." Jinora crossed her arms, saying, "You saw something in 'Phoenix King' Ozai, so I fail to see how Jinshu Kuangmai is any different." Aang started to laugh, but stopped when he saw her own souring expression, saying seriously, "Let's just say Jinshu Kuangmai got a serious offer from Vaatu to be his next Dark Avatar, and only Harmonic Convergence being ten thousand years or so away from now stopped him from accepting it fully." Realizing that Jinshu Kuangmai was no different than Unalaq, who she had helped defeat without qualms when he was in his Dark Avatar form, Jinora decided that Opal was right after all. Jinora said with a mix of horror and anger, "I don't think I have any qualms about killing anymore - at least not Jinshu Kuangmai. That's just awful!" Aang looked like he was waiting for something, so Jinora added, "I'll think about Kai whenever I'm fighting Dark Spirits and let my anger fuel my bending like a firebender if it looks like he'll get hurt. If that will even work with airbending, that is," and Aang gave her an approving nod and smile, laughing at her last comment.

Aang said, grabbing Jinora by the shoulder, "Korra can show you what happened with Jinshu Kuangmai and her… own vision later with infobending. Given my own upbringing as a genuine Air Nomad, I think Opal, Katara or Kai would be better suited for 'sex ed'." Aang blushed slightly, saying as he shrunk back to his "new" 12-year old size, "To be honest, Katara had to teach me quite a bit, and given what Raava has said about Korra and the… thingies, Korra could do with a Katara session of her own, aside from the one I helped with yesterday." Before Jinora could take a deep breath, close her eyes and leave, Aang said, "Wait! You have something you need to do, Jinora, other than win over the Painted Lady - Korra's close bond with Raava means I can't try and tell Korra what I showed you. Raava would just block me from saying anything about things not discovered yet, much less show you that vision." Jinora listened intently as Aang said, "You're going to need to let Korra infobend the vision about that planet I showed you out, as well as the warnings about Korranium, fusion and Jinshu Kuangmai. I didn't show you that to scare you or convince you that killing can be justified, Jinora - everyone needs to know that weaponizing Korranium is a very bad idea, especially given how small our own planet is compared to the shell that was named Earth." Given the wink that followed, Aang hadn't let the name of the planet slip on accident, and Jinora returned the wink with one of her own.

Aang added, as though remembering something important, "Keep in mind, Jinora, that this was only one of many fates for the planet _still called_ Earth. I just showed you the most relevant 'reality' - a violent end to their former _Cold War_." As Jinora smiled, glad to know this "Earth" was not really dead and also not really caring what kind of war caused the destruction she had witnessed, she began to get her head around the universe, the different plane, and alternates. She remembered well what she witnessed Aang go through earlier when he was trying to unlock his chakras and the vast infinity of existence.

While Jinora was on the verge of getting something profound, she heard Aang laugh, saying, "There was even a version of Earth where two people must have been able to see our universe, and pretty clearly too - they made two _television_ _shows_: 'Avatar: the Last Airbender' and 'The Legend of Korra.'" Jinora's eyes looking at him again, she saw a smiling Aang say conspiratorially, "When you show Korra that vision, ask Korra to ask Varrick if he wants to make some movers of his own about Earth's history, once he's done with his new projects. Just call them works of fiction." Smiling more comfortably now, Aang continued, "I think a lot of people would find 'World War II' particularly interesting, as well as the creatures that live on Earth. They're almost all just… not right." Grinning widely, Aang said, "I figure I'll have plenty of time to sneak stuff past Raava with your help once things settle down." Aang vanished right after, as though Raava had noticed his little asides and had enough.

When Jinora came to, she noticed Kai had his eyes closed, breathing deeply. Jinora shook him, saying, "Hey! Did you forget about Koh and Long Yumao?! I don't want to lose you, not after what I just saw!" As she hugged Kai deeply, she felt that wonderful sensation again, savoring it instead of dismissing it, much less feel ashamed of it as a small part of her had earlier. After a while, she noticed a new feeling, this one not likely linked to her maturing body. She felt a tight, warm feeling in her chest, one that came close to the feeling of love that Korra or Asami were mentioning more and more frequently. Kai's body did something familiar as well, and instead of dismissing it, Jinora focused on the little pressing form as well as her own pleasure, finding the feeling in her chest intensifying.

To her surprise, it was Kai who broke the embrace, asking, "While I liked that, a _lot, _especially the feeling in my chest, I'm curious to hear what your grandfather showed you that was so horrible." Ignoring Kai's request, Jinora hugged him again, saying, "I'm glad you felt the feeling in your heart as well, and not just the _other _nice feeling. Even more so that you liked it the best out of the two." Kai said, after Jinora let him go of her vice-grip, "Whatever you saw in there, think we can talk about it over lunch? The… Kainora bird is probably starting to spoil slightly, and I don't want it to go to waste." As Jinora helped Kai carry the bird, which surprised Kai to no end, she said, "I'm afraid a lot of what I saw in there is very sensitive - I'll talk with you about it before we try to find the Painted Lady."

As Kai and Jinora yelled for a boat to take them into the village - no, town - of Jang Hui, she heard excited small shouts of, "Look, it's Aang!" followed by scattered shouts of, "Why is he holding a boy's hand? Is he gay like Korra?" and raucous adult laughter, one of whom said loudly, "You silly kids - Aang is dead, and Korra's the new Avatar! It must be Jinora and Kai - I heard over the radio that there was a huge conference at Ember Island!" After a boat approached and picked them both up, along with the Kainora bird, Jinora was vaguely disappointed to see there weren't any interesting looking characters around like that slightly more than borderline crazy man Katara had met when she was here, all those years ago.

As Kai ran off to help a chef prepare his earlier kill, Jinora wandered the town, asking people about the Painted Lady when she could finally get them to stop asking questions about herself. Some of them shrugged dismissively, making Jinora want to airpunch them into the water surrounding their fancy houseboats. The people in more modest houseboats were much more helpful, telling Jinora that the Painted Lady was usually only seen around nighttime by a select few, but not much else. The people living in houseboats that Jinora was pretty sure were worse than the huts of Katara's time were the most helpful, some even producing antique figurines of the Painted Lady, usually saying something like "Those rich snobs don't even believe in her."

One woman's response caught her attention in particular, the older woman telling her, "You must be Jinora. My name is June, and not the one from your grandmother's youth. I'm the closest thing this town has to a truly spiritual person, and I see the Painted Lady from time to time." Before Jinora could speak, June said, "Not too long ago, maybe yesterday, I noticed that the Painted Lady was much, much more physical - you can shake her hand now." Laughing, June added, "Though I still don't think just _anyone _can see her, given the looks the people from the fancy houseboats were giving me when I was talking to her yesterday."

Jinora said, glad she could get a word in finally, "Thank you, June. Is there anywhere we can see the Painted Lady during the daytime? I have some information I need to give Korra." June nodded, saying, "Oddly enough, sometimes I find her staring at the factory and its clean, sparkling water during the daytime, sighing in contentment. One of the first things she said to me was 'Please thank former Firelord Zuko and Firelord Izumi for making the factory clean. I am glad we can live in harmony now.' I was actually involved in the maintenance of the factory itself until I got too old, and remember helping place huge filters with charcoal bits in them on the pipes." June coughed, saying, "Those filters still need to be changed, but Firelord Izumi makes sure we get new ones frequently. I hope this Spirit Civil War or Jinshu Kuangmai fellow don't put a damper on that. The Painted Lady would not be happy, and probably vanish again, if those filters aren't kept clean."

Jinora was worried - if Firelord Izumi stopped supplying filters, the Painted Lady wouldn't turn on humans, but she certainly wouldn't help them, given the spirit is so tightly bound to the town and the waters around it. Jinora's stomach growled, prompting her to ask June, "Is there anything vegetarian to eat around here? I'm starving, and would like to avoid eating meat if I can." June said, getting up slowly, "I'm afraid I don't have any protein that isn't meat for you, but from what I have heard, ever since your grandmother helped clean up this village, there's been freshwater kelp growing around the village in spots. I have some, somewhere. Now, where did I put that dried kelp and fresh fish…" June picked up a bottle and quickly put it back down, but not before Jinora saw the label - "shirshu poison". Putting it together with the shirshu picture in what appeared to be a shrine to a lost loved one she had seen when June let her in, Jinora couldn't help but say gently, "So I guess you _are _June the bounty hunter. I noticed the shrine to a shirshu earlier, who must be Nyla, but said nothing of it until I saw that bottle of shirshu poison."

June turned around, with tears in her eyes, saying, "Yes, I am, Jinora. I was doing some tracking work after the war and Nyla and I got caught on the job, the well-armed bandits holding myself and Nyla hostage for an outrageous price." Taking a deep breath and crying intensely, June sobbed, "The ransom was refused, and Nyla somehow knew if she fought like a lion turtle against them when she got the chance, I'd have time to get away." Walking over and picking up her co-worker and pet's picture, June sniffed, "I got away, obviously, and she did not. I quit doing bounty hunting after my terrible loss, wandering the world much as I have heard Toph did, using what money I had left to buy this sub-par houseboat and settle here, in Jang Hui. I wanted a nice, quiet place to live." Jinora gave June a hug, saying, "That's just awful! I can't imagine loosing Kai - I mean, Pepper." June laughed, saying, "You should enjoy it while you can, Jinora - you're only young once." Smiling, June added, "You must be 14 now - old enough to start feeling some of the more interesting parts of love." Jinora just blushed silently.

As Jinora ate some sushi with June, not minding the fish in the least and her blush gone, Jinora said, "I assume you changed your hair so people wouldn't recognize you. I see you've covered up your tattoos as well." June nodded, saying, "Yes. But, enough about me - let's talk about you." June pointed at Jinora's own tattoos, saying, "Given your actions over the past four years, it's nice to see those arrows in person - especially when I'm not tracking the one wearing them." Jinora let out a small chuckle as June said, "I pay attention to world events, especially since I am no longer a player in them. Not since Nyla's sacrifice. I figure you're here to win the Painted Lady's assistance in the Spirit Civil War." June sighed, saying as she shook her gray hair, "It's not going to be easy. You'll need to convince her that not only will Firelord Izumi continue to provide filters for the factory, despite needing everything the Fire Nation has for war, you'll need to get her to see that Long Yumao is a big enough threat to warrant leaving 'her' town, Jang Hui." Jinora nodded her head, saying, "I think I'll need your help, June - I'll come back here with Kai when we're ready to talk to the Painted Lady." Seeing June nod again, Jinora returned to eating the fresh fish and kelp.

When they were finished eating, Jinora left, saying, "Be back soon, June!" as she waved goodbye. Jinora used her projection to quickly find Kai, idly wondering if people on Earth could do such a thing. Jinora found Kai near the chef, helping pass out slices of the Kainora bird. When Jinora joined him a short time later, even though she was full, she ate some of the Kainora bird anyways, not wanting to offend the chef. Jinora was glad the chef had put plenty of spice in while cooking it - the flesh wasn't very tasty. She could tell it was not good, even as vegetarian. Given how Kai asked quietly, "Got any sushi?" he didn't care much for the bird either. The chef must have overheard, saying slightly offendedly, "That's why we don't eat what you call a 'Kainora' bird, Kai - they may be easy to catch, but only a starving man would think they have any real taste. I prefer turtleduck myself." Kai grinned nervously, saying, "I didn't see any turtleducks, and I don't think my girlfriend here, Jinora, would have appreciated me killing one. At least this bird is ugly."

Joining in the laughter out of politeness more than anything else, Jinora realized she didn't even mind being called Kai's 'girlfriend'. It no longer sounded like he was claiming possession of a piece of gold - just describing his relationship with her. Not wanting to blush for any reason in front of the town's residents, Jinora said, "Come on, Kai - I found someone who can help us." Once Kai was at her side, she rapped on June's door, saying, "I'm back, June! I brought Kai with me this time." When there was no answer, Jinora just patiently stared at the door, only moving when Kai ribbed her, saying, "Hey - this lady's boat is gone! Everyone has one here - maybe she wanted to talk to the Painted Lady for us?" Jinora said, rubbing her side, "I know one way to check! Just give me a minute."

Focusing on June's energy, Jinora projected herself to her location, surprised to see her talking with the Painted Lady with frustration in her older voice. Noticing that they were both in front of the factory and its clear waterfalls, she broke the projection. Preparing her wingsuit for flight, she told Kai, "It looks like June is trying to help us, but not having much success! Follow me!"

Once Jinora and her _boyfriend _had landed on the shore somewhat close to the factory, Jinora found herself wishing she was a waterbender or the Avatar - June and the Painted Lady were too far from shore to talk to properly. Before she could try anything, Kai groaned, "Aw, come on - how am I supposed to help win over the Painted Lady if I can't see her?" Jinora stifled a snicker, saying, "Why don't you just sit here and listen to the water until I give you some sort of signal, or come back? I have the feeling this will take a short time - for better or worse." As Kai took a deep breath and looked like he was meditating, Jinora was about to admonish him, but something stopped her. Slowly, she realized with horror that she was trying to control Kai, just like her father tried to do with her. Gulping, she just yelled to Kai, "Now be careful, Kai - I don't want to come back and see you have no face!" Kai laughed, saying, "I had something much different in mind, Jinora - I don't think I'm going to be going into the Spirit World any time soon. Not until I fix some emotional issues first."

Remembering how her father had been unexpectedly dumped into the Spirit World after a breakthrough of his own, as well as Kuvira's impromptu meditation, Jinora said before flying off, "Just remember that you might accidentally enter the Spirit World, like my father did!" As Jinora took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she saw a familiar form, though it was just an image - that of Koh the Face-Stealer. As she opened her mouth to speak, the image skittered off, as though displeased with what she was going to say. Jinora said, "Remember - think of me for Long Yumao and keep a straight face for Koh, should it come to pass!" Feeling a mix of the impulsive feeling she had before speaking in what must have been a sultry voice and the other, purer feeling in her heart from earlier, Jinora sputtered out without thinking, "I love you!"

As she flew over to the boat, Jinora's face wash flushed - but she liked it. Given the smile June gave her when she landed gently in the back of the humble motorboat, the former bounty hunter must have heard as well.

Jinora had seen all sorts of spirits in her lifetime, but never a humanoid figure this striking. Uncle Iroh may have been wise, but there was something about the Painted Lady that made her stare in awe. Her feminine features, the red paint, the flowing black hair, that unique hat and dress… Noticing something troubling, Jinora asked, "Painted Lady, why is your paint so dark?" Jinora knew the answer in her gut, but wanted to let the Painted Lady speak her piece. The Painted Lady said, with an odd amount of emotion in her voice, "Over the past few days, I've been seeing this serpentine spirit over and over. Given that I was once human, long, long ago, and how your ancestors helped Jang Hui, I have been able to resist whatever it is he wants with me, but my own memories of what the Fire Nation did to my home have had some effect on my appearance." Jinora jumped back in shock when the Painted Lady said, "I don't know what the Avatar has told you, Jinora, but the stronger that serpentine spirit gets and the more followers he claims to have, the more my paint darkens, even though I resist strongly. That is what June and I were just discussing."

Jinora said, taking a deep breath to avoid being emotional herself, "Painted Lady, I think I might have a solution for your troubles." The Painted Lady nodded, her ghostly white hat moving with her face, saying, "Yes - what is it, Jinora?" Not having any idea what the Painted Lady's reaction would be, Jinora said strongly, "Join Avatar Korra and Raava's side in the Spirit Civil War, against this serpentine spirit whose full name is Long Yumao the Opportunist." Jinora's eyes widened when the Painted Lady's hat sprouted grey lines after the mention of Avatar Korra's name and gasped as the spirit's red paint darkened when Jinora said the evil spirit's own name. Clearly torn, the Painted Lady said, "I can see you just saw my paint darken slightly when you said that spirit's name, Jinora, as well as the lines on my hat when you said the Avatar's full name. It is the reason I did not say his _or _her name in the first place, and why June looked so exasperated before you came over." The spirit continued with hesitation, "I am afraid I cannot leave Jang Hui, Jinora, as I am sure assisting Raava would require. I am tied very strongly to the village turned town, and if what June was telling me about the Fire Nation and a human war is correct… I don't know if I would be of any help once the filters stop coming. The factory would spoil the waters of the river, weakening me."

No longer to contain her horror at the Painted Lady, known as a protective and caring spirit, being so defeated sounding, Jinora began to cry as she said, "I had no idea that… he was so influential, Painted Lady! I just want to reassure you that no matter what happens, the filters for Jang Hui will keep coming, even if not from the Fire Nation. Someone with great power and skill could make enough filters at once to last for years, Painted Lady - Avatar Korra." Jinora cried harder when the light grey lines on the Painted Lady's hat darkened, only to vanish completely as the spirit herself began to cry. The Painted Lady said painfully, "Even though I find no fault with Raava's current incarnation, part of me does, given my part human, part spirit nature. This is a very generous offer, Jinora, but I still cannot leave Jang Hui. It is my duty to protect the town, a duty that I relish."

June looked angry as she was about to say something, but Jinora interrupted the _other _lady with a blast of air, saying, "Not now, June - tell me what it is later!" June took a big sigh, somehow calmed down by the blast of air, and said while she re-covered her distinctive tattoos, "I just wanted to point out that Jang Hui, along with all of humanity, will be under darkness' rule if Raava doesn't get more followers than Bumju." Surprised June knew the little spirit that her uncle Bumi called a friend, Jinora said, "Yes, Painted Lady - this is why we came here to speak to you. We don't need fighters - we need spirits willing to try and convert others to Raava's cause more than anything, especially one as human and protective as you are." The Painted Lady sighed, apparently done talking, given what she said next. "I would fight for Jang Hui to the end of days if I had the strength to do so, Jinora, and while the human part of me does sympathize with your plight, unless something catastrophic happens, I cannot leave Jang Hui."

Jinora was starting to get very frustrated with this spirit's logic - if she _didn't _leave Jang Hui to help, it was likely that there wouldn't _be _a Jang Hui worth protecting! Jinora remembered what Korra had said about a stubborn spirit refusing to help Republic City. With an angry frown, Jinora finally connected the dots to the events Jinora had seen of the night following the battle, Jinora realized with fury it had been none other than Long Yumao himself who had refused to help Korra! Jinora took a deep breath, her face red with anger, and said very carefully, "I need to go talk to Kai. Painted Lady, all I have to say is this: if you don't help Raava right now, there may not _be _a Jang Hui to protect, whether it is enslaved by that serpentine spirit or turned to ashes and glass by Jinshu Kuangmai." Before Jinora could take off, the Painted Lady yelled, "Wait! Jinora - just who is this Jinshu Kuangmai, and how could he turn Jang Hui into ash, let alone glass? I've heard from June that humans are using spirit weapons now." The Painted Lady's paint took on a decidedly angrier red after the last remark, causing Jinora to panic and pretend she was Korra, Jinora placing her hand on the spirit's arm as though infobending - she couldn't reach the spirit's head.

Jinora was taken completely by surprise when she saw the Painted Lady's eyes widen in horror as she apparently took in what Aang had shown Jinora, beginning to cry again, somehow not marring her face paint. Jinora let her hand stay on the Painted Lady's ghostly white arm for a long time, information flowing freely. June was looking at Jinora like she was the second Avatar, and she asked Jinora, "Whatever you're doing, Jinora, can you do it to me after?" Jinora didn't want to wait, so she grabbed June's weathered arm, apparently getting no results. June said somewhat glumly, "It's too bad you can't infobend to anything other than a spirit, Jinora." Jinora laughed, saying, "I'm not infobending - my father's father never learned infobending, but even he could transmit information to and from spirits with a touch… though if I remember correctly, not anywhere near what I'm doing now, and back then it was an Avatar-only ability, being the link between the two worlds and all."

As though the Painted Lady could hear her innermost thoughts and feelings, she said, "Don't worry, Jinora - given what I know and what you have shown me, especially about the linking of the physical and spiritual world, anyone who is spiritually advanced enough can do what you just finished doing. This is a recent change - likely linked to my new, physical form. I'm not sure if I miss being mist yet." Jinora turned to the Painted Lady, just to look at her unique hat, and nearly fainted from joy, managing to stammer, "Painted Lady… y-y-our hat! It has…. blue… lines! Does this mean what I think it means?" Jinora looked at the Painted Lady's new nodding form in awe: not only did her hat have blue lines in Raava's pattern, it also had a large diamond shape that resembled the colored center of Raava's original form! Jinora pointed at the Painted Lady's pale chest, taking in the cloth of her robe and its new blue lines, another one of the characteristic Raava diamonds, with the Painted Lady's veil having fainter blue lines.

The Painted Lady said, her paint flashing between her characteristic red and blue, tending more towards the blue, "I saw the vision of this failed planet that Avatar Aang showed you, Jinora, and my heart broke into a million tiny mourning shards. What especially pained me was the knowledge that if nothing is done, our own planet could share a similar fate." The Painted Lady shook, as though she had just seen the ghosts of millions, if not billions. She continued sadly, "By human hands. Evil human hands, or even just careless or foolish ones." The Painted Lady shuddered slightly, continuing, "What I saw of that 'man', Jinshu Kuangmai… he's a bigger threat to Jang Hui than Long Yumao is. At least no such weapons or 'Meesiles' exist… yet." Her blue lines pulsing strongly, the Painted Lady said something that shocked Jinora: "I won't be done helping Avatar Korra or Raava until both Long Yumao and Jinshu Kuangmai are stopped, especially since the latter poses the greatest threat to Jang Hui, given the town lies in the Fire Nation."

Before Jinora could hug the Painted Lady, she felt an odd, calm yet concerned energy that was still happy… but felt as though its creator were hiding this fact, as it someone's life depended on it. Jinora's eyes widened as she realized whose energy it was, and why the happiness was hidden. Given how the Painted Lady's face looked, she must have felt it as well. Jinora remembered how Korra had received a call of distress from Kuvira, and figured something similar might be happening. Jinora grasped the Painted Lady's hand tightly as the spirit said, "Feels like someone needs protecting. Let's go, Jinora."


	35. Chapter 35: Growing Spirits

Chapter 35: Growing Spirits

As Jinora flew off to talk to a spirit he couldn't see, Kai grumbled in frustration - but not at the Painted Lady or Jinora. He was angry with no one but himself. Despite his attempts to meditate and resolve emotional wounds of his own, as well as the hurt he had caused others with his behavior, he just felt himself getting more and more frustrated, though he didn't let Jinora see it. Kai knew she was worried as is - the "I love you!" she had yelled didn't sound like it was just a profession of attraction. It was almost like Jinora was trying to cram in everything, in case she never saw his face again…

He was about to just sit and cross his brown arms and sit near the streams of clear water in a funk until Jinora returned, but as he did so, closing his eyes to shut out the world, he saw a medallion. Looking at its form, he wasn't excited because it was pretty or shiny - he was excited because of its shape. A shapeless thought drifted through his head, whispering, "This family has lost one son, maybe two - perhaps it is time a new son joined it fully" as he stared at the Beifong family crest before the thought faded into oblivion. Nodding his head, he was surprised to see the metal symbol stay still as though he was staring straight ahead at an actual object.

Standing up, he shouted, "Yes!" in triumph - given what Korra had shown him of Kuvira's ordeal, his earlier meditation hadn't been a waste after all. After he waved his arms in front of his face, wanting to make sure where he was, Kai stared at the crest again. Twisting slightly as though being metalbended, the Beifong family crest let out a single human tear, though Kai could sense this was a happy tear. When it finished its motion, the symbol for Air joined its side.

Remembering another detail from Kuvira's vision, he looked down and spotted a familiar orb, and fell over backwards in shock, coming to a short time later. Grinning widely, he yelled, "It's white! Almost all white!" as he ran to touch the sphere, carried forward by joy. When he got close, he slammed into an invisible wall which quickly materialized in front of him as a plane. Everything but the plane vanished, leaving him staring into endless light blue.

While Korra had not stressed the first encounter Kuvira had with spirituality or how Korra had seen Kuvira as a dark purple "mirror image" of herself, Kai suddenly realized that this is "where" he must be. Fully expecting to be staring at a purple image of himself, he was disappointed to see that the image he saw wasn't purple - it was blue. Groaning in frustration just made his blue-hued self laugh deeply, the image saying, "You may have made a lot of progress towards being on my side of the 'glass', Kai, but don't think just because you didn't run rampant like Kuvira did that you'll be getting off easy." Kai sighed deeply, cursing his purple hands and feet, finishing, "What do I need to do, huh? I felt what Korra describes as love for the first time today - that's got to count for something!"

While Kai was glad to see his blue self nodding, he did not look forward to experiencing what was in store for him next. His mirror image said, "Before you can hope to see the Painted Lady, you're going to need to feel the suffering your actions have caused others." Kai groaned, but before he could respond, his mirror image said with a chuckle, "Don't worry - parts of your journey will be good as well, unlike Kuvira's. I think you will enjoy seeing and feeling your defense of Yung, the greenhorn airbender trainee, as well as feeling the negative emotions you caused evil people such as the Dai Li instructor to experience." Even though part of Kai wanted to see the good parts first, he found himself saying, "Bring on the theft and hurt. I can handle it."

At first, Kai was puzzled by what replaced the endless blue - it was his first adoptive parents, happy to have a child of their own. He took in their happiness and what he recognized as love from earlier today with Jinora, feeling it as though it were a passionate embrace with a _fully grown _Jinora. This just made the pain, hurt and feelings of betrayal that followed his actions all the more painful, especially since they were strung out over the course of six months of real time and condensed. An apparent cycle repeated itself multiple times, alternating between light and dark, family and treachery. After who knows how long, the cycle stopped when he said "It's not all about me!" loudly and brokenly, continuing in a rage at himself, "Until I got airbending, I was a little selfish brat - and even that didn't cure me!" He knew what was coming next.

Right on cue, he saw his attempted escape into Team Avatar's arms again, once more experiencing the positive emotions first, wincing as he saw how they were willing to naively believe his lie and take him in, Korra even fighting to defend his falsehood. He felt Tenzin's desperation leading up to the encounter, his joy to find an airbender who wanted to join the new Air Nation, and his feelings of disgust at Kai's true nature. Kai didn't feel any good feelings aside from Jinora's until the Dai Li captured him, seeing how his little crime spree had affected the people he stole from. While a few of the people he stole from deserved it, there were a good number who were just keeping up appearances with their wealth, and the loss of their gold and jewels cascaded, some losing their jobs in the Upper Ring when that monster Hou-Ting found out they were "too poor". Bolin and Mako's frustration at losing their tickets and money as well as Mako's righteous anger stung particularly badly.

This whole cycle only repeated three times, punctuated at the end with the re-appearance of the endless blue, his blue self saying with a smile, "Good - now the horrible part is over. You're having a much easier time than Kuvira did - you were 'just' a thief, after all, while your new big sister turned into a monster. But even she's not as bad as… oh, whoops, said too much." Kai gave his blue doppler a quizzical look, making it sigh in relief. His mirror continued, glad to have apparently avoided saying a secret piece of information, "You can watch everything else as many times as you like."

Kai wasn't sure how many times he watched everything up to today, particularly lingering over his embraces with Jinora, practically watching his interactions with Jinora today obsessively, relishing the feelings Jinora felt with him. Kai opened his eyes after what was to be the final repeat of this most _arousing _segment, idly looking at his hand. "Wait - I'm blue! Blue!" He saw no mirror image now - just endless space. He heard a female voice intone in his head _Good work, Kai - you might recognize my voice from the boat yesterday._ After Kai yelled, "Raava?" and closed his eyes, the voice continued, saying _It's time for you to 'fight', Kai - though your enemy self will look very different than either Kuvira's or Jinshu Kuangmai's. Kuvira was fighting solid metal, Jinshu Kuangmai flesh._

Kai laughed hysterically when he saw his opponent on the other side of the almost pure white sphere. A visage of himself made of golden coins with eyes made from large pieces of jade and luxurious fur for hair was staring in a mirror, admiring its ridiculous form. Kai shot a blast of air at the hilarious caricature, but it dodged the blast while laughing, saying, "I know what will happen if you win, but I'm not going to tell you! I'm just going to waste your time - I know I'm outmatched in this fight."

After a frustrating barrage of air blasts, Kai got an idea, remembering the Beifong medallion from earlier. Kai said loudly, "Mother Suyin Beifong", making the golden fool jump nervously. An odd shoulderpad with the twin labels of Earth and Air etched into it in steel appeared on his shoulder, along with an odd tube that ran comfortably down his arm, forming a glove over his hand. Idly experimenting, he laughed maniacally as he saw a metal slug similar to the shape of the rock he shot at the Kainora bird earlier fly at a high speed from his palm, hitting a "wall" with a satisfying thuck.

Knowing how he'd shatter this golden pest, he yelled, "Have some Beifong steel, you greedy idiot!" as he aimed carefully at the coin Kai's mirror. He loved the sound of the preening moron's mirror shattering, making it curse wildly, finishing, "Now I can't look at my handsome mug, or all the wonderful gold!" Smirking as the pile of coins tried desperately to touch the orb, Kai just riddled his doppler with rapid-fire metal slugs, jumping in for the kill once enough gold was scattered on the floor. With a powerful blast of wind - somehow with both hands - he scattered the coins and fur everywhere, using two final metal slugs to shatter the two jade eyes.

Kai ran over excitedly to the glowing white sphere, eradicating the last of the black on it with his touch and thoughts of Jinora and his new family. He heard a bone-chilling laugh from behind him that Kai recognized from the conference, turning around to see a massive metal form with a dark sphere embedded in its chest, angry red lines forming the symbol for yin and yang on its surface, red lines spreading a short distance from what must have been its "heart".

_Oh, no. What is happening?! Even I don't know what's going on! _Kai didn't like the sound of pure terror in Raava's voice - at all.

The metallic figure moved a massive arm, sweeping it into a blade as he did so, laughing, "Nobody can replace me. Nobody. Prepare to meet your end, Kai 'Beifong' - I know Vaatu didn't bother me for nothing." Thinking quickly, Kai shot two metal slugs into the unsuspecting form's heart, thinking of Jinora as he did so. Only one connected, but it had the desired effect. White lines spread from the impact site, making the metallic monster howl in rage. It clenched its shining metal teeth, apparently using metalbending to heal itself and discard the slug Kai had shot into its heart, saying, "I didn't expect an airbender weakling to go straight for the heart, but no matter. I have another weapon up my sleeve, but I won't use it just yet - I want to play first."

Suddenly connecting the metallic monster's comment about being replaced, the thought that had preceded all this, a particular individual's specialty and Raava's panic, Kai said loudly, "You're a Beifong, aren't you, Jinshu Kuangmai? That's what you meant when you said 'Nobody can replace me' wasn't it?" Given the metal form's howl of rage and the pulsing red lines in its chest, Kai must have been right. Jinshu Kuangmai screamed, "I am NOT a Beifong, you insolent brat! Not any more - Tonga is dead now! Now, prepare to join him!" Fancying he had a better chance against Koh or Long Yumao than against this horrible blood-iron bending monster, Kai had begun to meditate while Jinshu Kuangmai screamed, vanishing just before Jinshu Kuangmai's metal hands could begin moving.

When Kai opened his eyes, he recognized where he was from what Korra infobended to him - Xai Bau's Grove. He saw an older man with a sword standing in front of him, along with a young Water Tribe boy, both familiar somehow. The older man said, "What are you doing here, Kai? Surely, nothing could be worse than Long Yumao or Koh?" Kai shook his head, saying, "Whoever you two are, you're wrong - there is, and his name is Jinshu Kuangmai. Apparently, also Tonga Beifong." The young Water Tribe boy's eyes opened wide, saying, "Wait… what? Toph had a third kid? I… I gotta go, Kai. As much as I'd love to hear more than Bolin's jokes, this place isn't safe. I can deal with Koh, but would rather avoid his nasty friend." As Kai watched the young boy run off, he said, realizing who he was, "Bye, Sokka!" The older man, who must have been Piandao, said, "I too must leave - I may have been a good fighter in my lifetime, but only an Avatar could hope to kill Koh the Face-Stealer, much less his ally, Long Yumao the Opportunist."

As Piandao vanished, Kai heard the sound of many insectoid feet clattering first on rocks, then through water, finally the sound of their points sinking into soft grass. Kai knew what spirit this was, and he pretended he was a particularly stony Dai Li agent, saying to Koh's black and white mask when it finally appeared in front of him, "Hello, Koh. Your reputation precedes you - you won't be stealing my face." Kai didn't even consider laughing when the spirit cursed, saying, "Hello, Kai. I assume your goody-two shoes girlfriend, Jinora, warned you about me." Switching to a serpentine face, Koh hissed, "Why sssso ssseriousss, Kai? Did sssshe finally get you too?" Kai responded coolly, betraying no emotion, "Jinora issssn't as you know her, Koh. She's changed a lot - she's even starting to show sexual feelings and doesn't consider taking life as totally reprehensssible anymore."

Kai smiled internally as he heard Koh curse loudly through the face of a savage monkey, then scream, "I'm supposed to be the one toying with emotions, not some stupid human brat! Maybe Long Yumao will have better luck with you - I'm going to go harass Sokka. I have an old debt to repay him." Kai restrained his laughter until he could no longer hear Koh's many vile legs, apparently taking the next spirit by surprise with his mirth.

As a large serpentine form materialized in front of him, Kai realized he had been right about Koh and Long Yumao compared with Jinshu Kuangmai - Kai didn't find this new foe the least bit scary. Long Yumao screamed through his large beak as his hide danced angrily, "Enough with the laughter, you little scamp! Even the Avatar fears me, mortal! Just who do you think you are?" Kai stood up, saying, "My name's Kai, thank you very much, and Jinshu Kuangmai scares me more than you! Now get lost!" Long Yumao laughed hysterically, saying, "Really, that fool? He may be able to turn his three-year old self into a red mist, but can he do this?"

The spirit's beak opened wide, a large mass of dark energy forming in its maw. Kai easily dodged the cumbersome blast, saying, "At least Jinshu Kuangmai could have landed a strike on me - I'd have to be a moron to get hit by your attack!" Long Yumao began to curse in hatred, but was interrupted by a bright flash of light next to Kai.

As he hugged Jinora while watching the Painted Lady materialize, Kai said, "You did it, Jinora! You got the Painted Lady to join our side!" After they had both watched a fleeing Long Yumao scream, "Not another one! Damn Raava! DAMN HUMAN LOVE!" like a cheesy mover villain, laughing at his cowardice heartily, Jinora said, "I didn't actually do much, Kai - I just inadvertently showed the Painted Lady the vision Aang gave me earlier about a dead planet, along with everything Korra has shown us. She transformed into her new, much bluer form." Apparently, Jinora had heard the sound of frantic insects legs rapidly approaching as well, as she said, "You did a lot more. Let's talk about this outside, before Koh comes back." As Kai and Jinora vanished, the Painted Lady stayed behind, slapping Koh across his favorite masked face, saying, "You two are going to have a lot more trouble now, Koh! I'm getting out of here - I hate your disgusting oily skin!" After the Painted Lady vanished, Koh switched to a very sad face, moaning, "This deal has been a disaster so far - not a single face! Not a one!"

Koh's face changed to that of a savage monkey as he laughed at the noticeably reduced form approaching him, admonishing Long Yumao, "So far, I'm the only one who has come even close to doing anything useful! Look at you - you're slightly smaller now!" Long Yumao made to snap Koh in two, but Koh quickly used his body to wedge Long Yumao's beak open, saying with a laughing human's face, "How about you use your beak to talk and convert more spirits instead of snapping your most powerful ally in two. Rumor has it that the Moon Spirit, Yue, is about to be courted by mortals." Long Yumao said slowly, struggling to speak normally in his compromised position, "Get out of there, you oily freak! You taste disgusting!" Long Yumao asked a cackling Koh, now out of his mouth, "Just how do you know this, Koh?" Koh only began laughing harder, saying, "Unlike you, I don't see humans as pests, and watch what they do - I have my own channels to see and hear the outside world. I'm a much more ancient spirit than you, after all." Koh cackled as Long Yumao cursed and hissed angrily, Koh knowing he had something over the upstart spirit. He also knew that he didn't desire power himself - only faces. And power didn't get him faces.

* * *

When Jinora came to on June's boat, she was relieved to see that they were approaching Kai's body, his jade green eyes open now. While maneuvering the motor and gunning it to counter the strong current of the man-made falls, June said, "I'm glad to see Kai still has a face. I can't wait to hear what happened to him." Jinora looked up at the sky and noticed that the afternoon sun that had been beating down on Jang Hui was significantly lower by now. June must have seen the sun as well, as she took out a fancy train conductor's watch of Earth Kingdom make and said, "It looks like I'll have to wait for the next press conference, if there is one. It's almost 4:00 PM, and if you want to get back to Ember Island without exhausting yourself by nightfall, you'll need to leave quickly."

Jinora realized that even though Jinora had just met - and converted - the Painted Lady, she had to part with her. Jinora had a specific mission in mind for her as she said, "Painted Lady, given that even you were having trouble resisting Long Yumao's pull, I fear that another spirit from my father's father's youth, Hei Bai, may be in trouble as well. If Kuvira damaged his forest in any way, he's probably in his aggressive form already, so you'll need to be cautious." The Painted Lady nodded, saying, "I should be able to get to the Earth Kingdom faster than you might think, Jinora - I'm hoping I can go into the Spirit World and leave through the Republic City Spirit Portal. The barrier Avatar Korra made shouldn't harm or hinder me - not with the new blue lines on my clothes or pulsing change in paint color." Apparently, they had just reached the shore near Kai, as he yelled, "Wait! Can I give you a hug, Painted Lady? It's the least I could do after you helped scare off Long Yumao!" After the boat hit shore, the Painted Lady giggled as Kai hugged her, saying, "I think your hug with Jinora did just as much, Kai - I know Jinora showed me Long Yumao's hatred of human love, but I half expected him to curse me instead of your embrace with Jinora." Jinora joined the hug, blushing again as she said, "I'll project to Tenzin and let my father know of our success here while you enjoy your new ability to see the Painted Lady, Kai."

Jinora smiled as she heard indistinct chatter while sitting down on the shore, focusing on the sound of the water to drown out the conversation. When she began to project herself, she was surprised to see who she was facing. Jinora's gaze was fixed on Katara, who was talking with her son about bloodbending, of all things. Jinora stayed silent, curious to see what Katara was saying.

"I talked with Korra's parents, Senna and Tonraq, before the conference on the legality of bloodbending following their daughter's feat. We decided that it should only be legal for a fully realized Avatar without any major emotional issues to use at any time. The only other group who should be allowed to bloodbend is waterbenders who have been judged worthy by a tuber-vine or Raava, but only for medical use or in extreme emergencies. Under a full moon only, of course," Katara said, finishing by playing with a hair loopy. As Tenzin nodded in agreement, Jinora said gently, "That sounds like a good idea to me, too. Dad, you might want to come up with a similar official code for when an airbender can take life without remorse - you father, Aang, talked to me about just that earlier today, among… other, much more disturbing things." Jinora shuddered, remembering the Painted Lady's look after seeing the vision, as though the spirit had seen billions of beings snuffed out.

Tenzin said with suprise, "Jinora! Given the look on your face, whatever my father showed you must have been pretty disturbing." Her father looked like he was going to try and give Jinora's projection a hug, but he stopped, saying , "Wait - why did he show you, his 14-year old granddaughter, this horrible vision, and not Korra?" Jinora laughed weakly, saying, "This vision he showed me was not one from our world, dad - not even our universe or plane of existence." Jinora wanted to explain what she had seen, but found herself choking up instead, unable to speak… the thousand suns… Tenzin said softly, making the motion assosciated with infobending, "It's okay, sweetie. If you can't talk about what you saw, I'm sure Korra can take a copy of it out with infobending and show everyone else, if she sees fit to do so." Jinora said while weakly laughing, "That reminds me of the reason that Aang didn't show Korra this vision. Apparently, Raava doesn't want to show humans any scientific information they don't know already, but Aang sees it very differently. He was telling me about all sorts of things that I didn't know what they were, 'genes', some long name he shortened to 'DNA', 'Korranium' and 'fusion' being the first."

Tenzin's eyes widened as he said, "I didn't know that spirits had knowledge of the physical realm past our own, let alone other universes, and especially not that Raava has been holding this information back. I can see why, though - suppose Raava had shared knowledge of radios with Avatar Roku, who then told some Fire Nation engineers about radios before his confrontation with Firelord Sozin in the throne room. That would have given the Fire Nation another edge in the war - one it didn't need, I might add." Seeing her father slightly shaken, Jinora said, "Don't worry - this vision and the information I got about 'Korranium' and fusion weapons was a warning, not a detailed technical explanation of how those horrible huge Meesiles I saw worked, all their awful little cones, much less how each cone could incinerate an entire city." Working up her courage a little further, Jinora said through a pained voice, "The vision I saw, dad, was how intelligent beings could destroy their own world using something Aang called 'fusion bombs' as well as Korranium weapons. Think worse than Vaatu winning Harmonic Convergence, but without the help of spirits." Figuring this was a good transition to good news, Jinora said before either her father or Katara could react, "This vision and my ability to share it with the Painted Lady, along with what everyone knows already, was the reason she decided to leave Jang Hui and help Raava in our cause." After both Tenzin and Katara had calmed down enough that they could understand what Jinora had to say next, she finished, "All that the Painted Lady needs now is for Firelord Izumi to continue supply filters for the factory near Jang Hui - if the waters foul, she will lose a good portion of her strength, even though Raava's energy now flows through her."

Jinora waited a while, figuring her father would ask about her spirit infobending, and when he did, she answered, "The Painted Lady told me that I was able to share this vision with her because of what we know to be the recent energy pulse from the Republic City Spirit Portal, and that any sufficiently spiritually advanced person could have done so." Tenzin breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "I guess that's good - one infobender is one too many, at times." Katara laughed and said, "I disagree - strongly. In exchange for information about my love for your father, Korra showed me hers for Asami, and we both learned a lot from it." Before Katara could continue, Tenzin said, "You did WHAT, mother?! Please don't tell me either of you included the physical relations… that's just weird!" Katara laughed deeply, saying, "Oh, come on, Tenzin - don't be such a prude. Both Korra and myself were more interested in the actual feeling of love anyways, not the physical act." Katara continued as Jinora's father's face flushed red, "Your own daughter doesn't even know what a period is, despite having had at least one herself given what little she said to me before Meelo interrupted my attempt at sex ed. I think it's time she learned more of such things, before she gets _first-hand _experience with Kai." Jinora laughed, her cheeks flush, as Tenzin mumbled, "I suppose you're right, mother. I remember my father telling me about how you had to give him advice on sexual matters at times, given his upbringing." Managing to smile, her father said to Jinora, "I want you to start having 'sex ed' lessons with Katara, as it is convenient."

Jinora chuckled nervously, remembering that this was taking real time - she wasn't in the Spirit World, where time sometimes flowed capriciously after the creation of the new Spirit Portal. Most spiritual experiences she had heard of since its creation took real time, while a few were over as soon as they had begun. Dying to know what was the case with Kai's experience, Jinora said, "I'm afraid I won't be seeing Katara in the flesh privately for a while - I fear that Hei Bai may already be corrupted by Long Yumao, given his temper when his home is damaged. His forest's location bordering territory controlled by Kuvira and now Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't help either." Knowing her father would have a fit, she said gently, "I think Kai would be the best person to give me this information for now. He knows what thingies are, and even Korra didn't." Tenzin had the very negative, frustrated reaction Jinora predicted, making Katara laugh wildly, shaking her gray hair loopies. Once Tenzin had calmed down, Jinora said, "Don't worry, dad - Kai has changed a lot today. Given that he can see the Painted Lady now, he must have had a milder version of what Kuvira went through happen to him." Glad to see Tenzin smiling broadly, Jinora finished, "Now, I need to go find out what happened to Kai, and get on our way back to Ember Island. I've already sent the Painted Lady to talk to Hei Bai - hopefully she can reverse whatever corruption he has enough so that both Kai and I can safely talk to him. Remember - Jang Hui needs filters. You should probably explain to Firelord Izumi what has happened after this, dad."

On a much more familiar impulse - one that Jinora realized was close to those she felt before talking to Kai in a sultry voice or proclaiming her love for Kai - she said, "I love you, dad and grandmother Katara!" breaking the connection after she saw their contented reactions. After she broke the connection, Jinora noticed that the Painted Lady was gone, having already left on her first mission of conversion. Even more surprising, she noticed they were rapidly approaching what must have been the mouth of the river that Jang Hui sat on. Seeing her eyes were now open, Kai said, "There you are, Jinora! That seemed awfully long for just telling Tenzin Firelord Izumi needs to keep some filters changed." Jinora's cheeks blushed, remembering the talk of sex ed as she said, "I'll explain what happened later, Kai - I want to hear your story first." Apparently, June had stopped by her houseboat on the way to the delta and its strange high grasses sitting in volcanic soil, as June held out two cups of cold tea. As Kai and Jinora drank, Jinora recognized a sweet taste from the tea at the conference along with an odd jolt of energy.

Jinora's eyes widened slightly, and given June's reaction, that was what was supposed to happen. June said, smiling slightly, "I dabble a little with making different teas, and that one has a lot more caffeine than normal in it, along with something I discovered that has the opposite effect of shirshu poison." Jinora said with a frown, "I hope this little something extra isn't anything illegal - my dad will give me the lecture of my life!" June said with a serious look on her face, "All it does is keep you from falling asleep for a good time, or even getting tired. It's an extract from the freshwater kelp under the village - I was bored one day and boiled it like it was tea, drank it, and didn't feel sleepy for another five to six hours." Kai said as he finished his cup of tea, "I'll have to tell Varrick about this - it sounds like this kelp tea could be useful in keeping people who need to be awake and alert from nodding off, like Korra or soldiers." June smiled broadly, saying, "I've used it for a long time, and it does not seem addictive - I can stop without any ill side effects." Jinora sighed in relief as June rummaged through her bags, producing a bag with odd plants in it. While Jinora recognized their color from earlier, she didn't know what they were until June explained, "I figured that you would find these useful. I had some _holdfasts _stored in fresh water that a nice young man cut for me a few days ago, and I hope that if you put these on the bottom of a fresh, flowing lake like the one under Jang Hui, you can grow some of these plants yourself." Jinora touched one of these holdfasts, and was surprised at how wet it was. June said, as she put it back into the bag, "You're going to need to wet the bag in fresh water as you go, Jinora - I don't think it would survive being dried out."

As Jinora finished her tea, her eyes widening as she did so and a wonderful feeling of invincibleness permeated her being, June warned, "You'll still need to make some breaks along the way, even though you probably feel as energetic as Korra in the Avatar State right now. Eat this sushi I packed, then we'll need to part - hopefully I don't pass away before the Painted Lady or either of you come back." Not wanting to think about June dying, even though she was quite old, Jinora dug in to the sushi with gusto, realizing she was actually savoring the sweet taste of the fish's flesh as she did so. When she finished, she realized she didn't feel any more alert, despite having just eaten this… June kelp. Jinora asked after she licked her lips, "Why does eating this June kelp not make me more alert, June?" June laughed, saying, "It's not my kelp - it's Jang Hui's. To answer your question, for some reason, its unique compound only comes out if you boil it, the compound staying in the water."

Jinora said as Kai finished the last of his sushi, "I hate to leave you, June, but we need to be back at Ember Island by nightfall, especially if we want to talk to Korra about what myself and Kai accomplished today. I wish you good health." As Jinora buttoned her wingsuit into flying position, June said, "While I hope I live to see you, the Painted Lady and Kai again, maybe I will be lucky enough to be immortalized as Uncle Iroh was, given all my changes since Nyla's death. I know she should be there, waiting for me - there's a phrase that I love: 'There are no bad pets, only bad owners.'" Jinora wanted to say something about Raava's hope for a changed order for human spirits after the Spirit Civil War, but stopped - given what June had said, she might not have much time left.

Jinora instead just gave the sad old woman a big hug along with Kai, Jinora saying, "I'm sure Uncle Iroh will vouch for you, June - if Piandao or my granduncle Sokka can join Uncle Iroh, I'm sure you can too. Katara told me about Bolin's 'training' on the boat a little bit." June's tired eyes glistened as she chuckled, saying, "You'll have to tell me how that goofball Sokka got immortalized as a spirit - but another time. As much as I hate to break this hug, you two have a schedule to meet, the Jang Hui kelp is drying out and this brackish water wouldn't be good for it."

Jinora took the sack of Jang Hui kelp, her wingsuit somehow keeping the water off her skin, while Kai took a pack with some bottled tea and sushi logs in it. As Jinora took off, she noticed that her airbending was more powerful than normal, and given June's clapping, that was another unmentioned side effect. She asked Kai while on the wing, "Why don't you go first, Kai? My story is a lot more depressing!" Jinora noticed that even though the wind around her was stronger, she could still hear herself talk. Kai said as he turned towards an approaching island, "That bag is looking a little dry, Jinora - why don't I talk while you get it wet?"

As Jinora followed Kai, she looked at the island they were approaching with awe. It had many large palm trees, a central clear spring, and there were even spirits near the water. Most of them were small, but a larger one that had the head of a shark whale, humanoid arms and a tail was swimming around the pool intently. Noting that there were angry red lines on the larger spirit's head, Jinora cautiously snuck up to the water after she landed and put her hand into it, surprised to find that it was cool. Forgetting herself, Jinora bent over and cupped her hands, taking multiple drinks of the cool, refreshing water. When she looked up, the big spirit was next to her, baring its sharklike teeth through fleshy lips as its round mammalian eyes glowed red and yellow in anger, its "fingers" strumming the oasis' edge.

Jinora said, "How can I help you, spirit?" in a friendly tone, figuring that politeness couldn't hurt. The odd spirit opened its mouth, showing its second, red-edged set of teeth as it said in a rough voice, "You can help me by leaving this island, Jinora, granddaughter of Avatar Aang. While I may not like that arrogant serpent of a spirit Long Yumao myself, I like how 'human-y' Raava is becoming even less." Using a scaled hand to point at the mix of normal and blue, happier spirits circling above, he continued, "As you can see, no one here shares my distaste, and I would highly appreciate it if you and your boyfriend Kai just left the island. I want to continue swimming to distract myself from their grating glee." Crossing his arms angrily, closing his eyes and letting some steam out of his blowhole, the spirit finished, "And don't think you can change my mind like you did with the Painted Lady. If this island is turned to glass, I'll just find another one, somewhere else, even if I lose my special pool. It's not like anyone has used it in thousands of years anyways."

Obviously, whatever this spirit knew of what Jinora had shown the Painted Lady was not complete - he didn't even understand what people used to think was the Avatar's main purpose properly! Given his talk about thousands of years, he must have been very old- and out of date. Jinora said, while standing up and bowing, "With all due respect, spirit, part of Korra's job as the Avatar _is _to teach the Avatar Spirit, what we now know to be Raava, what it is like to be human." One eye opened, revealing the red and yellow eye again - though Jinora was pleased to see that it was not as angry a red now, and the yellow was weak. The spirit sighed as the red on his body matched the muter red of his eye, saying, "My name is Sharktar, and given how decidedly un-spiritual the Fire Nation has been for most of recent history, no one knows of me very well. Until Avatar Korra opened the portals, I even avoided appearing to humans at all, disgusted by their lack of reverence and destructive behavior. I spent all of my time during the 100 Year's War in the Spirit World." Finally uncrossing his arms and opening his other eye, he finished, "My memories of human's actions in the past were the main reason Raava's changed nature put me off enough for my changed appearance. I'll let you soak your bag in this pool's water, Jinora - I don't have anything against some plants."

As Jinora submerged the bag of Jang Hui kelp in the waters, she noticed that one holdfast had a small bud on it that was definitely not there before - and growing. As Jinora removed the bag in a panic, Sharktar laughed, saying, "Thousands and thousands of years ago, when this island was still open to humans, usually they loved that side effect - accelerated growth. I got a lot of young couples, most your age and younger. They were eager to skip ahead through what you mortals call 'puberty' so they could have more human relations with one another, or start a family." Seeing a parallel, Jinora said softly, "I guess that's something you and Raava share in common - you've both helped humans have children when they couldn't normally." The red color gradually turning back to the proper markings of a shark-whale as he spoke, Sharktar said, "I had forgotten that part of what Raava did for the current Avatar. I don't have a very good short-term memory, Jinora - why don't you refresh it for me?"

As Sharktar leaned his head forward and clamped his lips shut over his teeth, Jinora was still nervous, remembering his initial hostility. Jinora just wanted to let the spirit know what happened, and did not care for or even want to take advantage of his pool's gift, though she knew Kai would feel differently most likely. She placed her hand on Sharktar's rubbery forehead anyways, imparting the information she thought relevant to his own nature. When she removed her hand, she was not surprised to see he looked much as he had before, but his smile took Jinora by surprise - especially the teeth.

Sharktar said, pointing to a figure over Jinora's shoulder, "It seems like your boyfriend, Kai, has something to say to you. But before you do, I will say this: from what you showed me, the oasis is back open, though I would strongly suggest you keep your little brother, Meelo, away from it, from what I saw of him." Sharktar laughed as Jinora and Kai did, saying, "I think the only romantic relationship he's ready for is one with something you let slip: a 'Ferocious Lemur' fighter plane." Kai laughed harder as Jinora slapped herself on the forehead, asking, "Just what else slipped, Sharktar?"

Before he sank below into the seemingly endless depths of the spring, the spirit said with a sharp grin, "That's for me to know, and you to find out. I'll be back, should you decide to drink of this pool. To assist - unmeasured doses can have… unintended side effects. Let's just say if you drank as deeply after my change of heart as you did of its waters as you did earlier, Jinora, you'd be as old as Korra is." Just before his head vanished, he paused, saying through a pointy smile, "And probably naked, given how small your clothes are."

Kai laughed at what Sharktar had said as Jinora envisioned herself at the age of 22. Jinora found she just looked like a taller, stronger, curvier version of herself, though with some notable _extra _growth in the chest and hips, as well as an adult face. Opening her eyes, a good portion of her wanted to drink of the pool as she had before, but she remembered something her father had told her: "Life is not about the end of the road, it's about the steps you take and sights you see on it." When she told Kai this, he said with a smile, "Come on, Jinora - just a tiny drink? If for nothing else, just to make sure we can handle ourselves in battle better. I'm not exactly an imposing presence, you know." Jinora shook her head, saying, "I don't know - even if I aged to just 16, I don't know if I could handle my new body, given how much trouble a 14-year old body is causing me." Kai shook his head from side to side, saying, "You're right, Jinora - in my excitement for myself getting bigger, and possibly seeing an older you naked right now, I forgot you're having trouble as is."

Jinora said, "That's very considerate of you, Kai - you don't even know your real age and you're willing to forego a drink from this pool, all because of me." She blushed after and felt good in a way that made her seriously consider taking a drink again - she could see why Asami was so crazy for Korra. The feelings down there were just amazing. This desire must have been enough to bring Sharktar to the surface again, as she heard his gravelly voice warn, "Keep in mind this is irreversible. I do not believe there is a fountain of youth, Jinora, so you need to - hey, what are you doing, Kai? Did you forget I have all these teeth or something?" Jinora turned to see Kai knocked on his back, saying weakly, "Sorry, Sharktar, about trying to grab your head- I just figured you might be able to tell me my real age, given what you told Jinora about needing precise amounts of water. I'm an orphan." As Kai stood up, the spirit held out a scaly hand, saying, "Sure, Kai - you should have just asked. Just put your palm in my 'hand'." About 10 second after Kai did so, her boyfriend grinning widely, the spirit said, "It looks like your estimate was right, Kai. You are roughly 13 and a half years old biologically, though you're a lot older mentally and emotionally - most of that progress being very recent."

Remembering the image that Jinora somehow knew was accurate, she asked Sharktar, "Could you make Kai my age, 14 and a bit over, without busting his clothes or wingsuit? I figure with all his progress today he deserves some kind of big present." Sharktar laughed, saying with a final air, "I don't think that would be a good idea, Jinora - from what I could tell, given my specialty and the pool's waters, he'd probably rip most of his wingsuit except the pelvis area."

Half forgetting why they had come in the first place, Jinora said, waving goodbye, "We've got to go now, Sharktar - we'll make sure to tell people about your pool, if that's what you want!" Sharktar nodded his head, saying, "Thank you, Jinora - though something tells me Asami and Korra's children will have no need for my services." After the spirit disappeared and Jinora had put the island's location on a piece of paper, Kai followed Jinora as she took off towards the next island.

As they flew from island to island, periodically re-wetting the Jang Hui kelp holdfasts in fresh water, Jinora decided to break the serene silence by saying, "Part of what I experienced earlier was a very detailed vision - one from another planet on another plane of existence entirely. I don't want to describe it - it was too painful." Kai said, "Okay - I guess that means you want me, and just me to talk on the way back then." Jinora responded, barely avoiding choking up as she saw one of those awful suns overtaking Republic City when she closed her eyes, "Yes - I just saw a related, very disturbing image when I closed my eyes just now. Why don't you start with whatever personal breakthrough you had." Kai laughed, saying, "Your father is going to find part of this whole thing hilarious, Jinora - but I won't spoil it. I'll start with what I was trying to meditate on earlier today."

Jinora listened in rapt attention, periodically interrupting to ask questions. When Kai mentioned the thought that whispered in his head that would be important later, Jinora asked, "Who are the two sons? Toph only had two daughters, and I don't think Bataar Jr. has gone insane or turned on us - just yet. I didn't like how irrational he acted towards Kuvira, especially after seeing what she went through." Kai just laughed, saying, "You're going to just have to wait, Jinora - let's just say a certain individual is probably regretting his hubris right now, and it's not Long Yumao."

Listening to Kai as she touched down on yet _another_ island and dunked the bag into some fresh water, Jinora was thankful for the tea June had given them to drink earlier. She didn't feel tired at all, despite having covered a great distance, even with the delay at Sharktar's oasis. When he finished describing the seemingly endless first cycle of pleasure and pain, she asked, "Just how long were you in there, Kai? It didn't seem like I was talking with the Painted Lady _that _long." Kai grinned as he finished a sushi roll, saying through his partially full mouth, "I don't know - everything felt like it was taking place in real time. It sounds to me like you took a longer than you think you did with the Painted Lady - showing her what you know about the past four days plus that vision must have taken a long time."

Once they had left the island, Jinora having devoured a sushi roll while she began to feel her "vegetarianism" slipping before leaving, Kai said, "The way you ate that sushi roll… it certainly doesn't seem like you're a vegetarian anymore." Jinora laughed into the wind, her hearing still heightened enough to carry on a conversation while in flight. As she said, "I figure if it's okay to kill, it's okay to eat meat, as long as the animal is killed humanely," she could taste the sweet fish flesh in her mouth, adding, "Why would Raava make fish so good if it's bad to eat?" Turning her head enough to see Kai's face, she smiled to see his happy expression as he said, "Sounds like something you need to tell your father - I'm sick of how some of the airbenders look at me when I eat meat!" Knowing she wasn't interested in just the new taste sensation that was meat, Jinora said, "Can you continue with your story? I want to hear more!"

Kai blushed slightly, saying, "This is one of the parts I'm most embarrassed about - Team Avatar finding me and my horrible behavior!" As Jinora listened, she was surprised that whoever "ran the show" saw fit to include the suffering of rich Upper Ring residents - she had always considered the super-rich to be not wholly human. As she thought about it, she realized this was one of her father's teachings - Varrick had been reprehensible at first, but he eventually came around. Even Hiroshi Sato had redeemed himself in the end, and his daughter was both rich and morally unimpeachable.

Kai must have noticed the pensive look on her face, as he said, "What - didn't your dad teach you that the rich are people like the rest of us?" Jinora said with an angry look, "No - I remember him and my mother Pema confiscating some Air Acolyte's property as a lesson on avarice, even though he earned the money he bought it with… even if he did take advantage of the other person." Jinora sighed as she swept towards an island with fresh water without consciously doing so, "At the time, I agreed with their actions, but after hearing your story about those rich people who got booted out of the Upper Ring by Earth Queen Hou-Ting, and realizing that Varrick and Asami are rich but still good people…" When she landed, some tears came to her eyes as she said, "Everything used to be black and white, good and evil for me, Kai - but over the past four years, I've seen that the idealistic philosophy of the Air Nomads is out of date. It lacks color, definition - most importantly, judgment." Kai hugged her tightly, making sure not to squash either's packs, saying, "Maybe that's what you're meant to do, Jinora - lead the Air Nation into a new age. One with less black and white, and more color."

Remembering something she had seen Korra do to Asami many times, Jinora said, "That sounds good to me, Kai - and when we're ready, I'll help you repopulate," punctuating the last part with a grab to his butt. Kai blushed deeply as another body part filled with blood, saying, "Sounds good to me too - maybe we'll need to pay Sharktar and his island a visit after all," as Jinora savored her boyfriend and his little friend. Remembering the vision of a 22-year old self, Jinora said, "Yeah - I think we'll both enjoy each other a lot more in mature bodies. I looked amazing!" Kai looked glum - apparently he had never gotten to see his older self, much less hers. Remembering what her father had said about journeys, she added, "Let's agree that we'll only drink of Sharktar's pool after we feel a much stronger attachment to each other, okay?" Kai nodded his head, adding, "You still have a lot to learn about sex anyways, Jinora - you might know what gets excited on my body, but you haven't said its name yet."

Some part of Jinora, one her father had tried his best to squash, couldn't resist. Breaking the embrace and pointing at Kai's _crotch_, she said "Penis!" She laughed wildly after Kai fainted, savoring the sensation _finally _saying the word gave her, having to wake him back up with multiple slaps to the face with the wet, cool bag. Kai rubbed his face, saying, "Where did THAT come from, Jinora? Even Asami doesn't call Korra's equipment by its proper name, from what little Korra showed me on accident!" Jinora giggled like a little, dirty girl, saying, "Well, maybe she should! I liked the feeling I got when I said 'penis'." Before Kai could faint again, Jinora blasted him with air to wake him up, saying, "It feels good to be a girl first and foremost instead of the daughter of Tenzin or an airbender, for once. I feel light, like some weight has been lifted off my soul."

Kai was rubbing his eyes, as though he had sipped cactus juice earlier. He stammered, "I d-d-don't care what June said about that tea, Jinora - I think I'm hallucinating! When you said that last sentence…you…" Kai didn't say anything for about two minutes, and Jinora couldn't stand it anymore, asking loudly, "What did you see, Kai? You're looking at me like I'm Zaheer or something!" Kai said, shaking his head, "Definitely the 'or something' - given you are starting to embrace your physical passions, I don't think you entered the void." Laughing loudly, Kai said, "You said a 'naughty' word in a very non-Air Nomad way, twice - penis!" Jinora felt light when she heard Kai say her new favorite word, and given his surprised yelp, _something _must have happened.

Jinora looked down at her feet, and was confused - she didn't remember trying to fly off, but her soles were clearly not on the ground. On a silly whim, she tried to fly around much as Zaheer might have, but she didn't move - just hover slightly higher. Shaking her head and feeling her feet hit the ground this time, she said to a stunned Kai, "Whatever 'this' is, it's obviously not what Zaheer did. He let go his earthly tether, while I'm starting to embrace it - and not just in a physical way." Seeing Kai's look of utter bafflement, Jinora said, "In any case, it's pretty weak right now, and of no real use. I'll make sure to mention it when it seems relevant, but no sooner - it's too early to say if I found another, less 'costly' way to fly like Zaheer did."

Not really wanting to think of losing Kai lest she scare him even more and take off for real, she said, "Why don't we use our _wingsuits _to fly again, Kai - and stop looking at me like I'm going to steal your breath or poison Korra with mercury! You're creeping me out." Jinora crossed her arms in a huff, feeling vaguely annoyed when Kai broke her foul mood by hugging her. Kai said, cradling her chin, "I'm sorry, Jinora - I just didn't know what to think when I saw your feet leave the ground like that. I'm sorry." As Jinora pressed her face into Kai's brown hand, she heard him yelp again, saying, "Okay, I think we know how it works now! Now let's just fly normally - this gives me the creeps still, sorry or not!"

Jinora said, laughing, "I guess it's going to be sooner rather than later, Kai - it's not like I can never think of you again. Especially if you're talking to me about a transformative personal experience." Kai took a deep breath, letting out a contented sigh, finally laughing, "I can't wait until whatever you call this is stronger - the reaction from Zaheer would be priceless." Jinora laughed, saying in her best impersonation, "You foolish little girl, you're supposed to let go your earthly tether, not embrace it! I'm not an Air Nomad, but I still think I am one! Guru Laghima said this isn't possible, so I won't believe my own eyes." Hearing Kai laugh just made her feel even lighter, though she didn't want to experiment with flying - just yet.

As Jinora and Kai took off from the island using their _wingsuits _and not whatever Jinora was going to call this, she couldn't help but notice her flying was much better than usual. In fact, it felt almost impeccable, as though only an Air Nation Avatar in the Avatar State could fly better using a wingsuit. This ease just made listening to the rest of Kai's story all the easier.

Jinora really like his description of the positive portion of his vision, especially how he obsessed over her feelings. When he got to the part about his golden doppler, she nearly dropped from the sky in laughter, but stopped above the water's surface. Kai was too busy laughing to notice or care, but Jinora decided to experiment and think about how Kai had savored her own feelings, and actually felt herself rising higher and higher. When she tried to direct her movement, however, she just dropped back down, closer to the sea.

Kai must have been watching after all, since he said, "Man - when do I get to do that?!" Jinora laughed, saying, "Given how I really don't know what let me do this half-baked flying anyways, I have no clue." As she thought of Kai again, he met her rising form and hugged her tightly, saying, "Whatever this is, it's a lot better than entering the void. Let's go - I still have a lot to tell you."

Jinora flew next to Kai, practically memorizing his every word. She laughed at his quips to the hilarious golden Kai, and howled with laughter when the golden idiot's mirror shattered and his response. As Kai described how he shattered the jade eyes, Jinora didn't like the fear in his voice. Before he could continue, she asked confusedly, "Wait - you just defeated your dark, or should I say, golden self. Why is your voice quaking?"

Kai took a deep breath, slowly starting to tell Jinora about what happened next with fear in his eyes. She felt herself stop forcefully and hover, and she hugged Kai tight as he talked about what happened through tears. Jinora said, through tears of her own, "His black heart, with what must have been Vaatu's red for lines… and how he spoke of getting a message from Vaatu, and being able to bend even though he had obviously not physically entered your vision…" Kai's face froze, in total silence. Jinora said, pointing at a nearby island, "I think I need to meditate a little, and get some answers. I might even be paying Zaheer a visit." Jinora didn't even notice that she was moving horizontally towards the island - she was too busy thinking of what might have happened, had Kai not escaped somehow. He hadn't even gotten past Jinshu Kuangmai's last line yet - "I have another weapon up my sleeve, but I won't use it just yet - I want to play first." The last five words chilled her heart.

When she and Kai landed softly on the island, Kai began meditating as well, needing to collect himself. Jinora took a deep breath and quickly joined him - her first contact would be Raava herself, hopefully. When she opened her eyes, she was in a sea of pumping blood, odd red shapes passing by, staring at Raava's human-y form. Looking around, she saw a vast cavern of emptiness walled by contracting, pulsating muscle, with strange pieces of sinew and constant beating, beating, beating. Jinora stared for quite some time, taking in her surroundings, what must have been Korra's heart - the real thing was much better than any textbook on anatomy she had ever seen.

Raava said, pointing to what looked like a massive valve, "Welcome, Jinora, to Korra's heart. I can sense you have some very important information for me - information that I would not dare share with Korra, given her struggles with Dark Korra of late. Plus, she's about to speak soon, and I don't want to bother her." Jinora said, "I'll let her explain what happened through infobending or manually, and I will let her take the vision Aang saw fit to show me that you didn't." Raava looked angry at first, but she took a deep breath, saying, "I only cut him off when what he was saying was irrelevant. Psssh, making movers about another universe using his endless knowledge… typical. Anyways, you look troubled, Jinora - and in multiple ways. Fill me in."

Jinora said, "Kai just finished telling me that not only can Jinshu Kuangmai and Vaatu somehow communicate, but that when Kai was undergoing a transformative experience of his own, Jinshu Kuangmai somehow managed to get into his 'vision'." As Raava gasped in horror at the first part and the teapot around her neck laughed maniacally, Jinora added, "And, somehow, given a threat that Jinshu Kuangmai made to Kai, his metal armblade and how he repaired the damage to his dark heart, he could even _bend_." The teapot began laughing even more intently, one of its clasps actually opening and a little black and red form poking its "head" out.

Raava was silent as Vaatu said proudly, "I may be weak right now, but Jinshu Kuangmai? He is strong, very strong. His _human_ attraction to my energy lets me communicate with him in a very limited way, but even then, he has learned the art of dark meditation from me." Raava was too shocked to close the teapot, letting Vaatu continue, "Dark meditation is when a human who is most closely aligned with my own energy meditates on their dark feelings, usually towards a particular person they hate. I was surprised at first that Jinshu Kuangmai was able to dark meditate well enough to retain his bending in Kai's little 'vision'. That must have been his own human energy's doing, as I am still too weak to give anything other than information." Vaatu cackled menacingly, "I have no qualms about sharing information that mortal science does not yet know with Jinshu Kuangmai, unlike this girly fool." Raava finally shut the horrible spirit up by clasping his head back in, saying, "I had never told anyone before this, but Unalaq used a similar technique to contact Vaatu, using his hatred for how unspiritual humans were back then, particularly the Southern Water Tribe. Vaatu could still do some damage with Jinshu Kuangmai's help - he knows as much as I do, including secrets not known to man."

Jinora bowed, saying, "Thank you, Raava - now I must go ask another individual an important question: Zaheer." Raava waved her hands wildly, saying, "Wait! Don't try to contact him in the Spirit World - you know what he did to Aiwei!" Jinora said curtly, "I have a question for him on the power of flight. I will see you or your host, Korra, tonight." She broke the connection immediately, not wanting to hear what Raava had started to say about Korranium - the hurt of Aang's vision was still too raw.

When she opened her eyes, she turned to face Kai and make sure he still had a face. Now it was her turn to faint - he was hovering, his face flushed with a huge smile! When Kai slapped her awake with the wet Jang Hui kelp bag much as she had earlier, he said, "I tried meditating on my relationship with you, then actually said _vagina _out loud a few times with enthusiasm and no shame, 'meditating' on my love for you at the same time. Given your reaction, you saw it worked." He laughed with a smile, saying, "When I closed my eyes again, having opened them in shock when I left the ground, I was greeting by a half blue and black, and half red and black owl who called himself Wan Shi Tong. He had one blue eye, one yellow - as though he was torn." Jinora said, "I know that spirit, as did my grandfather - I'm surprised he wasn't fully red and in his serpentine form, yellow eyes blazing." Kai said, "He did sound rather angry, but his curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know how I was hovering in the physical world. When I told him I didn't exactly know, and explained what I had been meditating on and my words, he laughed deeply, saying, 'Maybe Long Yumao is wrong after all. If human love and the embracing of physical passions can mimic the power of entering the void, he's on the wrong side. I accept this new decidedly 'earthy' airbending technique as a valid pass to my library.'" Kai stopped as he saw Jinora's widening eyes, so Jinora pleaded, "Please, continue!"

Kai made a show of going back and forth in front of Jinora, smiling happily as he floated and said, "After it materialized, I looked around his library and found all sorts of interesting information. When I went to the 'war' section of the library, at first he swelled into this huge, scary red-lined form with evil yellow eyes, but then he shrunk back to normal size and said, eyes still yellow and lines angry red, 'You better have a very good reason for looking in that wing, Kai! Speak, before I kick you out, or worse!' I explained Kuvira's use of spirit vines as weaponry and how she has a successor who is even more ruthless and the red vanished completely, replaced by black." Kai laughed, saying, "Then, he turned to a little fox and yelled, 'Why didn't you information seekers tell me this! First, Jinora's radio, then spirit weapons? This is unacceptable!' When the fox whimpered pathetically and it looked like Wan Shi Tong was going to bite him, on some impulse I jumped between them and took the blow. His peck hurt a lot." Jinora interrupted, saying, "Awww, you tried to help one of his cute foxes! Was he mad?"

Kai shook his head vigorously, rubbing a large bruise Jinora hadn't see before on his arm, saying, "No - he was shocked by my protection of what he saw as an incompetent spirit. He actually turned blue, like the Painted Lady, after saying something about selflessness, Avatar Wan and a cat-deer! Wan Shi Tong said he wanted to return his library to the surface when the Spirit Civil War was done." Jinora could hardly believe it, stammering excitedly, "R-r-really?" Kai nodded his head, saying, "Apparently, he thinks that humans are more worthy of knowledge than Long Yumao is or any of the spirits that follow him, given Long Yumao's _limited interests_. He said in a huff, 'Long Yumao doesn't like any knowledge in my library except that in the war wing and spirit wing. I always hated that. At least Raava is curious about _everything_ mortal now'. Wan Shi Tong actually laughed, saying, 'Especially coitus.'" Jinora shared Raava's curiosity, but knew she could do nothing more than hug Kai suggestively over his stomach - for now. As she felt a welcome feeling in her own _vagina_, she hugged kai tighter, saying, "I never knew words could be so freeing." Jinora liked the feeling of love in her chest even better.

Ignoring Jinora's excited embrace and somehow knowing what word Jinora meant, given his wide grin, Kai continued, "I convinced him to put the library near Republic City instead of the Si Wong Desert, telling him that Jinshu Kuangmai would probably control the desert by the Spirit Civil War's end." Jinora could still hardly believe it - the last time she saw Wan Shi Tong, he was with Unalaq, and very grumpy! Jinora blushed, saying, "And I thought convincing the Painted Lady to join our side was a major victory. Did he say anything else?" Kai looked vaguely disappointed, saying, "When I asked him if any airbender could do this technique, he said, 'Hmmmm… I am afraid not, Kai. Given that only two people managed to fly by entering the void, it is logical to think that only a few can do so by strengthening their earthly tether properly. Even the individual known as 'Opal' may have some trouble, though not with being earthy.' When I laughed, he said, 'I can only make conjecture, but from what little I know, Opal's relationship with Bolin doesn't exactly seem equal. This would likely serve as a block.' I asked him how he knew about Opal and Bolin and he gave the fox behind me a glare, saying with flaring blue eyes, 'Apparently, _some_ of my information seekers find human relationships more important than spirit weapons. But no matter - I know now, thanks to you.'"

Jinora didn't feel like laughing - she just said, "Wan Shi Tong is right - Opal can be sort of bossy with Bolin at times - it must run in Beifong genes and DNA." Seeing Kai's confused look, Jinora added, "Sorry, I forgot you haven't finished your own story, let alone heard mine." Wanting to add some levity, Jinora said, "I don't think we'll have that control problem, what with you being adopted and my own changes today. Especially this one," she finished, grabbing Kai's rear. Even as Kai hugged her back, Jinora felt slightly disappointed still - even if her father tired, tried, tried, Jinora could do something he couldn't again. Given how Tenzin had tried to raise Jinora to be a proper Air Nomad, she doubted he ever could strengthen his earthly tether in an _earthy_ enough manner. Jinora knew you couldn't just say "penis" or "vagina" and fly - you had to really like the words and say them enthusiastically! Otherwise, saying either one would just be describing a piece of anatomy, like reading a school book, and there would be no freeing effect. At all.

Jinora said, feeling less disappointed after thinking the wonderful words, "I think I might just know how this new kind of flight works, Kai - you have to say sexual words with enthusiasm and without shame, something completely contradictory to what we have been taught being an airbender means. This lightens some acquired or taught burden on your soul, letting you float like a feather, no longer burdened by shame for your passions." Jinora laughed hysterically as Kai repeated his new favorite word at least ten times and laughing in glee, rising as he did so and taking her along for the ride, his cheeks flush with exhilaration and arousal. When he was done, he said while grabbing Jinora's chin, "I don't think saying the word vagina with enthusiasm and without shame was my problem. I never had anyone to think about while saying it that I loved - until I met you." Jinora's chest felt so good, she didn't notice any other feelings - emotional or physical. When they came back down, Jinora sighed deeply, hugging him, continuing her internal train of thought where she had left off.

Opal wouldn't be able to join Jinora and Kai until the flaws in Opal's own relationship were gone. After realizing Jinora hadn't started levitating until she finally stopped beating around the bush and called Kai's penis its proper name two times, she even had doubts about Korra. Given what Kai had told Jinora about how neither Korra nor Asami felt comfortable talking about _vaginas _during _sex, _of all things_, _Jinora knew it might take a while for Korra to fly - she had been raised mainly by the White Lotus, who were just as pre-occupied by spirituality as Jinora's father was. From what she understood, Korra's parents either never got enough time to talk with Korra in earnest about sex, or were fairly conservative themselves - maybe both.

Loving these words and knowing she didn't need to talk to Zaheer anymore, Jinora smiled, saying, "I doubt my dad could ever be earthy enough about it to fly, but maybe once my father sees us soaring together, he can strengthen his own earthly tether enough to be more fun." Grabbing Kai's butt and feeling herself rise off the ground, Jinora said, "Especially when he has grandchildren." Jinora felt the same strong feeling in her chest, and given Kai's playful grab of her _breast_, he did too. She said it out loud, proud - "_Breast_! Screw propriety!" Kai laughed as he said, "Agreed! If Raava didn't want me to grab, why does it feel so nice?" Jinora giggled, cooing "I'm glad you like it too!" as she felt a new sensation run down her spine. Neither noticed they were now high above the small island, too intent on each other.

It felt so good, to finally be more girl than airbender. Just now feeling the wind, she hugged Kai tighter and he returned the favor by massaging her breast, Jinora cursing her wingsuit's existence. Jinora said seriously, "All my life, I've been taught that spirituality is the be-all and end-all, but that's wrong. Just look at where our earthly tether got us." Jinora sighed, saying, "At times, Kai, I've felt more spirit than human - maybe that was part of the reason people found me annoying." Kai removed his hand to give her a proper hug, saying gently, "Yes, I think you're right - but we wouldn't be flying if you were still the same serious teenager you were a few days ago." Jinora kissed him, asking, "You want to finish your story now, Kai? I think we can just fly, hugging, as you finish."

The love she felt made it so she didn't wince once as Kai told the rest of his story without fear, except when she learned that Jinshu Kuangmai was actually Toph's secret wayward son, Tonga Beifong. Jinora felt what must have been Toph's hurt just by knowing, crying bitterly. Jinora said, hugging Kai tightly as they approached what must have been Ember Island, "I've seen what love running out can do to a planet, Kai - but in some ways, seeing what love running out can do to a person is more disturbing." Kai said, pointing to the island, "We're almost there, Jinora - you can show Korra what you saw, and then she can show everyone else. You won't have to carry that vision's burden alone much longer."

Jinora and Kai had made sure to hide their new flying as they approached, finishing their trip normally. They both agreed they wanted to save it to show one person Jinora knew would _definitely _be able to join them, if she could just say the magic word properly: Korra.

Jinora and Kai made record time, arriving back at Ember Island rapidly after Jinora stopped crying. They even beat Korra and Mako back, crashing what must have been a long, drawn-out braintrust meeting, Kai staring at the massive metallic forms in the room in wonder. Jinora handed off the Jang Hui kelp to an excited Varrick after Jinora explained what it could do, Jinora's aunt Kya purifying some seawater to wet it again.

After Jinora had devoured a _delicious _shark whale steak, she couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't dropped vegetarianism earlier. It wasn't as if the shark whale was innocent, after all - it wanted to sink the Zhu Li and probably eat everyone on board!

As other, decidedly non-military matters were talked about, Jinora started crying again - but these were happy tears, in the end.

Jinora couldn't help but idly wonder, as she listened to everyone explain their work once all had said their piece about events at the braintrust meeting, if Korra was as comfortable with her body as Jinora was now with hers.


	36. Chapter 36: The Braintrust

Chapter 36:The Braintrust

As Asami left the room she shared with Korra, she snuck a look over her shoulder, smiling to see Korra opening her locket, apparently staring at Asami's naked image with rapt attention. Wanting to look at her own locket in peace before she got down to business with the other members of the brain trust, Asami ran off to a nearby bathroom, laughing when she heard Korra yell a particular dirty word loudly and then laugh with glee. Asami didn't have any idea what to make of the bonk sound or Korra's odd confused outburst, especially the loud whump and curse that followed Korra's attempt to clear her head.

Remembering Shiro Shinobi's radio skills, Asami put her necklace back on and headed to Shiro Shinobi's tent. There wasn't enough room inside Zuko's house for Shiro Shinobi to try and set up a more powerful radio transmitter using bits and pieces he had managed to cobble together since the conference. He had begun his work as soon as he wasn't needed for the conference, wanting to busy himself and take his mind off his immense personal loss, and given the rings under his eyes he'd been working a long time. Asami actually had to cough gently to get his attention - someone had gotten him some very high quality equipment and he seemed lost in fascination.

Asami said politely, once Shiro Shinobi was looking at her, "Do you want a hug, Shiro Shinobi? It looks like you could use one." At first, he shook his head, but stopped suddenly, beginning to cry with a vengeance. Asami didn't bother asking his permission, giving him as big a hug as she possibly could, saying, "It's okay, Shiro Shinobi - I know what it's like to be the last surviving member of a family, though I hope I never learn what losing one child, let alone two and the love of my life feels like." He sniffed deeply, adjusting his ragged hat, saying, "Just call me Shiro, Asami. Hearing my last name just makes me hurt even more." Getting a shockingly angry look on his face, he spat on the ground, saying, "I'm going to do everything I can to make that monster pay."

Figuring this would be a good place to ask about Shiro's new gear, Asami asked, pointing at an advanced piece of equipment, "Is that from who I think it is? Given it has the Fire Nation symbol on its side." Shiro managed a weak smile, saying, "Yes - but not who you think. Firelord Izumi ordered this delivered as soon as possible, and I hope I can use it to re-establish radio contact with Ba Sing Se and learn what happened there." He walked away from Asami, standing near a massive tower Asami had mistaken for a palm tree. Shiro managed a weak laugh, saying, "This was a special delivery. It may look like a palm tree, but it's really a very powerful and advanced transmitter. I have been trying to hail Ba Sing Se with it, but no luck so far." Asami asked, getting to the non-emotional reason she had come, "Do you think you could use it to reach the members of the brain trust all at once? I can't project like Korra can and I don't feel like trying to get ahold of everyone individually." Shiro nodded his head, saying, "Not all the rocks around Zuko's house are rocks - some of them are speakers. I just hope Korra didn't break one with her search for gems earlier." Asami laughed, very glad to see Shiro join her, saying, "I don't think she did, Shiro. I'd like to use them to make an announcement." Shiro bowed with a tear in his eye, saying, "Of course, lady Asami. It's the least I can do after your emotional support just now."

Asami picked up what Shiro had told her was the speaker for the rocks, saying loudly, "Attention, all braintrust members! This is Asami Sato, if you couldn't tell, and I need Meelo, Bumi, Varrick, Zhu Li and Kuvira in the conference room. I look forward to seeing you all again in one place, and thank you for your cooperation." Asami laughed as one of the many speakers let out what must have been Meelo's voice, the nine-year old exclaiming, "More war? Good - I was getting bored!" Shiro laughed, though he looked slightly uneasy as he said, "Given yesterday's events, listening wires of our own have been placed in hidden spots. Someone who identified himself as Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong was the one who delivered the equipment to Firelord Izumi and did not rest until they were all placed." Asami nodded, saying, "That's good sense - I guess Korra and I were too _busy _to notice." Shiro nodded, saying, "He kept a low profile - he came in peasant's clothes and I hardly believed my eyes when I saw him propelling one of the boats this stuff came on with firebending." Pointing at the tree, Shiro finished, "He helped me assemble this 'tree' and gave me some more in-depth radio manuals to study. In some ways, he reminded me of you - polite, but he knew his business."

Asami bowed deeply and ran off to the conference room, grasping Korra's special necklace tightly as she did so. She didn't think she would get to savor it any time soon. As Asami entered the room, she was pleasantly surprised to see everyone there and working. Walking up behind Kuvira's shoulder and looking at a drawing she was constantly erasing in frustration, Asami asked innocently, "What's that, Kuvira? And why is it so frustrating?" Kuvira took a deep breath and turned to face Asami, only to look at Asami's betrothal necklace and say excitedly, "Wait... that necklace… you must be engaged to Korra now!" Asami nodded happily, making sure to not let the back of her necklace face outwards, lest the special locket pop open. Asami looked around, taking in the positive reactions with relish, suddenly noticing that Su and Lin were present as well, even Lin smiling warmly. Before Kuvira could say something she looked desperate to say, Meelo said loudly, "While I'm happy for you, Miss Asami, I didn't come here to help Kuvira design a necklace of her own for Mako - I came here for war! I wanna draw!"

Kuvira barked angrily, "I may have changed, Meelo, but that doesn't mean I still don't have a temper!", her face flush with anger, and given what she did next, Meelo's response of nothing was not the proper answer. Kuvira stood up and managed to find a piece of metal that was the perfect size for Meelo's mouth, Lin shouting angrily as Kuvira slapped it over his rude little mouth. Everyone except Lin, Kuvira and obviously Meelo laughed deeply, Bumi saying, "You might be a boy genius, Meelo, but you still have to be polite!" Meelo's cheeks actually turned red from embarrassment. Kuvira must have accepted this as an apology of sorts as she removed the strip of metal, saying, "I accept your 'apology', Meelo. Now maybe Asami can help me design something to win Mako over - I want to give it to him before I start my sentence." Lin slapped her forehead and groaned, "I should have used some of Mai's shirshu poison on you for that metal band, Kuvira, but I'll let it slide - this once." Su growled at her sister, "She's my _daughter_, Lin, and I fail to see how that was out of bounds! Now let's help _Daughter _Kuvira with her little present." Lin had a look of thorough disgust on her face, saying, "I'm not sure who's going to be punished by this sentence the most - me, or Kuvira." Kuvira and Su laughed madly, prompting Lin to hit her forehead again, saying, "This is going to be a _very_ long meeting" as she sighed deeply.

For the next ten minutes, Su and Kuvira sat next to each other, one constantly erasing the other's work without hostility, everyone moving closer to watch out of curiosity. While Asami was glad that Kuvira liked Mako, even if the feeling wasn't mutual, she was getting tired of the constant back and forth, finding herself joining Lin in what must have been Lin's tenth exasperated forehead slap, saying, "I don't mean to be blunt, Kuvira, but you and Su have erased so many times you've almost worn through the paper. Let's take a little break, and talk about something serious." Now Lin was the one laughing and Su the one looking dejected as Asami said, "This actually has a tangential relationship with my betrothal necklace, and by extension, Kuvira's 'I love you' going away gift. Korra found a massive deposit of metals and other rare materials in a vein off Ember Island yesterday, seen here." Asami whipped out the map, which Korra had thankfully kept dry, tracing her finger over the massive form slowly for dramatic effect. Meelo said loudly, "Wow, Miss Asami, that's awesome! Nobody said anything about it yesterday." Grinning widely, he asked, "Did she find any cool metals there?" Asami said with a nervous grin, "Yes, she did, including platinum, given how when she earthsensed it from shore using the Avatar State, part of it showed as 'black' to her earthsense." Lin's eyes widened, saying in shock, "Wait - Avatar State earthsense? What else could she tell with it? Given your necklace having some pretty large, high-quality gems in it, especially the sapphire, I assume she visited it somehow for materials for your beautiful betrothal necklace."

Asami nodded, saying, "It was very difficult, but Korra managed to get close enough to the vein to form a large metal shell around her, using a combination of projection and some Raava-powered headlights to take a look." Before she could continue, Meelo asked, "Did she find anything that could explode? I hope she did! Wait… Miss Asami, why are your eyes so wide?" Asami shook her head, thoroughly disturbed by Meelo's prescient question. As Asami described Korranium and how Korra was unwilling to bring any to the surface, she could see Kuvira's eyes widen in terror, Meelo, Zhu Li and Varrick look more and more disappointed as she described Korra's opinion of the metal, and Bumi, Lin and Su with slight looks of fear on their faces. Asami had saved the most disturbing news for last: weaponization potential of Korranium. Noticing Meelo's conflicted-looking expression, Asami said, "Keep in mind, any weapon made from this metal would likely emit what I called Asami particles at the blast site, and given Korra's uneasy feeling about the lighter ore, I don't think the Asami particles would be a good thing." Meelo shook his head in agreement, prompting Varrick to say loudly, "We still need a replacement for tuber-vines eventually, and this Korranium sounds like it fits the bill! If we ever find any outside of that vein, I still want to study it." Seeing Zhu Li nod her head, Asami sighed, prompting Zhu Li to say, "Science can be dangerous, Asami, but the cost is worth it in the end. Just think - if we had refused to use coal power because it's dirty, we'd still be stuck at a pre-100 Year's War technology level. I think something similar applies to Korranium." Noting in frustration that everyone but Kuvira was nodding in agreement, Asami said, "Why don't we talk about something lighter for a while."

Liking the confused looks she got, Asami stood up and pointed at her necklace, then her belly, saying, "Love. All this talk of Korranium is giving me the chills." Showing more emotional intelligence that Varrick, Zhu Li said, "Oooh, the baby! Did you name the baby today or something?" Asami shook her head, explaining what Korra and Raava had found in more detail than what had been said at the press conference, including the baby's full name. Asami loved saying Atokara's full name, so she said as she smiled and placed her hand over her stomach, "Atokara Raava Sato." Kuvira's face was flush as she said, "I knew Raava gave you a baby as a gift, but her energy being in it… that's just amazing." Asami smiled as everyone but Zhu Li nodded, deciding to ignore it and say instead, "Enough about me and Korra - I think I have some advice for Kuvira now."

Kuvira's eager expression made Asami wince inside, knowing what she was about to say. Saying with great tact as she held Kuvira softly on the shoulder, Asami said, "Let me give you some advice, Kuvira: wait until Mako returns your advances with anything other than hostility." Seeing Kuvira's crushed look, Asami added with a smile, "You're still hurting from your breakup with Baatar Jr. - twice." Glad that Kuvira laughed at her little joke, Asami continued, "I have personal experience with dating him, as does Korra, though hers was genuine dating. He's not going to just jump at you because you had a transformative experience - if that was the case, I'd probably be single right now and Mako would be dating Korra. Probably since she came back to the world from her personal journey, at that." Seeing Kuvira didn't look quite so sullen, Asami said something she thought Su might find slightly offensive, saying gently, "Your experience with Baatar Jr. won't help you with Mako. Baatar Jr. isn't the strongest-willed individual in the world, while Mako doesn't take guff from anybody - not even the Avatar. Mako and Korra fought plenty, so he's no pushover." Ignoring Su's morose look, pressing while Kuvira looked receptive, Asami stressed again, "Mako is _not _Baatar Jr., Kuvira - Baatar Jr. is a lot more fragile psychologically than Mako, and definitely not as sentimental." Asami laughed unexpectedly, saying on impulse, "Although, I always figured Korra to not really be a lover, but let me tell you - she can be so sentimental at times in the bedroom, she makes me look like a sex-obsessed brute." Recovering from her unplanned interjection to the sounds of laughter, Asami continued in as serious a voice as possible, "You can't just _bend_ Mako to your will. Mako also still has some unresolved anger at the world, and given your reaction to Meelo - even if he was being rude - you do as well. Given you are both orphans, that anger may never be fully resolved, so you'll need to keep that in mind." Giving Kuvira a warm smile, Asami finished, "Don't worry too much, though - Mako has grown a lot over the past four years, and you just underwent a transformation more dramatic than Zuko's. I wish you luck, Kuvira."

Asami was surprised when Kuvira nodded in agreement, saying calmly "If anyone's going to be the lover, it might just be me - I tried being dominant and strong, and all it got me in the end was these chains around my hands and one very broken ex-boyfriend," with no hint of anger on her face - only remorse mixed with hope. Su's distraught expression wasn't surprising, but concerning nonetheless. Su now had a sappy look on her face and was about to say something emotional to Kuvira, but a familiar voice interrupted, saying, "While I do find it touching you're trying to help Kuvira with decidedly non-military matters, I have a request to make." Asami turned towards Korra's projection the quickest, listening as Korra said, "Just now, Mako called you a member of Team Avatar, Kuvira, and it made me realize that even if you still have to serve your sentence, in many ways you are a member. You gave us some solid advice after you got out of that wooden cage, Kuvira - and not just on military matters. I don't know if Asami mentioned Korranium yet, but it is a good possibility for a human power source, even if I think it is too dangerous." Kuvira said, apparently containing her joy out of business reasons, "Given my own experience with spirit weapons, I agree with you strongly on Korranium, Korra." Asami could practically see Zhu Li and Varrick shrinking as Korra laughed at their hunched-over shoulders, no one else wanting to contradict Korra even slightly. The two only looked more defeated after Kuvira brought up a disturbing possibility, saying, "I don't even think it should be used as a power source - something tells me that any Korranium used for civilian purposes could still have military use - a 'dirty bomb', designed to spread Asami particles and misery."

Asami wasn't entirely sure if Kuvira was showing a delayed reaction to Mako calling her a member of Team Avatar, or that she was glad to see no braintrust members contradicted her opinion on Korranium. In any case, Kuvira said, "I don't think you came here to tell me that handsome firebender considers me a part of Team Avatar. Wait - let me guess. You want us to come up with a piece of equipment for me, just like the other projects?" Even though she was blue, Korra's projection was more attractive than an image made of gems, so Asami just stared at Korra as she said, "I'm not sure what we could make you, aside from another Colossus, and we don't have that kind of time, unfortunately," keeping her gaze fixed on Korra as Kuvira responded, "I want one of these. It will need things I can metalbend, like grappling hooks and steel projectiles - the Satot rounds would do nicely. Instead of twin blades, I want plasma saws that are also hooked to the tuber-vines, in case I need to fight with a spirit." Asami was too busy looking at Korra to realize her Asami's Reach would no longer be unique, or even question how someone had gotten the blueprint out in the first place. Asami glanced over at Meelo idly, seeing that he was grinning nervously, so she stuck her tongue out at him, figuring he was the culprit. Asami snapped back to full attention when she heard Kuvira say, "I may not have mentioned this yet, but Jinshu Kuangmai is in possession of all my blueprints and a significant amount of platinum, as well as the largest spirit vine stockpile near Zaofu, so I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to build an improved version of my Colossus."

Asami wondered what meeting she was attending when she heard Varrick say confidently, "Okay - so that's eight tuber-vines out of thirty used for personal projects, another four for the two battleships, two for the aircraft carrier itself, and ten for five of each of Meelo's planes. That doesn't leave us very much room to use the tuber-vines as anything but a power source, but I think we can manage, especially considering Mr. Tuber-Vine and the others have regenerative properties." Asami almost fell out of her chair in shock when what must have been a tuber-vine said "HMMMMM HMMMMM" loudly. Asami missed what Varrick said next, but she gave Zhu Li an angry look over her comment about Atokara's unusual nature, only stopping when she heard "Korra Sato". Asami's head was swimming, and as soon as Korra left, she said loudly, "I don't feel very good - I have to go use the bathroom. Bad. I feel like I'm going to throw up. And my attention is shot." As Asami ran from the room, Zhu Li yelled, "That nausea sounds like morning sickness - but it's almost 5:30 PM! I hope you're okay!"

When Asami got to the bathroom, she realized in horror she hadn't eaten anything in hours, yet still somehow had "morning" sickness, producing dry heaves that she hated. Knowing the likely cause of her 'attention', or lack thereof, she managed to stumble into the kitchen and grab something to eat, making sure to chase down the food with plenty of cold sweet tea. Asami sat down on the floor, panting heavily, still confused. She had just eaten a fair amount of food and drank plenty of tea, but her stomach… it felt empty still! Dismissing a random nagging thought about her figure, she devoured two cooked shark whale steaks cold, and chased it down with some sake and seaweed, on some odd urge.

Asami felt full - finally. She missed the presence of Korra and Raava - she figured they could explain this bizarre event. Remembering that Korra's energy as well as Raava's was inside the betrothal necklace, she closed her eyes, hoping the necklace could help her somehow - even just a one-sentence explanation. Asami let out a yelp when she was greeted by a voice she had never heard before that said, "Thank you, mommy Asami! I was hungry! You need to eat better!" Keeping her eyes closed and not daring to say anything out loud, Asami deliberately thought, "What happened to me? Please tell me!" The same girl giggled, saying, "I have something I want to show you first!'

Asami saw an image of Raava in her human-y form holding a small, gift-wrapped box which she handed off to two small girls. Who they were took a moment to register - one was in Water Tribe dress and had a pronounced gut, while the other had jet black hair and red lipstick on, despite appearing to be four years old. What must have been both her own and Korra's inner child was joined by another small, partially obscured figure once the young Asami opened the box excitedly.

Asami's heart practically skipped a beat - she could see nothing but the child's skin color on a bare leg and foot, but even this small detail made her cry happily through closed eyes.

The skin was a perfect blend between her own and Korra's - this voice must have been Atokara, somehow! Thinking deliberately, Asami "said", "Well, hi, Atokara - I didn't expect to hear your voice so soon! What happened to me earlier?" Atokara's voice giggled, saying, "If you're going to be my mommy, Asami, you're going to need to eat regularly - I am not an ordinary child, if that wasn't obvious. That's what happens if you don't eat when you should." Asami laughed internally, saying, "That wasn't exactly a long time between eating, Atokara - and that was a lot of food!" Atokara laughed, saying with a giggle, "I don't know much more than you do, aside from this: you're eating for two now, and I'm growing a lot faster than a normal baby!"

Asami had one last question to ask, thinking, "From what I know about normal human growth, most children don't have a brain for a long time. How are you able to talk to me?" Atokara laughed, Asami catching a glimpse of twin white hair braids in the style Asami recognized from drawings of Yue, the human Moon spirit. Atokara's voice said, "Like I said - I'm no normal baby! I'm touched by Raava, my… third mommy? No, that's too confusing. Say hi to momma Korra for me!" When Asami opened her eyes, she noticed that her stomach felt just a _tiny _bit bigger than it had before, almost imperceptibly, but not everywhere. Knowing she didn't want that awful reaction again any time soon, Asami gathered a shark-whale steak, a pitcher of tea and some rice. Suddenly remembering that no one else in the conference room had eaten in a while either, in all likelihood, she went through the trouble of heating up six more steaks in addition to her own, as well as warming more rice, yelling at the top of her lungs, "Come get some food, everyone! I need some help carrying it all out!" Lin yelled, "Put it all on ceramic plates - it will make it easier!" Asami put everything on ceramic plates and inside jade or porcelain jars, Lin, Su and Kuvira using their earthbending to carry the food without effort.

Asami still felt hungry, and realized that Atokara must have had a Raava-augmented growth spurt of some sort earlier. As she took the last bite of shark whale, she heard a familiar voice say, "We're both full now, mommy Asami! I'll help you keep from overeating as best as I can." Forgetting she was surrounded by the braintrust, Asami accidentally said out loud, "How old are you now, Atokara?" After a giggling in her head, Asami said, "Two weeks or so" without her input - out loud. Zhu Li was staring at Asami with an open mouth, saying, "Yeah. I take back my backpedaling on being glad to have normal children." Kuvira said bluntly, "I'm not speaking a word until you tell us what the… blazes happened in there, Asami. Your morning sickness was obviously not natural, and you can talk to Atokara somehow now."

After Asami had finished explaining, she said to a stunned table - even Meelo and Bumi were silent - "I'm as freaked out as you guys are. Just remember, it's actually happening to me, as opposed to just second-hand for everyone else." Seeing Zhu Li start to speak with a concerned look on her face, Asami said sternly, "_I _will be the one to tell Korra, and no one else. You got that?" After everyone nodded their head, Asami said, "Why don't you show me what you came up with during my absence. I'll give the best input I can." Asami laughed when she heard Atokara's voice say "I will too! I'll help mommy Asami!" and was relieved to see that no one was staring at her like Asami was a lunatic. Asami was starting to sympathize with Korra having to deal with Raava all the time.

Kuvira was the first to go, whipping out a piece of paper with a schematic that Asami recognized as that of the airbender steel projectile dispenser, but with some major modifications. A large, four square box with detailed drawings took up the left side of the paper. Kuvira pointed to the dispenser and what looked like a much more slender Equalist glove, saying, "I actually came up with this idea much earlier today and drew it while ignoring most of the press conference, aside from things that sounded new." Kuvira shivered, saying, "I'm glad I'm not the Avatar - Dark Korra sounded more terrifying than my own metal doppler." As Asami clutched her betrothal necklace tightly at the mention of Dark Korra, she heard a little girl ask, "Oooh, what's that you're grabbing, mommy Asami? It's making you feel good!" Asami sighed, saying, "Just a minute, Kuvira - someone needs to go to their womb," she heard raucous laughter as she thought, "I'll explain when you're older - a LOT older. From now on, don't 'come out' unless I tell you it's okay, sweetie." Asami's face flushed in anger as Atokara's disembodied voice said, "NO! You'll have to _make_ me go to my womb!"

Asami took a deep, resigned sigh as she put her elbows on the table and cupped her face, staring at her hands thinking, "If you don't, I'll get momma Korra to use her connection with Raava to lock you in until you can learn some manners." Asami was relieved to hear Atokara's voice say, "Fiiiine. Given Raava's energy, it's not like I won't see everything you do anyways, now that we've connected - I can see the inside of your hands. They look a lot like mine will." Before Asami could ask for a complete description of her annoyingly precocious daughter, Atokara added, "If you don't treat me nice, I won't share what I will look like with you, and if I'm rude or need to shoo, you can send me to my womb, where I won't look at what you're seeing. Deal?" Asami laughed out loud, thinking, "I can see you inherited my business sense. Deal." Varrick looked like he wanted to say something clever or witty when Asami looked up but Kuvira gave him a withering glare for Asami. He whimpered, memories of his work under Kuvira still fresh. Asami laughed, saying, "If you use that on Mako, maybe you will be able to manipulate him better than Korra could." As everyone but Kuvira and Asami laughed, Kuvira said, "No. I'm done with using fear, and I hope you don't keep Atokara in check heavy-handedly." Asami laughed, explaining their "deal", and Kuvira smiled, saying, "That sounds like a pretty even deal to make with someone who sounds like they are four years old. Now, back to _our _business."

Asami pointed to the dispenser, saying, "I recognize that as my own design, though I do like the dual Earth and Wind symbols, and the note that says they are etched in steel. That should help all the former Earth Kingdom airbenders feel a little more comfortable using them." Kuvira pointed to some characters Asami had not noticed, saying, "There are two different types of dispensers now - lethal ammunition and nonlethal. In the original design, Satot rounds and the blunt rounds came from the same magazine. I can imagine how mortified a more peaceful airbender would be if they blew a hole in someone's head instead of stunning them." Asami said, "I notice the dispenser is still the same size, though. Are there more of each round type now?" Kuvira shook her head as she pointed at the four squares, saying, "There's still two types in each dispenser. Zhu Li was 'bored' during the press conference much as I was, so she suggested two new types of ammunition: one nonlethal type coated in shirshu poison or a compound with the same effects, and one lethal type that would let airbenders actually cause harm to machines. Zhu Li hopes to use chemistry to synthesize artificial shirshu poison, and the new lethal type will be filled with an improved version of the explosive Varrick used to take down your ships all those years ago."

Glad to finally be getting somewhere, Asami didn't even bother giving Varrick a hard time, saying, "Good to see it put to good use. Just one question, though - how will an airbender re-load once they run out of ammunition? Actually, two - care to explain the gloves?" Kuvira had a blank look at first, so she sketched a wingsuit and put two pouches into its stomach, saying, "If you wanted more carrying capacity, you'd need to add aerodynamic pouches to the wingsuits. On the gloves, the airbender can flip a switch using their bending inside the glove and swap between blunt rounds and shirshu darts, or Satot rounds or… grenades, let's call them." Bumi walked over, pointing at the glove and asking, "What about just regular airbending? This glove might get in the way." Seeing Kuvira's skeptical look, Bumi asked Asami, "Asami, let me see your electroglove and demonstrate. Betcha you won't think I'm totally crazy after this, eh, Kuvira?" Kuvira said, deadpan, "You could get a hundred doctors to pronounce you sane and I'd still think you're _slightly _crazy." Bumi laughed, responding, "Well, good - crazy means I'm unpredictable. Like this!" Bumi extended his hand and shot an airblast straight at Kuvira's chest, prompting Su to bend a piece of metal around Bumi's hands and say, "And I thought Meelo was being rude!" in a huff. Bumi just grumbled, making Asami laugh all the harder as she handed over the glove finally.

When Bumi repeated the move with the glove, palms forward, a reduced blast of air came out, the glove apparently containing part of the air. Kuvira shook her head, saying, "Give me some metal and let me bend it over your hand, and you'll see why this only happens with the electroglove. Su gave Kuvira her mantle, seeing that Lin was slightly reluctant to provide Kuvira any metal. Once Kuvira had formed a mockup of the new airbender glove over Bumi's hand, she stood up, bracing her legs as she said, "Now try me, Bumi." Bumi was surprised when the slimmer glove didn't produce a repeat of the earlier failure, but even more so that Kuvira could stand against the blast with no bending. Kuvira gave Su her mantle back, saying, "I'm not a pushover - you just caught me by surprise earlier."

Meelo finally spoke, asking, "Suppose an airbender didn't mind killing. Could he… or she wear two lethal ammunition pouches?" Even Bumi gave Meelo a disgusted look, saying, "Meelo! Not even Opal would want to do that. I doubt even Zaheer would take nonlethal force off the table completely." Meelo didn't mind the comment, saying strongly, "Uncle Bumi, what if we're up against an armored enemy, like a lot of tanks? Even Satot rounds would be useless there." Bumi nodded his head, saying, "The kid does have a point. If we get enough spiritwire, we could even put some around the tip of a Satot round and have Korra infuse Raava's energy into the wire directly, letting an airbender hurt or take out a Dark Spirit." Kuvira took out her pencil and drew spirit wire around half the tip of the Satot round, saying, "I think we're done with this now. Why don't we take a look at the four mechasuits and refine them."

When Asami looked at her own suit, Asami's Reach, she heard Atokara's voice say, "Oooh, that looks pretty! Is that what mommy Asami looks like?" Asami stared at the suit, saying out loud, "No, it's not, Atokara. And looking at the other suits, they don't look like their user either. Particularly Zhu Li's - that thing is a monster!" Zhu Li laughed, saying as she pointed to Asami's Reach, "I see you came up with the exact same names for our suits as we did, Asami. Atokara does raise a useful point - your trademark goggles and feminine form still don't capture _you_ very well." Asami sat down with a pencil, re-designing the suit to look more like her. She added another set of spirit blades - this one to the points of high heels, the spirit blade running up the inside of her distinctive boots, to be used for a more powerful kick. Finally realizing a use for the stupid skirts Kuvira had on her mechasuits, Asami drew in a thin, flexible metal skirt with spiritwire on its surface from Asami's Reach's waist. She re-formed the helmet, making it better contour her face, leaving enough room for her to move her jaw to speak into some undersigned radio comm system. Asami realized with a start she should have invited Shiro to come and join them, feeling ashamed at her oversight. The last thing she added was a pair of ruby lips, their color only a note, prompting Atokara to say, "Oooh, I like that! I want to wear whatever does that! But where's your hair?" Asami laughed, saying, "Apparently, Atokara wants to wear lipstick like 'mommy Asami'. Can anyone think of a combat use for hair?"

Apparently, Shiro had gotten lonely, as Asami heard him say from behind her, "That would make a good place to hide communication equipment, though the hair obviously couldn't be real, and I don't think hair as long as Asami's would make combat sense." Asami turned around, slightly embarrassed as she said, "I'm sorry I didn't think to invite you, Shiro - it was awfully rude of me." Shiro shook his head, saying seriously, "I needed more time alone to deal with my loss, as I am sure I will after this short visit."

For the next thirty minutes, everyone gave input on the four mechasuits, including personalizing touches. Meelo suggested Varrick include his mustache on Iron Varrick, Zhu Li suggested a symbol of the Moon on Zhu Li's Thing's shoulders and Varrick adopted the symbol as well, pleasing Zhu Li to no end. Su cried for a while after Kuvira put the Beifong family crest on her suit's shoulders, Lin approving of the omission of Kuvira's former signature metal straps and Asami successfully suggesting that Kuvira include her mole. After Asami had looked at Zhu Li's face and glasses, Atokara even contributed, suggesting that Zhu Li put her glasses on the mechasuit. Zhu Li said with a soft look, "Maybe being able to talk to your kid before they're born isn't so bad after all. I wish I could eat as much as you did and retain my figure." Varrick laughed, saying, "Who, you, beautiful? You could actually use some more weight - your suit might be strong, but _you_ still look like Kuvira or Bumi could snap you like a stick." Zhu Li giggled, saying, "And here you were, complaining that I could stand to lose a few Zhu Lis when rescuing me not long ago. Though I don't think Bumi or Kuvira could snap me like a stick."

Remembering that Korra had made a full-sized model of Asami's Reach, Asami said, "If I can get Lin, Su and Kuvira's help, I can show you a full-size mockup of Asami's Reach before the re-design. There may still be some metal left from the chunk of ore as well - it would be nice to have a mockup of everyone's suit." Once they arrived in Asami's room, Kuvira managed to carry the mockup by herself and Lin and Su went outside to see how much metal was left, leaving Asami by herself. As Asami idly walked around, she realized that Atokara didn't know how her own mother looked just yet, let alone Korra. Asami stood in front of a mirror deliberately, thinking, "This is mommy Asami, Atokara. Care to tell me any features we share in common?" Atokara laughed, saying, "I know you have a picture of momma Korra you don't want me to see, for some reason." Asami gasped when she heard Atokara's voice say, "Come on - you can show me! You're no airbender prude." Asami wasn't surprised by Atokara's request in the least - somehow, Atokara knew most airbenders were uptight, even though she had only 'met' Bumi and Meelo! Apparently able to read her emotions as well, Atokara said, "I know more than what you show me, mommy Asami - a little of Raava's knowledge rubs off on me." Asami thought, "Why don't I show you momma Korra's dress first, so you can at least see her with clothes on?" Atokara laughed, asking, "Why? I don't have any clothes, and I don't think I wanna either!" Asami laughed, thinking, "I guess you inherited Korra's free spirit, before she was crushed by the White Lotus. Apparently, she used to like running naked in the cold of the South Pole."

Asami removed the betrothal necklace from her neck and flipped it over, thinking of Korra's beautiful skin with her eyes closed as she savored the feelings holding the necklace caused in her. Asami heard a click and she opened her eyes, staring at Korra's beautiful naked body. Atokara said almost immediately, "Momma Korra is beautiful, mommy Asami! She must be quite the artist, too! I don't see why people wear clothes at all!" After Asami replied to her daughter, "Part of it is to protect from the sun, cold, heat and other nasty things, and a bigger part of it is social convention," Atokara said, "Okay - I guess. I still don't want to wear clothes unless I have to - running naked in the freezing cold sounds fun!" Asami laughed as Atokara asked, "Will my body be like that when I come out? I like all the curves!" and all she could think was, "I don't think so, sweetie. Even Raava doesn't know what you'll be like when you come out - just yet." Atokara gave Asami her first interesting piece of information, saying, "I have hair like momma Korra - dark brown. Well, except… no, that's going to be a surprise!"

Knowing what little she knew of Atokara, Asami wouldn't find out this other bit about her hair until she was born. Having completely forgot she was supposed to be in a meeting and not communing with her unborn daughter, Asami thought, "Okay, mommy Asami time is over!" as she closed the betrothal necklace back up and ran out to see what Lin and Su were doing.

Somehow between the two of them they had managed to get another piece of ore through a combined effort and were panting as they created iron bars. Remembering that there were more than three metalbenders on the island, she tried something different. After explaining what she had been doing and would be trying to Su and Lin, Asami stood perfectly still, eyes closed as she focused on a powerful energy - both in her betrothal necklace and within herself. When she felt something click, she heard a familiar female voice say _What do you need, Asami? This isn't normal - for a non-Avatar to contact me by focusing on my energy instead of meditation. _Asami thought, "Do you know where Bolin is?" and she heard Raava laughing as she said _Sorry, I don't. Now don't contact me like this again - even this exchange is breaking all sorts of rules. I only interact with people other than the Avatar in __extreme__ emergencies. I do the contacting to anyone except Korra. She can talk to me any time she likes, but you can't. Got it?_ Asami half felt like screaming in frustration - Raava was acting as illogically as every other spirit usually did! Asami just decided to try and find Bolin the old-fashioned way, annoyed and hurt at Raava's response.

By the time Asami found Bolin, she was pretty sure that Lin and Su were done anyways, only bothering to approach to see what he was doing in such an isolated spot. She had gotten directions from a local, and as she got closer, she quickly turned around. Given the sounds and words she was hearing, Opal and Bolin were _finally _having some private time - though nowhere near as intimate as her own relations with Korra. Asami ignored Atokara's protest of "I wanna see!", running back to the conference room.

Asami nearly fainted when she got into the conference room, and not just because of the imposing metal forms in the room, including one she _definitely _did not remember discussing. Asami said, pointing at an exhausted Lin, "Why did you take Kuvira's cuffs off? I don't think she's going to run away, but still…" Lin groaned, with an odd look in her eye, sipping some hot tea before talking, "My sister and I were completely exhausted by our earlier feat with the ore - there's no way we can harvest it with current technology without Korra's help. Given your failure to find Bolin, the only metalbender that was available was Kuvira." Su said, a disgusted tone audible through her exhaustion, "Lin ordered Bumi to stop Kuvira with airbending if he needed to. You know…" Asami turned to Lin, saying, "WHAT? Why didn't you just wait until you felt better! That's awful! And given Bumi's stare at you, he didn't like the idea either." Bumi said, grumbling, "All I was willing to do was something like what Korra did with bloodbending - use the air in Kuvira's lungs to keep her from running, not steal her breath. Meelo suggested it as a compromise."

The subject of all this dissension said loudly, slightly choked up, "I'm done with my work. You can replace those shackles now - I will serve my sentence willingly, despite Lin's misgivings." Once Bumi had replaced the platinum handcuffs, Kuvira walked over to Lin in a huff, saying loudly, "I think I have more than proved my changed nature, Lin _Beifong_. A last name, I might add, you share with me now more than ever." Not letting Lin get in a word edgewise, Kuvira continued, "I've helped design a new weapon for the Avatar like the world has never seen, given all sorts of advice, offered my technological expertise with no conditions to speak of, Korra trusted me to keep some _very sensitive_ information secret that even you can't know, opened myself up emotionally in a way I never have before… what does it take to get your trust, Lin? I bet even if Raava herself vouched for me in her full form, you'd still have reservations!" Lin's eyes flared with an unstable look, apparently no longer exhausted as she said with rage in her voice, "Don't you lecture me! They say that actions speak louder than words, and it's going to take a lot more action than fixing some mechasuit mockups to convince me you've changed!" Slamming her hand onto the table violently, she added, "And just what is this secret that I can't know, Kuvira? I demand you to tell me, and everyone else in this room!"

Asami coughed loudly, saying, "I'm afraid she can't do that, Lin. Avatar Korra's orders." Kuvira gasped in shock at what Lin did next, along with everyone else, though only Kuvira began to cry. Asami saw Lin move her hands rapidly as the floor beneath Asami rumbled and a very tight earth cone formed around Asami as Lin screamed, "Oh, so you're in on this too, Asami? I think I just might know what this secret is about - or should I say, **who!**" Lin approached with wild eyes, a metal armblade extended and Lin howling, "Tell me everything you talked about with my mother, Toph, right now, Asami! I know she has some secret - I remember her covering her mouth after she said 'family' very clearly!" Asami cursed not being a bender - specifically, a combustionbender. There was a wild look in Lin's eyes that Asami found all too familiar, and very disconcerting - they closely resembled Baatar Jr.'s eyes as he was dragged off, screaming.

Lin gasped as the extended armblade snapped off and formed a restraining belt as Su yelled, "MAYBE **YOU**NEED THE HANDCUFFS, LIN! How dare you threaten Asami like that - if there's something that Kuvira, Korra and Asami see fit to keep secret about the Beifong family, maybe it needs to stay secret!" Asami fished wildly in her pack, now freed from the earth cone, getting out the electroglove again - to subdue another Beifong. Lin looked about ready to snap fully, screaming, "It's a third child, isn't it! My mother never could keep her pants on." Lin's eyes widened as Asami approached, fixating her wild gaze on Kuvira, and what she said next made the electroglove irrelevant. Lin said, sweeping the metal holding her back, forming a blade again, pointed at a crying Kuvira this time, "YOU! You know the secret, and it is connected to our family, and you've already worked closely with one Beifong during your reign of terror - Baatar Jr. I think you've worked with one more - JINSHU KUANGMAI!"

Everyone but Asami and Kuvira gasped in the room in horror as Lin said, withdrawing the threatening blade slowly, "Jinshu Kuangmai isn't a real name - it means 'Metal Veins', after his sick ability! It fits perfectly! Asami and Korra stay behind to talk to my mother after the Restoration about something she doesn't want to get out. After Korra rescues Kuvira from Koh and Long Yumao in the Spirit World, Kuvira _conveniently _mentions information at the same time about Jinshu Kuangmai, which was very heavily edited by Korra." Lin stopped pointing at Kuvira, forming an angry fist, punching the hard wood table as she re-extended her armblade quickly, saying in an offputtingly calm manner, "Knowing what we know about Jinshu Kuangmai following the conference, he takes special relish in punishing Kuvira's home and Su's city, Zaofu, by kicking out its civilians and turning it into a fortress." Removing her hand from the top of the table and retracting the armblade again, Lin said in what was much closer to a normal voice, "Given his sickening ability and psychopathic personality, I guess that Toph couldn't handle him and dumped him on some hapless family, probably when he was young." Lin spit on the ground, saying, "Until I started to figure this out, I thought I was over the gulf between me and my mother, and the rest of the family. I was wrong - how typical of Toph, to not want to deal with emotional issues or things surrounding family head on." Sitting cross legged on the floor, Lin said with closed eyes, "I need to 'meditate'. And don't bother me!" At first, everyone honored her request, but as Asami idly looked at her betrothal necklace, she jumped - it was glowing a bright white!

_This is a time of extreme need, Asami - I can feel Lin slipping, much as Kuvira was inside her wooden cage. She's not right. Shock her enough_ _to incapacitate her, then place your betrothal necklace over her heart. And quickly!_

Asami did so without hesitation, not bothering to explain. After she had held the betrothal necklace to Lin's chest for what seemed like an eternity, Lin began weeping, trying to stand up but falling forward weakly, saying with much effort, "Thank you, Asami… thank you. When I closed my eyes, I was taken to a place much like the one Kuvira was, except when I looked to see who was on the other side of the orb, it was my mother, Toph. The orb… it was wildly flashing between black and red, blue and white." Gritting her teeth, Lin said, "When I looked at her, she had a very sad expression on her face, which I noticed was made of flesh. When I looked down at my own chest…" Lin stood up weakly, wobbling over to a remarkably calm Kuvira, saying as she did so, "I saw… thick…metallic lines… emanating from where my heart was located. I asked Toph about the lines and she said, painfully, 'Given what Raava has told me about the past ten or so minutes in that conference room, that is all from your reprehensible behavior towards Kuvira and, most of all, Asami. You have to forgive me, Lin, or that metal and your feelings will eat you alive. I did what I thought was best for Tonga Beifong.' I then pointed at her angrily, saying, 'You left him as an orphan, except he **knew better!** He was old enough, I believe, to know his mother hand intentionally abandoned him, like the coward she really is. Just like Kuvira's parent's - it's probably your fault he's so screwed up!'"

Lin embraced Kuvira tightly, sobbing, "When I looked at my hand, I noticed that it was gradually coming more and more metallic. Toph cried out, running over to hug me, 'NO! I've already lost one of my children to darkness. I won't have you going insane!' It was at this point I could feel an immense power envelop me and a voice in my head that said _You have a lot to live for, Lin __Beifong__. I think you need to see your mother's life through her eyes to fully heal_. I saw my mother's life flash before my life. Everything. Everything she ever did, felt, said, her hopes and fears, her dreams." Hugging Kuvira tighter, Lin finished, "Much as you did, Kuvira_ Beifong_, I screamed 'I want to live!' and felt an immense weight lifted from my soul and indescribable peace replace it, the metal gone." Kuvira said, with tears in her eyes, "I'm glad you won, _Aunt_ Lin - it's not easy. Now let's look at these amazing mechasuits, and the new addition - as a family." Lin made to remove the handcuffs from Kuvira, but Kuvira stopped her, saying, "I'm not taking these off permanently until I've helped heal the United Earth Republic. Though, they could be wide enough for me to bend properly..." Lin hugged Kuvira so tightly Kuvira let out an "Ooof", saying, "Don't kill me with kindness, Aunt Lin!"

When Asami finally managed to look around the room, she saw Bumi hugging Meelo tightly - who for once wasn't struggling - and noticed Bumju was now sitting on Bumi's head, trilling contentedly. Su had gotten over her shock and was getting up to join the Beifong family hug, Shiro looked genuinely happy, and Zhu Li was tugging on Varrick's hand, saying, "The Thing, now, Varrick! I want a family too!" Asami laughed, saying, "I think we need to finish here first, Zhu Li, and it's not like you'd get a baby immediately - you have to get lucky like everyone else, unlike me and Korra." Knowing what the smaller figures on the table were, Asami said, "I can see you all finalized the designs for the civilian and regular military mechasuits - they don't look much different than Kuvira's mechasuits, aside from what looks like a 'caution' theme etched into the metal for the construction ones." Asami held out her necklace - but not for the usual reason. Pointing at the four elemental symbols, she said, "It might be a good idea to somehow distinguish the military mechasuits from the ones Kuvira's army used - something tells me that Jinshu Kuangmai has plenty of them left, given what we know about his strength."

As Kuvira etched the four elemental symbols onto the small, generic military mechasuits, Asami turned to look at what must have been Zhu Li's Thing and Iron Varrick, along with an unnamed mechasuit that must have been Kuvira's. Walking around Zhu Li's thing, Asami said, "I like the extra spirit jets on the back, Zhu Li - if this thing is going to fly, you'll need them." Zhu Li ran over, excitedly pointing to Zhu Li's Thing, which dwarfed almost everyone in the room by height alone, not to mention bulk. Zhu Li said, running her hand over the mechasuit's left hefty shoulder, "This shoulder can fire two different types of Meesiles - most, unguided like the ones Meelo designed for the Flying Hogmonkey, while the other eight larger Meesiles can be remotely controlled. This was Shiro's suggestion, and he will help me and Varrick make the eight Meesiles easy enough to control that I can guide them with one hand's movements." Zhu Li nodded to Kuvira, who demonstrated how the Meesile was to leave its square using metalbending. Asami watched silently as Zhu Li pranced to the other side, proud of her creation as she said, "The other shoulder has much more familiar weapons on it - two small-bore repeating spirit cannons underneath a larger one, closer to Kuvira's Colossus' weapon in how it works. It even has the same rifling her weapon had, though it will probably share the same slow firing time."

Kuvira must have been feeling better now, seeing how she made the mechasuit move with metalbending, saying, "This mechasuit is the heaviest of all four - even my own is lighter. If it weren't for the large spirit jets on the back, it likely couldn't fly." Asami said, laughing slightly, "Aside from the glasses and the moons on its shoulders, I'd hardly know this suit is yours, Zhu Li. I knew it was going to be intimidating from the blueprint, but in person, it's awe-inspiring. The broad chest, those grooved legs, the stocky arms… they look like - " Asami shook her head, thinking to herself, "Comparing them to my mental image of Jinshu Kuangmai is probably not a good idea" as she said out loud, "They remind me of drawings of lion-turtles." Zhu Li was pleased with the comparison as she finished, "The big grooves are extra spirit wires - the jet on the back wouldn't be enough to get my Thing flying like I want it. The upper arms below the shoulders have special grenade magazines in the outer armor, shot out by Lipowder instead of airbending. The thicker arm on the right has a concealed Varrick gun, and the other arm has a spirit blade stowed inside it, in case I need to fight a spirit."

After Zhu Li finished talking, Varrick slapped Iron Varrick hard, rubbing his palm in pain as he said, "My turn! My suit hasn't changed much since you last saw it, but I still want to talk anyways." Asami was surprised to not hear Lin groan as Varrick pointed to the smaller suit's arm, Varrick saying excitedly, "When I extend my arms completely straight, these two long, hollow squares meet each other, forming a small VarriMag gun." Sighing slightly, Varrick continued, "The high power demand of the twin VarriMag guns means I couldn't include any spirit weapons on Iron Varrick aside from twin repeating spirit cannons in the shoulders, as well as spirit longblades on the forearms much like your own suit, Asami's Reach. The rest of the shoulder stores VarriMag ammunition." Finishing as he pointed at a chest that resembled that of Zhu Li's Thing, except smaller, Varrick said, "Well, I guess there is one more spirit weapon, one that I added while you were gone - a condenser ring hooked directly to both tuber-vines that can shoot a beam. Like the one Korra did at UnaVaatu during Harmonic Convergence."

Asami got a dirty yet practical idea, and given Atokara's giggling inside her head, Atokara loved it as well. Pointing at Asami's Reach, Asami said with a grin, "That sounds like a really good idea, Varrick, and I figure those ridiculous boobs on my suit may as well serve some purpose. Can someone add that feature to mine - double?" Kuvira was laughing so hard along with Su that it was Lin who had to make the change, Asami admonishing, "Uh-uh, Lin - they have to look like condenser rings too, or else they won't work properly, I imagine. Right, Kuvira?" Kuvira said, "Yeah, sure - but I don't think that's the only reason you're being a stickler for form, Asami. The main reason probably starts with a K." Lin laughed as she honored Asami's request, saying, "I always figured you for a sexually rambunctious spirit, Asami, even a little bit before you came out with Korra, but this just takes the cake." Asami blushed for the first time in a long time, saying, "I figure with the power inside my betrothal necklace and its strong link to Korra, the 'condenser rings' aren't just for show." Getting some confused looks, Asami said with slight exasperation, "What, you forgot the little spiritwire cradle for my betrothal necklace that's linked to my suit? If I can add my love for Korra - physical and emotional - to the _twin_ blasts, they'd be sure to hurt any Dark Spirit it hits gravely. Maybe even destroy them entirely."

Satisfied with the nodding heads she saw, which Asami noticed with a start now included Bumi's sister, Kya, Asami said, "Now, to Kuvira's… unnamed mechasuit, the last I heard." Lin said, with an odd pride in her voice that Asami had never heard before, "Kuvira's creation is called Kuvira's Remorse. And given her look, she doesn't want to change its name - even after my… experience earlier." Curious to see when exactly Kya had come, Asami got her answer, based on Kya's confused look. Kya said, throwing her hands in the air, "Bumju came to me, trilling with what must have been concern, and I ran here as fast as I could and snuck in, expecting to see something bad. I just saw Zhu Li yanking on Varrick's hand like she wanted sex right then, and figured whatever it was, it was finished, so I just went to the bathroom. When I came back, you were defending your breastbeams." As everyone else laughed, Asami said, face flush again, "They aren't breastbeams - they're lovebeams!" knowing that wasn't even half true, her mouth forming a pout. Kya frowned slightly, saying, "I didn't mean to offend, Asami - I think they're actually a good idea and not dirty. Being a waterbender and daughter of Katara, I don't have any problem with the feminine form, clothes or not." On some innocent impulse, Asami ran over to Kya, saying, "I bet you'll like this, then," showing her betrothal necklace to someone she hardly knew. Asami was happy to see her gut instinct about Kya was right as she said, staring at Korra' naked form, "Wow - I never knew Korra was an artist! That's beautiful! I like the other side even more, though - the way you're holding hands…" Bumi said, as his sister sighed deeply, "Even with Meelo's antics, sometimes I find myself wishing I had married…"

Seeing Meelo move out of the corner of her eye, Asami shut the betrothal necklace, and just in time. Meelo, apparently frustrated he couldn't satiate his curiosity, said, "If you won't show me your necklace, Miss Asami, can we at least look at Kuvira's Remorse and the new war balloon?" Asami laughed, saying, "Sure, Meelo - why don't we start with what I already know partially: Kuvira's Remorse."

Kuvira said, pointing at Asami's watch, "I can see from here that it's getting pretty late - the little interlude must have taken quite some time." Shiro interrupted, saying, "My watch reads almost 8:00 PM. I'll excuse myself temporarily to see if I can hail Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong and see if Korra and Mako are returning yet." Asami sighed, asking Shiro before he could leave, "You mean Zuko or Uncle Iroh aren't coming back?" Shiro shook his head, saying, "They both decided yesterday they needed to stay in the Fire Nation and help convince people to help fight Jinshu Kuangmai. Or should I say, Tonga Beifong." With a wink, Shiro left the room as Kya said, "Wait - what? I don't know Shiro as a liar, but that sounds impossible. Isn't Jinshu Kuangmai, like, 32?"

As Lin explained what happened earlier to Kya in detail, Asami took Meelo and Kuvira aside, asking Kuvira, "Want to show me any changes you made to the suit?" Kuvira laughed, saying, "I'll probably add a condenser ring to my suit, though not the twin suggestive ones you did. I didn't change much - the make of the suit is still similar to your own. It still has a mix of the lethal _and _nonlethal airbender projectiles that I can shoot from the shoulders, grappling hooks, twin spirit longblades where I'd normally have armblades, with a slight modification at the ends that lets them double as plasma saws." Not remembering plasma saw spirit longblades, Asami asked, "Just how do you hope to do that? The plasma saws on the hummingbird suits were very specialized." Kuvira bent out one of the longblades, though they now looked closer to Bolin's sword than the longblades on Asami's Reach. Kuvira clenched her fist, and the fatter, shorter blade did something very odd. The side of the blade on the interior of the mechasuit's arm retracted about half-way back inside, revealing a hollow inside the remaining larger portion. Kuvira said, "It's my idea, but I'll need your help to make it a reality. Once we defeat Long Yumao, we should probably switch to blade like this one - hummingbird suits aren't a good way to get inside a Colossus, and knowing Jinshu Kuangmai, he may even attack before Long Yumao is defeated. Hence why I wanted this now, and not later."

After Asami corrected the blueprints, widening the blade to make sure the plasma saw portion would have enough room, she turned to Meelo, saying, "Now why don't you tell me about what I have to assume is your idea, Meelo?" Before Meelo could speak, Asami added, "And why does it resemble one of Kuvira's war balloons? I thought Jinshu Kuangmai would have almost all of them." As she bent the strange form closer, Kuvira explained, "There is a secret facility beneath what used to be the Earth Queen's palace that I constructed, making sure to only let those I trusted most know of its existence - not even Jinshu Kuangmai was told. It's protected by a 'password', and houses a good amount of spirit vines, spirit weapons, along with about ten special airships, maybe many more - I can't remember exactly." Getting an uneasy feeling, Asami asked a nervous Kuvira, "Who constructed the facility? I know there were crystal catacombs beneath the palace - at least until you and… whoever made a secret base. That place must be massive, and extend far beyond the old green crystal caverns." Kuvira said, with a sick look on her face, "That was probably my worst crime. The most resolute and stubborn prisoners were forced to excavate the cavern using shovels or bending, with harsh elite metalbenders for taskmasters who assisted in construction." Kuvira started crying as she said, "My mechasuit isn't called Kuvira's Remorse for nothing, Asami - to keep the secret, I worked the workers to death, then turned on the overseers, sicking Jinshu Kuangmai on them at a different location, telling him they were all traitors. I made sure Baatar Jr. wasn't there and that he believed the workers were fine." Meelo whacked her on the head with a small hand, saying, "Evil Kuvira! Evil! Bad! No Miss for you!"

Some part of Asami wanted to just punch Kuvira in the face so that she'd never be the same - just a strike to the nose, in the right way… Kuvira caught her off guard by stepping back and kneeling, shaking her shackles as she said, "I can only thank Raava that I did not have to feel that hurt, in my original vision - it would have broken me. There's a reason I'm going along with this sentence, Asami - remorse." Finding her rage dissipating, Asami just hugged Kuvira deeply, saying, "I vaguely considered punching your nose in in a devastating way, maybe even fatal way, Kuvira - but after seeing Lin go crazy, I don't think I could do it." Kuvira said, with a completely neutral tone, "I deserve death for what I have done, Asami - my only hope is that, as Lin said, I can earn life through actions. I might have been saved by Korra, twice, judged worthy by Raava in a roundabout way, shattered my metallic self - but it's still not enough. It may never be. My honor, my conscience, my soul… all have been sullied forever."

Asami half fainted when she heard a strong, emotional voice say, "No, Kuvira - you cannot carry the burden in your soul, forever, never forgiving yourself though many have forgiven you. I have to admit, your method for making that cavern you told us all about earlier when Asami wasn't here would probably have led me to cut one of your limbs off earlier… but I know from personal experience, nursing hurt doesn't do anything." Lin finally entered Asami's field of vision as Lin finished, "If you let the guilt from your past actions eat you alive like I was letting my anger at my mother consume me for what she did to Tonga Beifong, you just might go insane. Or worse - revert. To metallic Kuvira." Kuvira said after starting to cry, "You're right, Aunt Lin - I've been good for less than a week, and evil for roughly three years. I can't let guilt slide me backwards…" Meelo surprised everyone around him by having some sound emotional advice for once, saying, "Zuko got his honor back through action, and you can too, _Miss _Kuvira!"

Pointing at what must have been his creation, Meelo continued before anyone could get sappy again, "This is something I came up with when Kuvira showed us all the form of the airships inside that big room. They originally had spirit weapons on the sides, but I turned them into engines and streamlined the form of the war balloon. It's more like a biiiig plane now than a balloon. It still has enough gas in it to help lift it, but there's also four other, smaller engines that replace the old propeller height and position adjusters." Pointing to the side, Meelo said, "It has stubby wings with different guns underneath each side. One side has two Varrick guns and one medium-bore spirit cannon, and the other one has two small repeating spirit cannons and one medium-sized VarriMag Gun. I wanted it to be able to engage spirits or physical targets, no matter what side was facing out." On a cue from Meelo, Kuvira flipped the sizeable model over, saying coolly, "With increased lift from the spirit engines and two tuber-vines for power, it could even go fast enough to be a bomber as well - with modification. Just remove the guns and have a large 'bomb bay'…" Realizing that neither form of war balloon and plane hybrid had a name, Asami said, "Why don't we call the gunship Raava's Wrath, and this bomber the Angry Airbison."

As Meelo laughed, apparently loving the bomber's name, Asami heard a door open and close. Looking at her watch and realizing with a start it was now almost 8:30, she turned to see who it was, half expecting to see Korra and Mako. Instead, it was Shiro, saying, "I finally managed to contact a Fire Nation officer, though not Jeong-Jeong, and they said that Korra and Mako left about 45 minutes ago, both propelling the boat. My best guess is that they will still be a while - the capital is not very near Ember Island. An hour, tops." Shiro walked over to the mockup of Raava's Wrath intently, cradling his chin as he said, "Have you considered making a version of this craft that jams radio communications? The communication blackout with Ba Sing Se has proved most problematic. I would need to design the equipment first, though." Asami stood up, hugging Shiro as she said, "I'd like to officially make you a member of the braintrust, Shiro." Shiro had a steely look in his eyes as he said, "I accept. Anything I can do to get back at Jinshu Kuangmai - he's not Tonga Beifong, not after what he did to my family."

After Asami broke the hug with Shiro, she wanted to say something else, immediately forgetting when she heard a young male voice say, "Stop it, Jinora! Who are you, Asami?" What must have been Jinora giggled, "Come on - they can probably hear us now. I'll have to pester you some more later." Asami half felt like opening the door to see just what could have happened to Jinora to make her so feisty, but something told her it was as long and complicated as her own story since she got up this morning and saved Korra from her dark half.

Jinora and Kai finally entered the room, with wide eyes, like they didn't feel sleepy at all. While Kai marveled at the various mechasuits and Raava's wrath, Jinora produced an odd bag, saying, "This is full of Jang Hui kelp, and needs to be kept wet with fresh water. If you boil it and drink the 'tea', you won't feel tired for six hours!" Asami laughed as Varrick rushed over and grabbed the bag, Varrick saying, "Looks like that's not the only side effect, given how Kai was asking you to leave him alone and comparing you to Asami." Jinora didn't blush at all, prompting Bumi to say, "Where'd the grumpa-Jinora go that I used to know? Wherever she went, she can stay there - I like the sparkle in your eyes!" Kya said as she wet the odd bag with ambient moisture, accidentally splashing Varrick, "It sounds like you had a long day, Jinora - why don't you get something to eat?" Asami's eyes widened after Jinora said, "You got any shark whale meat left? I'm starving, and the only real meat I've eaten today is fish!"

As Jinora dug into a sizeable cooked shark whale steak, Lin said loudly, "Okay - whatever happened to those two, it's a lot more complicated than what happened during our 'braintrust' meeting. Probably more important too, given Jinora's eating a shark whale steak, and they returned from Jang Hui, apparently successful in converting the Painted Lady." Asami coughed, saying, "Why don't I start with when Korra left for the Fire Nation? Nobody here can infobend, so this could take a while." Kai said, running over to his pack, "Anyone want some of this Jang Hui kelp tea?" Varrick looked like he just might give in, but said, "Not yet - I don't want to be up at 3:00 AM, wide awake." Giving Zhu Li a nudge, he said, "I plan on being fast asleep after some quality time with Zhu Li." Jinora giggled, saying, "You can say _sex_, you know, Varrick. I'm not four." Asami joined in the laughter as she heard Atokara's voice say proudly, "That doesn't apply to me, mommy Asami. I've seen momma Korra without clothes on, after all." Asami almost passed out, her voice now too hoarse from laughing to be the first speaker after all.

Different people took turns speaking, first explaining the metal forms in the room as well as the blueprints, Jinora staring at the lethal airbender projectiles as much as Kai did. After people had settled down from Kuvira's repeat of her worst crime, Lin and Su took turns describing Lin's borderline insane behavior, making both Jinora and Kai cry at times. Asami's eyes widened at the lack of reaction to Jinshu Kuangmai's identity from the two young airbenders. When Asami asked Kai about it, he said, "That's something for when Korra is here and well-rested - she's going to be very busy infobending tomorrow morning."

Asami idly looked at her betrothal necklace, and noticed something odd - it was pulsating in a distinct pattern, with the figure of Korra on the front illuminated with white light. As Asami saw who entered the room next, she knew why.

"Momma Korra!"


	37. Chapter 37: From Dusk to Dawn

Chapter 37: From Dusk to Dawn

Korra was absolutely exhausted. With Mako's help on the boat, they had arrived back at Ember Island much earlier than expected, but Korra didn't think any amount of food, tea or cold ice on her face would help. Korra half felt like groaning when she saw how many people were still in the conference room as Mako collapsed into a chair - she had hoped to just find Asami, but Jinora, Kai, Bumi, Kya, Lin, Su, Shiro Shinobi, Meelo, Kuvira, Varrick and Zhu Li were all there, as well as some large metal forms, most of which she didn't recognize. Even what must have been Asami's Reach was radically different - she loved the new skirt and smiled when she looked at its chest, too weak to laugh.

At first, Korra didn't even want to speak, forming the characters for "Need tea and food. Too tired," in the air with ice, politely turning down Kai's offer for something he called Jang Hui kelp tea on Varrick's advice. Korra was shocked to hear Jinora say, "I'm still hungry, but only a little - I'll take a third of a shark whale steak, please." As Kai approached Jinora, Korra let out a weak surprised gasp when Jinora looked at her boyfriend mischievously and apparently grabbed Kai's butt, Kai saying, "Hey! Stop that, or you'll ruin the surprise for Korra after this." As Jinora ate her small bit of shark whale meat and Korra slowly ate her own food, Korra could feel her strength beginning to return. Korra finally leaned back in her chair, putting her feet on the table much as Toph might have, saying, "Ahhhh… just what I needed. It's amazing what a little food can do." Lin laughed, saying, "After my earlier stunt and your own little bending-assisted relaxation, Korra, Zuko's going to need to re-do this floor."

Looking around the room in confusion, Korra noticed there was a hole in the floor near the table. Looking at it and Asami, back and forth, Korra said loudly as she could, "Why does the hole in the floor almost exactly match Asami's lovely hips in diameter? Why do you have that guilty look on your face, Lin - did something happen here?" Lin sighed deeply, saying, "Let's just say I had more in common with Tonga Beifong than any other family member for a little while, crazed anger and irrational hurt and all." Korra shook her head, stopping when she saw Asami waving at Korra the second time. Given how _everyone _aside from Korra and Mako in the room, didn't seem phased, Korra asked Asami, "Asami, can you come over here, please? I get the feeling that whatever happened while I was in the Fire Nation capitol, it's long and complicated, and I don't feel like listening right now."

As Asami walked over, she closed her eyes temporarily and said, out loud, "No, not right now! You're a surprise for later. Now go to your womb!" Seeing everyone else laugh hysterically with the notable exception of Mako, Lin laughing just as well as anyone else, Korra said, "Did someone spike my tea with cactus juice or something? Or is everyone but Mako and myself going crazy?" Asami giggled, saying, "Why don't I show you - and no peeking at the surprise!" As Korra placed a somewhat tired hand on Asami's forehead, Korra took in the braintrust meeting in full. Somehow, Asami managed to block a good portion of it, humming loudly as she did so, saying, "I said, no peeking!" Korra removed her hand, saying with a slightly raised voice, "Asami, why don't you just tell me the parts I _can_ see - I can take the rest later." Korra's eyes glowed momentarily and she saw a white-haired girl appear in the edge of her vision, Raava saying, "Why don't I do it then, in full, and only give you the relevant details until Asami is ready to tell you what _else _happened to her, old fashioned style."

After Raava had finished with Asami, she placed her small hand on Korra's head, and it actually felt like some information was being _erased _from her mind as Raava said, "Don't worry - you'll get it back later, Korra. I'm going back to my home - hopefully Vaatu won't be a little terror like he was earlier." After hearing Jinora cough, Korra turned to the young… airbender? Korra didn't know what or even who Jinora was anymore - she seemed more like a mix of Opal and Asami now than the goody-two shoes Korra knew for four years. Jinora must have seen the confusion on Korra's face as Jinora said, "I had hoped to explain everything that happened to me and Kai today right now, but you look really tired, Korra," walking over as she did so. Jinora whispered into Korra's ear very quietly, "Kai and myself have something to show you and Asami tomorrow. We need to get up early, so no one else sees us." Jinora stepped back, saying much more loudly, "Almost everything that happened to Kai today was good and uplifting, while a good portion of what happened to me - or rather, what I was shown and learned - is disturbing in nature. I'm not going to share any of it with you right now, but let's just say some of it is connected to Raava's comment about Vaatu."

Sick and tired of feeling confused, Korra said, "I need a little bit to make sense of what happened with Lin - my head still isn't screwed on straight just yet. I need something else for my stomach." After drinking some rice milk Korra practically froze with her bending, she felt much better, and said, "I wondered how long it would take someone other than Katara to figure out Jinshu Kuangmai's identity, and given your background in police work, I didn't find it very surprising that Lin was the one to figure it out." Lin must have anticipated Korra's next question, given her nervous look as Korra asked, "Just where did all that aggression and bottled-up emotion come from, Lin? If I had been in the room when you pulled your armblade out towards Asami, I might have just hurt you - badly." Lin sighed deeply, saying, "I'm exhausted too, Korra, and I want to explain my behavior to everyone tomorrow. I'm just glad you aren't angry right now, or too tired to act on it." Korra stood up, hugging Lin deeply, too tired to cry as she said, "I'm just glad everything turned out more than fine, Lin - you seem a lot happier after you surrendered to peace." Jinora said, with a choked voice, "And I'm glad Jinshu Kuangmai didn't decide to pay Lin and Toph a visit, like he did Kai - that would have been very bad."

As everyone but Jinora said "What?!" loudly, Jinora said, "Sorry - I keep forgetting I haven't told everyone what happened. I need to step outside with Kai, Korra and Asami for a little bit, then probably head to bed. I guess the Jang Hui kelp tea is starting to wear off." As Asami and Korra left the room slowly in Jinora's footsteps, Korra smiled as she heard Mako talking animatedly with Kuvira. The last thing Korra heard from the room was Kuvira saying, "You'll have to get Korra to show me everything, Mako - I want to see and feel what changed your mind."

When they were finally outside, Jinora asked Asami to take out a map of Ember Island and a source of light. Figuring she could one-up a map, Korra slammed her fist into the ground as her eyes glowed, illuminating the darkening night around them much more than the full moon did. Korra sensed a good meeting place - a volcanic cave, much like the one she had created under the house back in Republic City. When Korra suggested the cave, Jinora shook her head, saying, "We're going to need a lot of room. That's all I will say for now. I think I found a good place - right here." Korra laughed, saying, "Great minds think alike, Jinora - you remember how your grandfather Aang was stuck in an iceberg?" Jinora shook her head, saying, "Yes - but you can just call him Aang around me. I talked to him earlier today." Korra said, her smile illuminated by her still glowing eyes, "Asami and I made a little private one of our own in that spot, and had some fun - I mean, had sex, inside of it." Jinora smiled, saying, "Thanks for remembering I'm not four, Korra. Anyways - that's where we will meet, at 3:00 AM." Korra nodded her head, fascinated by the headlight effect of her eyes, saying, "That's awfully early, Jinora - how are we going to see?" Jinora laughed, saying, "This is the last hint I'll give - the light of the moon will be more than enough…we won't need to see very well. Only feel, and not just in the emotional sense of the word." Hugging Kai in the moonlight and Korralight, Jinora finished, "Kai and I are going to go to bed - together." Seeing Korra's half-frown, half confused look in the dim light, Jinora laughed, saying, "Not naked, of course, or even on the same bed - Kai and I had a… unique opportunity today and decided to decline it, wanting to take our relationship slowly and not rush it." Asami coughed, prompting Jinora to say, "Not that there's anything wrong with rushing, Asami. Neither of us is as physically mature as Korra and you, and you were bottling up your desire for almost a decade."

After Jinora and Kai ran off quickly, somehow not stumbling over any rocks in the dead of night with only the light of a full moon and some stars to go by, Korra noticed something odd - she hadn't heard any footsteps. Figuring this had something to do with the surprise that required getting up at 3:00 AM in the morning, Korra grabbed Asami's hand and walked at a brisk pace towards Zuko's summer home. When they were both back inside, Korra was surprised to see Mako, Bolin and Kuvira fussing over a blueprint, with the object depicted on it nearby in a mock-up.

When Korra got close enough to see the blueprint more accurately, she recognized their form, but as though from someone else's eyes. Figuring which Avatar's memories were surfacing, she projected Aang out, who looked at the odd swords and said excitedly, "Are those dual dao swords, Mako? I didn't know you liked swords, Mako - I've never seen you use anything but bending!" Mako laughed, apparently not tired any more as he said, "I accidentally formed a small sword made of blue fire earlier today when I was particularly angry over what Firelord Izumi did to the Fire Nation's heritage. Kuvira was going to try and give me a bracelet of some kind as a parting gift, but I wanted something more practical." Bolin said proudly, "I want to help my brother make it - tomorrow. I figure we need to start making spiritwire-based weapons sometime. My brother finally decided that he wanted to give Kuvira a chance - something about a vision he had of two orphans." Kuvira pushed Bolin aside, saying excitedly, "Do you think you could show me his vision, Korra?" Remembering how easily Aang's life transmitted to Eska and Desna, Korra said, "Sure - but I have something I want to show him first. I don't know if you knew this, Mako, but infobending information from my past lifetimes is very easy. I'm going to show you what the Fire Nation looked like before Firelord Izumi modernized it."

Ignoring a tapping on her shoulder, Korra recalled Aang back in, quickly imparting both Aang and Roku's experience with the Fire Nation. Taking what Mako had felt during his visit to the Fire Nation took a bit longer - but not by much. Tears in her eyes, Korra said, "Awww, Mako - that vision was so sweet! Two orphans, holding hands, both hurt, in different ways…" Figuring that Asami would like to see what Mako had felt as well, Korra placed a hand on an eager Kuvira's forehead and above a pleasantly surprised Asami's brow. When she was done with Kuvira, who was now hugging Mako tightly, she heard Asami think "Why don't you show me the Fire Nation, too - I've always wanted to see that part of my heritage." When she was finished, Korra heard a voice that seemed very familiar somehow say excitedly, "Wow, mommy Asami! That was cool! Can I infobend?"

Korra wanted to ask who this second being was, but shook her head, saying to Asami, "The sooner we help these three with the sword, the sooner we can go to bed." Asami said, with a little disappointment in her voice, "Sure - I thought you would want to know what I thought of the old Fire Nation, but I guess not." Korra frowned, saying, "I'm sorry, Asami - let's just say I heard something I wasn't supposed to at the end." Asami smiled broadly, saying, "Oh, right. Even Raava can't restrain… that. Let's help with Mako's dual dao swords - I'll help with the design while you transfer Piandao's knowledge of the swords to Mako. If I remember correctly, Piandao trained Zuko in the use of them."

As Korra took Mako aside, she felt an odd tug - and it wasn't Raava. Figuring out who it might be, she told Mako, "Just give me a minute - I think Sokka and Piandao want something," sitting on the floor and meditating on their energies. When she came to in Xai Bau's Grove, she was stunned by what she saw. Sokka and Piandao's appearance didn't take her by surprise - it was the black form in between the two that shocked her! Picking up on Aang's memories and her own of what that horrible bird helped Unalaq do with Jinora three years ago, Korra said politely, "Hello, Wan Shi Tong. I never expected you to be here. Why do you have blue lines? I thought you hated humans." The ancient spirit answered, his now blue eyes shimmering slightly, "During the start of the Spirit Civil War, I was torn between Long Yumao and Raava. What the young airbender named Kai showed me about the power of human love and passions, along with his defense of one of my most incompetent knowledge seekers, won me over." Seeing Korra's confused look, Wan Shi Tong continued, "I let him in to my library, a decidedly earthy airbending technique being one of the greatest contributions I have had in thousands of years." Chuckling slightly and turning to Sokka as he swelled to a much larger - but still blue - form, he groused, "Much, much better than your silly little knots, Sokka. I still remember that - especially how that trick helped win over other spirits to immortalize you." Wan Shi Tong made to peck at Sokka, who whipped out his meteorite blade and lightly smacked Wan Shi Tong, saying, "No! Bad owl! You're just mad because I tricked you!"

Wan Shi Tong laughed and shrank back to normal size… laughing? Korra was utterly baffled, saying, "Neither Aang nor I remember you as… playful, Wan Shi Tong. What's the deal?" Wan Shi Tong pointed one of his massive wings - now with blue lines for central feather vanes - at Korra as he said, "I have found since I switched sides that Raava's human-y nature is rubbing off on me. I have to say, now that I have actually bothered to look, humans _are _fascinating. They have patterns, but are still highly unpredictable. I should create a new wing in the library, once it is outside Republic City: psychology. I do not think there would be many books or scrolls written by humans to place in it just yet, as even humans don't understand how humans work emotionally or mentally at a scientific level."

Figuring that Kai must have won over Wan Shi Tong - somehow - and that Korra could "ask" him about it tomorrow, Korra said, "Thank you for all the information, Wan Shi Tong, but I don't think He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things would be here just to say hello. I assume your presence here has something to do with why I came here: Piandao and Sokka." The large owl nodded, saying, "Since I am one of the wisest spirits, I may be able to help you extract almost _all _of Sokka and Piandao's knowledge, particularly on swordfighting and forging blades. From what Raava has told me here and there, you mortal allies of hers will be making many, many blades soon - some designed so they can kill spirits." After Korra nodded and explained her armblades to Wan Shi Tong, he exclaimed, "My, my - I did not know of any use beyond the spirit weapons Kai told me about for spirit vines, or these 'tuber-vines' you speak of. That is something for another time - let me assist you in this… 'infobending'. Which, I may add, I accept as a valid pass to my library - including the war section." Now it was Korra who delayed, saying, "Wait - what? I thought you hated letting humans in there!" Wan Shi Tong nodded, saying, "Yes - I almost kicked Kai out because he went to that portion of my library, until he told me that humans were using the spirit's power as their own in war already. I was hesitant at first, but now I just look at it like this: humans have managed to far outstrip the technology level in that wing anyways, and if they are not allowed in, it will never be updated. I look forward to getting a copy of the myriad of blueprints Raava has told me about." Korra nodded, saying, "When things settle down a little bit, I will do my best to get you new information about human technology, Wan Shi Tong. Just a warning: under no circumstances are you to allow Koh, Long Yumao or Jinshu Kuangmai, also known as Tonga Beifong, into your library." Wan Shi Tong looked vaguely annoyed as he said, "Very well - I shall honor your request. I had hoped to learn more of this 'dark meditation' what must have been a very tiny Vaatu's voice was bragging to me about, but from the tiny bit Raava told me about it, it's not something I'd want to keep out in the open anyways." Sighing deeply, Wan Shi Tong said, "I still regret not hiding the scroll about Tui and La better - perhaps it should have been in a special vault."

Forgetting that all this was taking real time, Korra said, "I think I could help you with that - the vault. There are barriers around the Spirit Portals that I created with Eska and Desna's help in the North that block any spirits except those aligned with Raava or those that are neutral from entering or leaving. After the Restoration, which I can see from your nod you already know about, a similar technique was used on the Great Banyan tree that let it judge an individual's intentions and worth, and incinerate them if they mean harm to the Great Banyan tree." Wan Shi Tong flapped his wings angrily as he swelled to full size, accidentally knocking Sokka and Piandao down as he yelled, "What happened to the tree that it needed re-growing? All I managed to find out about the Restoration was that your restored your link with your past lives!" Korra ran over and placed her hand on Wan Shi Tong's feathers, showing him what Kuvira had done to the tree, as well as the little trap she had set for Jinshu Kuangmai. The great owl hooted angrily, saying, "I hope his entire army is turned to ashes! I knew that the tree was hurt - but not that badly!"

Not liking how strongly the new lines on Wan Shi Tong were pulsing, nor that they looked rather purple, as though a mix of red and blue. Korra said, "It looks like there's a lot you don't know, Wan Shi Tong, and I think it's more important to just 'tell' you everything than get what I need from Sokka and Piandao." Wan Shi Tong shook his head, which now thankfully had blue eyes once more, saying, "I think you should be able to do both at once, Avatar Korra. Let's get this over with - I'll even try and throw my own knowledge into the mix." Korra felt almost overwhelmed as she gave out information to Wan Shi Tong and took information in from the large owl, Sokka and Piandao. As she processed the information, apparently with Raava's help, Korra laughed, saying, "So that's what thingies are called? Who told you that, Wan Shi Tong?" The wise owl grumbled, "A young Admiral Zhao. He shared all sorts of human sexual information with me, desperate to be let into the library. I'm glad that was the only bit that slipped. Though, I must admit, I like the name 'thingies' better - it's more… subtle."

Korra remembered her earlier promise to Wan Shi Tong, saying, "If you will show me where the library is, I can go ahead and make the barrier around it." After seeing Wan Shi Tong shake his head, Korra was surprised to hear him say, "If you make the barrier now, you'll just have to re-do it later. I will be getting a large amount of books made soon - about humans, who I foolishly ignored until now. After seeing what Kuvira did to the Great Banyan tree and Republic City, I know mortals are no longer ants, to be ignored lightly."

Korra closed her eyes anyways as she said, "It shouldn't take that long - now let's hurry, before Jinshu Kuangmai finds out a way to 'dark meditate' there." Given the smell of books and scrolls, they must have been in the library now. Remembering another recent human innovation, Korra took a deep breath, opened glowing eyes and used her tight connection with Raava to create a new wing labeled "Movers and Audio Tapes." Wan Shi Tong flew over to the new wing excitedly, saying, "I hope this wing will be filled with all sorts of knowledge. Why are you laughing, Sokka?" Sokka howled, "I doubt Varrick is going to be producing any movers worthy of your library - from what I know of Nuktuk, Hero of the South, it's not exactly educational." Korra howled in laughter, saying, "Sokka's right - for the most part. There's going to be five Avatar interviews produced at some point -Aang, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk and Yangchen, as well as interviews with homosexual Avatars like myself, about their lives." Wan Shi Tong didn't look disturbed, saying, "I look forward to seeing your own 'SpectroMovers', Avatar Korra. Now why don't you do what we came here for - sealing the library."

Remembering what she had done with the earthen walls in Republic City, Korra took a deep breath, her eyes glowing once more as she pumped Raava's energy into the seemingly endless library. At first, she was surprised at how short a time it took, but Korra remembered Raava telling her that Korra was at her strongest in the Spirit World. As she walked around the main square, admiring her work, she jumped - she saw a ghost! A blue form was hovering over a skeleton, saying, "Finally - I can start looking at books again! I don't know what you did, Avatar… uhm, sorry, I don't know your name. I've been dead since Aang's time, but my spirit came back just now - a combination of what must be Raava's energy, and the fact that Wan Shi Tong isn't trying to peck your eyes out." Wan Shi Tong said, "I've never heard of someone's spirit being brought back like this, even if Professor Zei's body is… no longer suitable for use." What must have been Professor Zei's ghost shrugged, saying, "I guess I can help Wan Shi Tong now, even if I am not immortalized _quite_ like Sokka or Piandao apparently were."

Content her work was done, Korra said, "Good luck, and happy reading, Professor Zei!" Before she left the Spirit World, she focused on Xai Bau's Grove, teleporting there and making a mock sword from the earth. Korra swung it around, testing to see if the knowledge transfer had been a more complete success. At first, nothing seemed as though it had changed, but after about five minutes, something strange happened - the sword felt like an extension of her body! Shouting, "Yes!" in excitement, Korra turned around and flung the sword on some instinct, and laughed when she heard a familiar cursing. Not wanting to deal with Long Yumao right now, she just meditated out.

Long Yumao came out from the bushes, shaking his head violently as he tried to dislodge the earthen sword from his mane, cursing. Once he got it out, he sighed in irritation at the sound of many feet on rocks. Turning to Koh, he yelled, "What do you want, slowpoke? If you had been here when I was, you might just have an _Avatar's _face!" Koh didn't even bother cackling, instead saying softly, "You really need to stop being so _bad _at your job, Long Yumao. You're a lot smaller than when I last saw you - you're only twice my size now, and you're about to be smaller still!" Long Yumao hissed angrily, demanding, "What do you know, Koh? Is it something about humans converting another spirit?" Now Koh bothered to switch to one of his favorite faces, cackling through the face of a savage monkey, "Yes - but I'm not going to tell you!" As Long Yumao cursed Wan Shi Tong, the savage monkey's face smiled - even if it was his ally's loss, Koh still loved harassing beings.

When Korra came to, she stood up, glad to see Mako and Kuvira hugging intently - though not as intently as Jinora hugged Kai, she realized with a laugh. Mako, Bolin and Asami turned to Korra, Asami asking, "Is everything all right? You were in there a long time!" Korra shook her head, saying, "Why don't I just show you instead of explaining, then I need to get to bed after you show me the dual spiritwire dao swords. I'm exhausted." As Korra placed her palms to Mako and Asami's foreheads, she told Bolin, "You're getting a reduced version - Wan Shi Tong told me a _lot _of things, and I needed Raava's help to process it all." Korra jumped just before her hands were in place as she heard Opal's voice say, "Bolin may be dense sometimes, but he isn't dumb! Can you show me what happened as well?" Korra said, yawning, "Okay - I'm just really tired, and don't know how blade knowledge will help you, Opal." Korra ignored her response, getting the first of two infobendings over with. When Korra was done, she made sure to go slow with Bolin, finishing with Opal rapidly - and not because she thought Bolin was dumb. Korra wanted to make sure he got the updated sword knowledge the best.

Korra smiled weakly when she was done as Bolin said, "So that's what thingies are called!" laughing as she said, "Yes - but I like thingies better, and given Asami's laughter, she does as well. Even Wan Shi Tong doesn't like their real name." Knocking a curious Meelo away with a blast of air, who was way up past his bedtime, Korra said, "Okay - dual dao swords, Asami's surprise, bed. I'm so tired, I'm half considering drinking that Jang Hui tea." Bumi laughed in the background, saying, "Meelo got in it, and nobody touched it after that. He might need some metal restraining cuffs - he's gone around the room on an air scooter dozens of times already!"

Returning Bumi a weak laugh, Korra looked at the dual spiritwire dao swords, noting they looked exactly like Zuko's, except for a few spiritwire lines from the grip towards the end of the blades, along with an odd detail. Pointing at what closely resembled electrical coils, Korra said, "Are those things running along the blunt edge of the blade for what I think they are - storing lightning?" Mako nodded, his eyes sleepy as he said, "Yes - I got the idea from the lightning stick one of the guards had out when I was being angry. It's not meant to hold a huge amount of lightning - just enough for one jolt. The spiritwire should let me generate and control lightning with the sword - hopefully. I guess we'll find out tomorrow. Whatever Asami's glove was she told me about and its ball lightning, I want these instead - no offense." Before he could leave, Kuvira pointed to one of the flat surfaces of the dual dao swords, saying, "These are more than just swords, Mako - I hope the dual Earth and Fire symbols on them will help while I'm away." Mako's eyes widened as he said, "You're the one who's going to need reminding the most, given your sentence. We'll make a bracelet for you tomorrow, Kuvira - together." After Mako and Kuvira went their separate ways, Kuvira walking towards a snoozing Lin and Su, Mako heading to his room, Bolin and Opal held hands tightly as they left the room.

Korra felt Asami tugging on her own shoulder, saying, "Come on - I want to tell you about the surprise, then we can just _be _with each other." Korra nodded, saying, "It'll have to be quick - I'm exhausted. Wish I didn't have to get up at 3:00 AM… what is it, 11:00PM? Guh."

Once Asami was inside the room with her, Korra closed the door tightly, asking Asami, "What's the surprise, Asami? Whatever it is, it must be what Raava removed - I can't remember anything other than a slipup while I was infobending you Mako's experience. Something about mommy Asami." Asami must have previously unbuttoned her vest, as she took it and then her shirt off with two motions, leaving her standing with just her betrothal necklace, bra, skirt, pants and boots on. Remembering she still had the heavy dress on, Korra took it off, saying, "I don't see what's surprising about you wanting to have sex, but I'm good for a quickie." Asami nodded her head side to side, Korra staring at her beautiful dark hair as she said, "No, silly - I'm tired too. It's about Atokara." Korra smiled broadly, asking, "Was that Atokara's voice I heard earlier - 'Wow, mommy Asami!'?" Asami nodded, saying, "I knew Atokara was going to be precocious, but until I had a weird experience, I had no idea just how. Originally, I wanted to tell you everything manually, but I'm very tired as well… and I do like the feeling of oneness I get when you infobend me. Why don't we both take off these clothes and just curl up together naked while you take it out of me." Asami laughed, saying, "Apparently, Raava has taught Atokara some words - and not on accident. Atokara just asked if we were going to 'screw each other silly'."

As Asami removed her boots slooowly, Korra felt like doing just that, and Asami must have noticed Korra's look, given how she removed everything else except her betrothal necklace much quicker. Asami actually hopped into bed rather than letting Korra get a better look, making Korra feel slightly betrayed. After she had taken off her own clothes and was wearing only Asami's jade necklace, Asami said, "Atokara says you look much prettier in person, especially without any clothes on. Apparently, she thinks clothes are some kind of horrible sin." Korra chuckled, saying, "I bet she wants to run free in the polar wind as well. After seeing Aang's life when I infobended Eska and Desna and how free their swimwear was, I think I agree. Modern swimming suits are ridiculously modest, aside from the ones you managed to find." Asami laughed, saying, "I just took underwear and put swimsuit cloth on top, like I modified those bra and panties with a metal strip." Asami's face blushed as she said, "I don't think we should talk anymore for now. Atokara's questions are making me a little uneasy."

As Korra took in what happened after she broke the projection from Asami, at first she was very concerned by the odd hunger pangs and "morning" sickness, but by the time Korra got to Atokara's little admonishment and the gift box part, her heart was melting. Korra recognized the twin white hair braids and froze their image for a moment, knowing just who was to thank for them - Raava. Korra interrupted the infobending to ask Raava directly in her head, Korra's hand still on Asami's forehead, "Seeing these twin white hair braids reminds me of Yue, human turned Moon spirit. Is Atokara similarly touched, but with increased power?" Korra laughed as she heard Atokara's voice protest, "That hair was supposed to be a surprise, momma Korra!" and to her dismay, Raava replied _In line with Atokara's wishes, I'm not going to tell you, and not just because I am not entirely sure myself._ Korra just accepted the uncertainty and moved on back to infobending, laughing along the way, especially at Atokara's diet assistance offer. Korra paused, telling Asami, "You know I like curves, Asami - if only there were some way to be fit to fight well but still have nice curves…" Asami laughed, saying, "You can only have such big curves before they're just plain inconvenient. If my boobs were as big as they are on Asami's Reach, I think I'd topple over." Korra sighed, saying, "I guess that's what imagination and art is for," ignoring her body's pleasurable pleas for satisfaction.

Korra was shocked to find out how "old" Atokara was - roughly three times older than her natural age of around four to five days. Chuckling, Korra said, "I guess we know the delivery date - about three months from now. I hope Long Yumao doesn't get in the way - I want to be present when Atokara is born." Korra's eyes glowed temporarily and she was surprised to hear Raava say from the bedside, "At the rate Team Avatar is going, Long Yumao won't be a huge threat for much longer. Bumju was the first, then the Painted Lady, then Wan Shi Tong of all spirits - I never expected that, given his siding with Unalaq. The next two on the list are Yue, the Moon spirit, and Hei Bai - both of whom can provide concrete battle assistance, Yue being the most powerful and Hei Bai being able to help in both the Spirit World and the physical world." As much as it pained her to no longer touch Asami's lovely naked body, Korra turned around and pointed at Raava's teapot, saying, "Don't forget Sudden Death, and the potential for spirits flocking to Long Yumao if Jinshu Kuangmai can cause enough ruckus. Now, get back in here - I don't want to talk about fighting right now, even if we are winning." Raava let out a sigh, walking towards Korra as an incorporeal form.

Korra was glad to shift back to Asami, doubly so because she could now enter the Avatar State and keep Raava shushed. Korra laughed as she finished infobending Asami, a feeling of love in her heart so strong it was almost painful - but in the best way possible. When Korra was finished, her eyes dimmed as she said, "She sounds like quite the character already, Asami, and you're handling it very well. Given how spunky she is, I'm certain she'll be a looker. It's not like she could inherit anything else from either of us." Asami smiled, saying, "Atokara won't show me what she'll look like - not even at four. From what little I have seen, she should be beautiful - in heart and soul. I can't wait to see how she grows up." Growing up reminding Korra of another funny detail, she said "I think it's cute she wants to wear lipstick." Asami laughed, saying, "Apparently, she's dead serious about it, given her reaction just now. She said, 'If I can see momma Korra naked and feel what her skin is like, I should be able to wear lipstick!'" Korra sighed deeply, saying, "Yeah - I forgot that detail about how she can feel and see what you do, Asami, like Raava does with me, except a lot more directly, apparently."

Asami laughed, saying, "I'll be right back - Atokara just realized she doesn't know what mommy Asami looks like without clothes. I'm hoping she might tell us more about her appearance." Korra idly played with the sheets around her until Asami came back, grinning as she said, "Atokara says she has my long legs, and should end up with my overall lower figure's shape." Asami blushed as she said, "She also said she has my butt, just a little bigger." Korra laughed, saying, "It's a shame she'll never get to pass all this wonderful stuff off if she follows in momma Korra and mommy Asami's footsteps," internally cursing basic biology.

_Love finds a way._

Asami gingerly approached Korra, saying, "I'm just glad to be with you, Korra, let alone be having a _child_ with you. You can't live in the future - you used to, and I don't want you to start again." Ignoring the earlier odd internal comment from Raava, Korra turned with tears in her eyes as Asami explained, "Your job as Avatar requires you to think that way at times, but it goes beyond that, Korra. I remember when I first met you, Korra. You wanted to airbend so badly you wouldn't listen and do what Tenzin told you to. That desire ended up being counterproductive, from what I heard after the fact... it was only when you saw mortal danger that you finally managed to airbend, after all your other bending had been blocked by that monster Amon." Korra just wanted to have some "family" time, but listened to an intent Asami as she continued, "There was nothing to do around Harmonic Convergence _but_ wait for the future - we had no idea what Unalaq's scheme was at the time until it was too late. After Harmonic Convergence, you got more than a bit better about it, being quite in the moment for the search for airbenders and then chasing Zaheer." Asami wiped her eyes, smudging some of her makeup as she said, "I wasn't there for your rehabilitation, but I can imagine that further broke you of living in the future."

Korra nodded her head, saying, "It was one painful, excruciating day at a time, Asami, and I didn't want to think much about the future. The possibility of being crippled, then a mental case, was too terrifying. Not to mention the future if Kuvira had won… There was a reason Dark Korra was able to harass me so much then, even if not in her true form." Unable to restrain herself any longer, Korra got out of the bed and gave Asami a huge hug, their twin necklaces touching as Korra tightly pressed her chest against Asami's, savoring both the sweaty softness and the far more pleasurable feeling of oneness. Korra said, with a contented sigh, "If we had just started off like _this_, I think a lot of the things I went through over the past four years would have been a lot easier." Asami said nothing, instead pressing her body against Korra's, making her head swim. Korra felt light as a feather, feeling her own heart beat rapidly next to Asami's own fluttering heart. Korra said, laughing, "After this, I definitely like the twin spirit cannons on Asami's Reach," yelping "Ooh!" in surprise when Asami grabbed her butt.

The following exclamation had nothing to do with pleasure, and everything to do with shock. Finishing her expletive curse, Korra grumbled, "Not again! My head hurts… at least I know that floating crap is replicable." Asami giggled, saying, "Arousal makes for a nice painkiller. I guess this is what that bump was that I heard before you _actually _left - I heard you 'practicing' your passion. Out loud."

The touchdown was much smoother this time - not slamming the floor. Remembering Jinora and Kai's odd behavior, Korra said, "This might have something to do with what Jinora and Kai wanted us at 3:00 AM for. Let's get some sleep - maybe if I keep together with you like this, Atokara can talk to me in my sleep." Korra ended up placing one hand over Asami's left breast and the other over Asami's stomach, hoping Atokara might want to "talk" to Korra in her sleep.

Soon after falling asleep, Korra was visited by someone - but not anyone she had seen directly. In her lifetime, at least. An ethereal teenager turned spirit she recognized as Yue, the Moon spirit, idly played with one of her long hair braids, saying, "I'm glad someone shares my fashion sense. Your daughter wants to wear her twin stripes of Raava-touched hair much as I wore my own." Korra knew Yue wasn't here for personal business and was not surprised as she continued, "Eska and Desna finally got around to asking for my help in the Spirit Civil War, and I obviously accepted. La took a little convincing at first, but when I mentioned what Eska and Desna had said about Jinshu Kuangmai's ambitions, he readily accepted, remembering what the Fire Nation almost did 170 years ago." Korra asked, not able to see her own body, "Then why aren't you blue like Wan Shi Tong?" Yue laughed, saying, "Myself and La are major spirits - we can't just wear Raava's colors like they're a uniform. The Painted Lady and Hei Bai are another story, though." Remembering something Jinora had mentioned earlier, Korra said, "One last question, Yue. What is 'dark meditation'?" Yue's face looked distressed as she said, "Let's just say it's something a human can do to turn even that little runt in Raava's teapot that calls himself Grand Dark Spirit into a menace - and not because of Vaatu's energy. Because of their _own _evil energy." Laughing nervously, Yue said, "It's a good thing Admiral Zhao or Princess Azula never found out about it, let alone Firelord Ozai."

Seeing Yue's look, Korra knew she didn't want to talk anymore, so Korra bowed, forgetting she had no body in this particular vision, saying, "Thank you for your support, Yue. I look forward to finding Long Yumao encased in ice the next I see him." Seeing Yue's confused look, Korra added as Yue dissipated to mist, "I meant it as a joke, not seriously - I know you cannot use your moon powers to help in the spirit world portion war. 'Tui' and La crossed over many eons ago." Korra laughed - she never thought she'd see mist smile and giggle.

Korra waited, still obviously asleep, waiting for Atokara. Korra was vaguely annoyed when she didn't appear physically, but only as a voice that said, "Don't worry, momma Korra - even I don't know who I like yet. Boys, or girls… Maybe both, like you…. Do? Did? Momma Korra, how does that work?" Korra laughed, saying, "I still have a slight physical attraction to men, but my _love _for Asami overrides any urges my body has. _Lust_ is a purely physical attraction. Think if mommy Asami only liked me and had sex with me because she liked how my body looked and felt, but didn't have an emotional bond with me." Atokara laughed, asking, "How will I tell the difference between the two when I feel them?" Korra said calmly, "It's hard to tell, sweetie - I still don't know what I had for Mako, but if it was love, it wasn't strong enough to withstand hardship." Korra didn't know what to make of it when Atokara said, "When you and mommy Asami were embracing earlier, I could feel you focusing on your love for mommy Asami, while mommy Asami was savoring your body. Does that count as lust?" Remembering Asami's repression, Korra answered, "Mommy Asami has always liked women, sweetie - she is a _lesbian_, while I am _bisexual_, like you said. Her daddy kept her from expressing her true feelings for almost a decade, and didn't feel comfortable making advances on me until recently. I'm sure it's just pent up _desire_, something you will start feeling when you enter something called _puberty_."

At first, Korra thought a lot of this would go over Atokara's head, and said the last bit to re-assure herself to a slight degree. Korra remembered how Asami's necklace had been almost purely sexual energy at first. Either Atokara was lying or she really _was _extremely precocious, as she said, "Okay, momma Korra. I think I understand. Wanna talk about something else? Ooooh! How about bending! I won't show you my whole body yet, but I want you to critique my waterbending form, momma Korra." Korra was happy to see Atokara's body aside from her head appear, and Korra said, "Oh, look! Looks like you got my cute little four-year old gut, Atokara." The headless form crossed its arms, saying, "I'm not cute, I'm capable. Here - watch!" Korra watched in amazement as she saw Atokara take water from the "air", despite never having been told about any waterbending form, let alone this advanced concept one. Atokara's limbs flowed like a Sifu's might have, making the water form a large ice scythe. An image of what Atokara must have imagined Jinshu Kuangmai looked like appeared, Atokara slicing the bloodless image clean in two after entrapping its feet in icy restraints and pinning its hands behind its back. Atokara asked, as the image vanished in a shimmer, "Was that good, momma Korra? Was it? I wanna be good - I wanna fight!"

Korra was torn - she remembered one child prodigy all too well from a past life. Then Princess Azula had shown similar amazing abilities, as well as amazing ruthlessness, making Korra ask Atokara a question before she told her that her form was impeccable. Korra asked gently, "Why did you slice the image of Jinshu Kuangmai in two, Atokara?" Atokara answered without hesitation, "Because he's a bad, evil man, momma Korra! If I didn't, he would blood-iron bend me!" Liking this answer but still having some reservations, Korra asked, "Would you do that to one of his soldiers, or a random bandit?" Korra breathed a huge sigh of relief figuratively when Atokara said, "Only if I saw the soldier do something evil or about to kill someone. I'd just encase the bandit in ice - he might be trying to feed his family." Korra said, glad she wasn't going to have a latter-day Azula on her hands, "Momma Korra thinks your waterbending forms and stances are practically perfect. The most important thing is good as well - how you would use them."

Atokara must have forgotten for a moment she was trying to hide her body, and she saw full lips with Asami's lipstick on them smile above a chin that was rounded like Korra's own. Apparently, this was no accident, as Atokara said, "Do you like my lips, momma Korra?" Seeing that Atokara was serious about wearing lipstick, Korra said, "Yes, I do - I'm sure many boys and girls will find them pretty, whichever you end up liking more." Atokara giggled, asking, "Why can't I like and see both at once, momma Korra? Would that be considered _lust_?" Korra didn't have any idea what to answer at first - she had never heard of a loving multi-partner relationship. Korra said gently, "You can't have a boyfriend and girlfriend at the same time that you _love,_ Atokara. If you profess _love _to two people at once, it's called _cheating, _and that can hurt people badly." After Atokara said, "Okay - but how can I ever know what having sex with a boy feels like if I don't like them more than girls when I finish puberty?" Korra answered confidently, "If you're _really _curious when you get to that age, I can infobend either my own experiences with Asami or Katara's experience with her husband, Avatar Aang. If you like girls, I'll show you Katara's point of view, if you like boys, I'll show you mine." Atokara said, cutting straight to the point, "Given how much mommy Asami loves you and I can see and feel what she does, I don't think I'll need your experiences." Korra laughed as Atokara said, "Okay! I think I'm done now, momma Korra. I'm going to go think about everything you said. Bye!"

Remembering something she needed to tell Atokara, Korra focused on her energy once again before returning to real sleep. Atokara's partial body appeared again, Korra noticing for the first time how muscular it was for a four-year old. Figuring Atokara would be upset with what Korra had to say, Korra sugarcoated it by saying first, "Oh, my, Atokara! What big muscles you have!" Korra laughed as the lipsticked mouth moved, saying, "Thank you momma Korrra - and I wanna use them too!" Knowing that last comment would make what she had gotten Atokara's attention to say sting all the more, Korra said, "About that, sweetie - I don't want you fighting with Team Avatar until you're at least eight or nine years old physically, like Meelo." Atokara had the expected reaction - and yet, she didn't. Atokara's mouth moved into a pout, hands on her hips as she said, "I'm not like Meelo - I have Raava inside, remember! But since you've both been so nice to me so far, momma Korra and mommy Asami, I'll wait. It's not like it will take me long to grow to the size of Meelo anyways once I am born. I'm going to need a lot of food."

With that, Korra said goodbye, part of her glad that Atokara would rapidly be safe from outside aggression after birth, the other part crushed that Korra would likely never be able to even raise a four-year old child to adulthood. Korra was mainly crushed, until Korra remembered her unique ability - infobending. She could watch the childhoods of Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin from Katara's point of view, and all the childhoods of Tenzin's children from Pema's point of view.

It seemed like Korra got a whole two hours of _real _sleep before Asami's accursed watch began beeping, waking both from their slumber. Asami mumbled something about Korra's beautiful skin as Korra wiped her eyes, sitting up straight in bed, legs crossed. She did _not _feel like getting up at 3:00 in the morning - not after yesterday and last night. Closing her eyes, she focused on Jinora's energy, almost awake. When she saw Jinora, she had her back turned to Korra's projection. Jinora was sitting next to Kai with her arm around him, staring up at the stars that were visible through the moonlight. Korra grumbled, "Hello, Jinora and Kai. I do not feel like getting up at three in the morning." Ignoring Kai's stare and Jinora's rapt look when they turned around, Korra continued, "I think me and Asami already figured out part of what you wanted to show us, so I can wait another three hours. Given how wide your eyes are, you must have drank some Jang Hui kelp tea." Jinora laughed, saying, "That's not the only reason - you're buck naked!" Bobbing her small, arrowed head up and down, Jinora continued, "I really regret not drinking from Sharktar's pool now - I can't wait to look like you do! I loved what I saw in that vision. Some of my curves were bigger than yours." Korra didn't quite process what Jinora had said fully, mumbling lowly as Kai reminded Jinora about something involving a road and steps. Korra mumbled, almost falling back asleep and breaking the connection, "Whoever Sharktar is, I can wait three hours to find out. I don't really care what you do while you wait - I'm too sleepy. Goodbye." Before she broke the connection, she saw Jinora cupping her small wingsuit-bound breasts with a pout on her face, making Korra laugh herself back awake - but only partially.

When Korra was back in her room, she finally shut the accursed watch up, setting it for 6:00 AM. Seeing that Asami was awake, Korra said, "Yue and Atokara talked to me when I was asleep. I'm going to infobend you real quick, then get up at 6:00 AM for our _new _meeting time with Jinora and Kai." Once Korra was finished, Asami said, "You've got to be more careful with your projecting, Korra! Technically, that's indecent exposure - you're lucky Jinora and Kai took it so well!" Korra grumbled, "I was barely awake enough to project in the first place, and didn't remember to pull up a blanket. Goodnight, Asami." As Korra fell back asleep, she remembered something that had shaken her slightly while infobending her own interactions with Atokara - Asami's heart had been beating awfully fast during the part about love versus lust. Korra dismissed it as the nothing it was - Korra felt like Asami was a better person than she was, in many ways.

Korra slept soundly enough that she didn't curse the alarm when it blared. Flicking on a light, Korra got dressed as she woke back up - this time, likely for good. Asami was a little slower to get up, staying in bed, apparently morose about something. Korra grabbed her arm and said, "Come on - we've got to go. You can tell me whatever you're thinking about later."

Korra busied herself with helping Asami get dressed, not wanting to think about what Asami had just said: "Love and lust." As they walked out the door, Korra told Asami sternly, "I know you love me, Asami - just because you're a sexual firecracker doesn't mean you're a bad person. I happen to like the feeling in my chest best, and as long as you're happy, I don't care if it's mainly in your vagina. Now let's go." Asami cried slightly, saying, "Thank you, Korra - and not just for finally saying vagina. Maybe Jinora and Kai can help me - I'm not the trouble-free person you think I am."

As Korra picked Asami up, eyes glowing, using blue fire jets to propel them both, Korra wondered what Asami could possibly have to be ashamed of.


	38. Chapter 38: Daybreak

Chapter 38: Daybreak

As Korra approached the meeting location, she noticed both Jinora and Kai curled up together, talking intently. Part of Korra envied them - they couldn't infobend. Remembering what Aang had said about its abuse, she told a distracted Asami, "Maybe if we talked more and infobended less, you'd feel better. How does that sound?" Asami sighed deeply, saying, "No, no - we feel as one while infobending, something I know you love," with a defeated air that made Korra suspicious. Landing a distance away from Jinora and Kai, Korra asked Asami in the early morning light, "Asami, do you get to feel that _love _any time other than infobending, sex, or holding your necklace?" Korra didn't like the way Asami's heart was beating rapidly as she said, "I... I'm not like you fully, Korra. It takes a _lot _for me to feel the feeling of oneness you savor so much. You? You can get it just from hugging me the right way. It takes a lot of sexual activity for me to feel it." Korra was shocked - Asami was lying, and she knew it! Figuring Jinora and Korra could wait, Korra said softly, "You're being too hard on yourself, Asami. Why are you lying - to me and yourself? I can tell you've felt the oneness more than just during sex, just from your heartbeat."

Asami had a very conflicted look on her face as she said, "I've only felt it a few times when I wasn't making love to you. Two times when we were battling Dark Korra, the first when I was punching her in the face as I thought of you, the second time when I pushed my hand onto your chest when you were staring at Dark Korra in the physical world. The third time was when we took the naked nap after the press conference." Korra half felt like slapping Asami across the face and yelling, "SO? Some people go entire LIFETIMES without ever feeling as one with another person!" but for some reason, this "failure" deeply disturbed Asami, and Korra didn't want to reduce her to tears.

Feeling out of her league, Korra said loudly, "Jinora - can you come over here and help me figure out what's wrong with Asami? I'm not doing anything until she's feeling better." Jinora came over with an oddly mature look on her face as she said, "I think what we want to show you can help with Asami's conflicted feelings. Kai and I were just talking, and we finally managed to come up with a good mantra for what we discovered yesterday, at 3:00 AM."

Figuring what Jinora meant based on her own experience, Korra grabbed Asami's shapely butt. Korra then hugged Asami tight enough around the chest that Korra felt Asami's soft breasts and Asami's quickening heartbeat - even through her vest. Korra's eyes glowed briefly from excitement. When Korra lifted off the ground slightly, Asami finally broke from her funk and returned the favor, hanging on with one hand as Korra felt Asami's other hand caress her face gently, kissing her as she said, "I _love _you, Korra - no matter what that nagging voice in my head thinks I do, or don't." Korra shuddered, saying loudly to a stunned Jinora, "Is THIS what you and Kai were doing yesterday - flying?" Korra said a dirty word loudly with enthusiasm and no shame, figuring it _much _better than just saying a body part's name like a greenhorn teenager, as Jinora and Kai had done. She suddenly found she could actually control her path now, half tempted to fly away from Jinora and Kai and make another private ice bubble. Both Jinora and Kai were staring with rapt attention, Kai blushing as he yelled, "Okay - you can stop demonstrating now!" Jinora said, protesting with a disappointed tone, "Aw, come on! I'm not a child, you know - show Kai what he should do to me later!" Asami laughed, obliging Jinora's request on Korra's chest in a lapse of judgment, saying, "Oh, great. Now I'm guilty of indecent conduct!" once the welcome grab was gone.

After she regained her focus from Asami's breast grab, Korra found something very odd with how Jinora was staring at them as they landed, much less her outburst - her expression wasn't appropriate for her age, spiritual advancement or not. Korra chuckled with a hint of nervousness in her voice, saying, "Something tells me Jinora and Kai don't mind, Asami. It's not like you _directly_ grabbed my breast anyways. That look Jinora has - it'd find a better home on your own face, Asami." Frustrated that Jinora didn't take the subtle hint to stop being weird, Korra busied herself by taking Asami aside and asking, "What nagging voice in your head, Asami? Is it connected to why you were so glum just now?" Asami briefly looked like she was being tormented by something, but she said, "Yes - I don't know what it is, but it's been bugging me ever since you infobended me what you talked about with Atokara about love versus lust." Asami shook her head, saying, "Whenever it comes around, I get this awful feeling, like Dark Korra were in my head. It seems to be hypocritical too - what it says makes no sense." Korra took a deep breath, sighing as she said, "Looks like we have some work to do once I figure out what's going on with Jinora - it sounds an awful lot like your dark self." Seeing the wide look in Asami's eyes, Korra said, "It's okay, Asami - I'm here for you. You were there for me when I needed you most. You're not seeing things like I did, are you?" Asami shook her head, saying, "No, I - what is Jinora doing?"

Korra turned her head to see Jinora talking heatedly to a floating Kai, trying to catch up with regular airbending and failing. Jinora would try and grab Kai when she came close, saying, "Come on, Kai - you know you want to!" Korra and Asami recoiled in horror as Kai said, still trying to avoid Jinora, "What is wrong with you, Jinora? Yesterday, you refused Sharktar's gift and wouldn't even say 'penis', and … and now you seem like you're one hand away from grabbing mine! And I won't grab your breasts like that - not _yet_, and not for a _long time_ if you keep chasing me!" As Jinora giggled and said, "Embrace your earthly tether, Kai!" Korra flashed her eyes briefly and enveloped Jinora in a block of ice, saying, "It sounds like you need to cool down, Jinora - and I noticed you can't fly like Kai is!" Jinora said what must have been her new favorite word three times before finally taking a deep breath, frustrated with her little icy time-out block and her inability to fly, grumbling.

Kai finally came down, talking to Jinora at eye-level while staying away from her mouth, saying passionately, "I can see why Sharktar warned you about the growth being permanent - you aren't ready to handle this at all! You've got to start thinking with your wonderful mind, and not your vagina!" Jinora started weeping slightly, saying, "You're right, Kai - but all this new feeling! My body seems like it's hijacked me! My parents never taught me how to deal with these emotions!" Korra said, whispering in Asami's ear, "Do you have any idea how to help Jinora with her new feelings? I didn't exactly get a stellar education from the White Lotus, and while my reaction wasn't as extreme as Jinora's, it wasn't fun." Asami smiled slightly, saying, "I did take all those dating courses, and my father made _sure _I knew how boys worked, inside and out. Maybe Jinora could use some infobending."

Apparently, Kai and Jinora had partially made up in the meantime, given how Jinora wasn't moving her head anymore. Kai leaned over, saying, "It's okay, Jinora - I'm not mad at you, just disappointed. Just because you found your sexual self doesn't mean you have to try and satiate it right away." Korra loosened the upper portion of Jinora's icy tomb, letting the two embrace as she said, "I didn't have sex until I was 22, Jinora, and even then, there was a relatively slow buildup to it. You may feel older than 14 mentally and spiritually, and you are, but your lack of knowledge about sex, courtesy of your upbringing, makes you ill-equipped to deal with your new feelings." Jinora nodded her head, saying, "Yes, you're right - that awful behavior of mine started with an appropriate butt grab, and ended with me being unable to fly 'properly' at all."

Still not having gotten a full explanation for why Korra and Kai could fly, but Jinora temporarily couldn't, Korra asked Jinora "Can you tell me more about this new mantra associated with this flying? Given your chase of Kai, you obviously didn't enter the void like Zaheer did, and neither did I." Jinora perked up after taking a breath, saying, "Originally, it was 'Embrace your earthly tether. Shun the void. Embrace your mortal body and become free. Empty shame and become wind.' Given my little self-control issue after I embraced my earthly tether too much, and your advice on going slow, the first word should probably be 'nurture'." Korra nodded her head vigorously, saying, "That sounds good to me, and encapsulates how this new flying feels to me as well. When I was grabbing Asami, and she grabbed me, the feeling of love was at least equal to the arousal." Korra laughed, adding, "If it was just arousal and not emotional attachment and love, I think some rogue airbender would have discovered it by now." Kai laughed as Jinora blushed, saying, "Can I get those dating lessons now? Something tells me Asami might also have some sex ed in her brilliant mind as well."

As Korra used infobending to take out the dating lessons and sex ed, Asami smiled, happy to feel the oneness with Korra. Korra laughed slightly as she started the sex ed, saying, "If I had those dating classes, maybe I wouldn't have failed so badly with Mako," and burst out laughing when Asami said, "No no no!" Just as Korra was about to finish the sex ed, she caught a glimpse of a disturbing figure, and given Asami's expression, she must have seen it as well. Putting it off until later, Korra walked over and freed Jinora from her ice prison, satisfied with the speed of her heartbeat. Before Korra could place her hand on Jinora's head, Jinora warned her, "There are some very disturbing images in there, and I will try my best to think of Kai while you make the transfer. I recommend you hold your jade betrothal necklace tight, Korra, in case you catch a glimpse before I'm ready to show you."

Grasping Asami's jade betrothal necklace, Korra noticed that the love within the necklace was also flowing into Jinora's brain, as a sort of measuring stick for when Jinora would be ready to have sex with Kai. Jinora didn't make a sound aside from the beginning and ending, saying, "Okay - if I feel that, I'll know I'm emotionally ready to do more than make out with Kai," at the beginning, and giggling slightly towards the end with the sex ed. Before she removed her hand, Korra saw what Jinora must have been warning about - an odd, yellow and black symbol that had the characters "Asami particles" written beneath it that was immediately replaced by a flash of light and a sickening mushroom cloud. After describing the image to Jinora, she smiled, saying, "It sounds like the necklace did its job after all - filtering."

Stepping back, Korra said, "I think we're done here. Let's just make sure we can all fly again, and then I can take a more in-depth look at what you and Kai saw and experienced yesterday." Jinora sighed, saying, "Are you sure you want the unfiltered version? It made the Painted Lady cry." Korra nodded her head, saying, "Yes - I do. Aang was telling me on the boat ride back during a break that I must see, and then disseminate this vision, before Raava shooed him off, saying, 'Only the relevant portion.' I just laughed at her and told her to get lost, and quit telling me what to do." Jinora laughed weakly, saying, "Okay - but you'll probably want to do Kai first. He doesn't really have anything disturbing. Well, aside from one thing, but it's nowhere near as bad as mine."

As Korra probed Kai's brain for information, she found most of it very uplifting, particularly his personal transformation and adeptness with dealing with powerful spirits. Korra loved how Kai had managed to fluster Koh. Korra only found part of the vision involving Jinshu Kuangmai amusing: his unbridled arrogance. She didn't like the fact that Jinshu Kuangmai could now enter people's visions, but suspected he would not be able to go into the _actual _Spirit World, given Long Yumao didn't like him very much. They wanted the same thing: to rule. Korra found the exchange with Sharktar very interesting, making note to try her best to never tell Atokara about his existence, but knew it was unlikely to stay a secret. As soon as she showed Asami, Atokara would know. Korra was surprised by how Kai managed to win over Wan Shi Tong - his taking of the blow intended for the information seeker reminded her of how he took a combustion blast from P'li. Seeing the previous day's events through Kai's eyes made her more understanding of Jinora's behavior as well - in some ways, she was like Asami, with a lot of pent up energy, Jinora's not even being entirely sexual. Just simple, basic facts and emotions had come off as a mystery to Jinora through Kai's eyes. Before Korra removed her hand, she gave Kai a mental note: "Ask me to project to June. She deserves something for her help." Kai thought, "No - I want to try first. Maybe after I try." Korra removed her hand, smiling as she said, "If I had known about all these inner spheres and transformative experiences, I would have tried meditating after I was poisoned."

Asami shook her head, saying, "I don't think that would have been a good idea, Korra - Dark Korra would have easily overwhelmed you. Plus, we have no idea if they even existed back then - they could be a new phenomenon." Korra's eyes glowed momentarily, hearing Raava's voice say, "Just as Kai's struggle mainly manifested itself in the endless blue, so do others have different settings for their struggles. Some don't even need a spiritual experience, like Korra. They learn their lessons through events. Some individuals can even change their mind and how they act, only having to struggle against their brain's 'habits', as science knows them." Korra started to open her mouth, but Raava interrupted, saying, "No, I'm not going to tell you what they're really working to change. You can disclose information about Jinora's most disturbing vision as you see fit, as far as I am concerned." When Raava returned to Korra, she heard her voice intone _Most of the lessons learned by the beings on the plane that holds the planet "Earth" would be very valuable learning tools for ours. They have no Avatar - only great souls, some they call "prophets", and the others just their name alone, they were - and are - so great._

Curious to see what Raava was talking about, Korra took just one precautionary measure before infobending a calm Jinora, holding Asami's hand as she told her, "I love you - in every sense of the word. You'll be my mooring, Asami - get ready."

After some time had passed, Korra realized something - Jinora had skipped a huge time block! Korra heard Jinora think, "That will be saved for last, Korra - it is a vision worse than if Vaatu had won Harmonic Convergence." Korra saw more of Sharktar, this time from Jinora's perspective, and when she saw the adult Jinora, Korra thought, "I can see why you were tempted by his offer, Jinora - you're beautiful." Korra rolled her closed eyes when she heard Atokara's voice say, "I wanna go see Sharktar!" and laughed at Asami's stern "No!" and Atokara's curse, thinking to herself, "You can't use words like that when you're born, sweetie - no matter what Raava says." Korra savored all the positive feelings Jinora had - the awakening sensations, converting the Painted Lady, some very heavily edited emotions of happiness from what must have been Jinora's meeting with Aang, Jinora's joy at being able to fly…

After some time, Korra heard Jinora think, "Okay - least disturbing first, then everything else in one lump. After you get the last information, make ready - Dark Korra might see it as a time to strike." Korra was puzzled by Asami's gulp, but pressed on anyways, learning of what Yue had told her the incomplete truth on: dark meditation. Korra knew the power of love, but human hate must be strong as well - very strong, for Jinshu Kuangmai to retain not only his normal bending, but also his sick trademark.

As Korra witnessed Jinora's talk with Aang, with the worst saved for last - the vision, the death of Earth. She grasped Asami's hand tightly, thinking to herself, "Love must not run out. Not like that…" Korra could feel this being of light's sadness, something that Jinora had apparently not been able to do, and Korra realized that it closely resembled something Raava might "feel". The same went for the being of darkness - closer to Vaatu than Long Yumao.

Even though Korra could still feel Asami's hand and love, something about this last being slipped their connection, and Korra found herself standing in front of a familiar sphere - and figure. Pointing out her hand, noticing that she was emanating light from her face, Korra said, "I don't fear you. The only reason you're here is because someone from another plane played a little dirty trick." Dark Korra laughed, saying, "That's not entirely true - on both counts. I remember our last encounter, Korra - I've got backup this time."

Korra saw a metallic figure appear, with a dark, pulsating red-lined orb in its chest. And it laughed.

* * *

The last Asami knew, she was witnessing the destruction of a planet called Earth by Korranium and _fusion _weapons, idly wondering if this is what Uncle Iroh meant to warn about instead of some stupid gas. After an alien pulse of utterly insane, evil energy, finding herself preferring Vaatu over it, she found herself here. Staring at a white sphere with pulsing blue lines, one thought from the alien pulse of energy remaining: "Love… is…weak…stranger…No…matter…the…universe…"

As Asami looked around, she expected some odd form staring at her, or trying to place its hand on the white orb. After searching high and low, she shrugged in frustration. Looking at her neck, she screamed - the lovely betrothal necklace was blackened, with red lines!"

"Ahaha…ha…ha."

Asami clutched it tightly, thinking of her feeling of oneness with Korra, finding that it purified the necklace somehow. Flicking open the latch, she was relieved to see Korra's wonderful naked form there, completely normal.

Asami looked up after she heard a raspy voice say, "I wondered when you'd kick me out, Asami. But I want back in." Asami said, not yet looking at the figure fully, "You - you're the voice in my head! What do you want?"

_"__SEX. Lots and lots of sex. Lust is truth, Asami Sato."_

Asami looked at the form in front of her with sadness, not disgust. It was a doppler of herself with exaggerated sexual features and ridiculous lingerie on, fanning itself with a very crudely engraved fan. When she looked at the face, however, she was shocked.

Her doppler had a feminine version of Amon's mask on.

Her doppler said, slowly, "I don't just want sex, Asami - I want benders to pay for what they did to our mother. I desire vengeance, retribution, to see Uncle Iroh's prophecy come about a madman's vision to pass. For nonbenders to eclipse those that can, and make them pay for all their crimes. With…. Technology!" With this, her doppler threw the lewd fan at Asami.

Asami dodged it as she said, "I don't see a dark half, whoever you are. I see an angry, scared, hurt little girl, who was repressed by her father and wants to make up for lost time by becoming a degenerate, obsessed with sex. I see a deep-seated hurt and fear - the loss of a loved one. We both lost our mother to horrible criminals. Mind telling me your name?"

As Asami saw tears dripping from the masked face, she heard the same, utterly insane voice from before say, "No… no…. NO! The… secret…must…not…escape…" Asami shook her head side to side, saying, "Whoever _you _are, being of darkness from the plane of Earth, I love you too. You remind me a lot of Azula - hurt. Just a whole… **hell** of a lot crazier."

After she spoke these words, Asami heard a horrible, pained gasp from whoever this was as her doppler's mask shattered, revealing a crying little girl's face underneath that she recognized as her own. Asami ran over, embracing the doppler as she said, "You can love somebody and have lots of good sex too - just look at Korra and I. If you have somebody to love, you have no reason to hate." Asami noticed that her doppler was now the size of a proper four-year old, and fully dressed. The mini-Asami said, tugging on Asami's skirt, "Will you be my mommy, Asami?" After whisking up her four-year old self and saying, "Of course! I love being mommy Asami!" she saw the little form split in three, one settling in her heart, the other in her stomach, the final one in her betrothal necklace.

When Asami grabbed her betrothal necklace, she smiled broadly - finally, the feeling of love was equal to the sexual feelings in power. Thinking of Korra, she vanished from the internal "room".

* * *

Korra knew full well who this laughing maniac approaching Dark Korra was, but she didn't dare let herself feel fear. Korra took a deep breath, putting her hands together, index fingers extended straight at Jinshu Kuangmai's metal form. Thinking of Asami, Korra let loose a massive, concentrated blast of blue flame from her fingers, unleashing an uncontrolled billow of flame from her open mouth as she exhaled. Korra smiled when she saw how part of Jinshu Kuangmai's metal form was melting from the flame.

Jinshu Kuangmai took a deep breath, partially melted hands temporarily fusing together as he said, "Tempered by HATRED!" As Korra watched his form heal almost immediately, she heard Dark Korra laugh in a raspy voice, "You can't melt him, stupid - even if your flame is blue from love and not hatred, as it should be!" Dark Korra began moving her hands, cackling as she said, "Let's see how you like being bloodbended - it's been far too long. The fear Amon produced in you…" Korra didn't feel anything. She laughed, saying, "You're the stupid one - Tarrlok couldn't stop his brother with bloodbending, and I'm more powerful than you!" As her dark doppler cursed, Jinshu Kuangmai let out a chilling laugh as he said, "Two heads are better than one. Prepare to die. I'm going to enjoy this, after my failure with Kai and the missed opportunity with my accursed sister, Lin."

Korra tried to break the connection, making Dark Korra and Jinshu Kuangmai laugh, along with an alien voice that Korra somehow knew was the being of darkness from Earth's plane. The voice said, slowly, "I…don't…play…by…the...rules…'Avatar'…Korra…" Clutching her betrothal necklace, Korra yelled, "Show yourself, you coward!" The voice laughed, saying, "I…have…no…one…true…form. Many...try…to…describe…fully…but…all…fail…"

Not really caring if this horrible thing's true form was Pabu, Korra said loudly, "You all share one weakness. Let's see how you like this!" Korra closed her eyes, thinking, "You want to fight? Then help me!" remembering she was still touching Asami in the physical world.

Korra smiled broadly when she heard Atokara's voice say, "Sure, momma Korra! I wanna kill Jinshu Kuangmai for real this time - he's bad!" Korra opened her eyes, looking for Atokara. After a shimmer appeared next to her, she heard all three evil beings laughing hysterically, the two more familiar ones practically immobilized with laughter. Atokara turned to Korra, who barely had time to take in her daughter's beautiful face as Atokara asked, "Why are they laughing, momma Korra? Are they stupid?"

Jinshu Kuangmai said, barely avoiding breaking into laughter again, "I've killed a three-year old before, and I fail to see how one year's difference in age will make you any less _weak_! I never thought I'd get to kill an unborn child before." Atokara's face became enraged, her ruby lips opening wide as she screamed, "I'm NOT weak! Watch this, you goon!"

Atokara's form shifted, shimmering as it expanded into a shape that was decidedly _not_ four years old. Atokara took a deep breath as she grabbed a stunned Korra's hand and betrothal necklace. Korra felt a whole different kind of love coursing through her, laughing as she heard the disembodied voice actually screech, "AUGH, no! Every plane, it's the same - why is what is so weak so powerful!" Korra yelled, "Maybe you should just give up then!" After what sounded like a snake having a double take, it screamed, "No - that's not an option!", finishing with a curse that made Atokara and Korra laugh heartily.

Korra and Atokara advanced, no longer holding hands. Korra slowly approached Dark Korra, saying, "Whoever that was, he sounded awfully crazy, and dumb - even conflicted. Too bad you're not _more_ like him." Getting an odd idea, Korra made to place her palm on Dark Korra's bloody forehead, liking the horrified look on Dark Korra's face. Shrinking to the size of a four-year old to avoid Korra's thumb, she screamed, "You're not going to infobend _me_, Korra! I don't care about your lovey-dovey garbage! I'm outta here! Nice knowing you, Jinshu Kuangmai!" He howled in rage, "I'll fight to the death - and win! I don't fear either one of you!"

Korra turned to Atokara, seeing she did have Asami's hands, along with a blue nail polish that matched what little of Atokara's face Korra had properly processed in the commotion - she had Korra's blue eyes, except deeper. Korra made to assist Atokara, but her daughter said in an incongruously mature voice, "I can do it, momma Korra! Watch! Jinshu Kuangmai can't even blood-iron bend me!" Atokara rapidly swept a large amount of water from the "air", sweeping it on the ground enough to muddy it. Atokara then placed her hands together much as Korra had earlier, projecting a concentrated, high-velocity muddy water at Jinshu Kuangmai's wrist instead of blue flame. Korra was shocked by what she saw - somehow, Atokara had used cloudy water to cut Jinshu Kuangmai's metal hand clean off! The stump was now oozing a reddish metal as he howled in pain.

Making the same motions as she pointed her twin blue fingernail tipped index fingers at Jinshu Kuangmai's upper shoulder, Atokara said excitedly, "You won't hurt momma Korra, or anyone again! Now, to finish the job!" Jinshu Kuangmai dodged to the other side, just in time to avoid the powerful stream of water, saying, "Once I fix my hand, I'm out of here! There - fixed. I love this metal form - and nothing else." Overstaying his welcome, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Your daughter _is _a freak - unnatural! Look at those stupid white hair braids! Not to mention, she has _two _mothers!"

Korra looked at the back of Atokara's naked form in awe - the twin white hair braids were glowing, much as Korra's own eyes might have! As soon as it had started, it stopped, Atokara cursing with a word Raava must have taught her, saying as she turned to face Korra more fully, "I wanted to make him pay for that, but he ran away! What a coward!" Korra ran over, hugging Atokara as she said, "You're beautiful, Atokara - now I can see why you want to visit Sharktar." Atokara's deep blue eyes glittered as she asked, "Can I, momma Korra? I can fight!" Korra shook her head, saying, "It sounded like Sharktar is a forgetful spirit - there's probably some side effect that he couldn't remember. Even Jinora and Kai are going to wait to go to him." Korra tussled Atokara's beautiful white hair braids that stood up above her head much like Korra's own old hairstyle, wanting to say something, but forgetting what it was.

Lightly grabbing one of the twin hair braids, Korra inspected it, making sure she wasn't hallucinating. Atokara giggled, saying, "Do you like my hair, momma Korra? I know you already saw the braids earlier - you cheated!" Korra laughed, saying, "I can't help it if I think my daughter is beautiful, sweetie. I don't remember these blue lines in your hair, though - and they definitely don't look like hair dye." Atokara giggled, saying with a voice that Korra now realized most closely resembled a more confident and aggressive Asami's, "I'm going to grow and change as I get older, momma Korra, aside from the puberty thing you told me about. Those Raava blue hairs in my hair braids are just part of it!" Korra found herself hoping that puberty and the blue hairs were _all _the changes, chalking up Atokara's statement as childish exaggeration. When she asked Atokara, she said, "Sorry, momma Korra - the biggest part is going to be growing up and learning!" Korra smiled, saying, "Good."

Korra felt a tap on her shoulder, turning around to see a smiling Asami. Asami said, "Mind if I join? I've just been listening in for a while. I'll explain what happened to me later, or you can just infobend it." Atokara said excitedly, "Infobend! I like how you feel when Korra infobends you, mommy Asami." Stepping over to Asami, Korra gave her a hug, saying, "I'm glad you're all right. Some being of darkness slipped our connection - apparently, from the plane of Earth." Asami surprised Korra with her response, saying, "Yeah - me too. I just told him I loved him and he fled. How sad…" Asami hugged Korra tighter, saying, "I can finally feel the feeling of oneness right now, Korra. Now let's stop talking about us, and get back to admiring our beautiful daughter. We won't see her like this for another fourteen years. You know, given how it sounds like she's going to be eight physically before she's even one."

Atokara loved the attention as Korra and Asami stared, at times walking around to see what their daughter would look like at their own age - 22. Korra noticed that Atokara didn't retain her cute little four-year old stomach, but she was still curvy. Borderline impractical curvy. Korra said, looking at her wide hips, Atokara's other mother's long, shapely legs and slightly larger cute butt, "I'll have to ask Jinora to ask Aang how you have a curvier body than we do, Atokara. Maybe it's got something to do with these 'genes' I heard him mention." Korra ignored an odd tug on her mind - Raava could wait her turn. Asami pointed, blushing as she said, "Your breasts - I wish I had them!" Asami clearly finding the whole affair surreal. Atokara laughed innocently, saying, "I hope they don't get in the way - I wanna fight well way more than being 'sexy'!" Korra laughed, saying, "Don't worry - I don't think they will. You fought just fine before mommy Asami came," as she patted Atokara on her shoulder. Atokara nodded, adding, "But that was without any stupid clothes to get in the way!" Asami pointed to herself, then Atokara, saying, "Given how much you take after mommy Asami already, once you are actually in that body, I don't think you will curse your boobies, sweetie." Atokara crossed her powerful brown arms, saying, "No! I'll always be the same as I am now - puberty, boobies and curvies or not!"

As Asami laughed hysterically, Korra finally got a good, long look at Atokara's now smiling face. Her daughter had the deep blue irises she had seen earlier, though the eye's shape was like that of an almond, like Asami's. Atokara had Asami's eyebrows, and Korra suppressed a snicker when she saw what appeared to be mascara on Atokara's face. Atokara must have noticed Korra staring at her eyes, as her daughter said, "My eyes are bluer than yours because of Raava, momma Korra. I like mommy Asami's eye lipstick." Korra laughed, saying, "It's called _mascara_, Atokara. It looks beautiful on your older body, but I hope you'll wait until you're older to wear it." Atokara sighed, saying, "Only if I can wear mommy Asami's lipstick. Deal?" Korra shook Atokara's hand, saying, "Now I see your business sense first hand. Maybe you can give Varrick a run for his money." Atokara shrugged, saying, "I got mommy Asami and momma Korra - I don't see why I need all that dumb money." Korra embraced Atokara again, saying, "You're sweeter than I thought, Atokara. Now let momma Korra see your hair better - it looks complicated."

As Atokara showed off for Asami and Korra, Korra asked, "Where'd you get the hair loopies? You haven't seen Katara yet." Atokara giggled, saying, "When mommy Asami was busy thinking of you last night, I sneaked around in her head, and saw Katara's face. Once I found that part of my name comes from hers, I loved them even more." Caressing one of Atokara's twin brown hair braids in Korra's old style, Korra said, "Given these ponytails, like what momma Korra used to wear before she cut her hair, you must have seen my past self as well." Atokara nodded, saying, "Yeah - why did you cut your hair, momma Korra?" Korra shrugged, not really knowing the answer. Eager to return to looking at her daughter, and not talking, Korra took in her nose, seeing it was pointed and slight like Asami's was. She had Asami's full lips, but Korra found herself cradling Atokara's chin, saying, "The only thing you got from me on your face was my eye color and my chin." Atokara smiled, saying, "I'm getting a little tired, momma Korra and mommy Asami. I'm going to go now."

Asami hugged her daughter, but as Korra followed, she felt her own eyes glow temporarily before a slightly annoyed Raava said from behind Korra's back, "I was trying to 'answer' your question on genes earlier when I tugged at your mind, Korra." Korra finished her hug with Atokara and turned around, giving Raava a confused look, saying, "I thought you wouldn't answer questions like that?"

Raava's human-y form nodded, saying through her small mouth, "Ordinarily, no, I would not. After seeing how many times the… being of darkness from another plane interacted with you earlier, Korra, I figured a little explanation on a much happier subject couldn't hurt." Korra stepped aside, letting Raava see Atokara, Raava saying, "Now that I see them, I have no idea. Maybe one of your grandparents were particularly well-endowed. _Phenotypic _traits, which some genes encode, can skip generations." Atokara giggled, saying, "The only 'endowment' I care about right now is how good I can fight!" Raava cursed mildly, saying, "I don't even have the equipment needed for a thingie, and here you are, ignoring your great gifts. Go figure." Atokara looked like she was going to say something but said, "Never mind, Raava - you're doing good to be human-y as is," prompting Raava to ask what Atokara wanted to say, stamping her small foot in frustration when Atokara refused to answer.

Raava took a deep breath and now had a serious look on her face, saying, "I can't remember, even in ten thousand years, that being bothering anyone on our plane. I don't think he can contact anyone but myself, Vaatu or Korra, seeing as she is the Avatar." Asami shook her head, saying, "I had a little vision of my own, in case you forgot, Raava. The same nasty voice was present in mine as well." Raava started to frown at first, but then she smiled as she said, "Good - in a way. I guess that means he's losing, like Long Yumao is." Korra was tired of talking about this nasty being with no name, saying, "Do you think you could show us this being?" Raava shouted, "NO! He's even crazier than Vaatu is - everything on their plane is more concentrated, given they have no easily accessible spirits. I will show you a song someone wrote about him on Earth, so you can see the parallels between our plane and Earth's plane better." Raava said four alien words, then shook her head, saying, "Sorry - I forgot that this Earth has many alien languages, one of the strangest of which is 'English'. Even I can barely make sense of it at times, when I am inclined to think of it."

Korra wanted to ask about this dark being's counterpart, but Raava anticipated her question, saying, "All you need to know about the good guy is that he's a lot more human-y and lovey-dovey than I am." Asami said, tensing her face slightly, "Does he love his enemy, like I told whoever this dark guy is?" Raava nodded her head, saying, "Enough. Let me just show you this song, seal you and Korra against further intrusions, and get out of here. Jinora and Kai are probably worried sick - I wouldn't be surprised if everyone that loves you both are sitting outside in the physical world right now."

At Raava's instruction, Korra and Asami sat together on the floor, this just making Korra all the more ready to get out. Atokara sat down, at first shrinking to her four-year old self until Raava said, "Not yet, Atokara - I'll need _your_ help to seal against this intruder. Love affects him much more greatly than it does Vaatu, or even Long Yumao." Raava laughed as Atokara said, "Can you show me the song too?" replying, "Sure - I've never tried to infobend through a foot before."

As Raava finally began, Korra felt an odd knowledge enter her head, finding herself thinking in an entirely different language but still understanding herself, even knowing the song's title now: "Sympathy for the Devil". As she listened to the catchy tune, which was in itself alien, with what sounded like a piano and drums in a rhythm she had never heard before, a series of images and feelings came to her mind. First, she saw a man on a cross, nailed to the wooden form and a crown of thorns on his head in an act of barbarism she could have never imagined until now, men in partial metal armor and strange helmets laughing at him. She saw the _English _words "One of many great human prophets and thinkers" appear beneath him, realizing this must be the "Jesus Christ" from the lyrics. Once she had processed this information, she saw a much more familiar face, this man breathing his dying gasp - Avatar Wan. Proper characters said below him, "First Avatar, great soul."

Once the song started talking about some city called "St. Petersburg", Korra saw dual images appear, both with moving flags in the background. The first was an alien flag, its blood red form and strange crossed yellow hammer and sickle waving behind a bald man. Strange characters appeared beneath him and his distinctive beard and mustache, the characters looking like someone blindly metalbended English words while drunk. Korra had no trouble with the figure on the right - Kuvira's stony face was facing in the same direction as what Raava sounded out as the man's name: "Lenin". Korra was surprised to see proper characters form beneath both Kuvira and this Lenin's face, saying "Bad - but the worst is to come." Korra could feel herself crying slightly as she saw both flags stained with blood, the Earth flag again showing the most barbarism, looking as though it was soaked in the blood of many millions. Lenin and Kuvira vanished, replaced with a horrible looking man with a bushy mustache Raava identified as "Stalin" replacing him, and a fleshy version of Jinshu Kuangmai replacing Kuvira. Korra found this Stalin so off-putting, she didn't even have time to get a good look at Jinshu Kuangmai.

Hoping to hear more music and not just pause on images - again - Korra was disappointed to see a blonde-haired, blue eyed man riding the cupola of what appeared to be a tank intermediate between existing tanks and the one Bumi and Asami had designed. Raava imparted a feeling of dread when Korra looked at his hat, its eagle and strange, angular symbol stained in the blood of many millions as well, seeing a twin image of some horrible atrocity against what must have been humans unlucky to be born with a six-sided yellow star next to the bones of air nomads. Korra knew the next figure better, but he still chilled her to the bone. It was Admiral Zhao, holding a Fire Nation symbol in one hand and what Raava had labeled as a "swastika" in the other hand on the deck of his ship. Korra was disturbed by how he threw the Fire Nation symbol into the sea, grinning savagely, apparently liking the horrible Earth symbol of evil better than his own nation's.

Korra thought angrily, "Just how barbaric are these Earth savages?" Raava did not respond, merely replaying something she had said earlier : "Everything on their plane is more concentrated, given they have no easily accessible spirits". Korra started to see images of some 100 Year's War – but not Aang's. As Korra began to cry harder, Raava replaced the gruesome images with something much more uplifting. Korra was glad to see a strong-looking girl in full body armor aside from her face instead. This woman had a flag in one hand, a small sword in the other, yelling "Vive la France!", inspiring the soldiers around her to fight to defend their home, "France", against the English aggressors she had seen earlier. Once the text "Jeanne d'Arc" vanished from below her form, so did this heroic woman, replaced by a much more familiar woman hero. Korra managed to hear Atokara say "Katara!" out loud as Katara gave her inspirational speech to the Earth Kingdom prisoners, Haru and his reluctant father, Tyro. Remembering what Korra had "said" earlier, Raava paused, saying, "Earth is not all savages, Korra - you wouldn't condemn our world that way just based off Jinshu Kuangmai, would you?"

Korra said, out loud, "Of course not! Now can we just finish the song, without any more horrible images, please? I like this 'Jeanne d'Arc' – I hope nothing bad happened to her." Raava obliged Korra after an audible nervous chuckle. Raava still let slip brief, concentrated feelings and images, the last one a crazy man with a swastika on his forehead in what looked like a courtroom next to a depiction of Azula going insane in front of her mirror. Opening her eyes, she asked a morose looking Raava, "What is wrong with those people, Raava?" Raava sighed, saying, "I don't know - I chose this 'job' for a reason. I don't see how… the good guy handles those beasts. At the very least, the last I saw, they're improving, and significantly. That must be why the bad guy is so desperate, trying to harass our plane." Now smiling, Raava said, "Now let's make sure they don't come here uninvited. I don't want any of their stupid current divisive zealots coming into contact with someone, and spreading something that I only see causing trouble on their plane. Killing each other in the name of the good guy… pathetic, and sad."

Korra was starting to see why Raava had never shared Earth with an Avatar before. Korra took a deep breath, trying her best to remove the disturbing images from her mind, saying, "Let's get this over with." As the words left her mouth, she noticed their defeated tone - one she hadn't had since fully recovering from Zaheer's poisoning. Being the first to place her hand on the white yin and yang sphere, she noticed something odd - the lines.

They appeared as though they were an endless black. Never-ending hunger, unceasing, unrelenting. Korra took a jagged breath, witnessing things Raava had not shown. An image of some sort of factory, an awful scent, black, black ash… the realization that death and misery was its only product. A floating swastika, tearing into a map of a strange continent with vengeance and hatred, leaving smoking death in its wake, and worst… more of these "factories". The swastika was shattered, Korra briefly seeing the image of a man with a strange, small mustache, only to be replaced by another face she recognized. Half the same strange continent was enveloped by a red tide as the man spoke in a guttural language, the factories gone. After some sort of time skip, Korra saw the horrible Meesiles from Jinora's vision begin to launch, ice somehow forming on their sides as they reached towards the sky, streaking towards a familiar land mass.

Seeing the result a second time, with dark energies added, Korra's heart felt about ready to shatter. As she heard menacing laughter, Korra's feeling changed entirely. She knew that Earth wasn't dead - this was just one possibility, someone telling her gently, "This outcome is exceedingly rare, Avatar Korra. Do not fear - only love." Korra felt her fear and anguish fade, replaced by a sadness that seemed as ancient as Raava.

Korra removed her hand from the orb, smiling as she noticed the lines were blue once more. Recalling Raava and flaring her eyes, she heard a shrieking - but it wasn't Dark Korra. Korra envisioned a small, void-filled, confused, violent and insane little boy, saying three words that shattered him into a million dark shards.

"I love you."

As she opened her eyes, she saw Raava standing in front of her, crying happily as she said in a proud voice, "Good job, Korra - I can't bring myself to 'love' Vaatu, let alone a much more horrible being from another plane of existence. Let's do what we need to, and get back to our own damn business." Korra nodded, saying, "Our own business – that sounds good to me." Korra placed her hand on the orb, joined by Asami and Atokara. Her daughter said, eyes wide, "Maybe my bending isn't my best power, momma Korra - it's my love for you and mommy Asami." Korra heard the same gentle someone's voice from before sigh as Asami, Atokara and Raava made to help her lock out any unwelcome guests - from this plane, or any other.

Before they could start, a particular small, annoying dark spirit managed to interrupt. Raava laughed, saying, "Long Yumao was right – Vaatu doesn't have any restraint," as the foolish red and black kite spirit poked his head out of a now-open teapot clasp proudly. Vaatu confidently said, "Love won't work on me – my Earthly counterpart is a fool! Now just get out of the way, and let me touch that obnoxiously white sphere you want to ruin, so I can have a proper Avatar. Unalaq was a failure." Seeing Raava stuff him back into the teapot, Vaatu's presence reminded Korra of a boast he had made about being willing to share dangerous information with Jinshu Kuangmai. Korra said, walking towards Raava, "I think it's time we actually made that stupid teapot a proper prison. Hold it in your hands, Raava – let's see if we can shut Vaatu's yap permanently." Raava snickered at Vaatu's muffled protests, helping Korra imbue the metal clasps with both their energies. Raava cursed angrily when Vaatu just popped the latch back open and came out, laughing maniacally. Vaatu said before he returned, "You'll have to lock me in the Tree of Time and close all **_three_** spirit portals if you want to be rid of me, Avatar Korra and Raava. All that did was prevent me from contacting Jinshu Kuangmai just now." Cursing in frustration from inside the open pot, he said, "And probably forever! I was going to try and give him blueprints for a Korranium weapon, but you stopped me. I liked how those Earthlings managed to destroy their own world in one alternate, without any real help." Korra slammed the teapot's clasp shut, managing to fuse all but one stubborn metal clasp shut with her bending as she said glumly, "I hope Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't figure it out himself, or any of his scientists."

After Asami gave her a big hug, Korra felt up to channeling their shared love into the yin and yang sphere, savoring the unfiltered feeling of oneness as they did so. Atokara added her own love for momma Korra and mommy Asami as Raava joined them, Raava adding in many past Avatar's loves, all but a few being unfamiliar. While Korra was not surprised at Avatar Wan's selfless love for the world, Avatar Garkan's love for Ryung, or Aang's love for Katara and their children, Korra was confused by one Avatar's love. After they were done, Korra removed her hand from the sphere, saying, "Wait – Avatar Roku had a wife and a daughter? Long Yumao didn't mention that…" Raava laughed hysterically, saying, "What – did you not remember what the White Lotus taught you about Avatar Roku, Zuko's mixed heritage, what you saw of Aang's life, or even Avatar Roku's recent comment to Firelord Izumi about his blood running in her veins?" After Korra slapped her forehead much as Lin might have, Asami added in a much gentler tone, "Long Yumao isn't exactly a good source of wisdom, Korra. Vaatu may not be able to lie very well, but Long Yumao shares a penchant for lies with this 'devil' from that song." Korra sighed deeply, prompting Asami to say, "I'm sure there are good things about Earth and its plane as well, Korra – maybe Aang could show you some time." Korra nodded her head, saying, "That sounds good – I need to scrub the image of that death factory out of my mind." Raava cursed, saying, "That little, no-good, sneaky… That's one of the worst things I've ever seen, Korra – and I _have_ lost Harmonic Convergence before." Korra gasped, saying, "But I thought Vaatu was locked from the physical world until three Harmonic Convergences ago!" Raava shook her head, saying, "His old imprisonment was the result of a particularly bad previous loss on his part. In reality, it was just particularly easy to keep him in check – it was not until Wan locked him up that he was truly trapped. I am just glad the teapot prison has held so well. We have been fighting ever since time began. The universe is much older than thirty thousand years – people on the plane of Earth have _fossils _of animals that are millions of years old, some of the first forms of life on their planet leaving behind evidence **billions **of years old."

Finding that the more she learned of this other plane, Korra had more new questions than resolved ones, Korra asked one final question: "Why don't we have _fossils_, Raava?" Raava laughed, saying, "I didn't say we _had_ no fossils, Korra - Vaatu destroys them out of spite for life whenever he wins Harmonic Convergence, frustrated that he cannot eradicate life entirely on our planet. All historical records share a similar fate and all human's memories are wiped blank by the chaos and hatred that follows a victory. Only my own victory can restore order." Raava let out a dejected sigh, saying, "It's like a constant reset button, and it came awfully close to being pressed again when Unalaq became the first Dark Avatar. And hopefully, only…" Asami hugged Raava as she said, "Maybe we can stop the reset button from being pushed, with fusion powered 'spirit' weapons. Kuvira was right to want a failsafe. I doubt even a Dark Avatar could stand up to a multi-nation army of Colossus spirit cannon weapons, even if they don't have your energy." Raava smiled, saying, "I never thought a human would be cheering _me _up. Now let's go make sure this cheery woman won't be bothered any more as well."

Korra grabbed Asami's heart and betrothal necklace, throwing in a little boob pinch for good measure once they had reached Asami's sphere. Once Korra, a pleased Asami, Raava and Atokara had locked Asami's "door", Raava said, "I do not think this weird being can return during your lifetime, Korra. The only reason he was able to bother Asami was your close bond, and a little desperate cheat he used – a one-time gambit, I hope. I will make sure to contact the next Avatar's parents as soon as he or she is born, using their help to lock that monster out, and for every Avatar after that, for the rest of time." Korra nodded, asking, "This doesn't mean that I can't learn anything else about Earth, does it? After feeling an ancient sadness, as old as you, I want to learn more – though nothing aside from the practical or novel. You can keep your awful little visions where they belong. I didn't see any lessons from them that I couldn't have learned from looking at a history book, talking to a past life, or even just talking to someone on the street. Not even the vaguely positive ones."

Raava said in a huff, "I decide what to show, and you needed to see those images to understand just who that being of darkness was!" Korra laughed, saying bitterly, "I figured him out just fine from my interactions with him. Better than you understand him, in some ways. I'd like all that stuff gone. Erased. Nothing. Especially the death factory. You can leave Jeanne d'Arc and Jesus Christ, though." Raava sighed, saying, "Last request denied. Knowledge can't hurt you, Korra. I will honor your more positive request, however. I already told you about fossils, after all." Running over and hugging Korra's legs, Raava said, "I need to learn more about being human-y as well. That is why I want to see more of Earth – the _good_ and the _bad_, Korra." Korra half felt like kneeing the little smug spirit in the face, merely saying, "I'm not dropping this issue, Raava. Let's come back to this." Raava nodded, saying, "Fine – maybe Asami or Atokara can help convince you otherwise." Raava's face turned sullen as Atokara and Asami howled in laughter, Atokara saying, "I don't wanna know anything I don't hafta, especially not nasty crap I can't do anything about! You're crazy!"

After Raava returned to her and Korra gave Atokara one last long, strong hug, Korra was about to leave, but stopped, stepping back from Atokara, pointing to her own clothes. Korra said, "Mind showing us what you might wear on your wedding day, Atokara? Or even just any regular day?" Atokara laughed, saying, "I guess I can't have a nude wedding, momma Korra. I'll show you, then you gotta go." Korra started crying, asking, "Will I still be able to see you? When I hold Asami?" Atokara nodded her head, saying, "Of course, momma Korra! Even in this big body, though I don't think you want to see it as much as my 'cute' four-year old self, for whatever reason." With that, Atokara grinned, now wearing what Korra recognized as her own outfit, except with a white and light blue yin yang symbol on her chest. Atokara gave Korra a light child's kiss, saying, "I wanna be like momma Korra too, you know. I got mommy Asami's face." Korra was too happy to move, instead gasping at Atokara's new, much more formal dress. Atokara wheeled away from Korra, giggling, "Maybe clothes aren't so bad after all - I feel pretty." Asami said, "Your dress is beautiful, Atokara! I like the white and light blue yin and yang on your chest. I like how it's displayed even more - you aren't ashamed of your body." Atokara smiled, Korra liking the dress's chest that accentuated what her mothers gave her. Korra said, dead serious, "I think I'm going to make my wedding dress like yours, Atokara. It's prettier than my formal dress, and I'm sure Asami will like it better too."

Asami laughed, saying, "You got that right, Korra - though I wouldn't mind a plainclothes wedding. They're a lot easier to remove than a dress, if you know what I mean." Korra stamped her foot, saying, "I'm the Avatar, and you gotta deal with it!" As Asami and Atokara laughed, Korra said glumly, "I never really got to wear dresses when I was little." The last thing Korra remembered was Asami saying gingerly, "If you want dresses, for both of us, I'm good with that too. Anything for you," the kiss sending Korra back to the physical world.

Apparently, Raava had pegged Jinora's reaction to the entirely too long stay in Korra and Asami's inner world. Looking around silently, at first, Korra was alarmed at what she saw - everyone who could bend was standing ready around her and Asami, almost as though they were about to attack! Before Korra could speak, she realized why they had done so - they must have feared the worst, and were prepared to do their best to take out Korra, had Dark Korra won. Korra gave a broad smile, flashing her eyes white to re-assure everyone that nothing bad was going to happen. Seeing that this eased everyone, Korra decided to kiss Asami after she said, "I love you with all my heart, Asami," for good measure.

Korra was baffled by the reactions she heard. Tenzin, who had not been in the circle, embraced Pema, saying, "Whatever those weird words Korra just said? Ditto," before he kissed her on the mouth, making Pema giggle. Bolin hugged Opal tightly, saying, "You might not be Dark Korra, but you sure don't speak like a normal person!" as Opal laughed. As Korra took in the first reactions, Asami said exasperatedly, "What's so funny? Korra just told me 'I love you with all my heart, Asami.' Nothing weird!" Asami joined Korra in her confusion, saying, "Why is everyone looking like we're aliens from another planet?" Korra could hear Raava laughing hysterically in her head, refusing to reveal anything. Picking up a stick and poking Korra, Meelo asked, "Are you and Miss Asami okay, Miss Korra? You're talking all weird, and I can't understand you! You sound like a weird dog!"

Sick and tired of Raava's refusal to explain and her constant laughter, Korra booted her out and yelled, "Tell me what's going on, Raava - you know why everyone thinks Asami and I are crazy!" At first, Raava appeared to be hesitant, then crossed her arms fully, saying, "I've never seen this before, and it's too funny to let it stop! Even Vaatu thinks it's funny - just look at the teapot around my neck!" Nobody batted an eye when Vaatu popped out, saying, "I've never heard an Avatar speak in English before, much less her annoying love interest!" as he dodged Raava's small hand, retreating back inside for good measure. Given how no one reacted to Raava or Vaatu's words with anything but shaking heads, confused looks, or loud exclamations of "What?!", the spirits must have been speaking in English too. Asami started laughing, saying, "Atokara just told me she can understand what Raava and Vaatu said - it sounds like we have a 'secret' language, Korra!" A flood of words came to Korra's mind, and she said softly, "And I think this 'English' is a lot more sexy - _Assami_." As Asami hugged Korra tightly and said, "Oooh - I like that nickname, Korra. I'll have to think of one for you later," Tenzin asked with a straight face, "Why did you say Asami's name like that? And why are you and Raava laughing at me wildly?"

Finally tiring of this bizarre occurrence, Korra closed her eyes briefly, saying when she opened them, "Let's just say I can explain partially in a minute with infobending. And no, Meelo, I will not tell you what 'ass' means, or let anyone in on this weird language called 'English'." Meelo crossed his arms, saying, "Rats!" dejectedly. Korra turned to Raava, saying in English, "I need you back in here, Raava - I want to see what Asami experienced, and then I'll need a lot of help editing what went on in there. Got it? No. Death. Factories. Or anything but Jeanne d'Arc or Jesus Christ, for that matter, and even then, only if they are _relevant_. I want to keep the 'devil' a secret – a closely guarded one." Raava shook her head, saying in the odd language Korra was starting to love, "No. Aside from making knowledge of English _temporary _as I had originally intended for you two and Atokara for everyone else, I'm not behind any editing. It's not like showing them Korranium and fusion weapons' use is any worse than what happened in there with the exception of _Auschwitz_, and the Air Nomads were a lot closer to being wiped out than the _Jews_ were anyways. I imagine Jinora would love to hear their story – it has a happy ending."

Raava returned on her own, but Korra had some very large misgivings. Saying loudly, "Just a minute – I need to talk to Raava with Asami," Korra grabbed Asami's arm, saying in English, "I'm not showing that garbage to anyone unless they ask for it, and I have the bad feeling Raava wants to show us _more_. I imagine Jinora will be curious, but I'll let Aang decide when information about planet Earth is relevant. Raava has proven she doesn't have mature judgment yet." Liking how Asami nodded her head, Korra laughed when Asami said in English, "Atokara thinks you're right, and that Raava was dumb to show us all the awful stuff, much less not erase that death factory. Nobody needs that in their head – it's not as if we can open a rift to Earth and help sort out their myriad of problems, based on what we both saw. It sounds like bending there would be breaking all sorts of their plane's rules, much less **Avatar** Korra's presence." Asami continued in English, "I want you to see something first, though – it should show you why I want as little to do with Earth as possible. It's just so sad… it's like their entire plane is broken."

Korra savored the feeling of oneness as she infobended Asami, saying in their shared language, "So I guess that's why you could feel oneness while we hugged earlier - you healed your little scared self," tears in both their eyes. Korra added in English, with sadness in her voice, "Vaatu managed to make me laugh at least, but I find nothing funny about this other being, not after seeing confirmation of his nature. I don't know why Raava showed us 'Sympathy for the Devil' much less all those horrible images. Those flags… Admiral Zhao and the swastika… you saw what that other little sneak showed me, given how you're crying."

After Lin barked, "I may have forgiven my mother for all her faults, but this gobbledegook is over the line!" Korra shook her head, saying normally, "You're right, Lin – but I have a big problem with Raava I need to settle. Everyone should practice fighting, draw - do something useful. This could take a while." Korra took a deep breath, focusing on Raava's energy as she held Asami's arm.

When she opened her eyes, Korra smiled – it looked like she was going to have some major help. In the same strange house that the Avatar Party had been held in, Korra watched multiple Avatars yelling at Raava angrily. Given their energetic arguing, this must have been going on for quite some time. Even Aang was mad, saying in his older form, "What is wrong with you, Raava? Why did you flip-flop from saying I couldn't give innocent information about Earth and suggesting Varrick make movers about World War II to showing Korra, Asami, and worst of all, Asami's unborn child all sorts of horrible images? You won't even erase _Auschwitz_ from Korra's mind, for crying out loud – a vision myself, Roku, and every Air Nomad Avatar find very upsetting, especially given we all know more about it that Korra does!" Raava was in her larger form, trying to defend herself wildly, saying, "I don't see how any of what I did was objectionable!" Korra sighed deeply, saying, "Yes – you can't see it. You're not as human-y as you think, Raava. You've been outvoted. Even Aang doesn't see the point of your overly detailed horror visions, and he showed his own granddaughter a vision of Earth being destroyed. Behind your back, before your huge flip flop on showing things about Earth, I might add."

Spotting Wan near Raava, Korra walked up, holding his hand as she said, "Would you have shown Avatar Wan any of this, Raava?" Raava's large form twisted slightly, saying desperately, "Ten thousand years ago, they weren't any better than animals! Now they're… better! Leave me alone!" Wan sighed deeply, saying, "You can fool Korra partially, but you can't fool me, Raava – I have access to the same information that Aang does. Their current 'century' isn't looking so hot either, even compared to our own troubles. Quit stalling – you know you're wrong." With that, Raava shrunk to her human-y form, sobbing, "I'm so sorry – having so much power yet becoming more human-y is very confusing. I can't handle certain emotions, I was just doing what I thought was best, and I was new to transmitting information about Earth. Do you forgive me?" Asami, a four-year old Atokara and Korra were the first of many to join a mass hug of Raava, Korra saying, "I forgive you. Just promise me you will listen to me in the future, Raava," as she felt a strange pleasant grip in her chest unlike any she had felt before. Raava sighed deeply, saying, "I can't promise that, but I will erase the memories like you asked, and help edit the infobending," and the feeling was gone, Korra frustrated with Raava's stubbornness. Korra wondered idly if Raava's "adult" human-y form was actually a younger Toph. After Aang said, "I guess that's better than nothing," angrily, Korra felt herself back in the physical world, smiling slightly.

Even with the increased ease of infobending, the process took a long time, Korra making sure that Meelo did not learn of Sharktar and that Raava kept her deal about heavy editing – and erasure. Korra breathed deeply, glad to have the weight of the faded visions lifted from her, no longer troubled by things she could do nothing about. Korra remembered nothing of the song, aside from its catchy beat. As Korra had thought they might, almost everyone was crying when she finished, and decidedly not happy tears. Korra had saved the vision of Earth being obliterated for last, saying in her best re-assuring voice, "I don't expect people to make sense of everything at once. Just know that that horrible vision was just one of many possibilities, and that I convinced Raava to spare everyone much worse horrors, even erasing them from my own mind." Jinora was the first to speak, saying, "It sounds to me like Long Yumao is losing ground - Yue and La joining our side is a pretty big blow. It sounds like the other bad guy is losing badly as well, which is good - I hate to see that horrible vision. It makes me feel almost broken every time I see it." Tenzin was next, saying, "I'm glad you sealed that thing off, Korra - we've got our hands full as things stand. I just have one question, out of curiosity - I don't mind my daughter being more capable than I am. It just makes me proud." Tenzin asked, looking at Jinora proudly, "Are you sure I'll never be able to fly like you, Jinora and Kai can?" Opal joined in with a hint of anger in her voice, saying, "Yeah - just what do you mean, my relationship with Bolin is flawed?"

Korra laughed nervously, pointing at Bolin as she said, "Hey - Wan Shi Tong said it, not me. Although, honestly, I think he's right - you don't treat Bolin as an equal, and given how even Jinora failed to fly when she was chasing Kai around without his consent, you'll have your work cut out for you. No offense." Opal sighed, saying, "I think you're right, Korra - before Jinora called us all here, I saw Kuvira treating Mako with more respect." Opal was about to continue, but Bolin interrupted her, saying, "I gotta earn respect too, you know. You can't just give it to me without me deserving it. I don't think you could fly then, and it wouldn't make me happy. I gotta prove myself!" Opal gave him a hug, saying, "You're too hard on yourself, Bolin - you think you're dumb and useless, but you're not. You've proven yourself plenty of times. I don't know a ton of details about you before we met - just what the world knew. Even then, you weren't a waste of space. You were a pro-bending semi-finalist, helped defeat Amon and the Equalists, were a mover star, helped re-build the Air Nation, helped stop the Red Lotus - you can even lavabend, Bolin! You're no talentless moron." Seeing she had a teary Bolin's full attention, she continued, "The recent stuff is even better. You ran away from Kuvira all of your own, saved your brother from certain death, you're trying to better yourself in your fighting skills, and best of all?" Opal paused dramatically, saying, "You're you," before kissing Bolin, who said, "Whoa! Thanks, Opal. Did I just jump involuntarily, or did you hover for a second?" Opal giggled, saying, "Maybe we can find out tonight - but only if you're ready." Bolin nodded, saying, "Sure!" continuing after he blushed, saying, "Just not anything that'd make me a father."

Both Opal and Bolin gave each other surprised looks as Lin said loudly, "Keep in mind, you don't have forever - either one of you. After seeing what my mother went through and feeling the love she has for us, even Tonga Beifong after all these years, I'm actually starting to regret being so career-obsessed. I let Tenzin slip through my fingers, just from emotional hurt I kept inside." Lin added, ribbing her sister Su, "Opal's quite the catch, Bolin - she's more earthbender than airbender." Speaking before anyone could react to Opal and Bolin's slightly airborne embrace, Lin continued, "Korra, Asami, Jinora, Kai, Mako - we all know now what you were up to yesterday, and today. This seems like a good place for me to explain my horrible behavior yesterday - threatening Asami with a metal blade was just as bad as Kuvira threatening to drop Varrick off a moving train." Before Lin could continue, a goggled Varrick said loudly from the back, next to what must have been Mr. Tuber-Vine, "Yeah! I hope the little voice in your head bothers you about that, Ku - ouch! Zhu Li, that hurt - the electricity is for the spiritwire, not me!" As Kuvira sighed dejectedly, Zhu Li admonished Varrick, "I want you to apologize to Kuvira for that, like Asami apologized to me for fighting with her! You know full well what Kuvira went through - and not just her spiritual crisis!"

Lin coughed, getting the discussion back on track by saying, "Yes - I know what I did and said to Kuvira yesterday was not very nice. Over the past week, Kuvira went from being an irredeemable villain in the world's eyes, to conflicted individual, to a bettered wounded soul with her change of heart. I thought the whole world was going crazy, still seeing more villain than virtue, everyone around me trusting Kuvira just because of some heavily edited vision. We even threw Baatar Jr. in a cage and forgot all about him, and he wasn't as big a war criminal as Kuvira." Su's eyes opened wide, saying, "Wait - did we tell someone to come and move him? We didn't leave my eldest son to starve, did we?" Pema smiled, saying, "No - before we left for the conference, I told Ikki to take care of him, and try and talk some sense into him. Given what I heard, he sounded slightly broken. He's in good hands - the Air Acolytes are sympathetic, not to mention my _other _daughter." Kuvira took a deep breath, saying with emotion, "I don't know if Ikki can 'fix' Baatar Jr. - I think I broke his heart by firing the Colossus' weapon at him, and everyone's treatment of him two days later must have finished the blow." Ignoring everyone's protests of "But you changed!" or "He should have accepted you!", Kuvira finished, saying, "Some wounds cannot heal just because the person who hurt you changes - I no longer hurt very much from being an orphan, or Lin's rejection of me. But they still have left a mark, and given that I tried to kill Baatar Jr. then his own mother criticized him harshly for not just accepting I had changed on blind faith... He never really was one to believe in spirits or their power, aside from for war - just like me, before Raava chose to help save my soul, for reasons I will never fully understand."

Lin nodded her head, saying, "What Kuvira just talked about, how Baatar Jr. didn't believe her change - I felt much the same way, but I kept it bottled up inside, letting it simmer and drive me crazy. Add to that the secret surrounding Toph's third horrible child, Tonga Beifong, and I was ready to snap. I had figured out the basics, but Kuvira's comment about a secret only she and Korra knew pushed me over the edge, all that pent up emotion and rage coming out, first at Kuvira, then at Asami." Asami sighed as Lin teared up slightly, saying, "I am so sorry, Asami - you've never been anything but kind and loving to others, even turning on your father, Hiroshi Sato, for being an Equalist and against three people you barely knew, four years ago. You even forgave him eventually - without any crisis like I had, that forced me to reconcile with my mother fully… or…go insane." With this last word, Lin hugged Su and Kuvira, saying, "Beifong family hug!" loudly, Opal, Bolin and Kai joining. Kai laughed lightly, saying, "What are you doing here, Bolin? Do you want Mother Suyin to adopt you too?"

Bolin laughed, saying, "I'm extended family, Kai - I'm not going to marry Opal just yet, but I wanna. What are you doing walking over here, Mako?" Mako hung outside the hug circle, saying, "I'm not sure just yet - watching. I am going to date Kuvira properly, once she's finished her sentence, after all." After Su's predictable response of "What sentence?", Kuvira said strongly, "I **am **going to fulfill that sentence, Mother Suyin. If for nothing else, it will make great press - I can imagine parts of the Earth Empire rising up once they hear tales of how the Great Uniter is trying to become the Great Mender."

Korra was about to say something, but an excited Shiro ran towards the assembled, panting, "I just managed to get radio contact with Ba Sing Se a while ago! I thought I heard something about an uprising from Kuvira when I could barely hear - it's true! The conscripts and common people of Ba Sing Se wrecked all radio communication equipment in a concerted attack after news of Kuvira's defeat reached the city. After some peasant girl, who I didn't get the name of, gave an inspirational speech, most of the elite metalbenders there defected as well, only some fleeing the city! They told me they have enough troops to defend the city, as well as spirit vine weapons." Taking a breath so he didn't pass out, Shiro continued, "When I told one of the defecting officers who seemed especially trustworthy about the airship hangar, he requested Kuvira come and unlock it, and help organize the force in and around the city. This same officer also told me they had been getting a steady stream of young students, saying they wanted nothing to do with Jinshu Kuangmai." Kuvira ran over, embracing Shiro as she asked, "Were they all right? Did he say how many had come? There should have been hundreds, if not over a thousand." Shiro had a happy look on his face as he said, "Almost all made it. I know those children mean a lot to you, Kuvira - one of the few good things you did as 'Great Uniter'. I hope they serve the new United Earth Republic well." At mention of the new entity's name, Korra felt a familiar tug on her mind, thinking, "Not now, Aang - later. And much later, if it has anything to do with Earth - that place is full of savages." After she heard Aang sigh and say, "Okay - I just wanted to show you some good stuff about that place," Korra caught the last of what Kuvira was excited about as she said, "Really? Almost all the idealists defected too, and more are sneaking in? That's great news! They will fight especially hard - they know what happened to officers in Jinshu Kuangmai's way." Shiro nodded, saying, "The officer made special mention of a few idealists. One, a former architecture student from Ba Sing Se, apparently managed to memorize and draw Jinshu Kuangmai's plans for Zaofu, and another intelligent young man was the one who fixed the radios. He said his father was 'Chief Intelligence Officer Jang' and he wanted to run away, and that he hated how his father resented Su for keeping a close watch on him."

Su joined Kuvira at Shiro's side, though with a desperate look as she said, "Wait… please don't tell me that man, Jang, is high-ranking. If he didn't have so much fear, he'd be just like Jinshu Kuangmai - I kept him away from Kuvira for good reason." Shiro had a foul look on his face as he said, "The officer told me about rumors that this Chief Intelligence Officer Jang is now very close to Jinshu Kuangmai. One even related to myself." Choking back tears, Shiro said, "Knowing what I know about Jinshu Kuangmai's killing of his three-year old self and how these events take real time, it must be true. While that monster was busy killing Tonga Beifong, his inner child… Jang killed my own family. With a blade of _metal._" Shiro spat on the ground, sitting down as he said, "I need to go grieve my loss, alone. Maybe some day I can be of more use."

Korra joined Su and Kuvira at Shiro's side, saying, "Let me try something - maybe I can help dull the pain." Shiro stayed still as Korra placed her betrothal necklace directly on his chest, thinking of her mother and father, Asami and Atokara as she placed a hand on his forehead and said, "Your family is not gone, Shiro, even if their spirits are not immortalized like Uncle Iroh. They are within you. No one can ever take them away." As Korra removed her hands and the necklace, she noticed that Shiro still looked sad, but it was no longer crushing.

As she hugged Shiro, she heard Raava's voice intone, _Wow, Korra - that was amazing, __and__ true. Aang wants you to know this: many people on Earth say the same thing._

Korra smiled, thinking, "Maybe I'll take Aang up on his offer after all." Feeling Raava was about to say something smug, Korra added, "But only if the information's relevant!"


	39. Chapter 39: Ember Creation

Chapter 39: Ember Creation

Once Korra, Shiro, Su and Kuvira had returned to where everyone else was, Korra spotted a face she hadn't seen before, and given how he was singing, or rather trying to, he must have somehow been privy to her previous infobending. Frowning slightly, Korra said, "Wu, what are you doing here? And why are you trying to sing that song from earlier? Even I don't know the words now, since Raava erased everything useless from me!" Wu said exuberantly, "I don't need to know the _words_, Korra – the tune alone will make me a legend!" Korra smiled, saying, "I don't know whether to be happy some use came of that accursed song, or disturbed you have no reaction to the vision of Earth being destroyed." Wu shrugged, saying, "I prefer to not dwell on _negative_ things. Like Jinshu Kuangmai, or extinction of life as we know it! I believe in the power of positivity." Speaking in as serious a tone as he could, Wu asked, "Speaking of positive – I have a letter for you. Want to read it? I'm pretty sure that you'll tearbend at some point." Korra gave him a glare, ignoring the out held letter, asking, "You didn't read it perchance, did you?" Wu looked very nervous saying, "Ah – uh – um - don't bloodbend me, please!" Korra frowning deeply as he cowered in fear, she calmly said, "No, I'm not going to bloodbend you. Now give it to me, and I'll read it when I see fit." Wu walked over more confidently, saying, "Here you go, Avatar Korra. I'll just stick around until you've read it."

Korra looked around, glad to see that people were no longer crying. Out of curiosity, Korra asked Jinora, "Did the image of Earth being destroyed seem filtered the second time around?" Jinora nodded, saying, "I saw only an odd, angular representation of it, as though from a machine's animated coloring book, a thousand Meesiles striking from a crude map of Earth, most hitting targets in the upper portion of the map. There was still the clear image of a thousand suns on the planet's surface, but all the awful detail was stripped away, only the text beneath giving me chills. 'This planet ran out of love. Make sure it doesn't happen to ours, by whatever means necessary.' I still retain the original vision, however." As Korra nodded, saying, "I still see it too – but the other stuff was removed. I can't even remember what most of it was now," Korra found herself wishing this cartoon version had replaced the original. Korra smiled as Asami said, "Same here, and Atokara says all she 'remembers' is the weird angular representation. If you ever think she needs to see it, you can give it to her again." Korra shook her head, saying, "No – I don't want that in my daughter's brain. So much death…"

Korra took a deep breath, saying, "Speaking of which, the whole point of that vision was so we could see that we cannot sit around idly and let Jinshu Kuangmai have time to develop similar weapons." Korra laughed weakly, saying as she felt some odd information flow, "Our greatest minds are unlikely to break my namesake metal's secrets any time soon, according to Raava. She assures me there's nothing we have to fear of Jinshu Kuangmai creating Korranium weapons." Kuvira said strongly, "That doesn't mean we should hold back. I'd like to see Wu and the other nation's leaders work hard to shore up Ba Sing Se against any Earth Empire attacks, before it's too late. If Jinshu Kuangmai takes Ba Sing Se, we'll have spirit troubles again, new spirit allies or not. Big troubles."

Wu shrugged, saying, "As far as I am concerned, I'm done. The United Earth Republic doesn't need _royalty_ messing with it," Korra able to tell he was lying. Korra said, "I can tell you're lying, Wu. I just don't know why." Wu's face flushed briefly, saying, "You're right, Korra - if anyone wants me, I will help. It's not like anyone would ever elect a singing goofball like me to office, much less a relative of that monster Hou-Ting!" Surprised that Mako didn't clap, he continued, "While I do appreciate Mako not applauding my negative self-talk, I'm going somewhere else, letter read or not."

Mako nudged Kuvira slightly, saying, "Not so fast, Wu." Wu stopped walking away, Kuvira putting her shackled wrists back down as Mako said, "I don't think you're a total goofball - not any more. You helped with the evacuation in a big way, abdicated power, helped design a new form of government, suggested gay marriage be legalized in the United Earth Republic, and just now were brutally honest in a way I've never seen you be before." Mako continued, glad to see Wu looking at him without anger, "If I remember right, you don't have to _run _for office to be elected, with the way the charter was set up. Given Korra could tell you were lying, you still must want to help out the nation you helped lay the groundwork for." Wu nodded, saying, "Yes, I was lying. If Team Avatar wants, I will help with the United Earth Republic, particularly Ba Sing Se." Kuvira laughed lightly, saying, "Being of royal blood will help there, Wu - there were still people who wouldn't recognize my authority there, and not in just the Lower Ring either. I couldn't just lock up all the rich and influential people, no matter how much I wanted to. It wouldn't have made sense."

Korra could feel Raava trying to force-feed her some information, so Korra projected her out angrily, saying, "I already told you, Aang or another Avatar is going to do the filtering, until you prove you can handle yourself better! You got that?" Raava looked like she might swell up to full size, saying conflictedly, "Excuse me for trying to show you something I found ironic!" Korra coughed, saying, "Let's see what Aang has to say." As the 12-year old airbender joined Raava's side, he did not look amused, saying, "Apparently, Raava finds the ineptitude and barbarity of two Earth leaders ironic and funny, given Kuvira's little bit about royal blood, and making sense." Korra sighed deeply, saying, "Raava, why don't you talk with the other Avatars and Aang while I take care of more urgent business, like looking at my hands." Raava said softly, "Maybe I need to go see our shared past lives again so I can see what is and is not relevant from Earth better. I'll be available – a thousand years of retrospection inside my 'house' will only take a second of real time."

After Raava and Aang vanished, Korra saw one person who seemed to need asked Jinora, "What do you need, Jinora? Given the look on your face, it must have something to do with Kai." Jinora nodded her head, saying as she pointed at Korra, "I want you to show Kai the level of love you had for Asami before having sex the first time, like you did for me. I think he would appreciate it too." An emotional-looking Bolin and Opal approached Korra next to an interested Mako and Kuvira holding hands together. Korra half considered laughing and saying, "Come on - you guys are _way_ older than Kai and Jinora, and should know better!" but something about the looks she saw in all four's eyes told Korra that laughing would be a bad idea. Showing greater restraint than Raava might have, she said, "I'd be glad to help anyone else in the same way, no matter their age," instead, smiling to see that Lin looked _vaguely _interested as well. Korra said, "They say it's never too late to find love, Lin," and was disappointed to see Lin blush and say, "Mind your own business!" before turning around in a huff.

Once she was done with all three couples, she smiled as Bolin laughed, saying, "Thanks, Korra - me and Opal hadn't even felt that very strongly at all yet." Mako just nodded his head in agreement, Kuvira saying with disgust, "I'm pretty sure that whatever I felt for Baatar Jr., it was decidedly not that. From what I can remember, it was a twisted version of oneness - me being the _only_ one. At least I felt real love for Mako when I saw his little sweet vision." Given how Mako blushed when Kuvira hugged him, Mako may have been feeling more than just love from her embrace. Kai laughed, saying, "If you were an airbender, Mako, there's no way you'd ever fly. Not blushing like that!" Mako just let out a deep sigh, saying, "I can already fly, thank you very much, Kai. Just look at this blue fire I can ma - aw, man! It's red and orange and yellow again!" As Kuvira hugged him harder, the fire turned blue, Mako not saying anything for a while, given his lips were busy with a semi-consensual kiss. Kuvira finally withdrew, saying, "Maybe I will have to bend you _just _a little, Mako - your body and mind seem to be in…. disagreement." Mako said curtly, "I want to actually date before kissing like that, Kuvira." Korra couldn't even speak, she was laughing so hard, slapping Asami's back lightly given the irony of what Mako had just said; Korra had no experience "dating" Asami. Mako asked, figuring out why Korra and Asami were laughing so hard partway through his question, "Korra, Asami, why are you laughing so ha - oh. Nevermind."

Korra calmed herself back down, noticing it seemed like when she laughed, her eyes flashed brighter, given how she could see the light on her dark hands, even in the morning sun. Before Korra could say anything, she heard Raava intone _Sorry about earlier – I think I can filter better now. Anyways… As I get more human-y, different, new things can boost the Avatar State. _Taking a deep breath, Korra said the obvious, struggling not to laugh, "Mako, Asami and I didn't exactly _date_, now, did we? I can see some people looking at your new relationship with Kuvira in a similar light as my own unconventional relationship with Asami."

Lin had been becoming more uncomfortable over time, finally turning around with a flushed face, saying, "Bah – what do I have to lose. Why don't you show me this feeling as well, Korra, than we can move on to more relevant things." Korra laughed at the irony, saying as Lin approached, "If it weren't for my new love for Asami, we might not even be here in the first place. Probably trying in vain to get information about Jinshu Kuangmai from an uncooperative Kuvira, my past lives dead for good, and all sorts of other things I don't want to talk about." Korra took a deep breath, thinking, "Thanks for not showing me that alternate, Raava."

_No problem. Though, in a bit, you will need to act as an information conduit, and a lot of it will be… unpleasant. Don't worry – I'll erase it when we're done._

Curious to see what Raava had in mind, Korra imparted what her love for Asami felt like to Lin, Raava helping by imparting what pure lust feel like in an information flow. Korra frowned, noting the knowledge stayed at first, but both its vanishing act and Lin's slight smile erased her bad mood. Lin said softly, "The closest I've come to feeling the love you showed me was when I saw my mother's life flash before my eyes. I never really felt the first feeling with Tenzin – we were young, and given my abominable behavior towards Pema when Tenzin broke up with me, if he ever felt the same way about me, my attempted jailing of Pema and rampage on Air Temple Island probably erased that." Tenzin nodded, saying curtly, "You're right, Lin. Part of me died after that, only to live again when I had my first child, Jinora." Pema was crying slightly, saying, "I still have the odd nightmare about that, Lin." Before Pema could continue, Lin ran over and hugged her, saying, "I just want you to know I'm as sorry about that as my own behavior towards Asami yesterday. I hope you're more understanding than I was with Kuvira." Pema nodded, saying, "I forgave you years ago. I'm just glad you no longer bottle feelings up inside, Lin, and I'm sure you can find someone some day, even if you can't have any kids."

_Love finds a way._

Korra interpreted this to mean that Lin would find someone to be with, finding the idea of _another_ Beifong giving birth at the age of 54 ridiculous. Korra said with a smile, "Apparently, Raava thinks you'll find someone, Lin, and I hope she's right. Raava told me earlier I was going to need to impart a massive amount of information, though I do not know where." Korra could feel a tug on her mind, and it seemed like Raava wanted to show her exactly that.

_This is something I have never tried before, Korra. If you want to avoid information "sticking", which I know you will, you'll need to let me do this – directly._

Korra laughed, explaining what Raava had said, adding, "I don't see how this will be any different than an uncontrolled Avatar State, but I'll go along with Raava's odd request." Korra felt her eyes begin to glow, her arms moving wildly, as though she were a puppet controlled by a particularly inept puppeteer. Laughing hysterically, Korra broke the attempt, saying, "I think Raava needs some practice. I'm just going to do this the old fashioned way."

Korra could hear Raava sigh as she imparted her plan to Korra, Korra now realizing why Raava had wanted to attempt this strange new method. Korra said out loud, "Raava is going to impart everything to me, and then I will impart everything to a new section of Wan Shi Tong's library with restricted access. The 'Plane: Earth' wing. Only Raava can grant access to it, and a good portion of it will be in alien languages, such as the English you have already heard myself, Asami, Raava and Vaatu speaking. What people on Earth call 'Chinese' will be the only readable language for a non-Avatar."

Korra took a deep breath, eyes now glowing, thinking, "I'm ready for the information, Raava." As the information flowed, Korra found herself very glad that it would be erased afterwards, finding everything but the last century of Earth time very painful. Remembering she couldn't possibly hold all this information herself, and that she wouldn't want to anyways, she slammed her hand violently into the ground as she focused on Wan Shi Tong, hearing exclamations of fear and surprise as she did so. Korra was focused on giving a very surprised Wan Shi Tong a very, very, very huge gift, barely noticing a few surprised yelps from around her. Raava decided to just fill the whole huge library wing with Earth history, science, literature – "everything but the kitchen sink," an English phrase Korra liked. Korra laughed as she managed to barely hear Wan Shi Tong say, "Oh, my! I would have aligned myself with Raava much sooner if I knew she was going to give me this!" At first, Korra could sense Raava wasn't going to let Wan Shi Tong into his own new library wing, but after Korra simply thought, "Really?" Raava relented, granting the excited pedantic owl access. Korra added a large sign that said "No sharing any of this with unworthy mortals, Wan Shi Tong" inside the door, smiling to hear him hooting with laughter. As the last of the information flowed, Korra sighed, glad that everything had found a new home in Wan Shi Tong's library, and not her head.

When Korra opened her eyes, no longer feeling the infinite power of the Avatar State coursing through her, she took a look around, curious to see why people had been yelling. Seeing nothing, she said, "I figure I may as well read the letter now. I don't see anything odd that needs my attention." Ignoring some snickering, Korra was about to read the letter Wu gave her, but her eyes flashed briefly, Raava having apparated out, looking like she wanted to say something. Raava said, with a slight smile, "I placed a similar block on the new library wing, anyone deemed worthy of entering only having access to information relevant to their question. The information will be retrieved automatically, similar to an Earth technology that you most _certainly _cannot learn of just yet. Certain wings such as the science wing are practically inaccessible, unless the individual is close to figuring out a scientific truth anyways." Running back to Korra, when Raava re-entered, Korra noticed that she felt the same odd grip in her chest again.

Korra took out the letter, noting that she didn't have to break the seal, saying, "I guess you did read this, Wu – you didn't hide it very well." As everyone laughed, Korra read it, her eyes widened, starting to read it aloud after the first part to complete silence. "Dear Avatar Korra, I want to thank you for all your service through the years, both to Republic City and the world, at times at great personal cost. At the conference, you showed everyone how much you have grown, infobending other's talents or not. The manners you showed were nothing but your own. After seeing your encounter with Firelord Izumi, I wish to make an apology for my own past behavior. Her own refusal to take action against Kuvira now reminds me of my own refusal to aid the South in the Water Tribe Civil War. Even without knowing what was happening, the United Republic of Nations should not have stood idly by while one Water Tribe subjugated the other on flimsy pretenses. After some self-examination, I realized it was hypocritical of me, President of the United Republic of Nations, to not assist in that civil war, but demand the assistance of the Fire Nation and what few airbenders there are to defend my home city." Korra gulped before reading the next part, saying emotionally, "I know I haven't always been a good President, Korra - until somewhat recently, just a good politician. **By the time you have read this, I will have already arrived back in Republic City and enacted a piece of legislation dear to your own heart.** As soon as contact with Ba Sing Se is re-established, I will be working hard to ensure Jinshu Kuangmai makes no advances on the new United Earth Republic. I hope to see you again soon. Regards, President Raiko." Korra laughed lightly, reading the note at the bottom that said, "Buttercup sends her regards, and that she's sure your child will be a gift to the world worth starting a Spirit Civil War over."

Korra heard Asami speak first, saying in partial English, "Oh my God, Korra – we can get married soon!" Korra ran over and embraced Asami, saying, "Sounds good to me, Assami. Now let's keep the English to a minimum, especially since neither of us know who 'God' is, aside from a… useful exclamation." Raava began laughing hysterically, the teapot around her neck rattling at the same time. Korra sighed, saying, "Remember – no Earth stuff unless it is relevant." Asami added, "I only said that because we have no equivalent, and 'Oh my Raava' just sounds awkward." Once Raava and a temporarily visible Vaatu had stopped laughing, Raava said something in a language more guttural than English, Korra's brain translating it as, "Not even ze Germans are zis serious, Korra! I want to lighten you ahp!" Korra frowned, saying, "Enough messing around, Raava – I never thought I'd see you laughing along with Vaatu again. It looks like someone else wants to speak, so back in you go." Korra sighed in relief once the little rascal was back inside, listening to Tenzin say with a warm smile, "While I have no idea what to make of all that, I do know this. I am very proud of my daughter, Jinora, and look forward to helping you come up with rules for the new Air Nation. It's not very often someone comes up with a new airbending move" Jinora smiled, hugging her father then saying, "I'm going to be coming up with a lot more new forms – I get the feeling stealing someone's breath won't cut it against Jinshu Kuangmai, especially if he keeps those masks on his soldiers." Jinora continued, with even a hugging Pema making no squeamish motions, "There will be few, hard and fast rules, the way I see it. Rules just get in the way of judgment, something the new new airbenders will need. I hope that future airbenders will find a balance between principle and judgment."

Korra said, hoping to wrap up the conversation, "The kind of airbending ideals you want, Jinora, don't sound like they all come from one place. I get the feeling you may want to visit Wan Shi Tong's library for further help – I am sure the writings of Earth will provide _some _help. No planet can be all bad." Korra projected Raava out, asking, "Can you go ahead and give first access to the library to Jinora, Raava?" Korra laughed, remembering how everyone had stared at Mako when her memory had been wiped, glad to be on the other side. After about a minute of everyone staring at Raava, she said with a slight smile, "Fine – but only because the other Avatars talked me into it. I'm still the most powerful spirit in _our _universe, and won't be 'convinced' like Mako was to lie about his breakup with Korra." Mako, Bolin, Asami and Korra laughed heartily as Raava put a small hand on the ground. Korra was surprised to see Raava create blue lines on the ground, running up to Jinora's feet – and Asami's as well as her own.

After the blue lines vanished, Raava said, "Highest level clearance granted. What you see will still be subject to editing and censoring, however – I want the braintrust making its own discoveries." Korra laughed as Mako said with an even tone, "I want my swords sometime before the next Harmonic Convergence, so let's get busy." As everyone laughed, Korra saw Bolin form a mockup of his own sword from earth, saying, "We may as well make my sword at the same time - this is going to be the last time we're all together." Korra nodded, saying, "I think President Raiko and Ba Sing Se can handle themselves. We may as well do my twin armblades at the same time." Jinora shot an attention-grabbing blast of air skyward, saying, "Can we do my staff first? I took a peek at the blueprints last night when I was wide awake from Jang Hui kelp tea, and I think it would help with trying to convert Hei Bai." Korra nodded her head, saying, "That sounds reasonable to me. Now we just need the materials."

As everyone else milled around, seeming to have forgotten something major, Kuvira approached Korra, saying, "Can you give me the blade knowledge, Korra? I want to help Mako make his dual dao swords." Korra nodded, saying, "I should probably give it to Lin and Su as well - Lin loves her armblade, as she made all too apparent yesterday." Korra's hand now on Kuvira's forehead, Korra found an odd image, thinking, "What's that, Kuvira? It looks like new land." Kuvira didn't think anything until the transfer was complete, saying out loud, "Oh. I had totally forgotten about what happened when you hit your hand against the ground, Korra. Let's go there with Lin, Bolin, and Su - you're going to need their help. Probably Katara, your parents, and Kya as well, if they can do that powerful waterbending form you showed us Atokara performing."

After Korra had shown Lin and Su what they needed to see, both whipped out twin blades, laughing while they fought one another in a mock swordfight. After a few minutes with no decisive victor, Korra said, "Ahem. There was something Kuvira wanted to show me, that somehow needs both your assistance, as well as Bolin, my parents, Kya and Katara. Something about new land." Lin retracted one armblade, using the other hand to knock Su over, laughing as she said, "I win! We can have a rematch later on the Zhu Li." Korra said gently, "If we're going to be making four spiritwire weapons, one of which is very complicated and will require surgery to install, I think we're going to be here another day. Now come on, and help me with whatever this land thing is." Su said, while using earthbending to knock Lin down to her level, "Draw! Korra, why don't you just look out to the 'sea', and you'll see what side effect your little gift to Wan Shi Tong had."

Korra turned around, saying, "I didn't know you two were secretly little kids, but okay," stopping in her tracks when she saw what was in front of her. Apparently, Korra had accidentally done more than just build Wan Shi Tong a new library wing. Starting a fair distance from Ember Island's shore, Korra saw huge, muddy brown islands rising out of the sea to the northeast, one twice as tall as Ember Island. The larger island almost looked like it was big enough to hold the central portion of Republic City. Flaring her eyes white, Korra struck the ground, trying to make sense of what she saw with earthsense instead of her eyes. What Korra sensed shocked her. Flying up into the air to get a better view, using jets of blue flame like thrusters, Korra saw at least ten new islands. Flying in closer to the largest one, she looked at a gash of shimmering, glittering earth in its center.

The huge mineral vein.

Korra landed, yelling "Eeuch!" in disgust when she touched down on what was decidedly _not _land. Using the Avatar State, Korra removed all the thick, gooey earth and seawater from the island, depositing it nearby under the sea. Remembering from her earthsensing that this part of the sea was not very deep, Korra traveled to the other islands, cleaning them off and leaving many chunks of ore behind as she took the "waste" and built a muddy island next to where she had started, making sure that the new creation had good sea access. Ignoring her stomach's growl - for now - Korra brought her hands towards her chest and then swept them out to her sides, finally straining to bring them up. As her hands clenched near her sweaty chest, a massive swell of magma rose beneath the sea floor, bringing the new island closer to the surface. Unlike the swell of magma Korra had created underneath her new house, this one was intended to stay. As her hands lifted up towards the sky, veins of magma shot out from the central mass, lava from some hissing violently as the molten rock hit the ocean's waters. Korra strained, attempting to form a geologic feature the White Lotus told Korra Katara encountered in her youth – geysers. Korra had never seen one, let alone inspected its physical form, so she met with limited success.

Korra was about to give up in frustration, closing her eyes and yelling, "How does this stupid geologic feature work? Gah!" while maintaining her movements. She almost quit trying, but was stopped at the last second by an unexpected spirit. Wan Shi Tong's face appeared in the blackness, the wise owl saying, "Here – let me show you a diagram from Plane Earth. Their knowledge far exceeds ours, and this is nothing you couldn't see for yourself with earthsense on an actual geyser." Korra studied the image she saw, noticing that the veins of magma she had created were unnecessary. Opening her eyes, she re-directed their flow and forcibly cooled them, having memorized the figure. Muttering to herself in English, "Magma chamber near water source," Korra brought her hands together in a slashing motion, creating channels for the sea to come near the magma chamber – but not directly contacting it. Korra knew from the diagram that if the water directly contacted the magma, it would just turn to steam instantly.

Finally using her legs and arms in synch, she created outlets for the heated water, and given how violently the water exploded from the holes she had just created, Korra had narrowly avoided creating a massive explosion. Taking some ocean floor silt from around the island, Korra dumped the watery earth on the island, creating marbleized cones around the geyser's mouths. Korra could feel her body becoming tired, but pressed on, feeling refreshed after drinking some purified seawater. After expanding the island to a size more suited to a large geothermal-powered factory, Korra drew a blank, saying, "I may know what a factory looks like, but I sure don't know how to lay one out," as she wiped sweat from her brow, panting. Putting her hands together, Korra closed her eyes, attempting to contact Wan Shi Tong. From what Korra had seen, Earth factories closely resembled their own, and she wanted this factory to be as useful as possible.

_Just let me finish from here, Korra – you need to get some food, and soon. Atokara already complained to me about Asami not eating yet._

Korra let Raava take full control of her body without reservations, feeling a complete lack of exhaustion from her body's exertions. As Korra allowed Raava to move her limbs, Korra felt an immense peace, something making her body laugh from glee and exhilaration. Once her body stopped moving, Korra opened her eyes, amazed to see the form of a very substantial factory and the rocky remnants of many ore lumps surrounding it. Korra felt an unfamiliar, tight gripping in her chest – a mix of pleasure and pain that felt wonderful regardless. Korra felt as though her heart were yin and yang, spinning. She flew over to the factory, exclaiming, "Wait – how did you fully form this functional factory, Raava? It even looks like it has a science lab! Just what did you do?"

As if answering her question, Korra felt the sensation in her chest intensify, Raava adding for good measure _We have a strong bond, Korra – even before you faced Kuvira in Republic City almost a week ago, I've interacted more with you directly than any other Avatar in ten thousand years. After the past week, it's only grown stronger._ Feeling a bit tired, Korra projected both Raava and Wan out, saying as she laid down, staring at the sky, "Wan, did you ever do anything crazy like this? Let Raava use you like a puppet? It felt…different than an uncontrolled Avatar State." Raava and Wan came closer, Korra now staring at Raava's white human-y form and Wan's blue projection. Wan nodded his head, saying, "While I don't remember letting Raava control my body directly, I think I can still help. I didn't show you at the time, but when I imprisoned Vaatu ten thousand years ago in the Tree of Time in the Avatar State, I felt a similar feeling in my own chest. Given my distaste for most humans and Raava's inexperience at the time, neither one of us knew what to make of it. I also felt it in my chest before my last breath and my death. What does it remind you most of, Korra?"

Smiling as she did so, Korra grabbed her jade betrothal necklace, saying one word: "Love." Korra closed her eyes, an image of Asami, a young Atokara and a familiar smiling white form the last things she saw.


	40. Chapter 40: Ember Forged

Chapter 40: Ember Forged

_Get up – you need to eat._

Her eyes opening slowly, Korra was surprised to see a large slab of earth above her and hear many different voices. Sitting up with effort, she found herself staring into beautiful jade green eyes. It took her a moment to process who was staring at her, saying, "Asami? Wha… where did the earth above us come from?" Asami's face looked concerned, saying, "Korra, you need to drink this. I think you may have had a little bit of heatstroke." Asami picked up a large cup of tea with ice cubes in it, Korra downing the entire thing without question, finishing the pot it came from as well. Korra felt herself wake back up enough to function, idly wondering why Asami hadn't given her Jang Hui kelp tea. Feeling hungry enough to eat a baby shark whale, Korra asked, "Is there anything to eat? I'm starving!" Asami grabbed her gently, saying, "We have enough shark whale meat left for one last meal. Your parents are out hunting with Lin and Su for another shark whale or other large animal, already having ate." Asami's face looked queasy, saying with effort, "I think I need to eat something as well – Atokara's been yelling at me for not eating ever since you flew off on your own, to make this amazing factory somehow." Korra stood up, feeling the energy from the cold sweet tea start to energize her again.

Looking around, she noticed that Lin, Su, Bolin and Kuvira must have teamed up to make an addition to the island factory, Bolin and Kuvira staring at a large table spread with food hungrily along with everyone else. Korra asked Kuvira, "What are you waiting for, Kuvira? You and Bolin look as tired as I am!" Bolin pointed a finger at Asami, saying, "Pregnant ladies and Avatars first. I don't know how you made this place, Korra, but you need the food more than I do." Looking out a window idly as she rushed to the table, Korra stopped, saying, "What's that big ball of wires?" Kuvira laughed, saying, "You eat, show us what in the blazes you did to make that huge factory, then we'll talk."

Korra found no fault with this plan, noticing that she ate just as much as a dizzy-looking Asami did. Finishing her second plate of shark whale and rice, Korra began to chase it with a large pitcher of what she thought was ice water. At first, Korra was confused by Asami's exclamation of, "Wait, no!" given that the water tasted normal. When Korra sat the pitcher back down where it had been, she figured out why Asami had asked her to stop. Pointing at a large metal pitcher of what must have been sake, Korra asked, "Is there any particular reason you put the sake right next to the ice water?" Korra gave Asami a funny look as Asami said, "That's not sake – it's in a barrel outside this new dining hall, chilled by a big block of ice. That's Jang Hui kelp tea." Knowing that Jinora and Kai didn't bring much Jang Hui kelp tea back with them, Korra asked as she got up from the table, "I thought they only brought some holdfasts and tea in containers back, not enough for a whole pitcher. And what's the sake for?"

Asami looked uneasy, finally working up the courage to say, "When we install your dual armblades, you're going to need to be pretty drunk. We're going to be cutting in to your arms to install the spiritwire, remember." Korra laughed, saying, "Why didn't you just tell me? I wanted to see what being drunk felt like anyways! And you still didn't answer my question about the Jang Hui kelp tea." Asami laughed lightly, saying, "The alcohol won't completely kill the pain, Korra, so it should still be painful. Let me show you why we made Jang Hui kelp tea." Korra walked with Asami past what must have been the semi-orderly ball of spirit wire she saw earlier to an odd covered deep pond and waterfall that looked ornamental at first glance. Korra rubbed her eyes, saying, "Wait – is that Jang Hui kelp I see in the bottom? How did it grow so fast, and how is the water flowing?" Asami looked proud as she said, "It's full of fresh water that Kya and Katara purified for me after Bolin and Kuvira bent the pond and waterfall for me. Varrick, Zhu Li and I hooked into the factory's electricity to power a pump and chiller for the pond." Asami said, walking over and pointing to a Jang Hui kelp frond, "I wanted this pond to just be for fresh water and decoration, but Kai tossed a holdfast in on a whim, wanting to see what would happen. The holdfast grew rapidly to the size you see now." Asami laughed, saying, "Atokara demands to go see Sharktar after seeing this kelp. I think Tenzin, Pema, Kai and Jinora were having a serious talk with Meelo about Sharktar, last I saw them."

Korra was confused – Jinora and Kai were supposed to be at Hei Bai's forest by now, and Jinora's staff finished. After asking Asami where they were, Korra ran over, staring at all the equipment around her as she did so – inside the factory, _and _out. As soon as Jinora saw Korra, she yelled, "Hei Bai can wait – we need to convince Meelo to not go anywhere near Sharktar first. When he saw the Jang Hui kelp, he figured out what the little censoring was." Korra now close enough to see Jinora's face clearly, she didn't like the young airbender's look. Jinora said, as though choking back tears, "I talked to the Painted Lady in the Spirit World, and she said that Hei Bai is no longer extremely hostile. Apparently, he tried to incinerate the Painted Lady multiple times, only Raava's energy and some good evasive maneuvers protecting her. He's still very angry over what the Earth Empire did to his forest, so the Painted Lady says Kai and I are still needed, though not urgently." Jinora cried slightly, saying, "When the Painted Lady got there, he had red lines all over his enlarged body, with some splotches of purple and blazing yellow eyes. She managed to calm him down enough so that the purple disappeared, but he still has yellow eyes."

Knowing if she was to talk to Jinora that Meelo would have to be dissuaded first, Korra said, "Just a minute – let me see if Sharktar can show me something to put Meelo off rushing ahead artificially", focusing on what she knew of Sharktar's energy as she closed her eyes. When Korra opened her eyes, she was in Sharktar's oasis as a blue projection. Sharktar said, "Ahhh, I was expecting you might come here, Avatar Korra. Before you ask, no, I will not join Raava's side in the Spirit Civil War. I need to stay here and make sure any humans who shouldn't drink from my pool don't do so." Korra bowed, saying, "I was not here to ask your assistance with the Spirit Civil War, Sharktar. I understand your reservations. I'm here on a more personal matter – convincing Meelo that drinking from your pool is a bad idea. He figured out what had been censored after seeing the Jang Hu kelp grow to full size immediately after being planted in a cool flowing freshwater pond." Sharktar hissed, saying angrily as steam left his blowhole, "I'm a forgetful spirit, Korra. I should have remembered something like that might happen. There's something major I'm forgetting about the effects of my water on humans, but I should be able to show you what would happen if Meelo isn't patient. Just ask one of the Raava aligned spirits floating above to touch me, and it should be able to transmit the image I see of a 22-year old patient Meelo and impatient Meelo." Korra looked at one of the spirits above, asking, "Spirit, will you touch Sharktar for me, please?" The spirit trilled, its odd blue form touching Sharktar's head. Sharktar took a deep breath, saying, "Meelo incoming."

The first image of Meelo looked remarkably like Aang, though more muscular. He still had the same odd bumpy head, given how the arrow on his head didn't look completely flat. The image smiled warmly, embracing some black female form, the image vanishing after he hugged the female form. Korra was disturbed by what she saw next. What must have been the impatient Meelo had no airbending master tattoos, his cultural heritage replaced by a chest full of ribbons. He leaned a massive arm on the black outline of a fighter jet, rubbing it with intent, as though it was his only love. Korra saw only a glimpse of the jet, noticing something that disturbed her, Raava intoning an explanation of what the little symbols on the side of the plane meant.

_Those denote combat kills. Earth fighter pilots have them on their planes._

Korra somehow knew this Meelo didn't have an angry sadness at having to kill, instead being proud of his accomplishments for their own sake. Korra sighed deeply after the image vanished from her mind, saying, "I guess you were right, Sharktar. That will be all." Before she could break the connection, Sharktar said, "WAIT! If you thought an impatient Meelo was disturbing, you need to see Atokara! Atokara incoming."

Puzzled as to why Atokara would ever break her promise about Sharktar, Korra scoffed to see the first image, saying, "Okay? I've already seen my daughter fully grown, Sharktar. Including her wedding dress." The image broke, Sharktar scowling as he said through his sharp, pointy teeth, "I do not waste people's time. Much less that of an Avatar, Korra. Just because Atokara has Raava's energy inside her does not mean she is immune from needing to mature. I know she isn't even born yet, but for my tastes, she shares too many traits with Azula. If she drinks of this pool, you will get this, though I cannot remember how. Remember – I am a forgetful spirit."

Korra saw an image she could hardly believe. Korra said indignantly, "You men to tell me this thing that more closely resembles Dark Korra could be my daughter? What sort of sick joke is this? It looks like she married Vaatu, given her black and red dress!" Sharktar didn't bother breaking the image, merely saying grimly, "You need to take a **good, hard long look **at this, Avatar Korra, and show Asami and Atokara immediately. I will be using the spirit's help to infuse more action and especially _energy_, in case Atokara's corrupted eyes, dress and hair braids aren't enough to convince you."

Korra felt an indescribable dread as she saw Atokara's beautiful Asami black twin hairbraids begin to pulse… with _red lines_. She heard Atokara scream loudly, "I want to fight and kill! Death to those who oppose Vaatu!" and begin to make sickening hand movements, feeling as though her own soul was going to break in two when she finally noticed the eyes.

The blood red eyes.

Korra started crying, saying, "Make it stop! Stop!" Sharktar glumly said, "I am not aligned with Raava, and can thus do what I think is good for you. Now watch – maybe you can help me puzzle out the difference between patience, and corruption or evil." Korra listened to Atokara say things like "I want everyone who made fun of momma Korra and mommy Asami to suffer as I do!" Atokara periodically began to weep, making her hair flash white and blue, only to be turned jet black and red after horrible angry yell from what must have been Vaatu and an involuntary jerk on Atokara's part. Korra couldn't stand it anymore, asking, "Why, Atokara, why? What made you this way?" Korra gasped to hear Atokara respond, crying through her beautiful blue, true eyes, "When I drank from Mister Sharktar's pool, I turned into this. I cannot remember what happened to you or momma Korra – only the awful growing in my head. My brain… it felt as though it coursed with evil energy. I was left with an insatiable desire to kill, Vaatu gradually gaining more and more control as I did so, Raava and my mommies a faded, sweet memory. I wish I had never drunk from that pool… I wasn't… ready." With this, Atokara cried mournfully, only stopping when her eyes flared red and her hair morphed black and red, matching her twisted soul. She yelled loudly, "It's all Sharktar's fault! If he hadn't forgotten that accursed side effect, I would be normal! DIE!"

An audibly panicked Sharktar broke the vision, saying, "I think that vision was getting entirely too genuine for its own good at the end there – just look at my blowhole." Korra gasped in horror, saying, "How on earth did that give you the beginnings of red lines?" Sharktar shrugged, saying, "The fact that my head was right next to this terrified spirit probably didn't help. I think I remember the side effect now." As soon as the small, whimpering spirit left his rubbery forehead, Korra said, "Come here, little spirit – it's okay." Korra's head shrank back in shock as she saw the little spirit turn a dark green, saying angrily, "I no like you or Raava anymore! Your daughter mean! Avatar mean! Shoo! Me find enemy of Avatar that not Long Yumao!" as it floated away rapidly, a few small red lines forming on its body. Remembering how Dark Spirits aligned with Vaatu appeared, Korra said with little relief, "At least it didn't turn red and purple like Hei Bai was. We both know what that means – Long Yumao doesn't have a new adherent." Sharktar sighed with grating annoyance, saying, "As if a little rogue Vaatu aligned spirit is any better. You aren't as clever as you think you are, Korra, standing up to Raava's foolishness, Raava feeling love for you like she did with Wan except stronger or not. That spirit's probably headed for Jinshu Kuangmai right now, given he is the closest thing in existence to a 'Dark Avatar'. Which, I may add, is what your daughter would have partially become, the only reason she couldn't bend all four elements being she's a waterbender in the first place." Korra laughed weakly, saying, "I guess there's something about water. First, Unalaq, and potentially, my poor little girl… Speaking of which, what caused her to go evil like that? Or Meelo to only love his Ferocious Lemur?"

Sharktar sighed, saying, "_IF _I remember correctly, though the human body grows normally, their brain matures along whatever arc they were on when they drank of the pool's water, immaturity and all. If you had somehow drank of the pool after incinerating Tarrlok, massacring Equalists and killing Amon, you yourself may have become the first Dark Avatar." Korra gasped, saying, "Really? Your pool's water is that powerful?" Sharktar disconcerted Korra by laughing hysterically, saying through a wide-open maw, "NO! The power of the human spirit is that strong, though you would have not fully 'blossomed' as Dark Avatar Korra until Harmonic Convergence. Your soul would likely have been sullied enough by that point, with Tarrlok, many Equalist's and Amon's deaths on your hands, that Raava being inside you would have been a moot point. Seeing what you were like back then, you may have even relished killing after some point, much as your own daughter might if she ignores this vision. Geh – I just got a vision of you decimating the Northern Water Tribe in the Avatar State that I won't share with anyone, ever."

Korra sighed deeply, listening with dejection as Sharktar continued, "Atokara 'was' affected so strongly because of the energy of Raava inside her, easily switched over to its polar opposite, that of Vaatu. An impatient Meelo obviously never discovered his softer, even spiritual side, being stuck as a warlike man, though no longer possessing the brain of a nine-year old. Both their brains were those of 22-year olds, though warped from what they would be if they wait – at the very least until they are emotionally mature. I believe Atokara's last bit of clarity and light before her hatred for me was her speaking from her soul, and not her brain." Sharktar chuckled nervously, adding, "Though, given the energy managed to turn that small spirit, maybe she meant that last bit with her soul…"

Korra sighed, bowing deeply, saying, "Thank you, Sharktar. I need more people and spirits like yourself who are willing to talk to power without fear. I've come a long way from Mako being so terrified of my anger that he wouldn't man up and tell me we broke up. I want no toadies around me." Sharktar nodded, saying, "If all I am required to do is act as an advisor, I would gladly serve on your side of the Spirit Civil War, Avatar Korra." Korra shook her head, saying, "No – you're of most use without Raava's energy. Even Wan Shi Tong is acting very… unusual after his conversion. Give me a minute." Korra took a deep breath, thinking, "Raava, I want you to grant Sharktar access to Wan Shi Tong's library, _particularly_ unimpeded access to the Plane: Earth wing."

Korra snickered as she saw Raava's human-y form apparate next to her, yelling indignantly, "No, I will not grant Sharktar access to the library, much less the Plane: Earth wing! I may have erased everything except the good parts of what you saw earlier, but only because I was outvoted! I'm the boss here – Plane: Earth's equivalent of 'God'! I can give you advice just fine, with the other Avatar's help!" Korra said gently, channeling something else entirely, "One of Earth's greatest prophets, Jesus Christ, convinced… this being you speak of to change… his mind on numerous topics. If you truly love… me, you will grant… my request. _Raava_." Korra laughed hysterically, knowing full well who she had just channeled given the pauses, saying, "You want to learn to be more human-y, Raava? Then you need to understand that love isn't just take – it's give as well! We both know what that tight feeling in my chest meant earlier. Now grant this wise spirit access to Wan Shi Tong's library and the Plane: Earth wing, please!" Raava cursed angrily, saying, "God's not supposed to cheat! What was that?! I certainly didn't authorize it," making Sharktar laugh hysterically, cackling, "Sounds like someone is mad about being told what to do – and not just by Korra. Now leave me be, both of you, so I can read more about this 'Plane: Earth' from the comfort of my pool. This 'God' sounds hilarious." Korra laughed as Raava pedantically corrected Sharktar, saying, "Technically, he's the 'good guy', and the 'Devil' is the 'bad guy', just like me and Vaatu."

Korra shivered, hearing a familiar voice say in her own head, "I… too… have… learned… from…humans. Hitler… and… Stalin… were… most… informative." Glad she didn't recognize either name, Korra's face flushed in anger, saying, "I thought we sealed your sorry butt out – I still love you! Now shoo!" Taking no satisfaction in the pathetic shrieking she heard or the screech of "Maybe I will! You're just like that human annoying goody-two shoes from my plane! Bye!" Korra explained what had happened. Before either Sharktar or Raava could respond, Korra said, "I did forget to include my love for my parents, Team Avatar, my new love for Raava and Naga in the seals. Though, something the way he said that last bit makes me think he won't be back." Korra would have laughed at how Raava said, "Yes, ma'am!" but resisted, saying, "Now let's go show a _slightly edited _version of what just happened to everyone." Sharktar hissed loudly, saying, "You have nothing to hide, Korra. Tell everything that is relevant, though I wouldn't bother with naming the entities." Flattening his wide, toothy mouth in a displeased expression, Sharktar continued, "In fact, I fear Vaatu may learn from humans as well – Jinshu Kuangmai would certainly make a horrifying teacher." Korra said, the blood draining from her face as Raava gave her temporary knowledge of both Hitler and Stalin and their deeds, "I think you're right, and that little Dark Spirit might just help Toph's wayward son. I should try and track it down, and kill it."

Remembering the whole reason she had made the island factory and all the spiritwire, Korra said, "It's about time we made those dual armblades. Goodbye, Sharktar – I think you fill find the literature section most amusing. Apparently, people on Earth want a fountain of youth, not a fountain of age." Sharktar laughed, saying, "I guess they want to overstay their welcome on Earth. I wouldn't be surprised if they had an… unfortunate celestial accident, should they have actually found such a pool." Raava, no longer looking like a school child who had been lectured by the President of the United Republic of Nations, said, "Now let's go work on something a little more concrete. As partners."

Korra broke the connection, glad to see that she didn't have an army of loved ones around her, ready to strike. Korra focused on her parent's energy and that of Su and Lin, seeing they were all on the island. Striking her hand against the ground, Korra simultaneously dodged a very friendly Naga and sensed that the island had been expanded again in her absence. Taking a deep breath, Korra projected Raava out, intending for her to make an announcement in her large form. When Korra looked to the sea, she was shocked to see a gigantic giggling girl say, "If we're going to be more equal, no more of that other form unless it's needed. Got it?" Korra laughed, saying, "Okay – you might want to grow to a more appropriate age though. A little girl isn't terrifying." Raava put her hands on her "small" hips, saying dejectedly, "I believe a wise four-year old woman once surprised some old stick in the muds by bursting through a wall and saying 'I'm the Avatar, and you gotta deal with it!'" Once the laughter had died down, Raava said, "Korra has something important to show you about how she was able to make this factory with my help, Sharktar's pool, and our changed relationship."

Once Raava had returned, Korra said loudly on her own, "And I don't want people discussing '_What does it all mean?' _or '_That vision was horrible!'_, either, standing around idle. We've got four different projects to do, Jinora's staff first. Talk while you work, if you would." Looking at Asami, Korra said directly, "Though there is one person I'll want to sit and talk with myself. I imagine Tenzin will want to have a family talk as well." Frowning in disgust when Meelo said loudly, "Does that mean I can visit Sharktar? Huh? Huh?" Korra lost her temper, saying hotly, "After I show you what drinking that damn water would do to you if you drank it _right now_, and especially what would happen to Atokara if she drank it after birth, you're going to regret ever even hearing about Sharktar, Meelo. And quit crying – wait, nevermind. You're probably going to be crying in a minute anyways, so what's the point?" Ignoring the angry yells and criticism, Korra flashed her eyes, slamming her hand into the ground, first imparting the island creation and the factory, then spending a good time making sure every detail of what Sharktar had shown her was imparted. Korra stressed the part about Atokara and herself especially, ignoring Asami and her parent's weeping. After Korra finished imparting the interaction between herself, Sharktar, Raava and the "uninvited guests", Korra took a deep breath, adding in a, "Sorry for getting angry, Meelo. I just got carried away from remembering Atokara's… result," at the end for good measure.

Korra began to say something, but was immediately knocked over by a concerned Naga, her spirit animal and pet howling as she did so. Korra laughed, saying, "Get off, you silly beast! It's not like I infobended you!" Korra looked around, noticing the Poki was looking back and forth between Asami's belly and Korra with wide eyes from atop a surprisingly calm Meelo's head, and Pabu was snuggled in between a laughing Opal's breasts, staring at Korra. Shaking her head, Korra said loudly, "Wait – what? Given how Naga, Pabu and Poki are acting weird, don't tell me I can infobend animals as well…" Korra attempted to push Naga off her, saying, "Come on, girl – don't crush me! I'm fine!" Korra was surprised to hear both Asami and Meelo laughing along with everyone else as Naga laid down on top of Korra's legs, licking her face gently.

No longer grumpy and glad that neither Asami nor Meelo were blubbering messes after seeing the nasty side effects of Sharktar's pool, Korra joined the laughter, hugging Naga's massive head and saying, "I missed you so much, Naga. If only you could fly like Appa, or one of those stupid super heroes…"

Korra shook her head, placing her hand on Naga's forehead properly as she thought, "Up, girl! I have some work to do." Korra began laughing hysterically when she heard a response that her brain translated, much like with Bumju's trilling, as, "No – Korra need Naga kisses. Korra good girl, like Naga." Korra thought, before removing her hand, "If you can think, Naga, maybe I shouldn't eat meat." Korra placed it back, curious to see why Naga whimpered slightly, laughing as her brain translated her pet's thoughts. "Jinora eat meat, Naga eat meat – Korra eat meat! No eat meat weird. Wrong. Naga hungry! Too hot here." A crude image of a shark whale carcass on a snowbank appeared, not in full color, as Korra heard Naga bark excitedly.

Remembering the hunting party from earlier, Korra got up, Naga finally getting off her body. Naga lowered her massive head, Korra climbing up on Naga's back on impulse, followed by Asami and Meelo shortly after. Korra let Naga take them all towards some unknown destination, Meelo saying, "I don't want to drink from Mister Sharktar's pool any more. At least, not until I get my airbending master tattoos and find whoever that girl was. I don't wanna be like Iroh II, married to the military." Asami smiled slightly, saying, "Atokara doesn't want to go anywhere near that oasis, and she seems very genuine about it. It took me a while to calm her down." Korra turned around, hugging Asami tightly, surprised to hear Atokara's voice say with effort, "Momma Korra would never be the Dark Avatar. Right, momma Korra… right?" Korra chuckled nervously, saying, "I can see you're having a harder time with what Sharktar said about me than your own vision, which is good, I guess. I don't know what would have happened had Tarrlok not blood-bended me in his office, and I don't really want to see the alternates either. Earth's apocalypse was soul-wrenching enough, and I don't really want to see Sharktar's little vision he had of an amoral me decimating the North in the civil war."

Korra hopped off Naga's back, staring at Lin, Su and her parent's handiwork in awe. Feeling a little information flow from Raava, Korra said, pointing to one of six huge, muscular flying fish, "I've never seen this animal before. It looks like a cross between two fish Raava just showed me from Earth – a flying fish and a huge 'Atlantic Bluefin tuna'." Korra projected Raava out, asking, "Why have I never seen this fish before, or even heard of it?" Raava shrugged, saying, "You should probably ask your parents, Lin or Su. I didn't see them kill these fish." Noticing that all four were off to the side, working on a seventh flying tuna, Korra walked over, asking, "Mom, dad – did you notice anything odd about these fish when you killed them?"

As her mother, Senna, focused on freezing large chunks of flying tuna in ice blocks that seemed colder than the South Pole, her father said as he did the same, "You can't see it now, Korra, but these fish – they have some sort of weird camouflage when they're alive. We only found this school when Lin was swinging a long hunting cable around in boredom, accidentally slapping what looked like shimmering thin air with her cable. Su shot out six pieces of metal on some instinct, striking the others in the head with her metalbending and killing them instantly." Korra said, feeling a small information flow as she did so, "Apparently, there's something like a squid on Earth that can disguise itself by changing color – a 'cuttlefish'. Though not as well as these flying tuna." Walking over to a massive discarded fin, Korra asked, noting it looked like a cross between a proper fin and the wings on the Ferocious Lemur, "Speaking of flying, why are their fins so strange? Surely, a fish can't airbend?" Korra's eyes widened as Lin said, "Yes, they can. When I tried to rein in the one I slapped with my hunting cable, wanting a better look, it took me on a long drag through the surface of the sea, periodically submerging to breathe. If your mother hadn't dried me off, I'd still be soaked."

Korra nodded, saying, "I guess that's why no one ever really managed to catch one until now. Hang on a minute – Raava wants me to show you something." Korra closed her eyes, seeing a horrible pair of twin images. The first was a massive boat that was a horrible sight to behold, blood running everywhere on the deck and massive steel blades for butchering whatever animal was laying on the deck, already dismembered. After Korra had taken in the odd huge partially butchered form on the deck of the ship, she heard the words "blue whale" in English, the awful image on the left replaced with a "whale" more massive and majestic than the shark whale Korra had killed in defense of the Zhu Li and for food. She could sense somehow that it was just as smart as herself, feeling a gigantic heartbeat as she looked at it intently.

The image began to vanish as she heard the English words "almost extinct", only reforming fully when Korra heard the words "conservation" and "survived like airbison". After the image vanished, Korra noted with a queasy feeling that what she recognized as a finless Bluefin tuna from earlier replaced the image practically looked like a ghost. Some men who looked vaguely like the citizens of the Fire Nation haggled in something Korra was told was "Japanese." Once a deal was made, the beautiful fish's body faded slightly, white and blue English text appearing instead of the image that said, "While most nations eventually stopped hunting whales, people see these beautiful creatures as 'just stupid fish,' and this specific species' outlook is grim."

Korra opened her eyes, imparting what she had seen to Lin, Su and her parents. Senna and Tonraq looked disgusted, Senna saying, "That's just awful! I don't know if Raava showed you, but she added a little extra. Apparently, much like the Earth Queen wanted airbison steaks because they are rare, Japanese businessmen eat that beautiful yellow-finned fish as a status symbol." Tonraq spat on the ground, saying, "That poor whale… I don't want to see any more of Earth for a while. I got Raava's point, though – continue to take only what is sustainable from the sea." Korra started crying, saying, "Raava showed me something else while you were talking. There were native people in 'North America' before English colonists arrived, and most of them had a similar attitude to yourself, along with a people in the frozen north that reminded me of our own Water Tribes. It took everyone else a long time to even partially see things their way on man's relationship with nature, with many species becoming extinct before the idea of conservation was accepted."

Korra savored her mother and father's big hug, laughing as she felt Naga lick her hair into a horrible mess. Korra felt something snap into place in her chest, hearing Raava intone _Seal completed. No further intrusions should take place._ With Korra's help, half the remaining flying tuna were sliced and frozen deeply to kill parasites, and the others were cut up, Korra cooking them with her blue flame. Idly noticing that the base had more dragon's fire than before, she dismissed the flame, turning around, hoping to give Asami a big hug. While Naga was still behind Korra, looking at the fish expectantly, Asami and Meelo were both by the huge semi-orderly ball of spirit wire with frustrated looks on their faces. Noticing that Varrick, Zhu Li, Jinora and Kai were also nearby, Korra yelled, "Why don't you guys come get something to eat, and we can talk about whatever problem you're having then?"

Once everyone had eaten some seared vegetables with the flying tuna, Naga chewing contentedly on a large chunk of fish, Korra said, "It sounds like you're having some trouble with Jinora's staff. What's the issue?" Korra was surprised to hear Kuvira speak, saying glumly, "Nobody can get their weapons working properly. No matter how much we try, the metal of Jinora's staff and the blades of Bolin and Mako's weapons can still be deformed by someone else's metalbending. While you were off doing business with Sharktar, Varrick and Zhu Li finished producing spiritwire." Varrick nodded, saying, "Mr. Tuber-Vine can regenerate a crazy amount. Even after all that spiritwire, he still looks normal." Korra laughed as she heard a "HMMMMM HMMMMM" from underneath the table between Varrick and Zhu Li. Noticing that no one had talked about her armblades, Korra asked, "What about my weapons? Has no one tried making them yet?" Seeing shaking heads all around, Korra said, standing up, "Why don't you show me everyone's work so far, and we can go from there."

Korra didn't like the nervous chuckle she heard from the brain trust as she left the building, walking over to where the ball of spiritwire was. Even Mako, Bolin and Jinora seemed ill at ease, Jinora finally admitting, "Nobody has actually made the whole weapon yet. Apparently, Varrick wanted to work out the metalbending issue first, given what he told me when I walked over, asking if y staff was done yet." Korra said gently, "Sounds like a good idea to me. I just want a little Asami break before we start."

Korra savored her embrace with Asami, saying in English, "Even since 6:00 in the morning seems like too long, Assami," punctuating her words by grabbing exactly that. Asami giggled, saying in the same language, "You better hope no one learns English, Korra. I can't wait to talk dirty with it – it seems more appropriate."

After one last hug, Korra got an idea from feeling the form of Asami's betrothal necklace press against her own chest. Korra turned around, saying, "I need a large table, eight pieces of sterile metal, four marble cups, and four different balls of spiritwire, one twice the size of the others." Once she had helped Bolin with the marble cups, Korra enlarged one, saying, "This one is going to need to be bigger," as she doubled its volume. Not entirely sure who should go first, Korra finally decided she and Asami should be the first ones.

They both already had blood-augmented jewelry.

Korra placed her hand to an inquisitive Asami's forehead, imparting her idea. After she heard Asami think, "That's ingenious!" Korra removed her hand, missing the feeling of oneness acutely. Picking up one of the sharp pieces of metal Mako had flame-sterilized, Korra said, "I'm sure you all know that my necklace has some of Asami's blood in it, and her necklace has my own blood in it. I think if the spiritwire and metal are infused with the blood of two lovers – me and Asami, in my case – that the metal should no longer be bendable by an outsider. Don't worry – I'm going to go first." Korra was moving her hands, getting ready to bloodbend her blood into the cup, but stopped when she heard Jinora say, "Wait! My staff is more time-sensitive than anyone else's project, so do me and Kai first."

As Kai and Jinora approached, Asami tapped Korra's shoulder, saying, "Given how blood can dry out, maybe we should do the blood collection last." Korra nodded, saying, "Let's at least form the physical staff. Jinora, what kind of metal do you want it in?" Jinora paused, thinking. Pointing at Kai and then Su, she said, "Steel. I want it to remind me of Kai, and his new family." Korra smiled as Kai kissed Jinora, Korra saying, "That should be easier to work with. Did anyone happen to bring the mockup of Jinora's staff?" Asami whistled, Naga running over as Asami said, "I figured Naga could carry them all, including Bolin and Opal's."

Before Korra could bend out Jinora's staff, she heard Opal yell, "Wait – I'm getting one too? What is it?" Korra went ahead and removed the staff, shield, small sword and the odd-looking armor for Mako from a pack on Naga's side, saying, "It's a defensive shield Asami came up with that you hold with your left hand. What's wrong?" Opal said, holding her palms out, "I don't think that would work well with the new double airbending projectile gloves Kuvira designed. Can you think of something else I might like?"

Korra said, racking her brain for an idea as she did so, "Sure – just give me a little bit." Korra thought of all the weapons she knew of, having a hard time thinking of something appropriate for Opal. On the verge of giving up, Korra remembered that Earth hadn't always used Lipowder weapons, thinking, "Raava, do you have any suggestions?" Korra saw an unexpected figure appear, saying, "Aw, come on, Korra! I _just_ showed you all sorts of weapons skills earlier – surely, you could remember what a guandao looks like!" Korra laughed, saying, "Excuse me for not being Miss Encyclopedia. Why does that one in your hand have two blades, though?" Sokka smiled, saying, "I managed to get Wan Shi Tong to let me take a look at the War section, and looked at all the different bladed weapons there. This seemed appropriate, given how Opal is an airbender – she should be able to spin it, creating a vortex." Korra thought, "Bye, Sokka – thanks for the help!" idly wondering how Opal was going to twirl such a weapon.

Once she opened her eyes, Korra used spare metal to form the large shape, saying, "This is what Sokka suggested – a guandao. I don't really know how you would manage to twirl it and create a whirlwind like he said you might want to. Maybe you'll need to come work out at Avatar Korra Gym." Opal looked at the weapon, saying, "If the handle is lightweight, I should be able to use it properly, even with its length. I just don't know of anything light enough." Korra smiled, saying, "We could just use a hollow steel tube, reinforced like this." Korra bent the metal of the handle, using the metal she no longer needed to create small struts on the inside. Her eyes now glowing, Korra let Raava tweak the form, savoring the feeling of a different kind of oneness as she did so. Looking at the new form, Korra said, eyes no longer ablaze, "The inside of it looks almost biological. What is that, Raava?" Raava appeared in front of Korra, saying, "Your idea was already pretty close, Korra. That inner portion is modeled after the inside of bird's bones – both here and on Earth. It is strong, yet lightweight and inflexible." Raava returned, Korra's eyes glowing again as she let the spirit finish her job at Raava's insistence.

When Korra felt her arms stop moving, she looked at the form in front of her, surprised to see a fully formed weapon. There was even spirit wire embedded into the metal and two marble symbols for Air near the center of the weapon, a large hole in their centers where Opal would grasp the weapon. Opal grabbed it, trying it out and using her bending to make full use of the weapon, laughing in glee as she did so, saying, "This is perfect, Korra! Thank you! Now, to just get Bolin's and my own blood incorporated into it." Korra nodded, saying, "Apparently, Raava can only do that full control thing once in a while. She's already done it twice today, so I doubt the other weapons will just become like that one did, or the factory." Opal smiled, saying, "That's good – I want to help Bolin make his sword anyways." As Opal ran off to get Bolin, Korra looked around, noticing a very large boat approaching slowly, with a lot of metal on its deck – the Zhu Li.

Brought back to the presence by a voice that said, "Are you going to bleed me, or what? Let's do this, before I change my mind about it being too creepy." Korra laughed, saying to a nervous Bolin, "Don't worry – this shouldn't hurt at all. Now stay still, and let me do my work without interruption." Etching Bolin's name into the small sliver of metal she was going to use to cut her friend, Korra said, "Form a fist for me, Bolin – it should help." As soon as the sharp metal edge cut Bolin's skin, Korra entered the Avatar State, taking out a medium-sized blob of blood with one hand and placing it into a waiting cup, then sealed the wound with the other using the humid air as a water source, eyes no longer glowing. Korra noticed that a small mark remained, saying, "Okay, Opal, you're next." As a small blade with Opal's name on it approached, Opal had an odd request, saying, "I want you to try using bloodbending to heal the wound. No water. I can see the little mark on Bolin's arm."

Korra followed through on Opal's odd request, surprised to see it worked. Korra shrugged once Opal's blood was mixed with Bolin's, saying, "I guess it makes sense – blood is mainly water, after all. Here – let's do a little experiment. Mind if I cut you again? We're going to need more blood for Bolin's sword anyways." Opal nodded, saying, "Sure – you might want to use the blood on my guandao first, though." As Korra manipulated the blood into the shaft and covered the spiritwire and blades with it, she couldn't help but admire Raava's handiwork. On each blade, there was a small flush hole to let Opal airbend out of as she had earlier. Korra could sense there was a smaller, inner tube in the weapon's shaft, connecting an inlet in the middle of the two Air symbols to the holes in the blades themselves.

Once Korra had completely infused the blade with Bolin and Opal's blood, she tried bending the metal, finding she couldn't manipulate the handle, not even in the Avatar State. Eyes still glowing, she asked Bolin, "Does it feel like you can bend the metal of the weapon? I can't." Bolin very carefully poked the metal tube, moving the wall in and out slightly. Korra smiled, saying, "Good – it looks like my idea worked after all. Now let's do that experiment, Opal – I should be able to seal the container to prevent the blood from drying out."

Korra saw a brief flash of a strange red bag with a cross on it. Korra realized what it was quickly, knowing she would need to make sure there was no air inside the container. Bolin was first, Korra taking blood and using bloodbending to heal the second incision. Bolin said, "That feels much better – like you fixed the first cut completely as well. The mark is gone too. Let's see what Opal thinks." Korra used water to seal this wound while not in the Avatar State, Opal wincing slightly as she said, "Just use bloodbending –the cut still hurts." Korra said, remembering what her own weapons would require, "It sounds like I'm going to need to be drunk enough to dull the pain, but not so drunk I can't heal myself after installation of the armblades. Let's hope I'm not a violent drunk. Better have some shirshu poison ready, just in case."

Korra was surprised to hear an older woman say, "I can help with that." Turning around, Korra saw both Mai and Ty Lee next to Shiro, who was messing with a piece of radio equipment. Ty Lee said excitedly, "Wow, Korra – I guess you really did make a whole factory by yourself! Come on, Mai – let's go inspect it!" As they both left, Shiro said, "I contacted Firelord Izumi about this factory, and she wanted me to move the radio equipment here. Mai and Ty Lee volunteered to help oversee the factory, Mai apparently being bored of being bored." As Korra, Bolin and Opal laughed, Shiro smiled, continuing, "The Firelord was amazed to hear of your feat, Korra, and looks forward to using this factory to help produce war equipment. If you wouldn't mind expanding the island for my radio equipment and helping to set it up, I may be able to contact Ba Sing Se." Properly sealing the container of Bolin and Opal's blood before she left, Korra followed, noticing with relief that Bolin followed.

With his help, they expanded the island again, making enough room to properly house the advanced radio equipment, even making the "tree" look natural, placing it near the Jang Hui kelp pool. Feeling tired and realizing that they would all probably be working late into the night, Korra projected Raava out, asking her, "Can you tell everyone to come to this artificial pool? If we want to get our work done before sunrise, we'll probably need some kelp tea for everyone." Raava nodded her head, yelling with unnatural loudness, "Everyone, come to the Jang Hui kelp pool – Korra has something she wants to say!"

Once everyone was there and she had gotten a distracted Varrick's attention, Korra said loudly, "We've got seven blades, a staff, and two pieces of very specialized equipment we need to make before we leave this new island. I can't just fabricate them all like I did the factory or Opal's guandao – Raava told me that if I let her control me directly too often, I might lose my sense of self." Korra said, pointing at the Jang Hui kelp pool, "Anyone with bending or technical expertise that can help speed everything along will need to drink some Jang Hui kelp tea, and likely more than once. Yes, that includes Meelo, and no, I will not make him restraints." Korra laughed heartily as Meelo said, "Yay, Miss Korra! More of that tea!" as Pema sighed deeply, saying, "I guess he _is _a member of the brain trust now… just don't get on my nerves, or else." Pema laughed deeply when Meelo said, "You don't have to try and scare me into line, mommy. That vision of Atokara did the trick." Given Asami's ashen look, she did not find it funny in the least, Korra remembering with a start she never really talked with Asami or Atokara about what they saw in earnest. Korra finished, saying, "I need to talk to Asami while everyone else helps prepare more kelp tea. Jinora and Kai, don't worry- Jinora's staff is next."

Korra ran over to Asami, who looked like she was trying to console Atokara again, given the tears on her face. When Korra touched Asami, she heard a familiar, nasty unwelcome voice laying in to and lying to Atokara and Asami with relish. After she unbuttoned Asami's vest, Korra placed her hand over Asami's heart, thinking of Asami's love for her father, her lost mother, and Team Avatar as she did so. Korra felt Asami join her thoughts after a while, Asami thinking of Republic City and the workers of her company, Future Industries.

Letting something other than her brain or Raava take control, Korra bent an impromptu earth tent, savoring the rush of blood to her head and crotch. Korra hugged Asami tightly, saying, "He won't bug you any more – especially not after this," shuddering in pleasure as she grabbed Asami's breasts directly from behind. At first, Korra just focused on the physical sensations and skin she felt, having felt "deprived" of contact, given how Asami hadn't actually grabbed her flesh at that annoyingly early hour this morning. Korra started crying, her hands still as her soul felt cold as she said, "Where'd the oneness, the love, go? When I just focused on your wonderful body and what I was doing to it, and nothing else, it felt like… I don't know what! Not that I ever did anything like it, not with the White Lotus guarding and 'teaching' me so vigilantly… but it was like I was doing it to myself, without any real pleasure." Asami laughed heartily, saying, "That sounds about right - I was no stranger to thingies in my youth, and after a while, it just felt… hollow. No matter what I tried, or looked at, or how long I waited. Like a chore that needed to be done, to satiate my base urges. I eventually stopped entirely, the heartbreak of thinking that I'd never get to share my play with someone making solo depressing."

Remembering Asami's doppler, Korra turned Asami to face her, saying, "Maybe we should wait until later to do anything really interesting." Asami shook her head, saying, "Now, just hugging you is interesting, Korra. Though, I wouldn't mind a bit of play myself…" Puzzled by the references to "play", Korra said, "Let's just see where our bodies take us." As Asami nodded, Korra let her inhibitions go again, surprised to feel her hands resume their previous position, contentedly sighing as Asami returned the favor, one arm automatically moving out of the way. Savoring everything she felt, Korra laughed when Asami said, "Your clothes are just inconvenient. My arms are killing me! So awkward. Stupid tight shirt…" Korra began to laugh, but intense pleasure interrupted her, saying with heavy breath afterwards, "This isn't exactly a natural position for me, either, not with you grabbing." Noticing Asami didn't seem satisfied, Korra moved one hand to Asami's backside, squeezing as she said, "I love you, Asami Sato, without reservation. I want you to be mine, and me to be yours." The fact that this made Asami shudder and moan where physical contact had failed made Korra start to cry, saying, "You're just so beautiful, and I'm glad you found someone to play with - me." Korra savored feeling a warm love flow through her being, along with something else hot that just complimented it, as yin did yang. Korra held Asami in the standing "embrace" for quite some time, both their hands still idly playing as Asami giggled along with her in the darkness of the earth tent.

_Seal __**definitely**__ completed. I wanna be human! Damn stupid "responsibilities" and "obligations"…_

After Korra had expanded the earth tent enough to move properly and made a hole for light to filter in, Korra made herself and Asami presentable again. Korra laughed to hear Atokara "say" when Korra made a last grab at Asami's chest, "Wow! Unless boys just blow me away, I think I know what I am, after that, mommy Asami." Asami laughed, saying, "You'll just have to wait and see, Atokara. I didn't really think myself a lesbian until I was 12 or so." Korra smiled, saying, "She seemed awfully earnest, Asami, to me. As earnest as when she said she'd never visit Sharktar." Asami started crying lightly, saying, "I think you're right, Korra. It's just too bad if you're right, she'd never be able to have children…"

_Love finds a way._

Shaking off the second repeat she could remember of this strange comment, Korra stamped her foot into the earth a final time. "Let's go back outside, Asami – we can wait until everything is done for more. I can't wait to see what sex with Jang Hui kelp tea and the Avatar State is like." Asami nodded her head eagerly, saying, "Maybe I won't give up after an hour and a half this time. Let's go. Although…" Asami pointed to her partially open vest, saying, "Let's see if we can _fix_ your own clothes. Atokara reminded me about her own low-cut dress, and I want to make a similar change." Creeping a hand over Korra's own breasts, Asami said sultrily, "I think we'd both like it if you joined me in a wardrobe change." Asami added, in English, "These puppies need to breathe, Korra." Korra laughed, saying, "Let me get some metal, and we'll see what we can do."

Korra opened a door in the shelter far enough to bend some metal inside, forming a pair of razor-sharp scissors for Asami, saying, "You know where to cut better than I do, Asami. Just don't get too carried away. I'm going to close my eyes." The first thing Korra felt cut was the collar around her neck, Asami saying, "This thing always seemed to me like it got in the way of your movement. This isn't just about allure – it's practical." Korra suppressed a snort, sensing Asami was lying quite badly, but couldn't wait to see what Asami had done with her wardrobe. Korra liked the attention Asami paid to her top, only stopping Asami when she got carried away. Korra said curtly, "Hey, I like my pants! Don't mess with my legs!" Asami giggled, saying, "I can't wait to see your face, Korra – I cut more than just your breasts 'free'."

Curious to see what Asami meant, Korra inspected her upper body in an ice mirror, liking what she saw. Picking up her shirt's shoulder, she was relieved to see there was still a bra strap, saying, "I'm glad you just 'let my puppies breathe' instead of turning them loose entirely, Asami." Korra moved her shoulders, noticing that she did have a freer feeling – aside from the obvious. Korra saw a significant amount of her own brown flesh in the mirror, saying in English, "Looks like someone wanted some eye candy. Gimme those scissors, and let me see if I can fix it some more." Keeping one hand steady to hold the ice mirror and using the other to manipulate the scissors, Korra began cutting away parts of her bra her other brain told her were unnecessary. Using some of the metal to make sure it didn't pop off, Korra set the reduced scissors down, saying, "There. You want to take a look, Asami? Wait – what did you do to my stomach?" Asami laughed, saying, "Oh, that. I just thought it a crime for any more of your beautiful _chocolate _to be hidden than was necessary. Given your trimming of your bra, you must agree." Korra nodded her head, saying, "I wish we had chocolate here. Here, let me show some more delicious chocolate. Even its name sounds delicious." After Korra had removed some more cloth, stopping about an inch below her breasts, Asami grabbed Korra, playfully saying in English, "And so are you," before licking Korra's newly liberated cleavage. A small voice of reason in Korra's head objected, but she gave in willingly, saying, "I need to trim your vest after we're done!" with baited breath. Asami disappointed her greatly by stopping, saying, "Why don't you give me a surprise wardrobe change of your own, Korra?"

Her good deed done and the tyranny of Asami's button top gone forever, Korra appreciated her work, gently placing a hand on Asami's much more open vest. After showing a pleased Asami her new expanse of sexy white skin that had replaced the useless red fabric of her upper vest in the ice mirror, Korra bent the metal inside Asami's special bra, saying, "For the good of our shared company, your most underused assets need re-distributing, Asami. I hope you don't mind me making a business decision," in English. After Asami's breasts were sufficiently prominent, Asami giggled, saying, "I guess all my bras will need to have metal now. I'll help you revamp your own wardrobe later. Maybe I can… _convince_ you to part with most of those stupid pants." Korra laughed, saying, "Never! First I cut my hair, then you cut my top, then I remove even more – you'll never cut my pants!" Asami smiled coyly, saying, "I guess I'll let it slide – you seem to like my skirt, after all." Korra nodded, saying, "Let's go outside – I wonder how Tenzin will react to our new clothes."

Korra opened the earth tent, smiling, and then laughed at what she saw, saying, "It looks like we weren't the only ones busy being creative!". Varrick and Zhu Li were sitting next to each other, furiously scribbling ideas down on paper, occasionally tossing a sheet into a large pile. Kuvira was studying a piece of metal like it was a profound book, re-forming it constantly and scribbling down notes, periodically saying, "So that's how we can make that work!" Korra looked at one of the drawings with a start, saying softly, "What is that thing? Wait – Raava says it's a 'computer'!" Given Asami's blank look, Korra had forgotten that Raava had just streamed information to Korra, explaining, "I remember Kuvira talking about the insides of her highest technologies, and mentioning 'kuviricon transistor chips'. Apparently, the Jang Hui kelp tea also acts as a mental enhancer, given how it looks like Kuvira figured out one of Earth's most amazing technologies – computers. Based on what Raava just showed me, her drawing looks like it skipped an entire phase of development – 'vacuum tubes.'" Asami grabbed Korra's hand, saying, "Just show me – it will make a lot more sense." Korra tried to impart what Raava had let flow, but she found it gone, the information having apparently been fed to her and taken away immediately.

_Let's just see how the technology progresses here, Korra. There is nothing unnatural about Jang Hui kelp tea induced inspiration. Sneaking a look into another plane for technology is._

After Korra told Asami what Raava had said, Asami laughed, saying, "Okay then. Before we split up with Kuvira, I'll want you to transfer what she knows to me, though. Everything, especially the spirit vine technology and her 'computer'." Korra nodded, saying, "That sounds like a good idea. Now let's get busy – we've got a lot of work to do." As Korra walked around, she noticed that Meelo was busy trying to draw something of his own, Bumi drawing something next to him excitedly and a wide-eyed Shiro was assembling a weird radio device with the help of Su, and Bolin was talking animatedly with his brother about how to properly forge their swords. As Asami and Korra approached an exasperated looking Jinora and Kai, Asami chuckled, saying, "I think I'll wait to drink any Jang Hui kelp tea until Jinora's staff is done. It doesn't look like it's good for focus." Jinora stared at Korra and Asami in rapt attention, saying, "Whatever you did to your outfits, you'll need to do it to the wingsuits. Especially Korra's top. To, uh, help more airbenders fly like Kai and I." Kai laughed, saying, "You probably want me flying around in my underwear, Jinora! The wing suits are fine." Jinora pouted angrily, saying, "I just want to see more than your shirt, Kai." Kai ribbed her, saying mischievously, "I didn't say anything about plain clothes Air Nation attire. I think any airbenders who want to nurture their earthly tether wouldn't mind seeing some more skin, myself included, though probably not as much as Korra is showing." After a quick kiss, Jinora looked very distracted, as did Kai.

Korra coughed, saying, "I can see something else that isn't good for focus, aside from Jang Hui kelp tea." Jinora laughed, saying, "Sorry – you're right. I don't even really have breasts worth showing off yet anyways. Everyone in the braintrust except Asami drank the tea, and they're pretty focused – just not on what we want them to be." Korra laughed, saying, "That tea sure does sound interesting. Given it sounds like a stimulant, I should probably not drink any until the 'surgery sake' leaves my system."

Asami took out the drawing of Jinora's staff, saying, "I need iron, spiritwire, cloth and some wood for this, Korra, if the staff is to act as a glider." As Korra stared at Asami's assets, Jinora said, "Hang on a second – I don't need a glider, I can fly! Give me a pencil, please, Asami – I have an idea." After a light ribbing from Asami, Korra watched Jinora erase the glider portion, using the extra space to add what looked like three strongboxes. Korra's eyes widened as she saw Jinora add a broad, thin blade with twin strange ridges in the center to the other end, erasing and extending the staff slightly before she did so. Jinora pointed to the boxes, saying, "That's for extra air projectile storage, as well as some food, water, and Jang Hui kelp tea. And a picture of Kai. The blade is to let me create an air sword, like Aang always wanted to." Jinora laughed lightly, saying, "Don't worry – I won't use it as a lethal weapon unless I have to. It's mainly intended to knock down a large number of people at once, the blade of air extending from the ridge down the middle via spiritwire." Asami said, politely grabbing the pencil back, "Why don't we add a bulb above the blade that holds a lot of grenades? You could use your staff to shoot them out a hole above the blade, letting you do physical damage." Jinora nodded, saying, "Sounds good. Now, to just get some help in forging the blade and making the staff."

After Mako and Bolin were drawn away from their own discussion by Korra's request for help, Korra remembered that Lin had also been given blade knowledge. As Lin approached, Korra said, "Hey, Lin. Want to help Jinora forge a blade?" Lin laughed, saying, "You look ridiculous. That top looks more like something from my mother's time. I don't understand why you cut away what little protection your clothes afforded, but then again, I wear this metal suit to _bed_, so what do I know." Korra laughed as Lin continued, "It seems like everyone but the adults are getting new equipment." Korra put her hands on her partially liberated hips, saying sourly, "I'm 22, you know, and about to have a child of my own." Lin laughed, saying, "Sorry – I just remember you as that cocky 17-year old I met in Republic City in my office sometimes. Age isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'll help, but I do think the older adults deserve something as well." Korra nodded, saying, "You and your sister should be pretty easy, though I have no idea what we'll make for Bumi or Tenzin. I imagine Bumi might want a special tank or plane, now that I think about it." As Korra walked back to Asami and Jinora and Kai, she said, "On second thought, my parents and Tenzin might not even care for anything special. They all like bending just fine, like I do. It would take a lot to convince me to get into a mechasuit."

When Korra turned to look at Asami, she felt her resolve slipping a little as Asami said, "Sweetie, if you had a mechasuit when you fought Zaheer, he wouldn't have been able to poison you, given your skin would have been completely covered by metal. Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean you don't need protection. The little modifications we made to your outfit don't exactly help in the protection department either." Korra sighed, bending a representation of Jinora's staff out of earth, saying, "Why don't I go get what we need for this, and then we can talk." Seeing that Bolin, Lin and Mako had no idea what was needed, Korra let Asami and Jinora explain the new design, Korra noting with pleasure that Mako didn't stare at her body once. Korra jumped back as a large ironworking table rose from the earth, Bolin saying, "Sure – no problem! Just get us some more metal and an assortment of gemstones, and we can get started. I want Opal's weapon and the others to look good as well." Bolin blushed, saying, "She'll probably want me to make some adjustments of my own to her outfit, wingsuit and all. Kai, maybe you should go talk to her before she sees Asami or Korra." Remembering that Bolin now shared Piandao's mastery of blade and art with her, Korra said, "That sounds like a good idea, Bolin, on both counts. I'll probably want to add some blood-augmented gemstones to my own weapons, and not just for show." Asami nodded, saying, "The other gems could be for more than just show as well – spirits aligned with Long Yumao hate human love, and the gems could be linked to the spiritwire, just as my beautiful betrothal necklace will be linked to my suit." Korra smiled, saying, "I like being able to see your betrothal necklace so clearly now, Asami. On a more serious note, let's see what Raava has to say, before I go."

Korra projected Raava out, asking, "Do you think you could do what you did on our betrothal necklaces on other gems?" Raava started laughing, saying with envy, "I want a dress like yours, Korra! Though, I am 'four years old', so that would be sort of sick." As Korra shook her head, trying to get the image of a great spirit in a suggestive dress out of her head, Raava messed her face up as she said, "I don't know – we'll have to find out. Just keep in mind, you can't take too much blood at once. Everyone who has blood taken will need to eat well tonight." Korra thought Raava was done, but she continued, saying, "If Korra decides to modernize and accept a suit, she would be able to power it with the Avatar State, her past lives and my own energy. Sort of redundant, but whatever." Before Korra could ask what would power the suit, Raava said, "You don't need tuber-vines when you're directly hooked to the ultimate power source." Korra was about to object, but then she remembered how she had lost three years of her life to Zaheer's poison, saying, "Maybe you're right. I'll try to think about it some more. I'd want the suit to look _exactly _like me, though, complete with my new style." Realizing what the "direct power source" would be, Korra said, "Or maybe I won't have a suit. I'm not having spiritwire implanted directly on my heart. That sounds like a recipe for disaster."

Raava sighed dejectedly, saying, "You're already going to have spiritwire connected to your main arm chi lines. I fail to see how this is so radically different. We should be able to hook the suit to the spiritwires you're already going to be installing, with little ports in your armpits." Korra nodded, saying, "Okay – you've got me to at least think about it again. Now I'm going to go grab what we need and then some, and be back soon."

With that, Korra recalled Raava and flew over to the massive mineral vein island. When she touched down, she struck her hand against the ground, eyes glowing brightly. She could make out much more now, sensing a very heavy, dense vein of ore she hadn't before. Moving her hands carefully, Korra withdrew a large chunk of it, forming a metal sheet. Grunting with surprise as she tried to toss it, Korra said, "This stuff's heavy! It feels like it could block anything, yet it's so malleable!" Korra closed her eyes, trying to make sense of the soft, heavy metal, seeing a strange apron when she did so.

_Take it to the Korranium vein_.

Korra took this heavy metal she decided to call Tophinum, remembering how stubborn and thick Toph could be, though not in the stupid way. When Korra approached the section of the vein where the fissile Korranium should have been, she felt no energy. Opening a small hole in the Tophinum, Korra noticed she could sense the awful energy of Korranium again. Korra stepped back, letting the Tophinum sheet clatter to the ground. Not really caring that Tophinum could block the energy of Korranium, Korra started to turn the Korranium into slag, but found her hands frozen.

_Korranium isn't just good for war or electrical power, Korra – it can also be used in medicine, among other metals you haven't found yet that also emit Asami particles. Now take some of the Korranium back inside a Tophinum ball – it will be safe, and not burn anyone. This Tophinum would make for a very good lining for everyone's suits as well, should Jinshu Kuangmai unlock the metal's horrible other secrets. It's highly unlikely- science is nowhere near cracking the secret of the…. very very very small thing._

After laughing at Raava's last minute censoring, Korra got to work, savoring the feel of the sea breeze on her chest and bare midriff. Remembering how she actually liked the cold, she realized she wouldn't mind this change of dress at all, even at the South Pole. With a "spring in her step" she might not have had without her changed clothes, Korra left this Korranium ball for last. Korra took two loads of iron ore, one load of copper ore, two loads of some other metals that Raava told her Kuvira and the factory would need, and a large batch of gems. Korra paused after each load for a water break in between, making sure to show off her reduced clothing.

There were enough gems at the end to decorate not only the weapons but the suits as well, a huge chunk of sapphire for Korra's own suit, Zhu Li's and Varrick's. Korra even took a large chunk of brown quartz, intending to inlay it beneath a clear coat of hard resin to mimic her brown skin. Remembering that the metal of her suit could just be painted, Korra kept it anyways, knowing she'd need it for four, maybe five different projects and their symbols for Earth.

By the time Korra was done, she noticed that Jinora's staff was fully formed, blade and all, Mako and Bolin now working on their own weapons. Opal and a slightly calmer Zhu Li were assisting Bolin, while Varrick and Kuvira were helping Mako.

After resting and eating, Korra told an excited looking pair, "Before I infuse your blood into the staff, Jinora and Kai, I want to perform a small experiment with Raava." Eyes glowing, Korra picked up some opaque quartz and dark brown quartz, using a combination of lavabending and metalbending to affix the symbol for Air and Earth around the steel cone head of the staff, avoiding the spiritwire carefully as she did so. Korra motioned for Jinora and Kai, saying, "Bolin and Opal may have already told you about bloodbending healing. Before you leave, I want you two to help me convince my parents, Katara and Kya to help with my surgery tonight. It should still be a full moon, and I want the wounds to heal fully." Korra added, with a sour tone of voice, "As well as a failsafe if I am an angry drunk."

Jinora and Kai both nodded, Jinora saying, "I always wondered if bloodbending could be used for good. Now let's infuse those gems with our blood, and see if Raava can do what she did for Asami's necklace." Once Jinora's blood was inside the symbol for Earth and Kai's inside the symbol for Air, Korra projected Raava out, saying, "Are you ready?" Raava shook her head, saying, "Not yet. I think you might need both their blood inside the quartz, given their love is young, and more importantly, not directly linked to me." After Korra modified the gems, Jinora stepped forward holding Kai's hand, saying, "We're ready."

Raava grabbed the pair's hold on each other as Korra lowered the staff into Raava's reach. Raava smiled as she acted as a conduit, saying, "Your love feels stronger than that of Bolin for Opal or Kuvira for Mako. I guess there's a reason you can fly, and Opal can't just yet." When Raava appeared to be done, Korra saw the staff and its unique blade clatter to the ground, the spiritwire glowing slightly. Korra tried to pick it up with metalbending, but found she couldn't, even after recalling Raava and then booting her out again. Raava smiled, saying, "Looks like we found a way to avoid taking too much blood. Let's go talk to your parents, Katara and Kya, Korra, so that Jinora and Kai can leave." Kai picked up the staff, wielding it wobbly but managing to bend through it. Jinora's attempt was must the same, saying after she set the form down, "I think Kai and I could benefit from some blade knowledge, Korra. I've never tried to handle a weapon before, much less a hybrid like this." After Korra had imparted her knowledge to them both, Kai said, "Think I can have one? Or would that take too long?"

Korra frowned slightly, saying, "If I let Raava control me too often directly, I'll lose my sense of self, apparently. Sorry, Kai." Jinora said, while playing with the staff like it had been part of her whole life, "What if you try and use your own spirit, Korra? You remember how you managed to face off against UnaVaatu without Raava's help." Korra nodded, saying, "Raava, you stay out of my body for this." Raava laughed, saying, "Unless you plan on making Kai's staff with just waterbending, I don't think that will happen. Here I come."

Korra took a deep breath, remembering her own energy from Harmonic Convergence, finding it was much more powerful now. Thinking of Asami and Atokara, Korra let her spirit come through as a power source, finding she could bend and manipulate the four elements with much more precision. Adding her past human lives into the mix, she found she was able to form another staff for Kai easily, not even needing Raava to infuse his love for Jinora into the staff. Korra was panting, exhausted at the end, saying, "I may be able to do what Raava did and fabricate something of great complexity, but I'm completely exhausted. If I rest up, I should be able to use this to make my own armblades later, but other than that, I'm done with this new weird method." Asami tapped Korra's should lightly, saying, "I'll go get us some regular tea, fried rice and flying tuna steaks, Korra – I'm getting hungry again too. It's almost 3:00 PM." Kai said, playing with his staff as he did so, "I'll get Katara, Kya and your parents to come to you, Korra. You look like you need a rest. Jinora and I need to leave to convert Hei Bai after I get everyone together."

As Korra relaxed inside the large dining hall, she fell asleep, content in Asami's embrace. Korra saw a spirit Korra in front of her, thinking she must be dreaming. Korra was shocked when the ghostly blue form spoke, saying, "I'm like a muscle, Korra. The more you use me, the more you grow, the stronger I become. The stronger _we _become – not Raava, not your past lives. You won't be able to bend all four elements with just me, but even water alone is powerful, as our daughter, Atokara, showed us." Before the vision vanished, Korra asked, "How can we undo the damage the White Lotus did to us? We've always been defined as our role as Avatar." The image vanished, a thought going through Korra's head instead.

"You need to love yourself too, you know. Asami and Atokara can help you with that. 'I' grew the most over the past few months, especially the past week. Don't be afraid to use our power – Long Yumao will not go down easily."

When Korra woke back up, Asami's hand was in Korra's cleavage with a concerned look on her face, saying, "Your heart was beating awfully fast. What happened in there, Korra?" As Korra explained what her spirit had told her, Korra felt an immense peace, loving the reaction she got. Asami, her parents, Katara and Kya took turns hugging her, Katara saying, "I wondered where _you_ were, Korra. Now let's get you some food, so you can see what Bolin and Mako's finished products look like." Katara added, smiling, "I'm glad you found a positive use for bloodbending. We'll help with your surgery."

Korra dug in with gusto, savoring the taste of her food all the same. Once Asami was finished, Korra got up, saying, "I want to see what Bolin and Mako accomplished. The lavabending sword intrigues me the most. Let's go." Once they were at Bolin's work station, Korra explained the two new techniques, stressing the gem making large amounts of blood not necessary. Bolin picked up his sword, saying, "I know you just said that you probably can't do the fabrication technique again, but given what you said about your spirit acting like a muscle, I think you should try. I think I want a two-handed weapon now. Like Opal's, but still a sword." Korra smiled, saying, "I suppose I can try. But I think there's something I need to do first. This might take a bit."

Korra took a deep breath, meditating on her childhood and what the effects of her isolation were. When she opened her eyes, she noticed she was looking at a purple four-year old Korra, who was crying. Seeing her own hand was blue, Korra reach out, saying, "It's okay, sweetie. Those meanies with the White Lotus can't hurt you or keep you away from your parents now. We're all grown up, and we can do what we want." The purple Korra crossed her arms, saying, "I want them to pay for what they did! Nobody should be taken from their parents at the age of four, even for short times! I want a real childhood – even your kids won't have one!" Korra sighed, saying, "Revenge doesn't get you anything but hurt. You saw the images I have. Earth being turned to a glass shell. Jinshu Kuangmai would readily do the same thing to the Fire Nation, probably hitting the Air Nation and the Water Tribes next. You don't want to be like him, do you?" Her smaller self shook her head, saying, "No. But I still feel angry, and cheated. Nothing will ever fix that." At first, Korra was disheartened, but remembered something from her childhood – the Red Lotus kidnapping.

Taking a deep breath, she asked Raava, "I need access to an alternate of our own world where there were no precautions taken and the Red Lotus kidnapped me and raised me as a weapon." Korra smiled as Raava intoned, _Good choice, Korra. __**Your**__ hurt over Aang's orders should melt away. Zaheer would have had an even worse childhood for you – one of indoctrination, hate, violence and no contact with your parents, period. This is one memory that I __**strongly **__suggest you keep permanent – maybe even share with people you think would benefit from it. But I could be wrong…_

Korra agreed, noticing that her purple self was staring at the same mover screen she was. Korra felt the pain of separation after the successful kidnapping, Zaheer's twisting of her soul, and watched her 17-year old self dispatch world leaders in "poetic" ways. She killed Zuko and his daughter Izumi with blue combustion blasts fueled by hatred and focus, crushing Earth Queen Hou-Ting under a wave of earth as she gave some cheesy monologue. The earth turned to lava once the Queen was dead, incinerating her body. Even though he was a member of the Red Lotus, Unalaq was the next to go, his form shredded by a million icy shards, Eska and Desna drowning inside a huge block of ice. She devastated the Republic City council, even without the Avatar state, only Tenzin escaping and calling for everyone to try their best and get Korra back under control. He even asked Equalist forces for help. Now came the part she dreaded the most.

Tenzin and her parents.

Korra cried as she saw the life leave Tenzin's eyes, his breath having been stolen, the Equalists not having gotten to Air Temple Island in time. Korra cheered weakly when she saw her body freeze as Aang and Raava appeared in front of her. Aang said sadly, "I wish I had kept you safer, Korra. Just look at yourself. You're a brainwashed murderer, unable to use the Avatar State because of how twisted Zaheer raised you. Look deep inside – do you really want to kill the last airbenders?" Both Korra and her purple four-year old self cried deeply when this Zaheer Korra said, "The four nations must be abolished, no matter the cost!" Before Korra could make good on her threat to Tenzin's children and wife, her body froze, then it began to painfully jerk around. Korra even heard some bones snap, then felt the pain her dark, confused alternate felt.

But only briefly.

Korra watched the next rapid set of images in horror, not wanting to think about what they meant, only glad she never got the chance to kill the rest of Tenzin's family or her own parents. One image refused to leave her head – that of a remorseless Asami in an Equalist mask, apparently now Amon's beloved, shared sentiment overriding the age gap and Asami's sexual preference, somehow. She was the one to kill Korra while in the Korra was in the Avatar State, with help from an unexpected older, metalbending master. Korra had even seen Mako and Bolin's faces fleetingly, as well as Lin's. Apparently, Amon had started accepting help from anyone, desperate to stop Zaheer's little minion from spreading complete chaos in Republic City. He came out about being a waterbender much earlier to try and rally as many people as he could to Equalize the world. In a very different way than he had originally wanted…

By removing the Avatar, and establishing one totalitarian world government in the wake of the chaos Korra had caused.

Hugging her purple self tightly, Korra said through tears, "That was awful! I think I can handle some emotional hurt more than _that_." Korra felt her blue arms close forcefully, realizing that her small self must have returned to her, healed somehow.

When Korra opened her eyes, she started hugging Asami strongly, asking her, "Do you want to see what I saw, Asami?" Asami shook her head, saying, "No, I don't. You look like Raava showed you something a lot more personal than Earth, and a lot more disturbing." Korra nodded her head, saying, "Let's just say I'm glad the White Lotus protected and taught me now, instead of Zaheer and the Red Lotus." Korra stood back, shaking her head, unable to get the image of Tenzin losing his breath by her hands or an Equalist Asami out of her head.

_Memory wipe complete. I was mistaken to recommend you keep that memory, Korra. Only the lessons and peace remain. I feel what you feel, and I definitely don't want to feel like __**that**__. I just put that alternate into a special vault in the Spirit Library, only Wan Shi Tong able to access it. I certainly don't want to see it again…_

Now smiling, Korra said, "I can't remember it now. Raava wiped it from my memory completely. Now let's make Bolin a proper sword." Korra was able to fabricate Bolin's new sword and a decorated sheath by pulling from her own spirit, much as she had Kai's staff, using the saved blood from before rather than drawing more. Korra even added opals to Opal's guandao blade bases, blood infused into their centers and the stone linked to spiritwire. Korra admired her handiwork, saying with only slight exhaustion as she stared at the opaque blood gem and its brown blood gem counterpart on the other side of the blade's base, "That matches Opal's weapon much better. Let's see you swing it, Bolin." Bolin picked up the massive five-foot sword, saying, "Wow! This is amazing, Korra. It doesn't feel too heavy, either." Korra laughed, seeing the first thing Bolin did with the sword. Bolin used it to carve a large heart in the ground in lava a short distance aways, saying, "Opal, want to practice sparring? I feel like swinging this sword for days!" Opal laughed, saying, "No lavabending or airbending – just blade fighting. And remember, I didn't drink any of that crazy tea, so be careful." As Opal and Bolin went to their love fighting ring, Zhu Li followed, saying, "Wait for me!"

Asami and Korra walked away from the sounds of laughter and striking metal, approaching a wide-eyed Kuvira, Mako and Varrick. Kuvira said seriously, "I don't see why we need that factory if you can just use raw materials to make a sword that would have taken hours to make normally. You could make all the mechasuits in one go, with that kind of power." Korra explained what had happened, finishing, "I feel very tired, just from making Kai's staff and Bolin's two-handed sword. I need to save my strength for my own armblades, and it looks like you're almost done with Mako's swords anyways. Why don't I add some appropriate gems, and get Raava's help to turn them into blood gems." Kuvira nodded, saying, "I already picked out one gem to use and some silver ore. I can't lavabend, so I can't fuse them together like I want them." Korra studied the sword's form, saying, "I assume the gems go in that round hole in the blade's head. Are you sure that's stable, Mako?" Mako shook his head, saying, "That part of the blade doesn't really do much anyways, and the gem could act as a power enhancer. Just take some blood from us both, and we'll try it out."

Korra carefully took the ruby and piece of silver ore, forming two hollow yin and yang symbols with the ruby symbol for Fire and silver symbol for Earth replacing the appropriate "eyes" of the symbol. Korra filled each hollow one at a time with Mako and Kuvira's blood, eyes still glowing as she finished. Once the twin blades had the holes filled with the unique symbol, Korra drew bits of the blade's metal over as well as bits of spiritwire, for artistic, structural and practical reasons. Feeling tired as her eyes stopped glowing, Korra projected Raava out, saying, "You do the thing, Raava. I need a rest." Raava shook her head, saying, "Come on - you just healed a major emotional wound earlier. At least give it a try. Just think of Asami and Atokara." Korra took a deep breath, recalling Raava, though she did not intend to rely on her - in the conventional sense. Thinking of Asami, Atokara, her parents and Raava, Korra tried to do to the ruby and silver symbol what she had done for Bolin's sword, pleased to see the ruby begin to glow much as her own jade necklace did - yellow and red.

Mako yawned slightly, saying, "I think that tea is starting to wear off. Let me test the swords before it wears off." Kuvira and Korra watched intently as Mako took the swords, using them as one to generate lightning and send a large bolt skyward. Kuvira smiled, saying, "Let's see what kind of fire you produce with those when I kiss you." Mako didn't blush when Kuvira gave him a peck on the cheek, Korra looking at the multicolor fire in awe. Glad to see two things working out, Korra said, "Before I go, Kuvira, Asami wants me to pick your brain - literally. She wants the spirit weaponry technology, as well as this 'computer'." Korra had to stamp her foot to get Kuvira's attention, saying, "Hey! I just need a second, then you can do whatever you want." Given how Mako blushed when Kuvira said, "Or whoever I want," he still wasn't ready for much. Korra said with a laugh, "Mako doesn't like to go fast, Kuvira. Now give me your forehead."

Once Korra was done, she yawned, saying, "I think last night's sleep, or lack of it, is coming back to haunt me. I'll show Asami all this stuff, then I need a nice nap. I will hopefully be rested enough to fabricate my armblades - and my suit." Korra smiled as she heard Raava intone _Good - you need some protection. I don't want you dying in the Avatar State - not after ten thousand years of hard work._ Kuvira nodded her head, saying, "Before you make a suit, I assume powered by Raava's energy, let me help you with the design." Korra smiled, saying, "I did just take all your knowledge on spirit weapons, but help never hurts."

Korra placed her hand to the ground, half tempted to knock a laughing Varrick onto his face. She resisted, pinpointing where Asami was instead, telling Varrick curtly as she walked off, "I don't know if laughing at Kuvira is a good idea, Varrick." Korra stopped dead in her tracks as she heard Kuvira join him, saying, "It's fine - I'm above petty insults now. It takes more than a laughing team member to hurt me."

Once she approached Asami, Korra noticed her eyes were wide. Korra said excitedly, "I guess you finally drank the Jang Hui kelp tea, Asami. Perfect timing - let's see what you come up with this stuff from Kuvira." Asami laughed, saying, "I haven't drank it just yet, Korra. I was just taking in this factory. What you and Raava did - it's amazing." Remembering Ty Lee and Mai were supposed to be touring the factory, Korra said, "Let's go inside. I haven't gotten a good look at it yet either."

When they stepped inside, Korra saw Ty Lee puzzling over some controls, and Mai was staring at a wall, saying, "None of this stuff makes sense!" Korra realized if they were going to help run the factory that they'd need more knowledge about it, Korra said loudly, "Over here, Ty Lee and Mai! I have some knowledge I need to give you from Asami!" Korra used the time they took in coming over to impart what Asami needed, and take out what Ty Lee and Mai would need, savoring the feeling of oneness as she did so. Korra opened her eyes, turning to a stunned Ty Lee and Mai, saying, "What's up?" After Mai snickered, "Asami's breasts," Ty lee said, "Oh, I just love what you did with your clothes! I always thought modern dress was so _boring_. Even the swimsuits are so… stuffy!" Asami began laughing wildly, saying, "This was my idea. I had to use underwear to make proper swimsuits." Ignoring Korra's extended hand, Ty Lee asked, "Ooh- can we see them?" Korra laughed, saying, "I suppose I could show you them, as well as how to run a factory properly."

When Ty Lee finally calmed down, Korra brushed aside Mai's gray hair, inadvertently thinking of what Firelord Izumi did to the throne room. Given how Mai said, "Stop showing me depressing stuff, Korra, and get on with it," Korra realized she'd have to be careful in the future. Once she was done with Mai, she moved on to Ty Lee, showing the swimsuits first. When Korra was done, she got a strange idea, having retained some of Asami's business sense herself.

After Mai walked off and began correctly manipulating the geothermal power controls, having apparently gotten some Earth knowledge somehow, Korra turned to Ty Lee. Smiling, she said, "I need your help with something, Ty Lee - I want more details about old Fire Nation dress. I have some knowledge of it from Aang, but you seem like you know a lot about fashion." Ty Lee smiled, saying as she played with her hair braid, "Even all these years later, I still feel pretty in pink. What do you hope to do? Make everyone dress less boring?" Korra nodded her head, saying, "When things settle down, I might start a little side business. I'll explain in a second." Moving Ty Lee's hair braid out of the way, Korra took in detail what Fire Nation dress looked like over 70 years ago, noting that most of it was as modest as modern clothing, except the swim wear.

Korra said, stifling a yawn, "Thanks, Ty Lee. My basic idea is to start a clothing company, Avatar's Best, that sells more comfortable clothes. I'm hoping I can sneak a peek at Earth clothes, but I doubt it." Ty Lee turned her head, asking, "Why would you want everyone to dress like people from the Earth Kingdom?" Korra laughed, saying, "My bad - it's a really long story. Just a second." Korra removed the slipup from Ty Lee's increasingly full head, thinking, "And you don't need to know it," gently. Ty Lee was smiling, saying, "Okay! My head hurts a little anyways from all the business and factory stuff. Ooh - think you could remove something else?" Korra laughed, saying, "No, I won't. Now what I was saying - Avatar's Best would be just for normal dress. Avatar's _Desire_, on the other hand, would be something a little more intimate. Think what Asami is wearing with greater range of motion for Avatar's Best, and what I'm wearing - or rather, not - for Avatar's Desire." Ty Lee nodded her head, saying, "Don't forget the boys and us old folks! I'm still young at heart, after all." Asami chuckled, saying, "I'm sure Avatar's Best will be fine for you, Ty Lee. Even Katara keeps warmly dressed."

Korra could feel herself drifting to sleep, yawning as she said, "If you'll excuse us, I need to make a small addition. See you around, Ty Lee." Once they were out of earshot, Asami said, "I'm a little sleepy too, having gotten up at 6:00 in the morning. Why don't you just take us back to our room on Ember Island." Korra shook her head, pointing to the sea as she said, "The workers here will need some sort of quarters, and I imagine Ty Lee and Mai will want something a little more private for both themselves." Asami shook her head, saying, "You don't even look like you could make the flight to Ember Island, now that I think about it. Why don't we just take a dirt nap inside an earth tent - nobody bothered us earlier." Korra nodded her head, saying as she created an earth tent, "You're right. Though, I was hoping for a naked cuddle, so we'll need to take extra precautions."

Once she had created a "Do Not Disturb" sign outside with lavabending, Korra watched Asami strip intently in the light of her own strongly glowing eyes, suddenly not feeling tired any more. Korra stood still, saying, "Wanna do it?" Asami laughed, her breasts jiggling in the white light as she did so, saying, "Let's just stick with the naked cuddle. You want to have sex while drunk later, right?" Korra nodded, saying, "Okay - but you have to take my clothes off!" Korra sighed deeply, watching and feeling a giggling Asami unwrap her intently. With a beating, warm heart, Korra savored the wonderful pulsing and heat she felt elsewhere as well.

Once Korra and Asami embraced one another, Korra drifted to sleep quickly after she shut her glowing eyes, feeling a warmth through her being more pleasing than any physical warmth, orgasm or not.

Korra's dream was a beautiful one. Everyone she knew and loved was on Air Temple Island, gathered on Korra's property for a big event. Even a dullard could guess what it was. She couldn't make out any details, aside from the fact that both Korra and Asami were in fancy low-cut dresses, Korra's a baby blue, Asami's a more puzzling color. Yellow and red.

After what seemed like hours, Korra woke back up, feeling refreshed enough to make all three things she needed to make - the armblades, her suit and the living quarters. Remembering they were both on bare ground, Korra woke Asami up, saying, "As much as I hate to, we need to get up and get dressed." Korra felt Asami's hair hit her slightly, as though Asami were vigorously shaking her head. As soon as Asami said, "I have a favor to repay first. Don't ask any questions - just enjoy," Korra's eyes began to glow softly, enough to see what Asami was doing. As Asami manipulated Korra's body, Korra's eyes began to shine brightly, Korra saying with a wavering voice, "I think I know what favor it is now. I'm looking forward to this. Just a second - muffling."

After a second set of walls erupted around the earth tent for soundproofing, Korra was breathing heavily, heart beating rapidly in anticipation. At first, Korra was confused by the expression she saw on Asami's face in the eyelight - Asami certainly didn't look like she was about to pay Korra back. More like she wanted a kiss. Korra laughed, jiggling slightly as she asked, "What's the matter, Asami? Fireferret got your tongue?" Asami laughed, saying, "I want to do something first, actually. It was Atokara's suggestion. I want to meditate with you." Korra's brows furrowed, saying, "Wait - what? What about Long Yumao? Actually, forget him - what about me, and what my physical body is _demanding_?"

_I strongly suggest you go along with this, Korra. Trust me._

Still perturbed her body would need to wait, Korra said, "Okay - but no clothes, back to back!" Asami nodded her head, saying, "I know you might find this odd, but something tells me this will only enhance my payback, and your inevitable repayment, and then mine... End, without end… just the way it should be." Korra said, tearing up slightly as she assumed a meditative pose, "Love never truly ends, does it?"

When Korra felt her naked back touch Asami's, relishing the feel of Asami's hair between them, Korra asked, "What are we meditating on, exactly, Asami? Sex?"

Asami laughed, saying, "No - play." It was all Korra could do to refrain from bursting out into laughter, but after Asami said the last word, Korra noticed Asami beginning to breathe rhythmically. Once Asami's breath had found a set, steady pattern, Korra began to try and meditate in more forcefully, but found herself blocked, seeing in blue English letters "She's not in the Spirit World, moron. Try again," in the void created by her closed eyes. Korra took a deep breath, thinking of what she could remember of childhood play before the White Lotus cut it all too short, imagining herself running naked in the polar wind.

Freer than she ever would be again.

When Korra came to, she noticed she was sitting on a cold snowbank, rolling around as she created something she remembered very clearly from her childhood now. "Ice clothes," which she had loved wearing while running outside her parent's home. Completely forgetting herself, she ran around with her eyes closed, saying with glee, "Ice clothes! How I missed you!"

Korra shook her head, thinking, "Wait - what? Why's my voice so funny?" Korra looked at her small hands, the ice covering her slightly extended small belly, realizing with a start that her chest was as flat as the day she was born.

"Brrr - I'm cold! Let's play, Korra! Maybe that will warm me up!"

Eyes wide, Korra turned around, seeing that Asami was with her and a similar age. Korra giggled, saying, "Have some ice clothes, Asami!" as she bent clothes on to her playmate's small form. At first, Asami looked displeased, but then she took a deep breath and said, "Love makes me warm! Can we go otter-penguin sledding? I've never tried it!"

As if by magic, two otter-penguins appeared from the howling gale around them. Korra had the best time of her life, riding down snowbanks and relishing the cold with Asami, who somehow seemed impervious to cold now. After what seemed like hours, Korra said excitedly as she made a snowman, "I'll make this snowman attack you, Asami! Are you ready?"

Knowing Asami couldn't bend, Korra took it easy on her at first, making the snowman attack half-heartedly, not even using earth or airbending to augment it. Asami stamped her foot angrily, saying, "Just because I can't bend, doesn't mean I'm weak!" Korra laughed as Asami decimated the snowman, saying innocently, "It sure looks like you can, Asami!"

Asami looked at her hands, saying, "Wait - what? How…" Asami took a deep breath, her ice clothes melting slightly as she did so. When she breathed out, a substantial amount of blue flame came out, removing the rest of the ice from her small body. Asami giggled, saying, "That must be because of my fantasy I have - to firebend, like if my mommy could have!" Asami began weeping, saying, "Maybe she'd still be alive if she could." Korra ran over, shedding her ice clothes as she did so, saying, "It's okay, Asami - we can play with and love each other now! Playmates forever!"

Korra felt an odd creaking in her being, and given Asami's small gasp, Asami must have as well. Breathing heavily, Korra looked down, noticing that her breasts were back, pressed up against Asami's own. Korra hugged Asami deeply, saying, "Let's go play with and love each other - as adults." Asami giggled, saying, "So this must be why Atokara wanted us to meditate on play. Let's go do exactly that, with the shame - or lack of it - of a four year old, but the passions and bodies of grown women." Despite the intense cold, Korra could feel heat, saying with enthusiasm, "I've got a lot to make up for. Let's play!"

With that, she found herself back in the earth tent, her bare back kissing Asami's. Korra breathed deeply, feeling as though her soul had broken free of invisible chains. Korra leapt up quickly, laying down on the floor as she saw Asami grinning broadly in Korra's eyelight.

As Asami repaid the favor, Korra remembered play, occasionally pushing Asami down, both laughing freely, as water flows. As Asami continued, Korra felt as though fire and lightning took turns coursing through her veins. The fire feeling like it was threatening to explode, Asami kissed Korra on the cheek, saying, "Even though I'm no bender, much less the Avatar … it feels like the four elements course through and rule me. Free as the wind, flowing as water, passionate as fire, shameless as a rock." Korra smiled, saying, "Me too. Now let's just let the elements and our bodies run the show." As Asami returned to play, Korra gasped as she felt heat, lightning and hardness intensify, "It's play time!" Asami stopped, laughing like a little girl, but Korra didn't mind the interruption. Asami's laughter made her feel even better than what Korra decided to call "_that_". Asami laughed hysterically when Korra called it _that _out loud, saying, "That's the same name I gave it, though I know its real one. '_That_' is a lot more romantic. Now, more of _that_."

Asami expertly played Korra's body, like it was a flesh and blood instrument she had made love songs with all her life. Once Asami was done with _that _and Korra satiated, Korra said with a little mourning, "I don't know how to play with you that well, Asami. Hey - what are you doing?" Asami laughed, saying as she placed Korra's hand on her forehead and cupped one breast, "Why don't I _show you_?"

_I'll throw in a lotta something extra. For both of you. This is amazing._

Korra felt a massive information flow seemingly originating in her chest course into her own brain and Asami's, at least a thousand or more interesting images appearing as the know-how flowed. Imaging one position in particular, Korra said, "I want to do it this way to _that _you - but you'll need to stand up!" Asami's cheeks flushed with blood, saying, "Yeah - that one way to _that _sounds good. I know how you love my rear. All that information you gave me, especially including tips on how to _that_, should be available in every library, everywhere, for every sexual orientation." Korra giggled, fire returning in anticipation, saying, "I agree. Thanks, Raava."

**_That _**_is the gift that keeps on giving. You're welcome._

Korra assumed her part in the play without a second though, relishing the pleasure she gave Asami as much as she had everything Asami had given her, feeling no shame in her position. Korra was fully engrossed in a way she hadn't been that first crazy night, her universe shrinking down to Asami's pleasure. Doing _that _to Asami felt good for Korra as well, only caring about her own pleasure because it helped Korra in her play. She saw nothing wrong with her position - anything for her other half. When Korra had succeeded, she felt a feeling of oneness like nothing she had ever felt before, feeling more connected to Asami than Raava. Korra stood up, turning a panting Asami around, saying, "I love you with all my heart, Asami. More than Raava - more than my parents. Only our child compares." Asami began crying lightly, saying, "Me too. I don't even feel like myself right now - just half of a fused whole." As she embraced Asami with tears of her own, Korra found herself thankful that only now did she start to float off the ground. Remembering something from Earth about sex in the air, Korra said sultrily, "I've got an idea, _Assami_. Given how your heart is beating, you must have the exact same thing in mind."

Korra had no concept of time, or even self. There was no boundary between her and Asami, and for a brief moment, the universe as well. Korra could feel all sorts of strange, spiritual sensations within her body, not all related to her airborne antics with Asami. Given how Asami said with wonder, "I can see everything!" she must have had a similar experience as well.

In mid-air, Asami surprised Korra by ignoring her own exhaustion, panting one word that was music to Korra's ears: "Thingies!"

Korra and Asami lay on the floor, utterly spent, not even the Avatar State letting Korra continue, Asami in dire need of some Jang Hui kelp tea. Savoring the simpler pleasure of the naked heap and still-blurred lines of self versus Asami, Korra said without reservation in perfect English, "I love who I am." Korra heard the sound of moving earth as she felt some heavy burden lift off her soul, like she could now create the living quarters, everyone's suits and her armblades without effort. What appeared to be weak starlight or moonlight filtered in through a now partially open roof, illuminating their heap. Asami gushed in English, "I finally love who I am too. Now let's go show the world what we can do, _lovergirl_… after some Jang Hui kelp tea for me." Korra said, letting happy tears flow, "I love that nickname. I guess it's just what I do now. What _we_ do now. Very well, with that _other_ gift from Raava." Asami laughed, saying, "See? I told you you'd get something useful from Earth. I loved the _that _position_._" Korra chuckled, saying, "You've got that right. I loved it too - we'll reverse roles later. I want to now, but… I'm so tired…"

After covering herself and Asami with a sheet of earth, Korra focused on Jinora, glad to find her alone with Kai, confused as to why they were on the island. Korra said, smiling weakly, "I remembered 'clothes' this time. Both me and Asami need some Jang Hui kelp tea." Jinora giggled wildly as Kai said, "I'll deliver it. Jinora will probably be too busy thinking _all about why _you need it." Korra found herself laughing hysterically, despite her exhaustion.

When Korra drank the tea, she was disappointed to see it wasn't Jang Hui kelp tea. Korra opened a small hole, yelling at a sleepy-looking Kai from under an earthen shield, "I thought this was supposed to be Jang Hui kelp tea! Asami is exhausted!" Kai laughed, saying irritatingly, "You both need to be in top form for your armblades. And suit, if what I hear is true." Korra laughed, feeling energy return as she said, "Sorry - it's okay. Just bring us some more, and some food too, if you would mind." Kai nodded, saying, "Sure. I need to go check on Jinora first - make sure she didn't sneak off to… do something alone." Asami laughed hysterically, saying, "She's been repressed all her life, and her sex drive rivals mine. You should be thankful - you've got a wonderful girlfriend. Just like I do." Kai laughed, saying, "I'm doing my best to override my own urges. Be back - need Bolin for this."

Once Korra felt up to it, she got dressed, making sure to shut the little hole Bolin had slipped food in through. Embracing a fully clothed Asami, Korra said, "Let's go create the things we must for war so that we might live in peace. Together. Forever." Asami nodded, saying, "Let's see what turns up first. The yellow and red dress at the wedding, my blue child's fire… it still puzzles me."


	41. Chapter 41: Ember Synthesis

Chapter 41: Ember Synthesis

Once Korra got dressed again, she was about to open the earth "tent", but stopped, idly relishing the fresh memory of her newfound self-love and deepened relationship with Asami. Closing her eyes while breathing much as she might have while meditating, she felt a very strong tug on her being. It wasn't Asami or Raava. Figuring she might be a while, Korra said out loud calmly, "Someone wants me for something important, and I'm not sure who just yet, Asami. Hopefully, it won't take long." Feeling the tug again, she sighed, just projecting Aang out, saying, "What do you want? It needs to be something that doesn't take real time. I don't know how much longer the others will be up." Aang said sheepishly, "You should probably go see what people are doing before we… do this. I won't say what it is, but you will need Asami." Feeling yet another tug, Korra rolled her eyes, saying, "What do you want from me? First Aang, now you, Raava!"

_Just go see what everyone else is doing, and let's hope they aren't sleepy._

Sighing deeply, Korra focused on Tenzin's energy, noticing he was sitting with Pema, staring at a full moon. Korra could hear emotion in his voice as he said, "It's not about being able to fly, Pema. It's about making my _relationship_ with you stronger. I should have taken after my father more. I don't know why I embraced so much of the serious stuff from the Air Nomads." Korra listened silently as Pema said, "I've given birth to four children, honey. We aren't exactly chaste. It's not like we're your traditional Air Nomad family, you know. Our eldest daughter eats meat, and our eldest son has designed weapons for war. I think it might be time you started embracing the change in the world more fully, like Jinora has." After Tenzin sighed, she added, "Without reservations or guilt. As much as it pains me to say it, the Air Nomads are dead. Only the Air Nation lives on." Tenzin still looked lost in thought, saying, "I… I guess you're right. All the new airbenders are just too… earthy!" Pema groaned loudly, saying, "Not this again, especially considering Jinora is decidedly one of them now, even though she's your daughter." Laughing, she added, "If we hadn't been earthy together, she wouldn't exist! You've changed your mind about taking life, even advising your daughter to not be squeamish about it. Maybe she needs to have a talk with _you_ about properly nurturing your earthly tether."

Tenzin stood up, stamping his foot in frustration as he said, "I am not going to yell dirty words like they're some kind of password to a secret club! This is ridiculous!" Pema turned around, Korra feeling annoyed she had been seen. Pema stood up, and walked towards Korra's projection, saying, "There is one other person who has flown, other than Kai and Jinora. Maybe Korra can help you, honey, if she wants to." Tenzin turned around, looking slightly mortified as he asked, "How long have you been there, Korra? I don't want people eavesdropping on how I can't get it up!" Remembering an English phrase, Korra began laughing nervously, saying, "Uh… I could have gone without imagining that." Seeing Pema's puzzled look, Korra wanted to explain what the phrase meant and why she didn't like the image it produced, but stopped when she saw Tenzin's dejected look. Korra beckoned them over, saying, "Originally, I only came here to ask what people are doing right now. Asami and I were exhausted, only now getting up from our… nap." Pema said gently, "I think every adult knows what you two were doing in there, Korra. As well as my oldest daughter and her boyfriend, Kai. If you won't own up to having sex, maybe you can't help Tenzin after all." Korra sighed, looking down at the ground as she said, "It… it just feels weird to talk to Tenzin about such things. I still see him as a secondary father figure, given how I never got to see my own father as much as I would have liked." Tenzin nodded his head, saying with emotion, "I feel honored you feel this way about me, Korra. I'll have to talk to someone else about this. It's too bad the only other airbenders who have flown in this way are my daughter and her boyfriend…"

Korra was about to say something, but a very relevant question occurred to her. Trying to replicate Aang's unauthorized appearance at the first meeting with her cousins, she said loudly, "AANG, get out here please! Your other thing can wait – I want to ask you something!" Korra turned to the left and right, laughing to see that Aang had elected to appear as his adult self. For once, she was the one grinning widely and Aang the one sighing in frustration. Intensely curious, she asked him, "Aang, care to explain why you never flew? From what I saw, you certainly didn't have any passion issues with Katara." As Pema laughed lightly, Tenzin piled on, asking, "Yeah – I never heard you talk about flying without effort, dad. What was your block?" Aang groaned, saying as he yanked on his ghostly beard with both hands, "I don't even know if I had a block. For all I know, this could be something totally new, a side effect of Raava's increasing human-y-ness."

A familiar small form joined Korra's other side, a blue Raava saying, "No, it's not. You just never said the magic, dirty words, Aang, much less with the proper enthusiasm. I hope that answers your question, Tenzin." With a wink, Raava added, "There's a little earth shack you can use to… practice, I might add." Korra half felt like strangling Raava, saying, "What? That's just not right, Raava! Bad spirit! Bad!" Aang had a similar reaction, saying, "You still have a lot to learn about human love and sex, Raava, particularly manners. There are certain things you just don't say, do, or offer. And I didn't exactly have a deep sexual education myself, aside from my love for and with Katara." Tenzin just gave Raava a weird look, saying, "I'd rather 'practice', as you so crudely put it, in my own home, or at least on a serviceable bed. I appreciate the offer nonetheless. Sort of." Pema laughed, saying, "I'm good for whatever makes you happy, Tenzin. You're the one with the 'problem'. One, I may add, I fail to see – I'm perfectly happy with our marriage." Tenzin sighed contentedly, saying, "I guess you're right, Pema. I just wanted to inject some more fire into our lives – we haven't been together much lately, with the frenetic pace of the world." Ignoring Pema's hug, Tenzin continued, "Going back to why Korra originally came here, everyone is still up, so you better hurry if you want help with your surgery. It's almost 10:00 PM, and I don't want your healers being hopped up on Jang Hui kelp tea."

Remembering how crazed the various braintrust members had been earlier, Korra said, "Sounds like I need to get busy. I'm leaving now." Korra was about to break the connection, but Tenzin held up a hand, saying, "Let me give something a shot." Korra shook her head, barely able to believe what she heard Tenzin say, finding Pema's giggle closely resembled Asami's had she said the same word. Tenzin looked at his feet, and said it again, finishing, "I guess I'll need to practice. I can't say it right. That last time, it was just angry." Korra broke after she heard a laughing Pema say, "Maybe I can help you later, back on Ember Island."

When she came to, she saw Asami drawing on a piece of blueprint in the moonlight, Korra recognizing part of it immediately. Creating a blue flame to see better by, Korra looked at Asami's drawing, saying, "Nice work, Asami. Now we just need to go to the mineral vein with a bunch of spiritwire, and we can make all three things in one go." Asami looked up, innocently asking, "What's the third thing, Korra? All I knew of was your suit and your armblades." Korra smiled, saying, "I figured I should make you a more practical betrothal gift, seeing how you just designed my powerful-looking mechasuit." Asami's eyes widened as she said, "You're going to make Asami's Reach? Are you sure you can do all three?" Korra nodded, laughing as she said, "I'll just think of you while making them all for strength. Just pack your stuff up, and we'll go."

Korra ended up talking about what she had discussed with Pema and Tenzin instead as she examined the blueprints for her unnamed suit, making minor changes as she saw fit. As she puzzled over the hands and how they fit together with her armblades, Asami finally spoke, saying, "I don't see what's wrong with this little earth tent being a private retreat for anyone who needs it. I imagine it would make a good meditation room as well." Korra laughed, saying, "I guess you're right – it sounds like Pema and Tenzin haven't gotten to play much themselves lately." Standing up, Korra pointed at her mechasuit's hands, saying, "I want to do something special with my hands. They're where I infobend out of, where most of my bending comes through… have any ideas?"

Korra closed her eyes, trying to think of something she could do with the gloves. She saw an image of twin blue metallic gloves with large amounts of spiritwire on them, envisioning a link to her chi line spiritwire where an airbending master's arrow might be, complete with a metal port. Realizing that this port would get in the way of sex and life in general, Korra envisioned an under-the-skin extension of the spiritwire in the shape of airbender tattoos. Realizing this would need to be tested, Korra opened her eyes and said, "I have an idea for the gloves, but it needs to be tested first. I don't know who to test it on, though."

After Asami asked her about her idea, Korra explained it, saying, "I'm just a little afraid to have spiritwire put into my hands, and I don't even know if the power would transfer through the skin properly." Picking up her goggles from her pack, Asami suggested, "Why don't we test the concept using your eyes? You can make some spiritwire goggles and enter the Avatar State and try to project an image, if you want what I think you do." Korra shook her head, saying, "No, I don't. What do you have in mind?"

_A hologram!_

After Raava's little outburst, Korra felt a flow of information, saying out loud, "What's all this, Raava? I didn't think Earth was _that_ advanced." After her eyes glowed briefly, Korra saw Raava appear, who said, "It's from their science fiction, but it should work here. Theirs aren't portable yet. Let's go fashion you some goggles, and see if they work. If they do, I don't think we should implant spiritwire in your hands, or draw airbending master tattoos on your arms. I've got something a little more unique in mind." As Raava returned to Korra, she saw an image, saying, "That looks perfect!" loudly, loving the idea of the "Master Avatar" tattoos Raava had shown her.

Taking a blueprint from a confused Asami, she drew herself naked in side views, tracing the body's chi lines before adding the appropriate drawings. The lines mimicked the form of an airbender's, but thinner. Each limb had a different elemental symbol instead of an arrow, the arrow on the head replaced by a blue and white diamond that occupied the same position a combustionbender's tattoo might have. Remembering the importance of human love, where Raava resided and figuring Asami might like it, Korra added a blue and jade tattoo of yin and yang above her heart, saying, "Done!"

Realizing that this might just eradicate the need for spiritwire altogether, Korra said, "Looks like I'm going to need Tenzin's help for this, or someone who knows how to do tattoo work." Projecting Aang out, Korra asked him, "What do you think, Aang?" Before he could respond, Asami said, "Whatever he thinks, I love it, especially the chest tattoo. Maybe you should add another one. Your suit has two breastbeams, just like mine." Korra laughed, saying, "I don't want too many tattoos, or I won't look like me in the bedroom anymore." Asami laughed, saying, "I find the prospect of your breasts glowing more than slightly intriguing." Aang said with a snicker, "I never thought of the chi line tattoos being slightly sexual in nature. We both know that my arrows did NOT lead to Lil' Aang, after all." Korra groaned, never having heard this nickname for… "her" penis before, remembering that Aang wasn't just a friend, but also her own past life.

Korra re-drew her chest, moving the tattoo of blue and jade slightly, positioning a tattoo of a yin and yang formed from Raava and Vaatu on the other side, remembering her dual nature and every other human's. Asami pointed at the new tattoo, saying, "Care to explain that? I'd rather not look at Vaatu while making love to you. You know, him being evil incarnate and all." Korra frowned slightly, saying, "Dark Korra is a part of me, whether we like it or not. I hope everyone who's been 'crushing' their dark selves don't become complacent. You can't extinguish light or eradicate darkness, you know, and any 'Master Avatar' needs to understand they are not immune." Korra turned to a wide-eyed Aang, who said, "It seems like you've thought of everything, Korra. Though, given what you've said, you might want to make what I assume represents your love for Asami similarly complex." Korra let Asami re-draw the yin and yang symbol, smiling to see how Asami made a larger version of the symbol with their hands instead. Looking at the new symbol, Korra said, "That looks great! Any 'Master Avatar' should also probably have a love interest of some sort. I find myself relying on my love for you more and more, Asami. Uncle Iroh was right – it's a huge pillar in my life now."

Knowing they no longer needed as much spiritwire, Korra said, "Now we just need to find some dyes to do the tattoos." Aang laughed, saying, "It hurt really bad when I got mine, so don't expect this to be easy, Korra. I meditated to ignore the pain while they were being done, but it still hurt after." Korra smiled, saying, "It can't be that bad. Plus, I can use Avatar State healing on myself." Asami giggled, saying, "I want to see that, Korra. You might just get to try them out afterwards…"

Despite having just finished what must have been at least two hours of adult play, Korra said eagerly, "Sounds good to me. Let me see where I can get some dyes." Remembering this was a huge change of plans, Korra opened the earth tent door, saying as she walked out, "We're going to need a whole different set of people to help us with this. You can watch if you want, Aang." Korra felt a surge of energy beside her, turning to see a beaming Raava say, "I wanna watch too! I'll have to come up with some strict criteria for who can be considered a 'Master Avatar'. The only one who I can think of off the top of my head that fit the bill are Wan, Roku, Aang and yourself. Oh, and Garkan, though he never had a very rough time." Korra heard a deep, "Ahem," followed by "It's not my fault that Avatar Akane did such a good job, Raava." Korra was surprised that Garkan had hopped out, saying with slight annoyance, "Don't re-create the Avatar Party on me here, please. I'll talk to you later, Garkan – your presence would likely cause a lot of confusion." He laughed deeply, saying, "Sure thing. I wouldn't want you peeking at my tattoo ceremony, after all, even if we're both… non-heterosexual." Korra smiled, saying, "Thanks for remembering I'm _technically _bi. See you later."

As Korra walked towards the lit-up factory, she stamped her foot once, trying to sense who was there and who was not. Korra cursed, sensing something very wrong with how her Korranium ball had been handled, running frantically towards the factory as she yelled, "Seal the ball back up! What are you doing, Varrick? Are you nuts?" When she got inside, she noticed that there were indeed two smaller balls now, one of them sealed, and the other open, Varrick poking the metal ore inside with a strange detector. Varrick threw up his hands, yelling, "Finally!" only narrowly avoiding breaking his little device. Zhu Li was scribbling on a large piece of paper with "Effects of Tuber-Vines on Korranium" at the top.

Wanting to know what had happened, Korra ran over and began to read, forgetting all about her tattoos, armblade and suit. Korra gasped as she looked down the list, saying, "What did Mr. Tuber-Vine do to the Korranium sample? And what's this about 'depleted Korranium'?" It was at this point that Varrick ran over, saying, "There are two types of Korranium, as we already know: heavy, and light. The light version emits enough Asami particles to almost break my meter here, while the heavy version has little to no activity." Pointing at a special shell, Varrick said, "The heavy version is so dense and, well, heavy, that I think it would make a perfect material for an anti-material shell." Picking up a piece of what Korra recognized as Tophinum, Varrick said, "This stuff's great too. It's so malleable! It would be perfect for pipes."

For some reason, Korra's eyes widened in horror, saying as information explained her terror, "That's not a good idea, Varrick. Raava says the 'Romans' on Earth used that same metal, what they called _lead_ and what I named Tophinum, for pipes. It poisons the mind just like mercury, and can kill you." Varrick dropped the Tophinum and threw his hands in the air, saying, "Why is everything interesting and new you find dangerous, Korra? Sheesh!" Information still flowing, Korra said, "It will make for a good shielding material, though. Given how we can avoid using platinum in weapons with the blood gems and spiritwire, it would be a good idea to replace the platinum in the suits with Tophinum, in case Jinshu Kuangmai makes an Asami particle beam." Korra shivered at the image of what Raava labeled as "Asami particle burns," telling Varrick what she saw.

Varrick was getting impatient, asking as he pointed at Aang, "What's Aang doing here, and why haven't you made your armblades yet? We need to do the surgery before your parents, Katara and Kya go to bed!" Korra explained her alternate idea to Varrick, saying finally, "It's a lot less invasive. I'll need Lin, Su, and Kuvira to control the metal tattoo needles involved, and Katara, Kya and my mother Senna to control the dye. I can't assist, as I will be meditating to dull the pain." Varrick sighed, saying, "JUST when I think technology might make me useful… I'll just go back to experimenting with Korranium then, with a Tophinum shield. It sounds like if I'm not careful, I might not be able to have kids with Zhu Li." Zhu Li turned around, smiling as she said, "Maybe we should go do the Thing somewhere. The Zhu Li sounds good to me." Varrick chuckled, saying, "Maybe later. I've been tinkering with light Korranium, Tophinum, some electrical equipment and some photoplates. I might just be able to do something special." Looking around, Varrick said, "Where's Mr. Tuber-Vine? I need him for this!"

As Korra heard a loud "HMM HMM?", she placed her hand to the floor, trying to pinpoint everyone she'd need for the tattoos. Grabbing Asami's arm, she said, "Come on! They're in the dining hall, and I could use something to eat!"

A short time later, she entered the hall, which she noticed had been spruced up with engravings and marble covering. As she and Asami ate, Korra explained her idea once she had asked all the men to leave, completely forgetting about infobending in her excitement. When she was done, Katara said, "Sure, I'll help, even if I think your tattoos are lacking in Water Tribe heritage." Korra flipped the paper over, realizing that there wasn't any way to tell she was a Master Water Tribe Avatar on the image. Pursing her lips, she took out a pencil, adding the symbol for Water in the center of her chest, realizing it might make a good port if the tattoos ended up being decorative only. Turning the diagram back around and explaining what the symbol could be converted to, she smiled as everybody clapped, her mother saying, "I like it! I'm proud of you, Korra."

After Asami had stopped clapping, she tugged on Korra, saying, "We still don't have the dyes, and we're missing the twin tuber-vines we'll need for my suit. Why don't you go to Republic City and get what we need while the metalbender women prepare the needed tools. I can help with that while you're off." Korra gave Asami a quick peck on the check, saying, "See you later then, Assami," loving the way Asami laughed. As she heard Aang laughing, Korra realized he'd need him, saying, "You need to come along too. Get back in here! Please." Aang sighed, saying, "But I wanna look at Katara!" Katara laughed, saying, "I had a nickname for Aang too, though you probably don't want to hear it. It wasn't Twinkletoes, I'll tell you that." Korra recalled Aang before he could say whatever his mouth was open for, listening to Katara's fading laughter with a smile.

Korra lifted off into the air, getting her bearings as she made for Republic City. Remembering she could levitate without effort, she pointed all her limbs in one direction, propelling herself with massive blue jets of flame. Korra reached the outskirts of Republic City rapidly, touching down in a slightly seedier side of town, noting that there was still widespread damage. Looking around, she saw a shop that professed to sell high-quality dyes and body paints: "Dai Chang's Inkshop." Korra opened the door, smiling to see the electricity was on. A heavyset man with a big beard and tacky shirt spun around, saying, "Welcome to Dai Cha – holy crap, it's the Avatar! What can I do ya for? I know ya wouldn't visit this sectiona town for nothing, Avatar Korra." Korra smiled, saying, "I need a lot of ink." As she rattled off all the colors she'd need, including extra for Asami's Reach and her unnamed suit's paintjob, his eyes widened slowly, saying once she was finished, "That's gonna be a lotta yuans, Avatar. I don't care if ya saved Republic City from Kuvira – business is business. Is business." Korra smiled, saying, "How would you like an addition to your shop instead? If you let me go grab the raw materials, I should be able to fabricate a whole new section for you." Rubbing his head, Dai Chang said, "I'll hafta see it to believe it, Avatar. I'll go gather that inks for ya, but you ain't getting nothin' till I see this."

Realizing that she could kill two birds with one stone, Korra placed her hand to the floor, trying to find the nearest tuber-vines she could. She sensed two different ones, one inside a large deposit of crystals in a strange cave of water, the other just lying near a large vein of minerals and metals under the ground near the shop. Korra stood up, saying, "I'll be right back," chuckling to hear Dai Chang say, "Okay, crazy lady. I still don't see how ya gonna make me a whole new anything, much less a whole room."

Korra went for the tuber-vine in the strange crystalline cave first, heading towards the mountain it was located it, using a blue flame for light. Once she was inside, she let her eyes begin to glow, striking her foot against the ground. Korra shook her head, saying, "I can't believe it – this whole mountain range is filled with all sorts of valuable stuff." Copper, Tophinum, platinum, Korranium deposits, iron… she had even sensed some metal ores that gave off odd energy, but weren't Korranium. Making a mental note, she began punching her way to the crystal cavern, yelling in pain when superheated air came rushing out. Feeling herself enter the Avatar State, Korra tried to cool the cavern down, but felt like she was fighting nature itself. Korra quickly manipulated the tuber-vine into the inside of a ball of superheated crystal, pulling it out as her body sweated profusely. At first, Korra wanted to seal this bizarre cavern off, but then she remembered her little trick with the geysers earlier today, instead weathering the heat for long enough to slam her palm to the floor, earthsensing a massive pool of magma heating the cavern's seemingly endless watery subterranean expanse.

Unable to stand the heat anymore, Korra left with her crystal-bound tuber-vine in tow, sealing the strange volcanic feature. She bent a warning into the rock, calling it "Korra's Cavern," snickering as she remembered another English turn of phrase, deciding to leave it anyways. As Korra siphoned the heat off from the crystal-encased tuber-vine, she noticed that not only did the tuber-vine not appear to be harmed, the crystal was pulsing white and blue. The crystal continued to do so even after she removed the now-squirming tuber-vine from its prison, saying, "I bet Dai Chang would like that crystal for a new sign for his shop. That would be a real attention-getter." Korra laughed as she heard the tuber-vine intone, "UHHH HUHHH," realizing with a start that each must have an individual personality, given it didn't act like Mr. Tuber-Vine. It almost seemed nervous, tossing a small rock idly back and forth with its four tendrils. Feeling silly, Korra picked it up and said, "I'm gonna call you Nervous Leaf. Come on, let's go – you're going to have a very special job to do."

Korra's eyes widened in shock as she heard a slightly peeved voice intone in her head, "I'm not nervous, thank you very much. Just impatient. Now just get me out of here already! That cave was way too hot." Korra laughed, saying, "Okay, Impatient Leaf. You're going to help power Asami's mechasuit, Asami's Reach." Korra heard the same voice intone with slight irritation, "Tell me something I don't know. I have a link to Raava, just like you do," smiling broadly as she said, "I never thought a plant would sass me."

Korra laughed as she exited the cave with a substantial load of earth, remembering the tuber-vine's hilarious English outburst of, "I'm not a plant, I'm a tuber-vine, b – ", having cut him off by re-sealing him inside the crystal. Thinking of Impatient Leaf with her eyes closed, Korra saw a strange image of a young man in a cap she had never seen before holding up a piece of blue crystal.

_Ahahaha! That's hilarious. Apparently, there's more crosstalk than I thought there was in the universe. What isn't real on Earth, is here, sort of. Maybe I'll show you that… piece of art some time, Korra._

Puzzled as to what Raava found so funny, Korra found some metal ore, creating a crude cart to haul her load with. Looking at Impatient Leaf, Korra laughed to see an English insult spelled out on his prison's crystal side. Korra said loudly, "Kuvira isn't going to put up with that kind of sass, so if you have any other rude neighbors, I'd suggest you all tone down the attitude! You're supposed to be Raava's gift to humanity, not foul-tempered three-year olds!" Korra wasn't sure what the two symbols on the crystal meant, but was glad to see the words, "Sorry. Lost my cool," appear on the crystal.

Moving the heavy load forward slightly, Korra struck her hand into the ground, sensing the best way to get the other tuber-vine without damaging Dai Chang's shop. Eyes flashing brightly enough to illuminate the ground, Korra created a large ball of metal ore around the other tuber-vine. When she tried to pull the ball out of the ground, she found odd resistance to her efforts, stopping. Striking her hand against the ground again, she realized she was struggling against a water body. Given how the ball of metal ore was hot, once she had bent it up out of the earth after parting the water around it, the water body must have touched the same pool of magma the crystal cavern did. Making another mental note, Korra said, "This side of town is going to get real developed, real fast. It's a treasure trove of minerals and hidden geothermal power." After idly wondering where all this had come from with her eyes closed, she saw Wan Shi Tong appear, holding a book open for Korra to look at as he said, "This area of the world is near the volcanic activity of the Fire Nation. The magma chambers from an old caldera's remnants are still active, a _super volcano explosion _having created the lands of the city and mountains around it many, many, many thousands of Harmonic Convergences ago." Korra thought, "Thank you, Wan Shi Tong. I'll have to see what else the mountains around Republic City hide, aside from Zaheer."

Wan Shi Tong surprised Korra by saying, "I have studied this Zaheer and his actions, and I think he would be interested to know what the United Earth Republic will be like. After his help, I think you owe him an explanation." With a wink, he added, "And you can rub your new flying in his face, if you want to do so. I have read of something people from Earth call 'schadenfreude' and thought it appropriate." Korra opened her eyes, vaguely looking forward to meeting Zaheer again, not considering gloating in the least. Remembering that she had a tuber-vine to wrestle loose from the ore ball, she began working her way towards its center, sorting the different components as she did so, surprised at how many metal bars she formed. When she grabbed the tuber-vine in the middle, she noticed it didn't move, asking it, "Are you alive, or dead? Hello?"

Korra laughed when she heard voice say in her head, "I'm alive, just really bored. I've been stuck down there for almost six days. Now hurry up, and put me in Asami's suit!" Korra smiled, saying as she put the tuber-vine on the cart, "I have to make it first, Impetuous Vine. Just wait here while I give Dai Chang a gift." Korra laughed at how Impetuous Vine intoned "VRMMM VRMMM" as he tried to rock the cart into motion using his tendrils.

Korra ran back to Dai Chang's shop, asking him when his back was turned to her, "Where do you want the expansion? I can't do it in a certain direction – to the back!" Dai Chang groaned, saying, "But that's where I wanted it! I don't got an elevator, and if ya couldn't tell, I'm not exactly light on my feet." Korra smiled, saying, "How about up? I should be able to make an elevator for you. Here, watch."

Pulling on her spirit, Korra manipulated a now-empty corner of the store into an elevator terminal, carefully bending in copper and other useful metals to make the electricity and motors work properly, using an information stream from Raava to assist in the job. Korra felt like she hadn't done anything at all, thinking, "Why is creating this elevator so easy, Raava?"

_You're creating for peaceful purposes. This taxes your soul MUCH less than making weapons or a factory designed for war._

Remembering she had a job to finish, Korra stepped outside, temporarily ignoring Dai Chang's earthy exclamations of wonder as she added a second and third story to his shop, the last touch being the new glowing crystal sign. Noticing that there were still plenty of valuable materials left over, Korra created three simple but large containers, placing the leftovers inside two of them. Knowing she couldn't possibly haul the tuber-vines, dye _and_ ore in one go, she pumped Raava's energy into the two container's sides, adding a sign that said in two languages, "Property of Avatar Korra. Don't touch."

Korra turned around after she felt a strong hand tap her shoulder, Dai Chang saying strongly, "While I appreciate your help, Avatar Korra, I'm pretty sure half of that came from my land. I ain't blind – I can see that huge hole in the ground over there. Re-label one of them, or no dyes. Got it?" Korra smacked herself in the middle of the forehead, saying, "I'm sorry about that, Dai Chang. I forgot about property rights for a second, I was so excited about my finds." As Korra explained what little portion of the surrounding wealth Dai Chang's shop sat on, his eyes widened, saying, "WOW! Sounds like I'm going ta be rich soon, if the URN military boys want my resources. Good – I can use tha money to fill up with more dyes! Something tells me that I'm gonna be doing a lotta business with you and tha military soon, dyes and otherwise." Korra smiled, saying, "You got that right. Let's shake on it."

Korra had only been partially telling the truth, wanting to get a read on Dai Chang before she really trusted him, knowing she could just wipe his mind if he was a scumbag. As she heard Raava intone, _Read complete. He was once involved with the Triple Threat Triads, but the death of one of his close working partners made him turn away from a life of crime, _Dai Chang gave Korra a funny look, saying, "You infobending me or something? I feel like some little girl is judging my worth." Korra grinned nervously, saying, "Just wanted to make sure you're trustworthy. I'm glad you dropped out of the Triple Threat Triads." Dai Chang frowned deeply, saying, "I don't wanna hear their damn name! The way they iced my partner cause he was getting too powerful… I ain't never going crooked again. Now let's get you yer dyes, after ya re-label that bin of ore." Korra turned around, re-shuffling the contents of the containers, putting Dai Chang's property where it belonged. His container was now significantly fuller than Korra's, prompting him to say, "Dang! All that, from my property? If any of the Tenzin kids or new airbenders need ink for their tattoos, it's on me!"

Smiling, Korra said, "Thanks. Now I just need to load up my stuff in that third container and head on out of here." Given the way Dai Chang was able to help move the dyes without trouble, he must have been a waterbender. When Korra looked at his eyes closer, she saw they were blue, saying, "I guess you're a waterbender then, huh, Dai Chang." He laughed deeply saying as he idly fussed with his tacky shirt, "Yup. I think that's everything. Good luck, Avatar Korra."

Korra bowed, surprised to see he bowed back, turning to her container before she got involved in conversation again. Looking at her load, she realized that there was no way she could get back by 11:00 PM or so without making some major modifications. Remembering the body shape of Raava's Wrath, she carefully manipulated the metal container into a more streamlined shape, making sure to not hurt Impetuous Vine or Impatient Leaf. Realizing her load was still too heavy and un-aerodynamic, Korra re-formed the bottom of the container as she used the Avatar State to hold it over the waters of Republic City Bay. Korra had created a novel boat form that Raava had fed her fully after Korra thought of the basic concept. Looking at the strange thing Raava had called a "catamaran", Korra smiled, thinking, "Thanks for the help." Korra laughed at Raava's response of, _It's in Wan Shi Tong's library, so I don't see anything wrong with a little… help now and then. There's still stuff I won't share, though!_

Korra climbed onto the back of the catamaran after making sure Impetuous Vine and Impatient Leaf were secure, climbing into the special chair at the back. Using the metalbending assisted steering wheel, Korra pointed the ship towards Ember Factory Island, unleashing powerful blue jets of flame. Korra felt like a little girl playing with a wonderful toy, the time passing rapidly as she took her cargo back to the large island. Korra felt herself stop bending automatically, Raava intoning, _Don't crash the boat! We're here._

When Korra walked back to the dining hall, she noticed that Asami was studying a very personal blueprint along with Katara, able to see they had made some modifications to her tattoo design. Katara said, pointing to the head, "I figured you wouldn't want to cut your hair, Korra, so we replaced the tattoo on your scalp with spiritwire. It should still work, but Asami says we should fray the ends of the spiritwire to make sure." Korra noticed everyone in the hall looked awfully chipper, asking nervously, "You didn't drink Jang Hui kelp tea, did you?" Katara laughed, saying, "Just a tiny little bit. Meelo volunteered as a test subject, stopping drinking once he said he felt awake and energetic but not crazy. Why don't you go with Asami and make the equipment you need while everyone else prepares for the dual tattooing."

Korra cocked her head to the side slightly, saying, "What do you mean, dual tattooing? I don't remember any other tattoos..." Korra heard a voice from the back of the room say happily, "Tenzin decided while you were gone that mastering a new form of flight, Kai's personal transformation and especially converting Wan Shi Tong all on his own had earned Kai his Master Airbender tattoos." Korra smiled, saying, "I'm sure Kai must be ecstatic." Jinora smiled nervously as she walked into view, saying under electric light, "Kai's happy, but more confused than anything." With a genuine smile, Jinora added, "It took some convincing to get him to shave his head. He looks like a brown Aang now, just without the arrows."

Remembering that she would be naked for the tattooing, Korra said, "You aren't going to do me and Kai in the same room, right? That would be sort of creepy." Asami held up two skimpy swimsuits, saying, "You're going to be wearing this, Korra, and Kai will be wearing something similar." Korra laughed when Asami added, "Wu donated Kai's swimsuit, Tenzin and Katara making sure to give it a vigorous wash after. As you can see, it leaves about as much to the imagination as your swimsuit." Grabbing her two-piece swimsuit, Korra said, "You slip into something more comfortable and come to the mineral and metal vein with me, Asami. We've got some weapons to make." Grabbing Asami's hand, she headed to the earth tent from earlier.

Apparently, someone had "spruced up" the earth tent Korra and Asami had had the time of their lives in earlier, earthen floors replaced by white marble tile and electric lights installed. There was even a bed now, though not much else. Given how one of the tiles had a heart with a picture of Bolin and Opal inside, she was pretty sure who had made the changes, idly wondering if they had used the bed for anything. Korra smiled slightly when she saw how the bed's covers were slightly ruffled, saying, "Looks like Bolin and Opal did something else besides kiss." Asami laughed, saying, "The bed's not nearly messy enough for anything past what I saw them doing yesterday in a secluded spot. No, Atokara, you can't just ask people what kind of sex they had or didn't have! Stop listening to Raava so much!" Korra laughed, saying, "Atokara might be more trouble than we thought. You might need to send her to her womb if she's going to be like that. I don't want her too obsessed with sex, even if she is precocious." Asami laughed, saying, "She says she's sorry, and just wanted to know if they had felt oneness with each other strongly yet." Korra smiled, saying, "That sounds much better." As Korra took off her clothes, she got an interesting idea, telling Asami, "Why don't you use some of your eyeliner to carefully draw the tattoo lines on my body while I'm naked, and I can inspect how they will look in a mirror." Asami bobbed her head eagerly, saying, "Sure!"

Korra did her best to not laugh, move, or focus on the feelings of pleasure she felt as Asami drew on her body, finally failing when Asami was putting the finishing touches on Korra's forehead. Asami grumbled, saying, "Now it's all smudged, lovergirl. Why don't you take a look in an ice mirror while I finish fixing your head up."

Korra looked at herself, liking what she saw. The main lines were not thick enough to be distracting, but they still conveyed a sense of maturity and power. Looking at the hand that was holding up the ice mirror, Korra said, "Think you could add three smaller elemental symbols to each of my hands and feet?" Asami said, apparently with the eyeliner pencil in her mouth, "Shuure," continuing normally as she drew the symbols, "I can't get your head to look right. Part of your hair is in the way of the Raava diamond." Korra smiled, saying, "Let me try my hand at 'hairbending', and see if I can fix that." Abusing the Avatar State in a way she was sure would have earned her a lecture a few years ago, Korra made a heated metal comb and used the energy boost to force her hair to part in the middle of her scalp, making her hair obey her will and exposing much more of her forehead while still maintaining the overall style. Given the information flow on hair styling she felt while preening, Raava must have approved of Korra's decidedly petty use of the Avatar State, Korra laughing when she heard Raava intone, _It's not totally petty - you want people to see your tattoos, after all, and - nevermind, you're not going to try that. _Korra was pretty sure what Raava didn't want her to try - combustionbending. Asami dropped what she was doing, drawing in four thicker embellished lines leading to a central Raava diamond, Korra liking how each line had small elemental symbols in the center. Korra asked Asami to hold the ice mirror so she could get a better look at her back, remembering Asami had lingered there for an awfully long time.

When Korra saw the drawing on her back, she smiled broadly with a tear in her eye, saying, "That's beautiful, Asami? Did Atokara suggest it?" Asami giggled, saying, "Yeah. I made the image of Raava's spirit form in a style that I hope resembles Water Tribe art." Korra loved how the four elemental lines weaved in and out of Raava's form, saying as she made to hug Asami, "I love it!" Asami held out a hand, saying, "Not right now – you might smudge all my hard work. The sooner we go to that island, the sooner you can not have to worry about losing my work." Korra formed a new ice mirror from the melting shards of the old one, saying as she looked in the mirror, "Raava, store this new design, in full color. I'll infobend it out to everyone who's going to help me."

_While I do love your new ideas, Korra, don't you think we should test them first? We should test the tattoo over your left breast first, I think. Something tells me you'd want it even if it were just for decoration._

After telling Asami what Raava had said, Asami smiled, saying, "Maybe you'll have to give me one of my own, Korra, but later. Just infobend the design in full color out of my head and get into that swimsuit." Korra took the design from Asami, laughing when Asami playfully grabbed Korra's breast. Korra laughed so hard she was sure she had smudged Asami's work as Asami said in sing-songy English, "Korra the tattooed lady, She has glowing eyes that I adore so, And a chocolate torso that I love even more so." Asami finally finishing by saying, "I got a little help with that. I never figured Wan Shi Tong to be one for humor, much less romance. It's a good thing I gave you the design – your 'paintjob' is a mess!" Korra laughed, saying, "Let me wash it off, then we can – " Korra stopped short as Asami picked up a towel, saying sultrily, "Why don't you get this towel all wet for me, and I'll wash you off." Korra nodded, saying, "Make sure you do it playfully, but quickly."

Korra ended up helping Asami substantially, with her sweaty excitement providing more water. Korra shuddered as Asami wiped something other than sweat, saying, "I never thought I could make you cry in happiness with a towel." Korra laughed as she pointed at her other brain, saying, "You missed some happiness!" loving the way Asami stared as she said, "Oh. I guess I did. No _that _though! Not right now." Now fully dry, Korra said, "Hand me that bikini. I'll carry you over to the vein." Asami put a delicate hand to her chin, saying, "No. We should take your boat. Hopefully it's unloaded by now, and we can haul a generator and electric lights from the factory over so we can work under stronger light." Korra gave Asami a kiss square on the mouth, pressing against her partially exposed chest as she said after, "I love how smart you are. Let's go, as much as my body wants to stay." Smiling, Asami said, "Why don't I wear my swimsuit, so your body doesn't get bored."

After Korra got dressed, she looked at Asami changing into her bikini longingly. Korra was only brought back to the present by a light bonk, realizing she must have involuntarily levitated. Asami laughed, saying, "Maybe Tenzin can fly after all, if just looking at me naked can send your head up to kiss the ceiling. Now come on, and let's go grab some equipment." The time went by in a blur, Varrick having luckily brought both a generator and large battery aboard the Zhu Li, parting with a mover spotlight with some protest. Kuvira gave Asami an electric tattoo needle for Asami to make the first test tattoo with, every dye that wasn't needed offloaded from the ship. Impetuous Vine and Impatient Leaf joined Mr. Tuber-Vine inside the factory, loud calls of "HMMMMM HMMMMM", "UHHH HUHHH" and "VRMMM VRMMM" emanating from the building. Remembering her earlier near crash, Korra opted to take the catamaran over to the mineral vein slowly, using waterbending to make the short trip, being careful to not let the large ball of spiritwire tip into the sea.

After the generator and battery had been set up, Korra entered the Avatar State and began generating lightning, hoping she wouldn't overdo it and make the battery explode with direct current. Korra stopped channeling the lightning once she heard a familiar alarm blare. Smiling, Korra said in the bright light of the mover spotlight, "Okay, Asami. I'm ready for the test tattoo. Just do the outline at first, though – we still have a time limit."

At first, the needle hurt badly, Korra feeling like someone was embroidering her like a piece of fleshy cloth. Remembering what Aang had said about meditating, Korra meditated, focusing on the crashing of waves near her. This dulled the pain to a more tolerable level. When Asami said, "I'm done with the outline," Korra began meditating on _that _with Asami instead, laughing as she did so. Asami let out a surprised yelp, saying, "I – I think this is going to work, Korra! The lines are glowing a bright white! Almost as bright as that mover spotlight, I might add. Just what are you thinking of, to dull the pain?" Korra opened her eyes, laughing as she pointed at Asami's pleasingly small lower bikini piece. Asami's cheeks flushed, saying, "Oh, _that_." Smiling, Asami said, "When you're making the two suits and armblades, why don't you try thinking of me? It might make the process easier." As Korra explained how she was able to make Dang Chang's elevator and two new stories with ease, Asami said, "That's really interesting. If you think about your love for me, the suits and weapons should hopefully be as easy as making Dai Chang's shop bigger, given everything can double for protection." Sighing light, Asami added, "I don't think we should rely on that ability to rebuild all of Republic City, though – you're even more unique than you were a week ago, after all that has happened. We don't want to rely on this new ability as a crutch, after all – I remember Aang's warning about infobending very clearly."

Korra sighed, nodding in agreement as she said, "I guess you're right. People can't rely on me too much. I will say this, though – if Jinshu Kuangmai ever devastates Republic City, or a Korranium weapon is used on a city, I will use this new ability to repair the damage."

Korra felt an energy surge beside her, turning to see a frowning Raava say, "There's already been one 'city' devastated, Korra – the Northern Air Temple. By Ghazan. Something tells me that Jinora is going to lead the Air Nation to be a more traditional entity, with a new capital and all." With a toothy grin, Raava added, "Plus, imagine the look on Zaheer's face when you show him photos of a new Air Nation capital as you fly around his holding cell." Korra groaned, saying, "No, I don't want to take pleasure in the suffering of others! He helped me when he didn't have to, you dolt!" Korra added meekly, "Though I do want to see his face just for curiosity's sake. Now get back in here, please."

After a laughing Raava had vanished, Asami said, "Wow, you've certainly changed. I just hope Atokara is more like the new you, and less like the… uh, less _advanced_ Korra I met four years ago." Korra laughed, saying, "You can be honest with me, Asami. I know I wasn't exactly a good Avatar when I first came to Republic City. I could fight just fine, but I had more than a few emotional and spiritual issues." Standing up, Korra hugged Asami, saying, "I'll have to thank you later, if you know what I mean." Asami laughed, saying, "Let's see what you can do, Korra."

Korra moved a dark-skinned hand, entering into the Avatar State as she formed an ice mirror. She gave Asami's wonderful glowing work a good look, loving how the lines that formed the outer edge of the tattoo above her heart glowed brightly. Remembering the whole reason Asami had done this part first, Korra bent over a piece of spiritwire, carefully laying it over her heart. Korra's eyes widened as the spiritwire piece began to glow a bright blue and white, the colors shifting back and forth along its length. Korra heard Asami say loudly, "YES! It works! Now let's revamp your armblade and mechasuit design with this in mind."

After about 15 minutes of work, they had settled on new designs for both. The armblade's spiritwire no longer directly contacted Korra's chi lines, instead just touching where her tattooed skin was. After some experimenting with bundles of spiritwire, Korra managed to project an image out the end, adding spiritwires in a spiral on the surface of the suit's hands. Realizing that she would probably want to keep the suit's gloves on even when not inside the metal shell, she re-designed the suit's interaction with the gloves. Where there had been nothing on her underarms, there was now a metal bar that snapped into to the metallic glove like a lock, the gloves able to stay with the suit or detach along with her armblades. The gloves drew power from the tattoo on her fist directly.

Realizing that neither the armblades nor the suit had a name, Korra labeled the blades as "Avatar's Bite" and the suit as "Korra's Spirit," liking the pat Asami gave her on the bare skin of her back. Korra laughed as she heard Raava intone, _About time you named something ferocious. Don't forget your old, fiery self!_

In line with Raava's advice, Korra added twin repeater spirit cannons to each shoulder. Smiling in a way she hadn't in a long time, Korra added two detachable metal blades with one large blood gem on one side, the blades stored in her thighs with the blood gem down. Remembering that some spirits could now bleed, Korra thought, "I want to put a pix on my blood, Asami's and your own blood inside those two blood gems, Raava. I want to be able to control them precisely at long distances."

_Ooookay… I don't know if that will work, and if I do bleed, it probably won't be very much._

Taking a deep breath and bringing the schematic for the Avatar's Bites to her mind, Korra carefully put her jade betrothal necklace in her mouth partially, giggling mutely as she felt like she were doing _that_ to Asami right now. Savoring this feeling, Korra let her spirit come through, effortlessly making both Avatar's Bites at once. Korra grunted at Asami, not wanting to take the pendant out of her mouth, "I'm gahna need ya blood, bootyful," feeling the locket pop open inside her mouth as Asami laughed. Korra started gagging slightly, removing the jade pendant reluctantly. Korra slipped one of the Avatar's Bites on, using the one of the twin blades to carefully make an incision in her own arm and Asami's, using a different blade each time. Eyes glowing, Korra infused the eight gems on the Avatar's Bites with the blood, noticing the spiritwire glowing white and blue as she did so. After healing her own wound and Asami's cut, Korra picked them up on a whim, seeing if they would work without spiritwires or tattoo.

Korra smiled broadly, saying, "Look, I can bend from the blades!" as she created flaming sheaths on all four longblades, the blue fire mesmerizing her. Korra looked to see if the spiritwire was glowing white and blue as it had before, and she frowned, saying, "I guess I'll need the tattoos after all," when she saw it wasn't glowing. Wanting to get used to the strange weapons, Korra thought of her feeling of love for Asami and how they had been as one earlier, feeling her limbs move of their own as her body was gradually covered in metal. When the final piece was laid, her breast plate and its twin breastbeams, Korra noticed through her new visor that the spiritwire lines on her unpainted, metallic suit were glowing a faint blue and white, almost invisible.

Turning to Asami, she said, "It works! How do you like yours?" surprised to hear Asami's tinny response. Asami said, over what must have been the radio communications system, "I love it! I can't move, though, so you need to bring me those two tuber-vines you found." Korra sighed lowly, saying with a happier voice, "Okay!" not really wanting to leave her mechasuit, now that she was in it.

When she stepped out, she kept the Avatar's Bites on, retracting the blades so she wouldn't hurt Impatient Leaf and Impetuous Vine. While she was in transit with the tuber-vines, she heard Raava intone, _Instead of blood, why don't we try tears instead. I can think of a bunch of depressing stuff from Earth, and bawl my eyes out._ Korra chuckled slightly, saying, "Make sure to _not _tell me what you're thinking about, Raava." Korra groaned when she heard a familiar voice groan, "If I'm gonna help your love interest fight, Korra, I want to see!" Korra grumbled, "That's your business, Impetuous Vine, not mine. I hope you two don't drive Asami crazy." Korra laughed as she heard Raava intone, _You better not, or I'll wipe your personalities. Got it? _and synchronous calls of "VRMMMM VRMMMM" and "UHH HUHH" afterwards, noticing the tuber-vines sounded concerned.

Once both tuber-vines were in their forever home, Asami said loudly, "I already have my hands full with Atokara, so you two better be quiet!" Korra laughed as a helmetless Asami smirked, saying, "They know who the boss is. I want to test out my breastbeams really quick before we put our blood into the gems on your other twin blades." Korra projected Raava out after bending her suit and the twin thighblades closer, explaining what Raava wanted to do instead. Asami opened the metal of her closest arm, saying as the metal retracted enough to show her white skin, "I still want my blood and yours inside the gems, Korra. It should help against Dark Spirits." Asami smiled, adding, "Atokara says she wants Raava's help to put her love for us into the gems we have already." Korra smiled as she opened a void in both of her thighblades's blood gems, saying, "That's awfully sweet. Time to cry, Raava."

Korra was glad that Raava spoke aloud in a tongue that her brain could not translate fully, but somehow she still got the gist of what Raava was making herself cry about. After Raava had finished, the recess in both gems a third full, Korra said, "I don't know what you were speaking in, Raava, but some of the imagery rubbed off on me. Mind removing it? Especially that… factory." Raava's eyes widened, saying, "Okay. I'm sorry – I didn't mean to disturb you." As Raava placed a hand on Korra's forehead, she felt the information vanish as Raava intoned _That was a universal language of love. I think I'll need to do the same memory wipe with Asami._ Given how Asami was crying slightly, Raava had been right. Korra smiled weakly as she watched Raava climb up Asami's Reach, placing a small hand on Asami's forehead. Raava laughed when she was done, saying, "Luckily, Atokara didn't get any of that. Now let's see what happens when you mix my tears with your blood."

Once Korra had taken blood from herself and Asami, she infused it into the gems, gasping as she saw the spiritwire on the blade's surface begin to glow blue and white steadily, gradually dimming to a constant slow pulsing. Raava said loudly, "Okay, now for Atokara's contribution. You don't have to take the suit off, Asami – I need to have direct contact anyways." As Raava held her hand inside Asami's stomach, Korra let Raava touch the blood gems one by one as Asami smiled broadly. Given how Raava stopped after Korra was done with her equipment, Atokara must have somehow transferred her love for "mommy Asami" more directly.

After a curious Raava tried and failed to make herself bleed using one of the Avatar's Bite blades, Korra recalled her, saying, "I'm getting a little hungry, and since I won't need sake to dull the pain from surgery, I could go for some Jang Hui kelp tea later. I think I can handle the pain of spiritwire implanted under my scalp if I meditate. Let's go."

As Korra approached the Ember Factory Island using flight instead of her suit, she felt a familiar tug on her mind. Once she landed, Korra projected Aang out, asking after lowering her visor, "What do you want? Is it about whatever you needed earlier?" Aang grinned, saying, "Yes. Remember, you'll need Asami for this as well. We can meet in the Spirit World while you get your tattoos done." Korra said, giving Aang a skeptical look, "What about Koh, and Long Yumao?" Aang laughed, saying, "From what I have 'heard', Koh is refusing to help Long Yumao until his upstart ally gets more powerful again. Let's just say Hei Bai's conversion had a nice side effect."

Korra laughed, saying, "Now there's someone I wouldn't mind gloating to. I can't wait to see him." Korra said with a smile, "I'm still looking forward to my tattoos more, though." Aang said with a gleam in his eye, "You're not the only one who has earned the title of Master, though I doubt either one of you will actually use it." Korra chuckled, saying, "A 'Master Avatar' wouldn't be a 'Master Avatar' if they gloated about their achievement or advancement, now, would they?"

Korra was confused by how Aang said with trepidation, "Uhhhh… I guess you're right."


	42. Chapter 42: Opening a Path

Chapter 42: Opening a Path

Now that Korra was at the factory, she looked at Asami's suit with a start, something within her finding its lack of paint offensive. Remembering that her body image would need to be updated with the new tattoos, Korra said loudly into the radio communicator, "Asami, get out of your suit, please. I want to paint both of our suits, and I need to make some modifications to mine!" Forgetting to recall Aang, Korra drew on her spirit and began re-shaping her suit's spiritwire to more closely resemble her tattoos-to-be, even changing her suit's "hair" shape to better show the Raava diamond and four thicker elemental lines.

Exiting the suit, she admired her handiwork, adding on three symbols she forgot earlier directly by channeling Raava's energy into the suit's chest, spiritwire not fine enough to do the detail work. Realizing that part of her back would be visible, she did the same on the back, adding in spiritwire where her brown flesh color paintjob would show next to the different colored lines once painted. Not able to wait any longer, she yelled, "Can anyone tell me where the dyes are, or bring them over here? I want to paint now!"

Korra jumped slightly when she heard Aang say, "WOW! I wish Raava had contacted me. I can't believe you just did all that!" Korra was about to say something, but she felt an energy surge next to her and a familiar voice say drolly, "I figured you were panicked enough about the Fire Nation and the Air Nomad genocide and didn't need me to appear directly for you, Aang." Korra gave Raava a withering look, saying, "It's not all about business, you know. It sounds like Aang wanted to know you just to know you." Aang sighed, saying, "Yeah. It would have been nice, to know everything about Harmonic Convergence, before – what's the look for, Korra? I thought you were on my side!" Korra laughed, saying as she gave Aang "that look", "It would have been nice if _you _warned me about Harmonic Convergence like you were supposed to, instead of peeping at Katara."

Aang began twiddling his thumbs, saying, "Uh, Roku wants to tell me something. Bye!" Korra laughed as Roku replaced Raava, saying, "I know you're lying, Aang. I can see the object of your desires approaching with a lot of dye, as well as Korra's parents and your own daughter, so I'll just leave now." Snickering as she did so, Korra recalled them both, saying loudly, "Thanks for the help. Just set the dye containers down on the ground – I'll take it from here."

Korra drew up an image of Asami's Reach and its color scheme in her mind, carefully choosing just the right dye for the job, using the Avatar State to infuse the color into the metal somehow. When she looked at the suit, there was a slight amount of vapor coming off. Puzzled, Korra approached the suit, the vapor gone as soon as it had appeared. Shrugging, Korra intently focused on using the dye to "paint" her own suit in a similar fashion, vapor and all. Getting a funny idea, she made the two suits hug each other with metalbending, remembering her little performance with the ice puppets yesterday. As she heard Asami laugh in the background, she found herself making Korra's Spirit a little more spirited, laughing as a metal hand slapped Asami's Reach's anatomically accurate butt.

Smiling broadly, Korra turned around, seeing everyone but Asami staring at her with wide eyes. At first, Korra thought the staring was due to her little puppet stunt, but it was Katara who broke the silence, saying, "What did you do with that dye, Korra? It almost looked like you were... etching the metal, as though with acid." Korra shrugged, saying, "Acidbending? That's ridiculous!" Her mother, Senna, looked vaguely uncomfortable, but Korra ignored it after someone she didn't think would be present said, "I don't know, Korra. I thought lavabending was crazy, and look at what I can do now!" Korra nodded slightly, saying, "I guess you're right, Bolin. And why are you here? I thought the tattooing was going to be women only." Bolin laughed, saying, "I was gonna help prepare Kai for his tattoos, along with your dad, but came along, curious to see what you made. That suit looks intimidating." Pointing at the suit's shoulders, he asked, "How did you make spirit cannons that small? Only Kuvira knows that kind of… oh, wait. Nevermind. Now I remember her telling me about some infobending you did."

Korra manipulated the suit into the brighter light, saying, "Use this for reference, if you get stuck. I'll also infobend you the tattoo designs and temporary artistic skill, just to make sure I don't wake up with tattoos I want to hide instead of show." After some laughter from Lin, Su, Kuvira, Senna, Kya and Katara, Korra slammed her hand against the ground, imparting the information to those who would need it. When she stood up, eyes still glowing she heard her mother say, "Oh, wow! I love how that tattoo glows when your eyes do!" Korra smiled, saying, "And so do I. Though, I imagine you won't like doing the Raava and Vaatu tattoo, mom." Senna shook her head, saying, "We all have a little evil in us, shattering your dark self or not." Her mother had an odd look on her face, so Korra said, "Why don't you come over here, mom, and we can talk about whatever is troubling you."

Senna sighed, saying, "I suppose it's better that everyone hears, especially seeing how you etched the dyes into the metal of those suits already." Korra's eyes widened as her mother said nervously, "Bolin isn't the only one with a special talent, you know. I've hidden mine for years, out of regret for what I accidentally did one time, when I was young." Korra scratched her head, saying, "Why are you crying, mom? You didn't kill someone, did you?"

Slowly, Korra heard her mother say words she had never expected: "Yes… I did. Messily."

Korra's eyes widened as her mother said, "When I was about Kai's age, an older man tried to assault me. I still remember it very clearly. I was playing by myself on a glacier when a deep voice from behind me called me over. Thinking it was my father, I innocently walked towards the source of the voice, finding my… limbs encased in ice when I got close enough." Korra said, crying, "What happened? I never heard you tell me you almost got molested before." Senna shook her head, saying, "I learned to live with what he tried to do rapidly afterwards, grief over my own actions eclipsing the horrible man's intentions. When he got close, I yelled, 'You won't take me easily!' I broke the ice, and formed what I thought was a ball of normal hot water…"

Crying slightly, her mother continued, "But it wasn't. When I shot the hot water at his hands, he grabbed it, screaming, 'IT BURNS! Just what kind of monster are you, little girl! That felt like… acid!'" Korra listened, seeing everyone stare at Senna as she continued, "Knowing my life was still in danger, in a fit of rage I sent wave after wave of the caustic water at him, somehow knowing it was either me or him at that point. The adrenaline rush was so powerful, by the time I stopped, I could see exposed bone, and fluids I'd rather forget pooled around his lifeless body." Senna said mournfully, "Horrified at what I had done, and never wanting anyone to find out, I tried to replicate the feat, finding that I could, producing another kind of caustic water that I hadn't noticed before." Sighing, she continued with some tears, "I used the acid to dissolve his body, heating the acidic water to near boiling using my more conventional bending. I vowed to never use this horrible talent again, even if my life was in danger." Smiling, she added, "Though, if I had been present when the Red Lotus tried to kidnap you, I probably would have broken my vow. You're my everything, Korra."

Korra ran over, hugging her mother intently, not even caring about her own odd choice of dress. Senna kissed her on the cheek, saying, "Before we do anything else, I want to see if you inherited this… talent of mine. I don't know if I hope you did or not." Korra stood back, turning away from the crowd as she made an earthen mockup of Jinshu Kuangmai riding Long Yumao like a beast of war. Drawing water from the moist air, Korra imagined the results of a partnership between the two and her angry sadness at the being of darkness from Earth's plane. Eyes flashing, she felt herself separate the water into two balls of equal size, tossing the one on the right at the sculpture after she superheated it. Korra was glad she had made the target far away – the water devoured the earth, even eating down into the ground below! On some impulse, she tossed the other ball at the acid, neutralizing it, feeling an intense heat come her way afterwards.

_Maybe you need to study some Earth chemistry if you can do this weird bending, Korra. It would help make sure you don't mis-use it._ After a pause, Raava added, _I think I even know how it works. Somehow, you and your mother can concentrate something Earth scientists call "hydronium ions" in one body of water to form a strong acid, and concentrate something else they call "hydroxide ions" in another body of water into a strong base, like bleach._

Korra had just one question for Raava, thinking, "Did Atokara inherit this ability?" Korra was frustrated when her eyes flashed white briefly, Raava saying from her larger form over the sea, "I do not know if your daughter inherited this ability, nor will I try to find out. On Earth, they know what many genes do. I am not going to tell any mortal where the mutation for lavabending or acidbending lies. In fact, if anyone finds it, I will wipe the knowledge from their minds. Earth has enough problems handling 'genetic engineering' as is, and there aren't any 'supersoldier' genes or mutations there, like lavabending or acidbending." For some reason, Korra understood Raava perfectly, loudly agreeing with her stance. Everyone else just nodded their heads, Kuvira saying, "Uh-huh. Right. Got it." Raava turned into a huge laughing girl, saying, "Good. Now let's quit yammering and start tattooing." Korra felt her eyes and solitary tattoo glow again, remembering what Aang wanted with her and Asami during the meantime.

Once Korra lay prone on a part operating table, part tattoo bench, she said, "Do the scalp spiritwire first. Get the most painful part out of the way now." Clenching her teeth as Su obliged her request a short time later, Korra focused on the jade betrothal necklace she was gripping tightly in her own hands. Korra imagined that a naked Asami was standing over her instead of Su. Once Korra felt the spiritwire laid in place, Su said loudly, "Stitching you back up, Korra. With your hair in the way, this could take a while." Korra managed to growl softly, "It's fine. Just do it."

After a while, Korra noticed that the pain was no longer searing, hearing Raava intone, _Your natural painkillers must have kicked in. I'm going to tell Atokara to tell Asami to start meditating now – there is another secret you need to know._ Korra found herself saying in a multi-voice, "Bring the Avatar's real clothes here, and lay the envelope that Asami Sato sent Avatar Korra a letter in over the Avatar's chest." Korra laughed internally as she spoke with Aang's young voice, "saying", "And no peeking at the envelope, Katara, or anyone else!"

When Korra came to, she noticed that she was standing on a brightly-lit Air Nomad ruin, fog swarming in the distance. She noticed she was wearing her regular clothes and holding the envelope that Asami's letter had been inside, curious as to why an envelope was important. Korra noticed something odd about the envelope when she gave it a closer inspection, but ended up distracted by the fact that her right hand was now fully tattooed. Korra found herself staring at the larger symbol for Water intently, smiling. Korra looked around, seeing that she wasn't alone – Asami, now in her regular clothes as well, was talking with a fleshy young Aang, Raava tapping her foot in boredom. Korra said loudly, "I'm here! Before we get started, I want to do something first. Here, Asami, take this envelope."

Korra was rather confused by how Asami treated the envelope like a precious artifact, nor why Raava said, "Wait! I need to infobend you about that, Asami… it's not what you think." Korra did not like how Asami yelled back, "Get away from me! I can see the ink clearly!" Not having any idea what was going on, Korra busied herself with looking in a large elevated pool connected to five other ones of similar sizes, with one final larger pool. Korra noticed that water was flowing from the first pool into the next as she examined her reflection, but it was partially blocked by some waterweeds and earth. Having a vague idea what this sequential pool could be, Korra examined her forehead, knowing she'd need some guidance if she were to remove the block entirely.

Ignoring a heated argument that she hoped was between Aang and Raava, Korra re-focused on the image in front of her. Looking at a reflection she loved, Korra sighed contentedly as she traced the light blue and white diamond on her forehead, finding herself wishing all the lines on her body were as intricate and thick as the ones visible on her forehead. Korra looked at the four lines feeding into the diamond, tracing them in the proper order. Air was represented by a thick light yellow line with smaller symbols for Air running down its center. As Korra traced the symbols for Water inside the deep blue line that represented Water, she noticed that it felt as though she were actually manipulating water as she did so. Tracing the line for Air again, Korra noticed a similar sensation, laughing like a little girl. She was too happy to be bothered by the sound of a heavy slap behind her.

Korra heard another sound and turned her gaze to the blockage, seeing that the fourth pool looked different somehow. Realizing that the pools must represent her chakras, she tried saying, "I fear nothing," frowning slightly when she saw ice form temporarily on the surface of a now-stilled first pool that said in English, "Wrong chakra. Try again." Putting the idea of opening her chakras fully out of her mind for now, Korra returned to looking at her forehead, enjoying the passion she felt when tracing the ruby red line for Fire. Korra saw the stone lip between the second and third pools lower slightly, increasing the water flow substantially. When she traced the dark brown line for Earth, the fourth line, Korra felt as though she were bending metal and earth at the same time, smiling to see that the plants impeding the flow of water in the first pool had shriveled slightly.

Knowing that nobody present would mind, she took off her shirt to get a better look at the tattoos on her chest. Korra laughed when she noticed she was still wearing a bikini beneath, mesmerized by how her chest moved as she laughed freely. Korra wanted to save the best tattoo for last, so she started by looking at the symbol of Raava and Vaatu over her right breast first, saying, "That is awfully vivid." Without thinking, she added, "The better a reminder it will be, for its 'honesty'," noticing that the fifth pool shimmered slightly as she did so, laughing when she heard Dark Korra curse her in English in her head. Korra heard Asami bark, "Like you know anything about honesty! Get away from me, Raava - I want to _talk _to Korra about this, when she's done staring at herself!"

Not knowing why Asami was so angry, Korra began to cry slightly, distracting herself by touching the center of her chest on the Water symbol. Negative feelings overridden, Korra smiled, feeling a pleasant chill on her being as she did so, as though she were wearing iceclothes. Remembering the last time she had worn them, her eyes widened as she saw English ice letters form in the second pool that said, "No sexual shame means Water Chakra much easier." Realizing the reason for this message, Korra looked at her favorite tattoo, one she likely would have gotten even without the issues raised by her armblades and mechasuit.

Seeing the full-color version of Asami's handholding yin and yang above her chest made Korra start to cry happy tears, saying, "I don't know what I'd do without you now, Asami. I just wish we had come together earlier…"

The strong strike in the middle of her back felt like someone had just punched a hole in her soul.

Korra got up off the ground, saying, "I thought Long Yumao was supposed to be weak now? It felt like a beak just bit me in the middle of my back." When Korra looked around, she saw both Aang and Raava standing back in horror, Raava saying, "I… I think you need to have a talk with Asami, Korra. She won't let me explain…"

That's when Korra could no longer ignore the heavy, angry breathing to her side. Turning towards its source, she was momentarily stunned by what she saw. Asami's jade green eyes were flashing menacingly, with a hint of instability. Before Korra could move or speak, Asami said as she held out what looked like a letter, "Explain THIS! The only way that all the text on this could be visible is if you applied heat, then water, then _tears_. I know you read this envelope, Korra." Korra started to cry silently, unable to make sense of why Asami was so angry and hurt. Not looking at the envelope, Korra said, "I don't remember anything about this, aside from waking up from a bad blackout when I was on the run and seeing 'Keep Asami's envelope' etched into the floor in front of me. Give it to me, and maybe I can remember better…"

Korra heard a sound from Raava's direction, but Asami interrupted, saying, "Silence! You wouldn't understand how hurt and betrayed I feel, Raava, especially considering that Korra just admitted to having known while on the run from the world!" Korra now felt hurt more than confused, saying, "What is wrong with you, Asami? You are NOT setting a good example for Atokara right now!" Asami's eyes temporarily widened, then contracted as she said, "She started crying a while ago, so I sent her to her womb. Much like you might banish an annoying Raava, I might add."

Korra didn't know what her body was doing as her brown hand slapped Asami across the mouth, nor where "You can be abusive of me, but you will NOT mistreat my daughter!" came from. Korra began wrestling with Asami, trying to get a hand on her forehead, saying, "Just let me see what was in that letter, and I might be able to heal your hurt!" Asami used a boot to knee Korra in the groin, saying, "While you're on the ground, why don't you take a nice look at it, and maybe you'll stop LYING to me!"

As Korra read the letter, she began bawling, but not from physical hurt. Korra said with complete desperation and sincerity, "I… I don't remember this at all, Asami." Asami crossed her arms in a huff, saying, "I made those three inks very specifically for this, Korra, and I _know_ you must have read it, and cried profusely while reading." Turning around, Asami barked, "What do you want, Raava? To bug me some more? I don't want any infobending about this!"

Hoping a hug might help, Korra surprised Asami with a big bear hug, saying, "I have no idea what's going on right now, Asami, but I'm willing to work through _anything_ with you. I'll even refrain from infobending." Korra racked her brain, trying to remember something, anything connected to the envelope, coming up with almost nothing. Sighing deeply, Asami said, "If you can't be honest about why you read, then ignored my love letter…"

Before she could finish, an adult Aang barked, "Don't you _dare_ say the words I think you're going to say, Asami. Infobending will be required here - the memory you both need to see was erased by hatred, long ago, only Raava preventing it from being lost forever. What Raava and I were trying to tell you is that Korra suffered a memory wipe, even Raava only able to remember part of what happened." Korra felt some horrible feeling of déjà vu, saying, "All I managed to remember about the events surrounding the instructions on the floor was that one minute I was making myself an earthen cot in a cave, and the next I was passed out of the floor." Thinking harder, Korra said, "I also remember Uncle Iroh visiting me when I was falling asleep, talking about time and love for some reason I didn't understand."

Korra heard a rustling in some nearby bushes, glad to hear a friendly male voice say, "Don't worry, Korra. You and Asami aren't like my nephew and Mai. I am sure you'll put aside your small differences and go on with your lives." Korra vaguely considered knocking Asami out with lightning when Asami said angrily, "Our lives TOGETHER would have been a lot longer if Korra had acted on the stupid envelope! I can't believe that anything is powerful enough to wipe the Avatar's memory!"

With a deep sigh, Raava said, "You underestimate the power of self-hatred and your dark half, Asami. Dark Korra has as much power as Korra gives her, and you are no different, Asami. I want you to do something _right now_. Think of your sphere, yin and yang, and how it should look."

Korra heard an ominous screeching sound, followed by a sickening boiling and stench, as though a soul were being cooked. Korra tried to find the source, and found herself staring at a sight she wished to never see again.

Asami's doppler was back, partially transformed by Asami's reprehensible behavior. The creature raspily said, next to a partially black yin yang sphere with a boiling surface, playing with bizarre feathers that covered parts of its limbs, "I never thought I'd be free again, much less able to help you corrupt _yourself_. Now, I'll just be standing back, and letting you continue your lovely work. I look forward to blindly having sex with all sorts of different women, no love involved." Asami took a deep breath, saying with remorse, "I'm sorry, Korra, for not trusting you. Let's see this event, together, as one." Ignoring the screeching, Korra let Asami kiss her deeply on the mouth, saying once Asami was done, "I forgive you."

The screeching doppler gone and the sphere still slightly blackened, Raava said, "There's still one person who needs an apology from you, Asami. Atokara." Korra sighed deeply as Asami began crying, saying, "I totally forgot about her. I'm such a bad mother…" Korra watched the darkness on the sphere grow and the white section being to boil again, telling Asami sternly, "You need to remember what you said earlier today, and quick - how you love yourself." When Asami did not immediately reply, Korra felt desperate, saying as she grabbed Asami's butt, "I mean, how can you not, Assami?"

As Asami laughed, Korra watched the sphere turn white again with relief, noticing they had a new companion with them. A four-year old Atokara said, "I hope I'm not in trouble for leaving my womb, mommy Asami. You just seemed so sad." Remembering that they were supposed to be in the Spirit World, Korra asked, "If we're in the Spirit World, how is Atokara here?" Raava laughed, saying, "Your inner world and the Spirit World connect, inextricably linked. You remember how Long Yumao appeared in Jinshu Kuangmai's inner world, right?" Korra nodded, saying, "Yes, I do. Atokara, time to go back to your womb - something tells me mommy Asami will need all your love for this."

Atokara nodded, saying eagerly, "Okay!" After she had vanished, Raava said, "I had originally planned to show this to Korra first, and let it go from there. If Asami hadn't been so… angry earlier, I would have shown her exactly why Korra never returned the gesture in the letter. Despite having read _and_ accepted it, I may add." Korra smiled deeply at the way Asami nuzzled her, saying as she sighed, "I should have listened to Raava in the first place. Come, let's see what's in store for us."

Korra stood back, telling Aang and Uncle Iroh, "I want you two to make sure Raava doesn't get bothered by Long Yumao, or that teapot around her necklace stolen." Raava laughed, saying, "I'll put it back inside - for now. It will mean that Jinshu Kuangmai and Vaatu can communicate, however, without the seal's effects." Korra was torn, considering the plusses and minuses of both options, deciding to tell Raava, "Keep the necklace on," after remembering how Vaatu wanted to give Jinshu Kuangmai blueprints for Korranium weapons, and all sorts of other horrors. Given how loud cursing escaped the teapot, it must have been the right decision. Aang volunteered, "Since I have experience with chakras, I can help look at Korra's chakra representation."

Remembering that Asami needed her chakras unblocked as well, Korra said, "What about Asami? She'll need some help." At Uncle Iroh's behest, Raava whistled, speaking in the same strange language of love she had earlier after.

Asami looked so happy she might just die, saying as she ran from Korra's embrace, "Mom! Dad! I… I never thought I'd get to see you again!" As Asami hugged her parents, Hiroshi said, "I do not want grief to consume you, Asami. Your mother, Yasuko, passed away many years ago, but her love for you can be re-born in your love for your daughter." With a smile, he added, "And Korra," making Asami begin to cry, saying, "Thank you so much, father. It means a lot more, coming directly from you rather than just a vision." Raava coughed, saying, "That was no vision. Your father has been reincarnated already, into a life that will make sure he learns the lessons he failed as your father." Hiroshi turned to Raava, saying, "Which ones? Being an Equalist sympathizer, or the repression of my daughter I now regret?" Raava laughed, saying, "It's against the rules to tell specifics, but let's just say your more personal regret will come in handy." Hiroshi took a deep breath, saying, "I can only hope I weather the storm as well as my daughter did. If you wouldn't mind, Raava, can you make what you called us here for?"

Raava said, with a smile, "Just one second," then Korra found herself moving without input, a series of seven large interlocked gears appearing, with some critical teeth jammed by what looked like oily towels. Knowing what this must be, Korra tried to incinerate the towels, laughing when she heard Raava intone, _You can't solve other people's problems for them, Korra - only help. Why do you think I didn't just give you all the secrets of the universe the day you were born? It'd be so… boring that way! _Raava added, now outside Korra's body, "Some of the other beings of light like to directly manipulate their universes constantly. So boring… ugh, don't even get me started on how they go on and on and on during the meetings every 100,000 years. If I were like them I'd say, 'Oh, look at me, master puppeteer! Did I tell you about the time I made Mako and Bolin make out with Korra, then each other?'" Korra shook her head, saying loudly, "That's just not right! Th…. Bluch! Gahh!" Hiroshi gave Raava an uneasy look, saying, "I… I want to take a look at these gears. You can just keep your filth to yourself." Smiling slightly, he added, "I hope your dirty tendencies haven't rubbed off on my granddaughter.

Of course, Atokara chose just that moment to appear, saying in iceclothes, "Raava's told me all sorts of fun words! And I know what momma Korra looks like naked!" Hiroshi slapped his forehead, saying, "Gears, gears, gears… you do look beautiful, though, Atokara." Atokara skipped over to the gears, poking and prodding them as she said, "Why is the fourth one so jammed up, mommy Asami? I thought you were over your grief!" Asami sighed, saying, "I guess I'm not." Yasuko smiled, saying, "Grief doesn't just vanish overnight, Asami. In fact, I'd be worried if you felt _no _grief whatsoever." Asami nodded, saying, "I guess my grief is just part of who I am, and as long as I don't let them drain the joy from my life - Korra and Atokara, among other things - it doesn't matter if I still mourn my parent's deaths, or the time whatever this memory wipe cost me with Korra." Asami continued, saying, "My father gave his life willingly to stop Kuvira, my mother was the victim of random violence that has been greatly reduced, and my love for Korra and Atokara is timeless, two or three years lost as a grain of sand on an endless beach."

Korra was nodding in agreement as she saw the fourth gear light up with energy, blue and white lines pulsing through previously hidden circuitry below, the central smaller gears clanking rapidly. It appeared as though the only reason the gear didn't move fully was the oily towel in the link to the gear above it, the oily towel between what must have been the Air "chakra" gear and the Sound "chakra" gear reduced to rags, sure to be shredded by Asami easily.

Raava walked over, saying nervously, "That's odd. I've never seen anyone partially unblock the fourth chakra by _accepting_ grief's existence, and not trying to eliminate it entirely, considering it a proper emotion to have, but in limited amounts." Laughing, Raava added, "Of course, I've never seen anyone unlock their seventh chakra by embracing their earthly tether, so to speak. Korra isn't the only spiritual prodigy, I guess." When Korra looked at the seventh pool and seventh gear, she noticed both look very clean, the pool having some swimming fish inside she hadn't noticed before, smiling when she saw they were blue and jade. The gear had a similar pattern, a central dais with a blue and jade yin and yang symbol turning slowly.

Aang said incredulously, "Guru Pathik told me you had to open them in order. I don't know how you two partially opened all seven at once…" Korra laughed, saying, "I guess saying 'I love who I am' without reservations will do that.' Asami said the exact same thing, basically." Asami let out a yelp of surprise when her mother and father hugged her in a vice grip, her father saying, "I'm glad the errors in my ways didn't prevent you from loving yourself." Breaking the hug, he walked over to the gears as Yasuko said, "You have no idea how proud we both are of you, Asami. I hope your father doesn't suffer too much for his controlling behavior of your romantic interests, even if the universe wills it. Things turned out fine in the end."

Vaguely curious as to who Yasuko was now, Korra walked over, trying to not draw Raava's attention. Korra managed to put her hand on a smiling Yasuko's forehead for long enough to see the image of a firebending bear.

_Hey! Quit that!_

When Korra came to, she was staring up at Raava's full-sized form, saying, "Hey, there Raava. Fancy meeting you… here," finishing with a lame chuckle. Raava boomed, "There are certain things mortals are not meant to know. Now let me show you something you ARE supposed to know." Korra laughed when she noticed that Aang was obsessing over the blue and jade fish along with Uncle Iroh, Asami's parents talking animatedly with Atokara next to the gears. Yasuko seemed to show a particular interest in her granddaughter, playing with her in a way Korra knew she likely wouldn't be able to, with her own… protected childhood. A bit of the vision of no protection remained after all, Korra able to see a masked Asami next to Amon briefly.

Finally noticing she was splayed on the ground, Korra felt Asami squeeze her hand, saying, "You ready?" Korra laughed when she saw Asami was also in her bikini, playfully asking Asami, "For what?"

Korra found it odd the way that Raava giggled and said, "That… is something new I will show you later, if I can. Your inner world has many uses, beyond personal struggle and otter-penguin sledding. Especially the inner world you share with Asami…"

Korra felt herself fade out, wondering what lay in store for her. After.

* * *

Asami opened her eyes, seeing Raava in her full form in front of her on top of a massive walkway, finding herself still holding Korra's hand. The great spirit boomed, "You will be seeing this event through Korra's perspective, Asami, as will Korra. Obviously. There are portions of the event that are blacked out even to me, and I hope your love for Korra will allow Korra and I to see past where the 'memory backup' ends." Asami looked at her darkening hands as she felt an odd sensation, gasping, "What? I look like I'm morphing into – "

A mirror appeared from the blackness, Asami looking into it with a startled yelp, saying in a voice that wasn't her own, "I… I look like Korra did, when she was on the road! Why is this necessary, Raava?" An invisible Raava intoned, in a way that reminded her of Atokara's interjections, _When you experience this event, **you** will be Korra fully. I hope directly experiencing what she did will heal your previous, unnecessary hurt of your own, as well as make seeing past the memory's end more likely. _Asami laughed, forming a blue fireball as she said, "I could get used to bending. Aw, come on, Raava – why'd you dismiss the fireball? It's not like I'll ever get to bend again." Korra laughed, saying, "I see no reason Asami can't 'D-d-duel!' me, Avatar on Avatar."

_This is serious, and don't carry out your other, more earthy desire, Asami. You already get to play with Korra anyways. And she's right next to you!_

After Asami stopped laughing hysterically, she said, "Let's see what Korra thinks." Turning to the real Korra, Asami said, "Want to 'play with yourself'?" Given Korra's wide eyes, she could also hear Raava intone, _I said, later. This first! _Korra giggled, saying, "A little self-hug can't hurt."

_It's a good thing this doesn't take any real time. DO whatever you want._

"Whatever you want" ended up being a simple topless hug, Korra saying, "Yeah, this feels sort of weird. I know what would be interesting, though - if I were _you_." Asami snorted lightly, saying, "Now there's an idea." Growing bored of the unique embrace, Asami looked around, idly touching "her" body as she did so, making Korra laugh.

Asami looked through her body's now-glowing eyes, taking in the universe with wonder, no longer finding Korra's body interesting from the inside. At least, not compared to the infinity of creation. Holding up her hand in front of her face, Asami noticed the brown skin of Korra's body - hers- gradually becoming less and less illuminated, her final thought being, "I think I know why my eyes are dimming… Korra and Raava were very weak back then." Korra said with sadness in her voice, "You're right, Asami. Just remember, I'll be with you in your heart, even if you are experiencing everything as my old, negative self."

Asami then felt herself subsumed, feeling Korra's old hopelessness and self-loathing consume her in mute horror… Losing her sense of self entirely, the feelings ran rampant, Korra heard Raava intone, _Memory backup accessed. I will store the full memory, for… you to see later, "Korra." _Korra groaned, saying as she felt all sorts of alien energies, "What do you mean, 'Korra'? What's going on here?" Korra felt an intense energy surge in her body, half thinking she had been struck dead by lightning like Aang almost was all those years ago.

After another pulse of energy, she remembered nothing but her despair and borderline self-hatred, looking around her pitiful abode with disgust.

Alone. In a cave.

Korra felt miserable, her thoughts all gloom. She had not begun to erase from her mind, that madman, Zaheer - and not just his attempt on her life. She couldn't connect with Raava, she was deceiving the world right and left, and she was dogged by a horrible vision constantly. Thinking of her letter to her parents, Korra felt like spitting in her own face, saying, "They deserve better than that. Forget being a bad Avatar. Not even a good daughter…" She had even cut her own hair, and burned her clothes - getting rid of her Water Tribe identity, in favor of being any anonymous "earthbender"! Remembering what she had done to her clothing after failing to catch that common criminal about a month ago, she groaned, "Even that simple incineration took effort!" Part of her wanted to blame it all on the poison, but she knew that was a lie. She felt weak, powerless, even if she could walk and bend again - like a four-year old Korra could best her pathetic self in a sparring match. The little tyke certainly would have been more of a challenge for that robber than herself… Feeling anger rise within her, Korra stamped around the hideout she had found, too weak to even create a proper living space.

Crying, Korra yelled, "I'm living in a cave, like some drifter! I'm not a drifter - I'm _supposed _to be the Avatar! I hate myself! I can't even bend right!" After she said this, Korra felt a sickly feeling within her that intensified when she spat on the ground, saying with tears, "I'm a miserable failure! WEAK!"

Right on cue, she heard the dreadful clanking of chains outside, but there was something new this time… Horrifying, raspy, scraping laughter. And worse, it sounded _joyous_. Physical, somehow. Korra stood in mute horror as she heard a voice say slowly, "I always wanted to hear you say that. You hate yourself good, you miserable failure. Make me stronger…" After hearing a chilling cackle, Korra sensed her tormentor had vanished.

Taking a deep breath, Korra said tersely, "I need a pick-me up after that, self-loathing or not." Feebly trying to improve her cave, Korra yelled, after a particularly bad attempt, "This sucks. Everything sucks!" In a funk, Korra sat down on the bare, damp cave floor, not even having been able to create a proper table and chair for herself with her efforts. She had barely managed to create a raised earthen cot. As she cursed her own name, she felt the sickly feeling intensify, and when she closed her eyes, she was frozen in pure terror.

In the darkness, she saw her tormentor once more, the vision laughing wildly as she said, "Weak. Just like Raava. It's a pity that little brat, Jinora, helped save her all those years ago." Cackling, she added, "Dark Korra. Pleased to meet you formally, especially while you're so down. It's a shame my master didn't win during Harmonic Convergence, but maybe I can change that."

Korra's body convulsed, and not from a seizure. But from fear. The glowing orange eyes. She'd never seen _that_ before.

Korra tried to open her eyes, but found them stuck, unable to dispel the terror she saw. At first, she thought, "I can't even contact Raava anymore, or even enter the Avatar State - maybe she can do something to me after all," and she felt the sickening self-hatred grow substantially. Dark Korra laughed with a grating voice, saying, "My, my - it's a pity the poison weakened you so. I'd _love_ to use your body to do what Unalaq failed so miserably at. Keep this up, and you'll never recover fully." Baring gleaming teeth, she added, "It _is _rather difficult to recover from going insane, you know. **Or worse."**

Some small inner voice told Korra, "Self-hatred only makes her stronger! Think of others and their love for you, if you can't love yourself, for whatever reason!" At first, Korra focused on the last part, weeping, "I don't know if I've _ever _loved myself, for who I am - not after my ruined childhood! Damn the White Lotus!"

Dark Korra shifting to the side, Korra saw an icy image of a small boy almost overcome by the dark energies of a barely more human foe, recognizing them both. Aang and Ozai. Korra heard a faint whisper, a muffled voice saying, "Do not… let… hate… win. More than… your own… life… depends… on… it," as though it were coming from within an icy prison.

Korra took a deep breath, thinking of Mako, Bolin, Asami, Katara, Tenzin and many others as she assured herself, "I may not love myself, but others do." All their faces but one vanished, puzzled by Asami's laugh and wink. When she looked for Dark Korra within the darkness, she actually burst out laughing, saying, "Look at who's four years old now, scumbag! Now shoo!" Dark Korra just laughed, orange eyes glowing sickeningly as she said, "Hatred has no age, Korra. You don't have to be a grown woman to feel _hate_ \- some children act more hatefully than adults. It's a pity you never got to be _teased_ as a child. I'll be back sooner than you think, Master Failurebender."

Korra's eyes finally opened, looking down at her "disguise" with shame, fussing with her anonymous haircut with disgust. Remembering what the icy, strained voice had said, she pushed such thoughts from her mind, fishing out some letters she had kept with something closely resembling enthusiasm. As she read the letters aloud, she could feel the self-hatred stop growing, even shrinking eventually, to a more normal level. As normal as hating yourself could be… Still disappointed that reading the letters didn't do more, Korra tried meditating on a whim, thinking of Raava.

"Look at Asami's envelope again, Korra."

Korra's eyes widened, saying, "Raava? Is that you?" Korra could hear a small laugh in her head, an uncorrupted version of her voice saying cheerfully, "No, I'm not. You have a spirit too. A strong one. You _do _remember holding your own against Vaatu as just you, right?" Korra smiled slightly, saying, "Yes, I do. Let's see what Asami has to say." Korra spent 15 minutes or more, trying to figure out the words she had heard, from her… soul? About to give up in frustration, Korra idly unfolded the envelope itself, vaguely considering lighting it for warmth. Laughing unstably, Korra said as she held a flame to its back, "It's not like you can say anything on the _envelope_. That would just be weird - everyone would see it!"

Korra moved the flame closer, the feeling of self-loathing intensified as she did so, asking no one, "Ugh - what is the deal here! What, did Asami invent fireproof paper, or something?" With horror, she felt her lip tremble slightly as a corner finally began to smolder, as though someone else was in control of her face, trying to smile at her own destruction.

That was when she finally noticed the characters, immediately dimming her fire enough to not burn, but read. Korra read this second letter aloud, saying with tears in her eyes, "Dear Korra, I hope this finds you in your hour of need, whenever it may be. I thought it a stretch, in many ways, to write this, but here goes." Korra stopped, confused as she saw an elaborate drawing with the characters "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk or ... anything," stressed, with an emphasis on the last, solitary character. Looking again, she was puzzled, saying, "Wait - that's the symbol that means 'all, anything, everyone, everything, everybody,' not just 'anything'. 'If you ever want to talk or … everyone' makes no sense. At all."

Korra put the paper down, slumping forward as she stared at her weak, pathetic little fire. An odd idea entering her mind, she picked the paper back up, noticing that there were more characters around the embellished characters, apparently revealed by the water of the damp floor. Korra smiled, reading multiple versions of the text, feeling a warmth suffuse her being as she read.

"I want you to know that I'm always with you, within your heart, Korra, my… wait, what?" Korra blinked, sure she was hallucinating _again. _Korra continued, now with surprise instead of disbelief, "My love for you stronger than Raava, never to be dulled or extinguished?" Korra felt her face trembling as if it wanted to revolt again as she thought, "Surely, Asami doesn't see me as a love interest? I thought we were just… friends!" Part of her found the idea enticing and fit like Asami's electroglove on an Equalist's face, part of her recoiled in horror at the thought of being "unnatural", part worried about what people would think of a bisexual Avatar… But the most disturbing part was the largest one, something within her head saying with an all too familiar screech, "I don't deserve her love!"

The worst part was, it wasn't Dark Korra. It was _her. _And it was new. Korra realized what all her negative - and more recently, defeatist - thoughts had wrought over the years of her life in mute horror, saying as her eyes watered, "What did I** do** to myself?! I've poisoned myself worse than Zaheer ever did!"

Focusing all her energy on reading, Korra did her best to silence this wailing alarm of self-hatred, saying the alternates with a yell, hearing her voice reverberate in the small cave: "I want to know if you'd be there for me, as more than a friend. If you ever want to kiss me, or… anything." Korra began laughing, her face blushing as she continued, saying with growing enthusiasm, "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk or… do anything at all. Everything. Together."

Korra had to breathe deeply, as if she were meditating, trying to make sense of it all. Korra remembered all her interactions with Asami, putting them in this new light. A million questions entered her mind, many negative in nature, but she chose to focus on one, feeling something within her die as she did so, asking it aloud with tears in her eyes: "Why didn't you ever ask me, Asami? You - what could you have to lose?" Korra's crying had wet the paper again, noticing that there was newly visible text, and images she now found heartwarming, all the negative self-talk finally shut up, not missing the yammering one bit. The images just seemed right, somehow.

Korra took in two detailed drawings in silence. One was of Asami holding Korra's hand in her wheelchair, before Korra had begun the bitter work of overcoming her crippling physical illness, and she saw there was text underneath it. As she read it, Asami's explanation for her subtlety filled her with sadness, and a righteous anger she had never felt so strongly before. Looking below the explanation she wish she had never read, she felt an odd, pleasant feeling in her chest, smiling broadly for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. The feeling intensifying, Korra looked at the image Asami had drawn in this odd tear-activated ink on the inside of the unfolded envelope, Korra wished Asami was here, right now.

Korra did not speak for a while, taking in the lovingly rendered image of Asami embracing her passionately and a smiling Korra returning the gesture at the same time, saying loudly, "This could be just what I need to heal fully, and not just from Zaheer's poison. I have many old wounds…" Korra idly wondered if anyone else had a hidden message. Chuckling with growing strength, she said, "I hope Mako didn't send me something like this. That would be very… awkward, given my feelings."

Korra tried to think of where the nearest town was, where her cave was, and the fastest route to Republic City. As she tried harder and harder, her head hurt, like something was fighting to the death inside her. And… it was winning. After a gasp of pain, Korra heard a raspy voice say, "This was _not _the plan. Thank darkness your link to Raava is so weak. You can't even see anything of her other than a mirage. I didn't expect such a strong reaction to Asami's drivel." Korra's soul screamed, "I'm getting out of here, no matter what!" but her lips did not move.

Korra heard a very, very weak voice say _Direct memory backup initialized. Sorry – it's all I can do._

A now visible Dark Korra said with anticipation, "Over two years of physical healing, and you haven't even truly started to fix yourself! You may have changed in soul, Korra, but with me inside, Raava weak, and your brain riddled with all sorts of convoluted, twisted pathways from living your life as the Avatar and not yourself, and your old wonderful emotional wounds…" Dark Korra began cackling wildly, advancing towards Korra, saying, "You won't remember a thing. As much as it pains me to erase your memory of saying you hate yourself, I can't allow you to go back to Republic City – not like this, all filled with _hope _and _love, _even if you are properly terrified still."

Dark Korra shot her right hand forward, her metal chains glowing black and red, the horrible shining links encircling Korra's chest tightly, their physical nature making Korra scream in terror. Korra stammered, every word painful as the chains crushed her chest, "B-b-but you're not supposed to be physical! What's going on here?" Dark Korra howled, saying hoarsely, "Wouldn't you like to know! Let's say you helped me out earlier, and your terror just makes it better for me." Dark Korra looked vaguely disappointed now, continuing, "It's a shame I can't corrupt you completely. Now, to business…" Korra broke her brain's grip, yelling, "NO! Get back! I want to go to Republic City, with this letter!" Though her eyes did not glow, Korra felt power course through her. Dark Korra stepped back in horror, saying, "Vaatu, give me strength, even if you _are_ tiny right now!" By this point, Korra was pretty sure she was full-on hallucinating, seeing how the fire in her own hands was huge, and… blue. Rather than cackling with horror, Dark Korra screeched, "WHAT? I thought only hatred, raw talent and focus could do that! This ends now!"

With that, the metal chains shot back up and tightened, Korra finally realizing that somehow, this was _very_ real, and no vision. Try as she might, Asami's letter began to fade from her mind. Korra turned her free hands in desperation, trying to etch "Keep Asami's envelope" into the floor in front of her. She tried to add "Read it" as well, but found her hands frozen.

_Backup… completed. Good luck, Avatar Korra. _Before Korra could celebrate the tired voice, recognizing who it was, her mind revolted, somehow strengthened by her own faults and Dark Korra's energy. Korra had no time to mourn, finally feeling dark energy enter into her being, and then leave, taking the memory of what she so desperately wanted to keep with it…

After an odd energy surge, Raava intoned, _Memory extension succeeded. Good work, Asami. Let's see what happened afterwards. Korra is holding up just fine. _Finding herself temporarily detached, Asami thought strongly, "Korra, I just want you to know how sorry I am about my earlier behavior." Asami felt Korra respond, "And I'm sorry that you had to go through thinking I was a horrible, terrible lying backstabber. I understand your reaction perfectly now, and why my professions of innocence only made your madder_."_ With that, Asami lost her sense of self again, the event resuming, feelings of relief that Korra accepted her apology being stored somewhere else.

Korra neither understood why her normally docile vision's eyes were glowing an intense orange, nor how she could speak while gripping Korra with chains. Her tormentor laughed as she said, "I'm sure your brain will help keep your soul in check, especially with my help. It will take a transformation I know you could never make to unlock what just happened, much less act on it." Dark Korra looked at the floor, cursing and spitting, finally saying, "Gah – I can't earthbend that stupid message away!" Korra laughed, saying, "You should be glad you can constrict me with those chains. So negative… I guess I'll have to fix that in myself."

With that, the "vision" shifted, howling in rage as Korra blacked out, her mind violated.

When Korra woke up, she looked around the room in a funk, saying, "Great – now what did I do wrong? First thing I remember, I'm just frustrated, trying to make this place livable, and then I wake up. Must have been something to do with Zaheer." Remembering her newfound ineptitude, Korra added, "Or maybe making that stupid cot exhausted me." Korra looked at the floor, seeing "Keep Asami's envelope" etched into the floor, as though by intense heat. Shaking her head, Korra said, "There's no way I could lavabend." Her hand idly obeyed the floor's command, blindly folding up the envelope and stuffing the letter back inside.

Korra sighed deeply, saying, "I wish I could get direct comfort from my friends and family right now without them remembering. If only there was some way to wipe people's memory…"

_Uh-oh. Time distortion and memory deviance detected. I had forgotten about this detail. I am uncoupling you from Korra's past self. It's about to get really crowded in that cave._

Asami could hear her Korra laughing hysterically, joining Korra as she said, "It's a good thing your past self couldn't infobend!"

"What in the blazes is an infobend?"

* * *

Korra stared ahead with wide eyes, seeing that both she and Asami were somehow physical. Remembering what Raava had said about a time distortion, Korra listened calmly as her past self said, vaguely terrified, "Oh, great, now I'm REALLY hallucinating! Me, in a scandalous swimsuit, a necklace that looks like a love gift from Asami, all those weird tattoos, and Asami, also in a ridiculous swimsuit, somehow transported into this … wait, is that a Water Tribe betrothal necklace? Why is it pulsing blue and white?" Asami smiled, saying, "It's not the only betrothal necklace, sad Korra. Take a look to my right. That jade necklace is my gift to Korra."

Korra took her own betrothal necklace off, making sure to not show the unlatched back as she said, "Things turn out a lot weirder and a whole lot more wonderful than you might think, me." Frowning slightly when her past self said, "I must have drunk cactus juice or something! There's no way I'm bi!" Korra said, "Both allies and love come from the most unlikely of places," half tempted to tell her past self about Kuvira's transformation and Wan Shi Tong.

_Uh-uh. I can only edit so much, even with help. Tread carefully._

Korra just brushed off Raava, sure that memory modification wasn't that hard - Dark Korra had managed to do it with the help of her brain. Korra sighed when she heard Raava intone, _You really think your brain and Dark Korra did that alone? Vaatu helped. _Seeing her past self yell in frustration, Korra said to Asami under her breath, "You _sure_ you would have wanted this Korra knocking on your door, pulling on her matted hair insanely with one hand, holding out singed flowers with the other, torn between her heart and wounded mind? I felt what you felt and thought directly, you know - you were still not exactly… stable. Certainly not when this happened." Asami laughed, adding quietly and jokingly, "I think after using you as a sex toy and mistress for long enough, you would have become un-crazy enough to love me and function properly… both as the Avatar and a person." Korra blushed, remembering how Asami was apparently into bondage, finding herself saying quietly, "I… I could still go for that. But lovingly!" despite having heard the joking tone.

Now laughing loud enough to draw a frantic past Korra's attention, Asami said, "I was joking, but maybe not, if you're… willing. Maybe Raava could arrange something, if she's hinting at what she seemed to be earlier. I liked how she talked about doing more than otter-penguin sledding in our shared internal world…" Korra opened her mouth to say something, but found her tongue frozen, mad she couldn't tell Asami, "A different kind of playing," in a sultry voice.

_Yes, that's what I meant! Beyond your wildest dreams! You happy now? _After Korra thought, "Most definitely," Raava continued,_ Now get back to work! The longer this takes, the more editing I have to get help with!_

Looking forward to the "after party", Korra smiled, seeing her past self must have heard everything given the way she seemed torn between attraction and revulsion. Grabbing Asami's butt, Korra said, "This could be you in just a few years, and I know you can do it. You're strong. Don't let Dark Korra tell you anything else." Remembering her past self had just had her memory wiped, Korra added, "And don't hate yourself. It just makes Dark Korra stronger." After she said this, Korra felt an odd energy disturbance, Raava intoning, _That just went backwards in time, though modified._ Remembering an earlier event, Korra sent out well-wishes to her past self internally, including the command to read Asami's envelope and reminder of her spirit's power.

_Good._

Korra half felt like slapping her past self as she sobbed, "Okay. Now I'm sure I'm just straight up hallucinating. Me, finding love - what a joke." Korra turned to the entrance of the cave, surprised to see it empty, expecting to see Dark Korra appear there. Korra felt a queasy feeling in her stomach when she heard the sounds of dripping liquid from behind her, though no pool of blood formed. Korra found she could move, but she was too late, her past self noticing the dripping blood. Sad Korra said, with fear in her voice, "Wha… what is that? What's bleeding behind you?" After a raspy cackle, Dark Korra said, "Love isn't the only thing that is timeless. So is hate, Master Failurebender." Only finding solace in the fact that her past self didn't remember that insult, Korra got an odd idea, saying as she handed her past self her betrothal necklace, "I want you to think of Asami in the same way as I do - teammate, best friend, lover, future wife, mother of our child together."

Her past self started to give her a funny look, as though Korra were her dark doppler, but sad Korra no longer felt sad as she cradled the jade necklace, saying, "I… I feel like there's an energy in here more powerful than Raava. It's… amazing." Smiling broadly, Korra said, "Now I want you to turn the large jade piece around, and see if you like what's there."

_Are you sure it needs to be this complicated_? Korra thought curtly, "It's me I'm dealing with here - she needs a confidence boost, even if it is erased!" _Okay, fine_.

Korra and Asami both hugged each other as they heard her past self say, "Yes… I guess I do. Though, I'd still like to see Mako naked, before I make up my mind." Asami laughed, saying, "I thought you broke any idea of being with Mako after that huge lie." Her past self sighed, saying, "I don't know who, or what I am. I still don't feel comfortable with the idea of marrying a girl… what would people think?" Laughing weakly, she added, "You gonna get rid of that pest behind you, or what? Don't tell me why she's dripping blood." Korra cursed as Asami cried bitterly and Dark Korra gave a very edited version of events, Korra yelling, "Quick, show her the back! She'll vanish if you do!"

Korra frowned when it half looked like her past self were about to shatter the jade necklace, but at the last minute gripped it tightly as she walked forward, saying, "I may be confused about the image, but I do know I like the love! Now scram!" After a screeching that was music to her ears, Korra said, "See? If you just rely on your inner strength, you can overcome anything. It's important that you at least stop hating yourself." Korra cried slightly as her past self said, "I think I might actually do that. The energy in here - it's so enticing…"

Dark Korra must have gone crying to daddy, as a significantly stronger version of Vaatu's voice said, "And disgusting. I hate the way things turned out, Jinshu Kuangmai or not, so I'll just be corrupting you now, pathetic excuse for an Avatar. Timeline be damned!" Korra stood in stunned silence as her past self produced a blue flame in one hand and held the jade necklace at the ceiling, saying fierily, "Look, Vaatu! Love cooties!" Korra and Asami laughed as Vaatu said, "UGH! I'll be leaving now! Man, I wish I were more like Jinshu Kuangmai…" Korra vaguely wondered if Long Yumao regretted not taking Jinshu Kuangmai's offer, or if Vaatu would manage to learn from Jinshu Kuangmai one day.

Korra saw her past self sit down after handing the jade necklace back, saying, "I guess I really am seeing both of you. Something tells me this will all be erased. Nonetheless, even if for just a moment, I want to know how I came to bloodbend. And more importantly, how I came to love Asami as more than a friend." Nodding, Korra said, "It will be erased. The events between now and when I am contacting you are far too complicated to explain properly or quickly. Love is timeless, so maybe you'll want to take another look at this betrothal necklace. And feel. You won't remember any specifics, but maybe more of this jade betrothal necklace's energy will nurture the seed I planted. Help you weather the coming storms." Korra sighed contentedly as her past self's eyes began to sparkle again, barely able to avoid crying as her past self said, "Th-thank you. I'm sure most of what I felt again will be erased, but I do feel like I love myself slightly now, instead of just not hating who I am. I have the feeling that's permanent. The feeling didn't come from that weird necklace - it came from me. Well, the one without tattoos, that is."

As Asami hugged her tightly, Korra nodded, feeling a faint confirmation from Raava as her past self began to cry, saying sleepily, "Can you escort me to Republic City? Help me see _my _Asami? Or Mako. Still don't really believe I'm bi…" Asami laughed, saying slowly as she posed suggestively, "Are you _sure?_" Korra's past self said, with wide eyes, "Uhhh, okay. I'll rephrase my question. Can you escort me to Republic City? Help me see _my _Asami? No Mako?" Asami laughed, saying, "My work here is done. See you at the chakra pools and gears, Korra." With that, Asami vanished, leaving Korra alone with a vaguely sad looking past self, who repeated the question with less enthusiasm.

Korra held up a hand, making sure to cut off her past self before she said Mako's name. Smiling, Korra said as though she were her mother talking to a four-year old Korra, "In time, Korra. Love never dies. Before you are ready, you have much healing and growing to do yourself, even if your true desires were the only factor. I know you are strong." Seeing her past self gently crumple to the floor, Korra smiled, realizing what she had just done. Apparently, her memory of Uncle Iroh giving her the same advice had been modified. She herself had given the advice, and Raava let it stick, along with the slight self-love.

Korra sighed contentedly, realizing she would make a great mother, after all her growth, especially with a daughter like Atokara. As she broke the connection, she found herself wishing she could go back in time and talk to Azula, or Tonga Beifong.

When she opened her eyes, she did not see what she expected, starting to cry as she said, "So… you are alive after all." The small three-year old in front of her smiled, saying, "Of course. If someone as nice as Asami can retain her dark half, there's no way 'Jinshu Kuangmai' can kill me." Sighing deeply, Tonga Beifong said, "Though, I wouldn't mind you killing me and Jinshu Kuangmai, physically. I want to be re-incarnated already, or even tossed into the Fog of Lost Souls. Anything but destruction…"

Korra started crying bitterly, saying, "You've almost completely given up, haven't you." When Tonga Beifong nodded, Korra said, "Don't. I wouldn't dare try to press this necklace against the sphere beside you - 'Jinshu Kuangmai' would likely go insane, but I do have an idea." Holding the precious gift out on an act of faith, Korra said, "Why don't you try holding this for a bit."

As Tonga Beifong held the necklace, he began to cry, saying, "Thank you. I'll make sure to remember Lin and my mother, Toph - there's a lot of information in here." Smiling micheviously much as Toph might have, he added, "I'll try to be as big a pest as I can, Korra. Nice tattoos, by the way." After Tonga made to hand the necklace back, Korra instead pressed it against Tonga's heart, saying, "I won't kill you unless I have to, only with your permission." Korra smiled gently, adding, "Yours, not Jinshu Kuangmai's, obviously." Tonga Beifong smiled, saying, "Thanks. Though I'm pretty sure that I will need to give you permission, at some point…" Korra groaned, saying as she put her jade treasure back on, "I guess you really are a Beifong. Stubborn."

As Tonga Beifong laughed, Korra saw the sphere pulse violently, a metallic hand reaching from it blindly as a bone-chilling voice screamed, "I TIRE OF THIS NIGHTMARE! YOU WILL NOT DEFILE MY INNER SANCTUM! BEGONE!" Korra watched in horror as the metal hand grabbed Tonga Beifong, choking him. Something snapping, he bit the hand holding him, saying, "I have not yet begun to fight!" The metal hand closed forcefully, crushing nothing but void.

Korra saw a massive metal humanoid form crawl from the sphere, listening to howling rage with a mischievous smile. Locating Tonga Beifong, not knowing where he was, Korra pressed a hand to the floor as she pumped love's energy to him, adding in Raava's energy as an afterthought, eyes and tattoos aglow. Korra stood up, saying to a stunned Jinshu Kuangmai, "You're going to have a lot more trouble from here on out."

* * *

Jinshu Kuangmai screamed in blind rage at the alien-looking Avatar, "First, you thwart my efforts at the conference, mocking me openly, sending me threats on my own ship! Then, that little brat Kai escapes from my clutches, running away like a coward!" Smiling broadly as he began to move metal hands, he said, "You won't be so fortunate. You're on MY home territory now, you pathetic excuse for an Avatar. Time for you to die." Thinking of nothing but hatred and its ultimate master, he placed one hand on _his_ orb as he lifted the Avatar off the floor slightly, cursing in frustration, "Be a good little girl, and die quietly! Why won't you obey my hand's command?"

Korra laughed hysterically, saying as she soared out of his reach, "You can't blood-iron bend me. Not when I'm in the Avatar State." Zipping around like some glowing mockery of power, she added, "I've picked up a little love-based trick, with the help of that 'brat' Kai and Jinora. I hope you look forward to facing an army of free-flying airbenders someday." Smiling broadly, the Avatar added as she made an unfamiliar hand motion, "Ones, I may add, that won't ask permission from Tonga Beifong before killing you. I'm not sure how Jinora would dispatch you. She's got two choices."

Cursing to see twin images appear within his innermost space, he found himself forced to look at an image of a particularly gruesome fate as Korra said, "Your head - it moved! It must be a little help from Tonga. I'd never force you to look at a fitting death by Jinora's hand - asphyxiation. Tyrant. No different than Earth Queen Hou-Ting." Finding himself able to speak again, he howled, "Airbenders are too weak to kill!"

As his head turned to face a second, unfamiliar object, he wanted to laugh. Hysterically.

_What's a little piece of metal going to do to a **metalbender**? It's just ammunition!_

As if Korra could read his mind, she said, "Yes, it is ammunition - but not for you. Watch this." His eyes widened in terror as he saw an image of an anonymous enraged airbender point an odd glove at a platoon of his soldiers, the unknown person sending projectile after projectile slamming into the formation, cringing as he saw holes appear where they shouldn't be. Helmeted foreheads, armored chests - penetrated like tissue paper.

_No…_

"Maybe you do have a heart after all, if you dislike seeing your soldiers die," said this increasingly infuriating Avatar as she lowered herself back down to his level. With a smile, she said, "Tonga's helping in more ways than one - I've established a permanent connection with him. Since I am present in your inner world, I can hear what you think." Jinshu Kuangmai hated the way she paused, staring. Those eyes, and the unnerving forehead…

Korra frowned slightly, saying, "Fear wasn't what I was hoping for, but Raava's more than happy to take it." After the Avatar's eyes and tattoos flashed brightly, he could see a dead husk of a world, a strong female voice asking him, "Is this what you want, Tonga Beifong? To ally with an ancient force of evil that would see our planet a dead husk, not even your Earth Empire remaining?"

Jinshu Kuangmai could tell Korra was lying somehow. But just barely lying.

Jinshu Kuangmai was furious. But not with the Avatar. Turning his hatred on an unlikely target, he yelled, "I want to rule EVERYTHING, not see EVERYTHING turned to ash before me, Vaatu! The Fire Nation could be a source for volcanic glass for all I care, but that's… sickening!" Korra smiled, asking, "Now do you see what you're becoming?"

Jinshu Kuangmai laughed, saying loudly, "Long Yumao is right about two things - order must triumph over chaos. Controlled life, over utter annihilation. That vision – if everyone's dead, how can I take pleasure in seeing other's fear, or their quaking obedience? Or, even better, willing, no, zealous servitude?" Imagining himself speaking directly to Vaatu as though the spirit were a small, particularly dense and stupid child, Jinshu Kuangmai continued, "You know nothing about power, Vaatu. Chaos – useless! Human fear gains you control, feeding other's human hatred lets you manipulate them. Better than that borderline failure you fused with years ago ever could hope to - Unalaq. He hid his true nature from the world, from what Kuvira told me – acted like he was a good guy, for a long time." With a deep laugh, Jinshu Kuangmai said with a toothy grin, "I have no need for such deception. I want the whole world struck into silence, immobilized with fear, at what I am willing to do. The Shiro family was only the beginning." After cursing that he did not get to kill the vermin himself, he began speaking with great conviction, finishing, "I can feed and draw from my own hatred. Human hatred. I don't need to talk to an outdated fool like you, Vaatu. You can't even answer me!" Korra laughed uneasily, saying as she stepped backwards, "I… I'll be going now."

Jinshu Kuangmai never did find out what Vaatu's response was, what with the accursed block that was now in place. All Jinshu Kuangmai knew was he loved how uneasy the Avatar looked before she vanished.

_Maybe I can teach that stupid spirit a thing or two, someday. The Avatar teaches Raava, so I see no reason I couldn't drill sense into that chaotic moron's head._

The inner world fading, Jinshu Kuangmai relished a pleasant dream of himself inside his superior Colossus on a rampage at the South Pole. He turned the White Lotus training compound turned to slush, steam and ash using spirit energy for its proper purpose, and the Avatar's parent's house was crushed beneath massive platinum-coated feet, blood staining the snow.

"I don't know what Korra sees in us. You disgust me."

Jinshu Kuangmai laughed so hard, he found himself awake, staring at the wall, smiling. Before going back to sleep, he thought, _Good. I can see a use for you, yet - anything you hate, I'll make sure to do. A meterstick._

For the first time in his life, he was disappointed that his annoying half didn't speak, merely hearing intense weeping sounds. As he listened, he realized he wasn't disappointed after all - it was a nice music, of the best kind. Asleep once more, Jinshu Kuangmai had a borderline unbelievable dream – Vaatu, morphing, changing.


	43. Chapter 43: Living Waters

Chapter 43: Living Waters

"Hey, Stinky! Are you gonna let us do all the work, or are you done meditating yet? Angry Bird is getting harder and harder to hold back!"

Korra barely had time to think in horror about what had just happened inside Jinshu Kuangmai's inner world before hearing the familiar voice, yelling as she turned around, "I thought Long Yumao was weak! What's going on?!"

Seeing the serpentine spirit again and alarm coursing through her being, Korra knew she didn't have any time to gawk, much less any time for answers - not even where the aye-aye spirit had been all this time, or why he had knife-like pulsing blue claws he was splaying threateningly at Long Yumao, unable to reach the gargantuan floating spirit. Eyes glowing strongly, she created an elemental prison around Long Yumao, adding in a second, pulsing yellow stream of water as she said, "Let's see you break that. I can see from your wide eyes you don't like that second water circle." Laughing at Long Yumao's hissing response of, "Of course I hate it! Human love sickens me!" and snickering when a boomerang struck his deeply grooved beak, Korra finished by creating a larger prison as she said with a slight frown, "I guess that's something you share in common with Jinshu Kuangmai."

At mention of this name, Korra saw the outer prison distort, as though it were about to break. Korra found herself asking with horror, "What's going on here? I thought you hated Vaatu and Jinshu Kuangmai!" Long Yumao laughed, saying, "Yes, I do - though for very different reasons now. Why don't you take a look at the resident of that teapot I'd love to get my claws on, and see why." Ignoring this, Korra distorted the prison surrounding Long Yumao, wanting to get a better look, scoffing slightly at Long Yumao's boast. He didn't have claws!

Or so she thought. Movement catching her eye, she noticed a disturbing change. Projecting Raava out, she commanded Raava, "Raava -you try to figure out what happened while I look at… this." Long Yumao cackled, saying as he manipulated strong, predatory arms and fierce red claws she had never seen before, "This is a gift, from increased outrage among spirits, as well as my new changed alignment with Vaatu. He's dropped one of his idiosyncrasies, if you didn't notice, being the dullard you are. He's still a fool, like you - just in a different way now." Finally putting together what had happened, Korra recoiled slightly as Long Yumao confirmed it, gloating through a thickened beak she noticed with shock now had _teeth_, "Your little pointless banter with Jinshu Kuangmai cost you much more than your new allies cost me, Avatar. Bumju, the Painted Lady, Hei Bai, your ancient aye-aye friend and newer shark whale ally I won't even dignify with his name - not even Tui and La joining Raava's side in the Spirit Civil War outweigh Vaatu's 'little' change." With revulsion, he added, "Though I appreciate his willingness to place power and darkness before chaos, his new source for inspiration sickens me more than this love-infused water ring. I should have snapped Jinshu Kuangmai in half when I had the chance!"

Korra stared at Long Yumao's new form, finding herself regretting her interaction with Tonga Beifong now. As Long Yumao opened a deeply grooved beak open wide, she looked at the large, dagger-like conical red and purple teeth. After she had stared for a while, Long Yumao's image shifted, Korra temporarily seeing a flash of a strange ancient Earth predator instead. Large spines ran down the predator's back, thick hide connecting them into a sort of sail. Looking at Long Yumao once more, Korra cursed her stupidity aloud in English. Black hide with pulsating purple and red coloration covered Long Yumao's shorter spines much as the mystery predator's own back, except there were large jagged pulsating tips on the spines. Yellow and red tufts of feathers covered portions of the smaller sail. Hearing Long Yumao roar loudly, she took a second look at his head, noticing for the first time there were symmetrical red eye-shaped colorations on his beak, the unblinking eyes occupying spots on his beak that only reminded her even more of the Earth predator, one occupying the space where the other, less terrifying predator's nostrils had been. Long Yumao said with satisfaction, as he turned sideways, "Take a good look, pathetic weakling – I can see the shock and horror in your eyes." Korra found herself unable to look away, a sick feeling in her stomach as she looked at the sharply hooked upper beak, tracing red lines from the unnerving upper eye down to the grooves near red and purple teeth. A similar pattern pulsed on the lower beak, Korra temporarily seeing another ancient creature from Earth, a strange bipedal bird with a beak only slightly less terrifying than Long Yumao's. Having just seen feathers, she noticed that Long Yumao's feathers behind his newly massive jaw had been replaced by elongated scales, their diamond ends blood red and the bases void black. Finally speaking, Korra said lowly, "The… the featherscales… they look like sickening flower petals." Long Yumao didn't even dignify her fear with a response, merely flexing his upper body and spine as best he could. Following the spine, Korra recoiled in horror after finally noticing the blade-like tail at the end of Long Yumao's body, not liking how the sail pulsed in rhythm with Long Yumao's laughter, as he finally said, "Your fear pleases me more than anything I can gather from the Fog of Lost Souls. Human misery…"

Apparently, someone else had seen the images as well, Korra hearing a different "bird" curse. Wan Shi Tong flapped over next to Korra, saying once he had landed, "What are you doing, Korra? Quit looking at him like that! I didn't figure you for stupid, you know." Korra turned around, saying nervously, "Uhhh, whoops." Wan Shi Tong rolled his blue eyes at Korra, saying, "Yes. 'Whoops'. Now why don't you re-apply that prison, before he breaks out." Korra did so, making sure that Long Yumao was still visible. Wan Shi Tong said, leaning forward towards Long Yumao, "A… very corrupt _Spinosaurus aegyptiacus__**. **_A little bit of_Titanis walleri, _a different kind of 'terror bird,' as well. I never thought the paleontology portion of the Plane: Earth wing would be relevant. And certainly not like this…" Korra only managed a weak laugh when the aye-aye spirit said indignantly from behind her, "That's Aye-zul to you, Angry Bird!" finally laughing as Long Yumao shrieked, "Why you little insolent… Even the Avatar fears my new form! That's not your real name, and 'Angry Bird' is certainly not mine! What's wrong with you, discarding an ancient name like - ouch! Not my teeth! Enough with the boomerang already, you little piece of Water Tribe filth!"

Much to Long Yumao's chagrin, Korra actually doubled over in laughter as she heard Sokka say proudly, "With my warrior's instinct, I knew something was wrong despite being nowhere near Korra, so I asked Wan Shi Tong and your aye-aye friend to come. We were able to hold back Long Yumao for long enough for you to act." Korra snickered after Sokka blushed as Asami said, "That's some nice editing there, Sokka - I did most of the work! Long Yumao really hated Asami's Reach."

Fear brushed aside, Korra's head was infested with a million questions, all gnawing and biting her mind like an army of curious fireferrets. Starting with the simplest first, she asked, "Why am I just now seeing you, 'Aye-zul'? I would have thought you would be one of the first spirits to join Raava's side." Through narrow, yellow eyes, he stared at Korra as he played with his tooth necklace, now the same color as his claws, saying, "I'm not who you remember me as from Wan's life, Korra. The only human I care about is Wan - the only reason I came, you being his subsequent life." Korra shrugged, saying, "Okay. I still don't see why you aren't on Raava's side." Scowling, Aye-zul said, "Did you forget how I let myself get corrupted by Vaatu, killing those awful firebenders - willingly, I might add, in the end?" Korra frowned, saying, "Now that you mention it, I do. But your claws, your necklace - both blue. What changed your mind?" Korra didn't like how he said, in the same indignant tone he had used with Long Yumao earlier, "Who said I have fully? I'm not wearing Raava's full colors, and don't think I will be, unless Wan can convince me otherwise."

Looking around for Aang, Korra noticed with a laugh that Asami was hovering inside her suit near Long Yumao, taunting him with an outstretched betrothal necklace. Atokara was now blowing raspberries at Long Yumao, Hiroshi and Yasuko Sato laughing beside her. Finally seeing who she needed, Korra said to Aang, "I need you to come back in, so Wan can come out." Korra groaned quietly when he said, "No. You can project two of your past lives now at once, for whatever reason. I'll talk to Aye-zul with Wan - he doesn't strike me as the type who would appreciate being infobended." Korra laughed lightly, saying, "Sounds about right. Raava, want to show us exactly what happened?"

"N… not really."

Korra sighed in frustration as she approached Raava after "letting" Wan out, saying, "Come on - it can't be that bad, Raava!" Turning Raava around, Korra noticed the spirit had been crying, asking her, "What is it? I know Vaatu changed earlier - no more chaos, and I assume this has caused a lot of spirits to be upset, empowering Long Yumao. Or maybe they like that Vaatu and Long Yumao no longer disagree about order versus chaos." Korra added something she would rather not, saying, "It's likely Long Yumao's change is permanent, now that he's more closely aligned with Vaatu." Long Yumao's gloating laughter only confirmed her suspicion, Raava crying slightly. Cradling Raava's face gently, Korra said, "You need to snap out of your funk, Raava. I'd hate to see what the effects of the spirit of light and love being unhappy would be in the Spirit World…"

Looking only slightly less disturbed, Raava stuck a hand into the teapot around her neck, saying, "It can't be much worse than this. Only that short exposure to Jinshu Kuangmai did this, to Vaatu - I guess he can never leave the teapot now, Sudden Death or not. No pushing him back in my heart. We can't risk another transformation…" As Long Yumao cackled loudly in the background, Korra watched in shock as Raava pulled her hand out, demanding, "Where's Vaatu? Who's this little… boy?"

"It's me, idiot."

Korra stared, taking in the odd humanoid figure dangling by thick coiled black and red hair from Raava's hand, the red hair pulsing from time to time. Remembering what Unalaq had looked like when fused with Vaatu, she said, "Wait - you're Vaatu? Why don't you look like Unalaq did when he fused with you?" Vaatu laughed, red tattoos on his dark skin pulsing as he said, "Why don't you look like Raava? Same thing applies." Korra was about to ask him another question, but she stopped, hearing a loud exclamation of, "The Fire Nation did WHAT to the Air Nomads and dragons, Aang?" Korra didn't like the feral growl she heard as she rushed over, saying, "Wait - don't! It turned out fine in the end!" Raava joined her side, Vaatu saying, "Ah, yes… another spirit, even though I'm trapped in a little teapot." Raava cursed loudly in English, Vaatu gloating, "It's so good to have you back. There's a particular firebender that needs killing - Mako. I can't have him more thoroughly ruining Kuvira, with all that _love_ nonsense."

Seeing Aye-zul's flashing yellow eyes and larger, shadowy form, Korra had the uneasy feeling he might just oblige, Wan crying slightly as her past life said, "Not again… please!" Korra didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified when Long Yumao said loudly, "Forget killing Mako. Join me, Ayazar, and we'll enslave all of humanity - put them in their rightful place. That fool, Vaatu - he actually likes some humans now. Thinks their hatred is a valid power source, no - an _inspiration_. Sickening. Something tells me you hate them all." At first, Ayazar seemed to agree, saying as his form replaced shadow with red lines and purple coloration, "I always did hate how selfish humans are. There's a reason I haven't been around, and Aang's story as the _last_ airbender only makes me despise humanity more." Korra sighed, asking as she held a morose Wan, "But what about Wan?" Korra felt some relief at how the spirit was now conflicted between shadow, the red and purple markings that denoted loyalty to Long Yumao, and the much more soothing colors of Raava. Screaming loudly, he said, "GAH! Now I know what it must have felt like to be a human, partially transformed into myself! Torn! I can't decide!" Seeming as though he had made a decision of sorts, the shadow vanished, Korra hoping the blue half would win. Looking at his diametrically opposed hands in panic, he said with wide eyes, "Selflessness of Wan, or put humanity's barbarism in its place…"

Pointing the blue-clawed hand at Korra, he demanded, "Tell me - why should I become Aye-zul, instead of joining Long Yumao. Tell me, before my rage decides for me." Korra made to grab Raava's hand as she said, "Okay - I just need Raava for this," but stopped when Ayazar's blue half shrank slightly, red creeping as Long Yumao said, "Ayazar isn't interested in Raava." Ayazar nodded, saying as he splayed red claws, "You, the human, not the Avatar, Korra. YOU tell me why I shouldn't let this little sliver of blue vanish."

Korra smiled, saying, "Let me _show_ you one of the starkest transformations I have ever seen - Kuvira." Drawing on her spirit, Korra placed her right hand over Ayazar's heart - the sole remaining blue patch of fur on his body. Letting information flow like the elemental symbol on her hand, Korra gave context to Kuvira's struggle, how she saw herself in the metalbender, and Kuvira's transformation. Apparently, Ayazar was a sharp spirit, saying as red lines slowly resumed a more balanced state, "This… information you gave me. It seems edited somehow. There's a human involved that you are hiding from me, Korra. A very _evil_ human, I believe." Baring blue and red teeth, he said, "Show me everything that you know since Wan's time, and I will see what I think. Red, or blue. Spirits, or humans."

Not wanting to bely her nervousness, Korra imparted everything she knew with a stoic face, opening her eyes temporarily, shocked to see the symbol for Water on her right hand glowing white. Things and histories Korra had no recollection of flowed through her hand, smiling as she saw blue spreading across the strange spirit's body. Stepping back, he said, as blue faded from all but his claws and necklace, "Aye-zul it is then. If Wan Shi Tong sees something in humanity, I see no reason to turn on Wan." Smiling, as one of the white bands on his forearms turned blue, he added, "And no reason to turn on you, Korra. I saw your growth over the years. You deserve those tattoos." Korra laughed when Aang asked, "Hey, Raava, can I get them too? Please?"

Reminding everyone of his presence, Long Yumao roared loudly, saying after, "When I get out of here, I'll tattoo your bodies in slashes and scars - all of you!" Remembering there was something special about her seventh chakra, Korra turned around quickly, bending a seemingly endless amount of water from the pool, feeling a familiar sense of oneness as she did so, layered on top of a much more powerful sense of oneness with the universe. Speaking in English, Korra said loudly, "One world, one soul," feeling the power of creation course through her being.

_What the… only I'm supposed to be able to feel this! What…_

Korra laughed loudly as she heard a brief exchange in her head, her brain somehow translating the language she couldn't understand earlier. A gentle gender-neutral voice, one that she recognized, said, "You should be happy, not jealous," and a more familiar female one said curtly, "Oh, piss off! I've been trying to be human-y for less than a week - cut me some slack here!" Holding out the large body of water towards a straining Long Yumao, Korra said in the same tongue that her brain had just translated, "You are as an ant before the power I wield, Long Yumao. Love." Korra let loose a curse in what she though was English as Long Yumao broke his prison, the spirit saying, "For now. Once I get my claws on that little teapot, I'll be more than a contender, if Jinshu Kuangmai acts like the rotten brat he is," as he floated away, finishing by yelling, "Koh, you idiot - you can't fly!" Korra laughed as she heard a slithering groan and curse from below her out of the mist, the ground they had been on all this time apparently floating.

After she heard echoing sounds of clacking feet fade, she turned around, returning her daughter's and the Sato family's confused look. Korra said, sheathing herself in the wonderful water, "Why are you looking at me like I'm an alien, Asami?" Raava laughed in Korra's head, intoning, _That water - you're not speaking in English or normal speech. You're speaking my language._ Too consumed by unfiltered joy to really care, Korra said happily, "Something tells me this water would have a special effect on Asami's chakra gears." Korra heard Raava intone with a hint of annoyance, _You may have unlocked your final chakra before the others, but I wouldn't suggest trying to force the others fully open. Much less try to solve Asami's problems for her!_

Aang finally spoke, saying, "I have no clue how you are able to do any Avatar State bending with partially unlocked chakras. I remember Guru Pathik harping on me for not unlocking the final chakra, blocking my access to the Avatar State." Korra laughed, saying, "If you've unlocked the power of love or hate, you can skip around a bit," not sure where the words came from, nor why hatred was included as powerful. Before she felt the water and sense of oneness leave her, she heard a sad voice say, "So naïve, still, in some ways. Raava isn't the only one with lessons to learn." Somehow sensing her sadness, it added with a whisper as a tendril of water lingered on Korra's hand, "Though, I do have to say I loved your interaction with Tonga Beifong. It was worth it. Goodbye."

Korra sighed, saying out loud, "Don't go – I want to talk to you! You sound a lot more mature than Raava." After kicking a peeved Raava out and re-sheathing her arm completely in the water from the seventh pool, she laughed as she heard the same gentle voice say with a knowing tone, "Let's just say _you_ aren't the one that would benefit the most from unlocking your chakras, Korra, and I don't mean Asami." After a pause, the voice added, "Every being has lessons they need to learn, Korra, though they do not always know what they are. Even Earth surprises me, to this day." As though this being could also read her mind, it said as though to a small child, "Remember – do not attempt to straddle two planes of existence. 'Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfac'- errr, just don't look too deep into the void _or_ light, okay? Especially across planes." After laughing at the correction, especially since she knew the whole English phrase, Korra thought with disappointment, "But how can I talk to you? The more the merrier. I deal with all sorts of people in and out of my head just fine." Korra saw a vision of an indistinct being momentarily, apparently laughing even though it had no form. Shifting, it temporarily assumed her own form, naked as the day she was born. Pointing to "its" heart, it said, still in the same voice, "I am not the one you need to talk to. I am just a servant, of one universal constant – love. **It **is in you, Asami, Atokara, Raava – every being. I can tell you want to know about my foe, and that is information that you do not need to know. Now go, unlock your chakras, and see what happens. On **your** plane."

With that, the connection broke, Korra slightly baffled by a supreme being considering itself a servant. When she told everyone else about the interaction, wanting to see what Raava made of it, Uncle Iroh spoke first, saying, "I do not see why you are puzzled by this being's attitude, Korra – you are a servant of the world, as all the Avatars before you were, and still are. Maintaining balance is hard." Wan said, with wide eyes, "I… I had heard about this, but never first hand. I thought it was just a figure of speech." Raava stamped her foot, saying, "I never read it in the job description. At least not the one I was given…" Vaatu started to speak, but Korra interrupted him, saying to Raava, "Raava, you've already acted as a servant, for ten thousand years – helping the Avatar, serving as a power source and the glue that holds the four elements together for the Avatar." Calling over Atokara, Korra continued to a broadly smiling Raava, "You've taken a lot more active role in the world since Harmonic Convergence. Atokara wouldn't exist without your gift to humanity, and tuber-vines promise to revolutionize the world, once they are no longer needed for war." Vaatu spoke, his small red teeth visible as he said sheepishly, "I suppose my changed form also belies a willingness to serve, though in the name of darkness." Cursing, he added, "If it weren't for that accursed seal on that teapot, Jinshu Kuangmai would have all sorts of wonderful technologies now," Raava dangling him near his prison as she giggled.

Korra scoffed, saying, "Yeah, like what – weapons that would annihilate the very world you apparently want to control now through or with Jinshu Kuangmai, instead of destroy?" For once, Vaatu went back into the teapot of his own accord, saying, "Ugh – you're making me think! Stop that!" Once the laughter had died down, Korra hoped to whittle down her company, saying as she pointed at both her pools and Asami's gears, "I'm hoping for a more private affair with Asami, Atokara and Raava to go through our chakras, together." Uncle Iroh nodded, saying, "I would love to stay and offer advice, but if you wish, I will go." Looking at Uncle Iroh, Korra found herself unable to speak, feeling guilty. Sokka's loud protest of "WHAT?" on top of grumbling from Aye-zul made her reconsider, especially after Yasuko said, "I think there's a lot I will need to help my daughter with." Korra apologized to Asami's parents, saying, "I'm sorry – I hope I didn't offend you." Hiroshi smiled, saying, "None taken. It appears someone else took slight offense, though."

Turning around, she noticed Wan Shi Tong was in his larger form, saying once he got her attention in a normal size, "I want to witness this unusual chakra unlocking myself. It sounds to me like it is connected to the new airbending technique for flight." Korra sighed, saying with a guilty look, "Really, I just wanted to make this as fast as possible." Aang groaned slightly, saying, "Yeah, send away the one Avatar with recent experience on chakras – good idea." Korra sat down, putting her hand to her forehead as she said, "Okay, okay – no need to pile on." Aang laughed in a way that made Uncle Iroh laugh much as he had what seemed like an eternity ago, Aang saying, "I don't think you would have lasted a week in the Gaang with an attitude like that." Korra smiled lightly, saying, "You might just be right. Bolin doesn't have the same bite that Sokka did, Asami is a lot more… agreeable than Katara was in her youth, and Mako isn't nearly as moody as Toph."

Korra chuckled as Aang said, "I don't know whether to laugh, or defend Katara." After Korra made "that face" at Aang, he laughed, saying, "I do miss her, 'that face' and all." Korra was about to say something, but Raava said, "Love finds a way" as though it were automatic. Remembering the last times Korra had heard Raava say this, Korra turned to Raava, saying with more than a hint of annoyance, "You keep saying that, Raava. Care to explain?" Raava giggled, saying, "Nope!" as Korra pulled her hair in frustration. Remembering they had a task in front of them, Korra said, "Whatever. Raava, have any suggestions on how Asami and I can unlock our chakras together, in a more visible way?" Raava nodded, saying, "Asami, get out of your suit. Keep it around, in case Long Yumao wants to interrupt." Pointing at both Korra and Asami's "pools" once Asami was out, Raava closed her eyes, straining to move the pools of water and gears. Korra tried to assist, finding herself unable to earthbend. Wan chuckled, saying, "You might be amazing, Korra, but even you can't bend anything but water without Raava inside you."

Raava moved her hands in a blur, panting as she said, "There. Done. Turn around, Korra, and you'll see what your fears and other emotions will show on." Korra turned around, listening as Wan Shi Tong exclaimed, "Is that a… plasma screen television? You'd have me plucked if I gave someone the plans for that!" Raava laughed, saying, "Relax. Now, as far as I am concerned, you can grant access to the Plane: Earth wing at will, as long as you read the person or spirit's intentions personally, and make sure that they are escorted." Wan Shi Tong shook his head, saying, "I'm sorry – did you just say I can grant access to whoever I want?" Raava smiled, saying, "I figure if I ever want to grow, I'll have to be more willing to let loose control, and trust." Looking at Raava, Korra could have sworn she looked slightly different, but ignored the slight change, wanting a look at this "plasma screen television".

Characters appeared on the screen that said, "Welcome. Please take Asami's hand, Korra, and focus on your fears." As she positioned herself next to Asami, she noticed they were both still in swimming suits, saying before she took Asami's hand, "Maybe we should change?" Korra felt herself instantly swaddled in her normal clothes, smiling as she noticed that they were still… adjusted. Looking back at the screen, Korra heard a clear, teenage female voice say, "Asami, you don't need to close your eyes for this. The visions will be displayed on the screen that… Raava made." Korra smiled, wondering if that was what Raava would sound like when she got this mysterious "promotion."

As Korra looked at the screen, she was confused by the multitude of ghostly past foes she saw, smiling to see that Zaheer was included, a little label saying in English, "Not a scary man." Looking at Asami's side, Korra said, "Looks like I'm not the only one who's grown over the past five years," seeing how an unnamed firebender was labeled "Not a scary man" as well. Seeing a reflection of Asami turn her head towards Korra's section, Asami said, "Wow – I didn't expect to see Amon on your side." Korra smiled, saying as she remembered her interaction with Tonga Beifong, "I hope that I could have raised _Noatak_ better than his monstrous father did. There was a bit of good in him after all – he did save his brother, Tarrlok, from Yakone, and he seemed genuine about wanting better treatment for nonbenders, even if he was a bender." Korra gave the screen a funny look as Noatak's image moved slightly, a single tear escaping a motionless eye.

The whole, larger image on the screen momentarily flashed red, the female voice from earlier saying with alarm, "Intrusion attempt detected. Remember, Korra, that this little television has my energy in it. Those aren't _just _images." Korra smiled, saying, "So that is your voice." A younger female voice laughed from behind her, Raava saying, "Will be, if everything turns out like I hope it will. The being you like so much 'spoiled' some events for me." Pretty sure who the intruder was, Korra said, "Let's move on, Asami – think of our current fears."

The old foes vanished, Korra surprised to see there was a large shared portion in the center. Long Yumao in his new form tossing a small teapot back and forth between powerful clawed hands, Jinshu Kuangmai formed from metal, and a corrupted, crying Atokara somehow choking the life from her parents occupied the center. Looking at her own side, Korra saw Asami's dark doppler, labeled "harpy", seeing after that Asami's side had Dark Korra, and nothing else. Gripping Asami's hand tightly, Korra said, "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk or ... anything. I'll never let myself be corrupted." Asami sighed, saying, "And I promise, I will try my best to never explode on you, or Atokara, like that again. It wasn't right." The shriek of what Raava had labeled a harpy was music to her ears, Korra frowning slightly when she saw Dark Korra merely shift, saying in an ominous raspy voice, "You're not done with me yet, Korra. NEVER." Looking at where Harpy Asami had been, Korra laughed when she saw a small child cross its feathered arms in a huff and walk off-screen.

Asami joined her laughter, saying as Korra noticed the central image of Long Yumao expand to the right, into her own territory, " I hope Atokara is nothing like 'Harpy Asami.'" Korra noticed the corrupted Atokara's image pulse with red energy at the same time the real Atokara cried, "Mommy Asami, make it go away!" Atokara hugged Asami's legs, Korra noticing that the image of the corrupted Atokara stopped moving temporarily, eyes and hair braids temporarily changing color. Korra told Atokara gently, "Look, sweetie. Your love just changed the image on the television. Why don't you try interacting with it." Before Atokara could speak, Aang said from behind, "That might not be a good idea, Korra. There's a possibility that –Atokara! Why are you touching the screen?" Atokara had run up to the screen, saying as she placed a hand over her own snarling doppler's image, "I would never let myself be corrupted. I love momma Korra and mommy Asami too much." Korra felt some energy release as the corrupted Atokatra vanished, Jinshu Kuangmai now choking the image of herself and Asami. Korra did not feel a chill in herself as he said, "This… is a most interesting dream." Korra found herself smiling as she said, "I don't know how _you _are in control, but you're on my home turf now." Closing her eyes temporarily, Korra saw an image of the Fire Nation as Asami-particle ridden glass and the rest of the world enslaved. When she opened them, the image appeared on the screen, Jinshu Kuangmai forming a metal blade and slicing the Fire Nation as he said, "Forget glass – I want that bunch of savages that calls itself a nation beneath the sea! The 100 Year's War…"

As Korra heard Uncle Iroh say from behind, "The Fire Nation has changed, my sad, angry little child. I have had to help convince people to go to war, to stop this horrible vision from happening." Trying a different tact and remembering her suit's new, hopeful feature, Korra said, "Korra's Spirit – I need your help!" As the glove materialized on her hand, Asami laughed, saying, "That might get a little confusing after a while. Korra's Spirit – your spirit, or the suit?" As Korra successfully projected an image using the glove, she said, "Both. Take a good look at the fate of Zaofu, Jinshu Kuangmai."

The image from her palm expanded, apparently empowered by being in the Spirit World. Raava's Wrath gunships turned the fortifications of the city into craters, glass and melted steel, absorbing all the spirit weaponry turned on them effortlessly. Korra smiled when she heard Raava say loudly in English, "I'm the Juggernaut, b - " a wide eyed Jinshu Kuangmai understanding the English curse word somehow. Remembering that there were civilians in Zaofu, Korra added insult to injury by having the gunships pick up the innocents. The vision now showing Korra personally reclaiming Zaofu from the earth, Korra cursed in English herself as she saw that the city looked twisted. Jinshu Kuangmai laughed, asking loudly, "Like what I'm doing with the place?" Korra felt herself fill with anger, the image now showing a familiar large Meesile striking the central, corrupted angular lotus. All the horrible new domes engulfed by a large, blue and white ball of energy, Korra said strongly, "This thing you call Zaofu. It doesn't deserve the name. All it deserves is annihilation." Imaging Jinshu Kuangmai dead by her hand, his heart pierced by the twin blades of an Avatar's Bite with permission from Tonga, Korra finished, "I am done with your little game. Raava, kick him out."

Once Jinshu Kuangmai had been dragged off-screen by large white tendrils, cursing loudly as he left, the speakers on the television said, "I didn't expect you to condone the use of those horrible weapons, Korra." Korra was surprised when it was Aang who responded, saying, "I fail to see how that was a misuse of the spirit bomb equivalent of a fusion weapon, or an _ICBM_. All the civilians were gone, only lost souls who call themselves Earth Empire soldiers left. Conventional weapons would have made the soldiers suffer, a spirit bomb – death in an instant." Asami said, looking at the image of a bedraggled Korra and Asami, "If we hold back, more people than just Korra and I will die." Finding her projected hologram hijacked again, but this time by a more welcome presence, Korra saw a massive VarriMag gun with a huge shell appear, the shell having a blue and white yin and yang symbol. The weapon was carried by two specially modified Raava's Wrath's. After Korra wondered aloud what was wrong with an ICBM, Asami said, "This unnamed weapon - this is for much, much later. I imagine that an 'ICBM' could be shot down with spirit weaponry and advanced computers. A VarriMag projectile with a warhead would likely be too fast to shoot down" Korra laughed when she heard the speakers saw loudly, "Correct. Now let's get back to work – you can design weapons later."

Re-focusing, Korra looked at the screen again, putting her metal-clad right hand down. Korra was thankful that the Long Yumao didn't seem to be interactive, merely roaring over and over, periodically shaking his large sail. Korra noticed with a start that Raava's large form was draped over the sail, jagged spikes piercing her body. It was Asami who spoke first, saying as she held out her betrothal necklace, "Look, Long Yumao! Love cooties!" Korra laughed hysterically as Long Yumao responded in a panic, "I can 'kill' Raava, but not love! That which I wanted dead the most!" Korra stepped back, holding out her own betrothal necklace as a ward against a decidedly three-dimensional grasping arm, saying, "Get out of here, or I'll encase you in ice from my seventh chakra pool!" The arm now two-dimensional, Korra imaged herself chasing Long Yumao off the screen with her betrothal necklace in one hand and a heart-shaped ball of chakra water in the other. Atokara giggled when Long Yumao left the screen, saying with a more serious tone, "Momma Korra, do you think you could take some of that water with you?" Korra shook her head, saying, "No, I don't think so. It's not like it is physical. Plus, I've got all the love I need in my necklace."

The only thing left on the screen being Dark Korra, who was tapping her foot impatiently as she stared at the pool of blood around her feet, a spirit form Raava appeared on-screen, saying, "So that's what I need to do. After we're done, I'll need your necklaces, Korra and Asami." Having a vague idea what Raava wanted with their necklaces, Korra said, "Sure. Let's get this Dark Korra thing over with."

Korra heard a cracking sound behind her as raspy laughter intensified, hearing glass shatter as an alarmed female vice said, "Integrity of the television has been compromised. You'll need to face your final fear more directly, Korra." Turning around, Korra saw her bloody dripping dark self wielding red and black chains, dragging forward some familiar figures from the broken screen as she said, "I brought along some people who have something in common with you, Korra." Korra formed a ball of water, drawing it from the seventh chakra pool as she said, "If you're going to be more direct, then so will I." Dark Korra laughed, saying as her eyes glowed intensely, "You know what your ultimate fear is – bloodbending corrupting you and your soul." Korra noticed that Tarrlok and Noatak stayed still as Hama and Yakone stepped forward, Yakone saying with a snarling smile, "Looks like I might see two annoying Avatars dead at once. I never appreciated what you did with my bending, Aang. Such a waste of my talent."

Korra felt a surge of energy, Raava intoning, _You're going to need me for this. Maybe._ Korra said, pointing a glowing hand at Dark Korra, "Love is more powerful than hate. I don't know what you hoped to accomplish by bringing these allies along, two of which look reluctant." Dark Korra laughed gratingly, forming a ball of blood for emphasis, "You don't have to fall into darkness to be corrupted, Korra. You're going to need to watch your back, every day – I'll be waiting there for you, eternally." Taking a deep breath, Korra formed a large blade of ice on her right arm, using it like a two-handed sword. But Dark Korra wasn't her target.

The chains.

As the waterblade made contact, she saw the red and black links warp and twist, the metal somehow screeching as though it were Dark Korra. The chains on Tarrlok and Noatak broken, Korra noticed with disgust that Hama and Yakone were frowning. Hama said, as she cradled her chain with care, "I don't want you to try and 'free' me, Avatar. I still hate the Fire Nation, even if it means I'm stuck in the Fog of Lost Souls forever. You're a disgrace, allying yourself with such monsters. I was the last existing waterbender in the South Pole, for a time…" Korra was about to respond, but Aye-zul appeared in front of Hama in a flash, saying angrily, "If I can forgive what the Fire Nation did to the Air Nomads, I see no reason you should hold on to hatred." Hama laughed, saying as Aye-zul breathed heavily, "Hatred is all I have, and all I want." A now hulking Aye-zul slashed at Hama, saying after she disappeared, "Gah – the first human I want to kill, running like a coward!" He left Korra's sight, saying, "I want to DO something!" Korra laughed along with Asami when Atokara said, "Me too!"

Korra heard Dark Korra laugh, saying, "Ayazar sounds as headstrong as you were, Korra. If you had drank of Sharktar's water after incinerating Tarrlok…" Korra saw an image of herself at the age of 22, soaring on jets of red flame, noticing that her eyes were orange. As Dark Korra spoke in an unintelligible yet dreadful tongue, the image massacred Equalist forces without mercy, moving on to Equalist protesters with similar energy, and eventually innocents. In a normal tongue, Dark Korra boasted, "That is an alternate, but it can still happen. You can't get rid of me permanently." With a snarling smile, she added, "It wouldn't take much of a slipup either," as though she knew something Korra didn't. Remembering how Aang had avoided corruption, Korra wasn't worried – she felt completely confident she could handle whatever the world threw her way, no fear involved now. Knowing what this final fear must be about, Korra said strongly, "That is in the past – a different alternate entirely. I have found a way for bloodbending to be used to _heal_. Bloodbending won't corrupt me." Dark Korra shrieked, saying in a panic, "NO – they weren't supposed to hear that!" Yakone said, with disbelief in his voice, "WHAT? That's ridiculous!" Korra showed Yakone a small mark on her arm, saying, "That used to be a fairly large cut before I used bloodbending to heal it. Katara, Kya and my parents are probably using bloodbending healing to soothe my pain in the physical world right now as I get these tattoos for real, under a full moon."

With a sneer, Yakone said, "Using bloodbending to soothe pain – what a waste! It's meant to inflict damage, not heal it! To control! Manipulate!" Practically spitting, he said with rage, "Knowing my soft sons, they'd probably heal, like some kind of wussy woman!" He looked like he wanted to say something else, but his body jerked. Korra heard a young and old voice say at the same time, one female, one male, "Leave. Now. I never want to see you again." The young girl added, "I'm glad momma Korra and mommy Asami are my parents, mean man, and not you," and the older male said, sounding like he might cry, "My brother saved me from your insanity, Yakone. I won't call you father – you're worse than Ozai ever was." Dark Korra barked, "Ozai was the perfect father to Azula – how can you say that, Tarrlok?" Korra grinned widely as she saw Noatak spit on Dark Korra, her doppler shrieking loudly, "Agh! It burns! I thought you couldn't just break out of the Fog of Lost Souls like that!" Noatak laughed, saying, "That was my act of will, wretch. The only reason Tarrlok stayed all that time was to try and break me free." Dark Korra looked at Tarrlok in terror as he said, "It's true – you think I wouldn't try to repay my brother's kindness, saving me from my monstrous father all those years ago?" Korra wanted to say something, but saw Yakone practically fuming at the ears, looking back and forth between Noatak and Tarrlok with disbelief.

Growling deeply, Yakone said as he clenched a fist, "Fine with me, you pathetic excuses for sons. If I had a last name, I'd be ashamed to share it with either of you. From what I've heard about this Jinshu Kuangmai whenever Long Yumao comes by the Fog of Lost Souls to feed on suffering and gloat, I'd rather have him as a son than both of you. That metalbender appreciates what power is." Pointing at each dead son in turn, Yakone said, "Both of you – you're more than dead to me now. If I ever bump into Ozai in the Fog of Lost Souls, I'll try my best and see what he thinks of you two miserable failures. I'm sure he'd have a lot to say about both Zuko and Azula." With that, he vanished, leaving Dark Korra alone, her doppler sputtering, "I hate myself! Miserable failure! GAH!" Korra laughed hysterically as she appreciated the irony, projecting Raava out and giving her an odd request. Vaatu said, popping his small humanoid head out, "Yes, you are. You're more overconfident than smart. Bringing Noatak, also known as Amon – sure. Misguided madman. But Tarrlok? Are you retarded? Just a shady councilman, and he saved his brother to boot! Don't even remind me of how he blew himself and his brother up to put a stop to 'Amon' once and for all." Korra felt vaguely sad when she saw Dark Korra shrink in size after she sobbed, "I guess I am," extending the ice on her right arm towards Dark Korra. The four-year old Dark Korra shrieked, "Get away! I may be stupid, but I'm not a complete fool!" After Dark Korra vanished, Korra felt sadness overshadow the underlying feeling of pleasure and freedom she felt from having overcome her fears.

Remembering that she wasn't the only one with chakras to unlock, Korra asked, "Where's Asami's ultimate fear?" After Raava shut Vaatu back inside the teapot, Korra heard Raava strain, seeing an image of Atokara standing next to a casket on a fixed screen, Asami saying, "I… I never want Atokara to go through what I did, losing one of her parents. You, Korra." The image shifted to a happier one as Atokara said confidently, "Momma Korra would live on inside me if she died, mommy Asami, as well as in the next Avatar." Asami began crying as Hiroshi said from her side, "Your mother lives on inside you as well." After a hug with Asami, her parents, and Atokara, Yasuko said, "Just as darkness and hurt can never be truly eradicated, light and love never fade, unless you let them." Korra heard machinery humming, Asami saying, "No more fear… At last."

Hearing a male cough, Korra turned to see the bloodbending brothers holding hands, Noatak saying, "As much as I hate to leave before learning more about love first-hand - the love our father never gave us - my brother and I have a prison to waltz out of. And a new life to begin." Remembering who he had been, Noatak added, "His love helped me see that the problem with the world isn't bending – it's hatred. See you around. And thanks for the help, Atokara. I don't think Tarrlok would have been able to… bloodbend our father alone." As the brothers vanished, Korra turned to Atokara, asking, "What… what did you do?" Atokara smiled, saying, "I just let myself get caught up in the moment, not liking how Yakone dismissed bloodbending healing as ridiculous. Or how he basically said healing was woman's work. Thinking of what it must have been like to be raised by Yakone, I felt some surge of energy, and my hair felt funny. Next thing I knew, I was helping Tarrlok interrupt him, saying the same thing Tarrlok was." Remembering how Atokara had resisted Jinshu Kuangmai's blood-iron bending, Korra hugged Atokara as she said, "Hard to believe it, but I'm glad you can bloodbend, apparently whenever you want, given how Jinshu Kuangmai couldn't bloodbend you. I'm sure you'll help heal a lot of people." Korra smiled as Atokara added, "And fight. But nicely," seeing herself more and more in the four-year old.

Apparently, so did Raava, though in a different way. Raava came over, touching Atokara while saying, "What – how did she bloodbend? In the Spirit World? I thought only Korra could bend after meditating in, due to my increasing human-y nature." Atokara shrugged, saying, "After thinking about how much being Yakone's son must have sucked, I just did what I did." Raava seemed stumped. Asami said, pride in her voice, "Remember, Raava – my daughter has a lot of your energy inside her, and it sounds like she was consumed by _empathy _for Tarrlok and Noatak. It sounds like she can see things from other's perspective, even though she's 'four'." Atokara nodded, saying, "I felt funny, and not just in my hair. I had a feeling in my chest, something like what mommy Asami feels for momma Korra, but weaker. I also felt sad." Remembering what Tarrlok had said about staying in the Fog of Lost Souls to help rescue his older brother, Korra said, "I guess it was love that let Tarrlok bloodbend his father somehow as well."

Feeling a light poking on her back, Korra turned around, seeing Aang and Sokka standing side by side, Sokka idly examining his boomerang as Aang said, "I want to see more of this out-of-the-box chakra unlocking! Fighting, freeing Tarrlok and Am – I mean, Noatak. SO much more exciting than Guru Pathik and his onion-banana nonsense." Korra laughed as Sokka crossed his arms, saying, "It wasn't the only nonsense! 'Let go of Katara' – Korra and Asami have proven that was totally unnecessary!" Aang laughed, saying, "I remember you getting grossed out when Katara and I smooched." Sokka gave his boomerang a sheepish look as he said, "I may have thought you being into my sister was awkward at first, but I understood better when I finally approached Suki seriously." Sighing deeply, he said, "I wish we had been as prolific as you two were, Aang. No children…"

Raava ran over, hugging Sokka as she said, "I hope something like that never happens again, Sokka." Korra vaguely considered trying to infobend Raava, and pry this odd, heavily guarded secret about being childless as a result of biology from her mind, but held back when Raava laughed, saying, "You can't infobend me, Korra. You should feel lucky you managed to sneak a peek at Yasuko's current life." Korra crossed her arms, scowling at Raava as she said, "I want to break some rules. I'm sick and tired of all your limitations." Raava smiled broadly, saying, "There are some things that only I can know. If I told you what you should eat for breakfast, you wouldn't listen. In the same vein, if I told you exactly who Yasuko is now, it would ruin all sorts of surprises." Giving up the chase, Korra said, "Fine. Let's see what the Water chakra has in store for me and Asami." Laughing, she added, "I know one thing that won't be featured in either of ours," flashing an unlocked betrothal necklace at Asami.

Korra didn't like how Asami said, with a slight frown, "I… I don't know about that, Korra. Let's see." Korra took Asami's hand again, noticing her heartbeat was elevated, only slowing when they looked at the screen's images. Korra noticed with a smile that her side included a faded black-and-white ghost of herself holding an envelope, saying after she realized what the image meant, "I guess I no longer feel guilty about running away from the world. Seeing myself read that letter, then have it stripped away by Dark Korra… I know now that I needed to get lost, to find and heal myself fully." Korra saw a massive humanoid form next to her black-and white image, recognizing "UnaVaatu," saying, "I did my best to stop Unalaq at Harmonic Convergence, and that's all that you can really ask of anybody. I… actually feel glad that Jinora helped me now, without any sense of shame in an 11-year old helping save the world."

Korra turned around, looking at the third chakra pool, surprised to see the water flowing in a more steady stream. Wan Shi Tong inspected the pool, saying, "Remembering what I have read of Earth psychology, the idea that these chakras are individual and separate and should have no overlap is ludicrous." As Korra agreed with him, she noticed the sixth pool change slightly as well, saying, "I guess there's an illusion that Guru Pathik never talked to you about, Aang – separation of feelings. Guilt and shame are particularly closely linked. You feel shame for doing something, then you feel guilty for having done it." Korra heard Asami start to cry slightly, her world saying, "No… not yet. I want to finish looking at what I don't feel guilty about, before facing…"

Korra turned around, giving Asami a hug as she said, "I have the feeling this chakra will be hard for you, Asami, if you are hinting at what I think you are." Realizing that Asami would need as much help for her ultimate guilt as Korra did for her quelled ultimate fear of corruption, Korra told Raava, "Let's get my guilts over with, Raava. I have the feeling Asami's final guilt will be very difficult to overcome." Asami surprised Korra by saying, "You're right, just not in the way you might think. Let's see what a person as loving as you could possibly feel guilty about."

Korra turned around, seeing a sullen image of herself saying, "I… I'm not worthy of starting a Spirit Civil War over. Sometimes, I wish Raava had never given me her little gift – the cost… I don't want some selfish dream causing others suffering, or the end of the world." Korra was surprised by the screen's candor, saying with a sigh, "I guess I still have some serious self-esteem issues." Remembering that it had been Raava who gave the gift of Atokara, Korra said strongly, "I accept Raava's gift – Atokara – without a second thought. It was most definitely Raava's decision, and not mine." Hearing water flowing slightly faster and the giggling of her daughter, Korra added, "I am worthy of love, and a capable individual, deserving of both Atokara and Asami." After she had finished, she heard Aang exclaim, "The Sound chakra pool – the one about lies! It looks almost unclogged now!" Korra smiled, saying, "Skipping around sure makes this process more organic." Aang laughed, saying, "You can say that again. Unlocking the chakras with Guru Pathik's help was a lot more serious affair than this."

Seeing there was still one image in front of her, Korra scoffed, saying, "What's me failing to defend Zaofu doing here? That should be black and white – no longer an issue! If I had succeeded, Kuvira would be dead, Jinshu Kuangmai just taking her place." Wan Shi Tong innocently asked, "What about Baatar Jr.? Was he not second in command?" Korra laughed bitterly, saying, "Technically. I imagine Jinshu Kuangmai would have just killed him, taking over." As Wan Shi Tong said, "I guess I still have a lot to learn about humans," Korra saw what she somehow knew was her final guilt appear. Korra laughed, saying, "I hope your final guilt is as innocuous as mine, Asami – I never did give you a proper Spirit World Vacation." Asami hugged Korra in a way she knew meant that Asami was going to need a lot of support soon.

Seemingly starting again, Korra saw a black and white image of Asami betraying her father Hiroshi with her electroglove what seemed like an eternity ago. Asami saying nothing, Hiroshi said, "I hold no hard feelings about your 'betrayal' of me, Asami. If anything, I was the traitor, befouling the image of the company I built, and more importantly, siding with a man who I am sure my beloved wife, Yasuko, would have found vile." Korra heard Yasuko's voice agree from behind, Asami finally speaking, saying with relief, "I'm glad prison taught you something." Somehow sensing Raava was about to make an off-color English joke, Korra barked, "Don't. Not funny." Raava cursed, saying indignantly, "Now who's being all serious?" Korra sighed, then chuckled, saying, "You can tell all the dirty jokes you want. But later."

Korra protested slightly when Asami broke the hug, Asami saying, "I think I know the joke you had in mind, Raava. Let's continue." Korra looked back at the screen, seeing a black and white image of Asami breaking up with Mako, among many others. Walking in front of the screen, Asami said, "While focusing on the positive is all good, I'd prefer to skip this part in future. It tells us nothing we don't know already." Korra began to speak, but Atokara beat her to the punch, saying, "I wanna see it all! Maybe when you and momma Korra are being positive, the other chakras will become easier." Asami smiled, saying, "Okay, if you want to, sweetie." Re-joining Korra's side, Asami pointed at an image Korra was pleased to see in black and white, Asami saying, "I still feel bad about my earlier outburst, but remembering what Lin said about bottling up negative emotions inside, I don't want to wallow in guilt."

With this, a color image of a younger crying Asami appeared, Asami explaining, "Even if I love who I am, the past hurt and self-blame for being, well, who I am, still lingers." Korra said, slightly confused, "How? I thought we thoroughly dispelled any guilt earlier, with _that_." Korra found herself thankful that an image of Asami enjoying _that_ did not appear on the screen as Asami said, "I guess you're right. But this isn't the worst of it." The young Asami now happy-looking, Asami continued, "This other thing… is a mix of guilt and shame. I'll want to see your 'shame' before dealing with this." Korra laughed when the screen said over many black and white images, "Error – shame not found." Korra said with a light sultry tone, "I've got nothing to be ashamed of. You remember how passionately I played with you earlier, and I have no real regrets about my own actions now. Even my _inactions_ and 'failures' – if I had killed Kuvira at Zaofu, we'd have a hard time against Jinshu Kuangmai, and I doubt those soldiers would have just stood down."

Asami sighed deeply, saying, "I wish I could say the same," the screen now showing an adult Asami in full color, holding a picture of Korra. With a strained voice, the image said, "I… I want to do so much more, but… I'm too weak. Even though my father is in prison, he still has a grip over me." Crying, the morose Asami said, "Korra's gone now, but even before she left… Every time I thought I was close to finally asking her, some nagging thought entered my head. 'You can't hit on her – she needs your friendship, and nothing else! She's still recovering from being posioned – she might have a heart attack or fatal seizure if you ask her!' 'What about Future Industries?' 'What will people think?' 'What if she rejects me?' 'What if I really am unnatural?' 'What would my father think?'" Sitting down, the image said dejectedly, "I can't even be who I really am, the guilt I had been taught to associate with my desires feeding shame I feel every time I think of Korra longingly, then the shame and guilt I feel over not being who I am feeding… a never-ending cycle…" Korra began crying profusely when she saw Asami give a thousand-yard stare, the Asami in the image saying, "There… there is a way out," resting her gaze on an electroglove.

Turning to Asami, Korra said with concern, "You… you never seemed suicidal to me." Asami sighed, saying, "This is a representation of both reality and inner thoughts, in starkest terms. I never really considered suicide as an option, but the thoughts were there nonetheless, especially following your cutting of ties with the world. Only your response letter fully banished them." Korra smiled, saying, "Let's see what else you need to heal." Asami nodded, saying, "I think I'll need someone else's help for this."

Hiroshi ran over, tears in his eyes as he said, "Only daughter of mine, my most prized asset- if you had told me of these suicidal thoughts, I would have relented immediately. I would rather have been a penniless beggar on the street and with you, alive, than live alone, atop a mountain of gold, my only child and reminder of my deceased wife having killed herself." Asami finally broke into hysterical sobs, saying, "I… I was lying to Korra earlier. When I was young and stupid, having just been forced into the dating school, and obsessed with a girl who had actually made covert advances on me, I… I felt desperate, like my life was unfixable. I deliberately drank myself into a stupor, hoping that I would never wake up, drinking more when I did wake up." Hiroshi looked sad and furious at the same time, yelling, "THAT was what your biggest raid on my liquor cabinet was about, Asami?! Thank goodness I could afford such a good doctor, and waterbender assistant – I thought you were going to die. There was enough liquid in your stomach when I found you to finish the job, given what the waterbender and doctor said after the liquor was removed." Sighing deeply, he said, "I've changed my mind about how much punishment I deserve, in my new life. I want to atone…" Asami hugged her father tightly, saying, "More suffering fixes nothing. I forgive you." Hiroshi broke the hug, pointing a finger at Asami as he said, "I know that. The more important question, Asami, is if you forgive yourself. For your lies to yourself about your true nature, for feeling guilty for being who you are, and for… feeling shame." With a bitter sob, he added, "Feeling shame over _love_. Please, Asami, forgive yourself, for your past self-repression. For me, for Korra, for your mother. _For Atokara_."

"Yes… I forgive myself."

Korra heard a massive whirring of gears, turning to see that all seven gears were turning at a rapid pace, the final gear now a mix of white and blue metal, shredded oily rags scattered haphazardly. Korra was dumbstruck, even Raava speechless. Asami laughed freely, saying happily, "I guess everything is more connected than even Raava thought." Asami ran over to the gears, saying animatedly, "Accepting my grief and coping with it unlocked the Air gear fully. Getting rid of my fear let me see and value love more. In the process of being honest about my guilt and shame, I was honest about my biggest secret, obliterating the lies I told myself over the years about who and what I am in one sweeping strike." Smiling as she sat on the last gear like a merry-go-round, Asami said in a bubbly way that Korra hadn't heard in a very long time, "The last two gears were never locked before we started in the first place. My mind and soul bending experience with Korra in that little earth shack shattered any illusion of separation I had. I even felt at one with the universe for a short time!" Curious, Korra asked, "Did a gentle voice talk to you at all?" Asami said, getting off the rapidly rotating gear, "Ugh, I feel sort of sick. To answer, yes. It said something about 'Korra's something else. I half wonder if she was supposed to be assigned to my plane.'" Korra was surprised to not hear Raava curse, the spirit saying instead, "That's funny, though I don't know if it was supposed to be. 'He' can be weird like that." Laughing, Raava added, "In some ways, 'he' reminds me of Uncle Iroh." Korra saw Uncle Iroh blush, saying, "That's… that's awfully generous of you, Raava."

Asami hugged Korra deeply, saying, "Let's get your own chakras cleared." Raava said excitedly, "Yes! I can't wait…" Apparently, she had meant this literally, as Korra heard a female voice come from behind her, the television saying with authority, "Let's skip the positive part, like Asami suggested. If we had lingered over every black and white image earlier, Korra, we'd have been here all night. You've grown a lot." Korra turned around, seeing a color image of herself as a child, being taken away by the White Lotus from her parents for one of her first training sessions. Korra frowned slightly as she said, "If only you knew them taking you away for a short while was nothing compared to what was to come, you'd have cherished every moment…" Little Korra yelled, tears in her eyes, "Mommy! Daddy! I want to learn how to be the Avatar here, with you! I hate being away!" Korra found herself feeling a mix of righteous anger and sadness as one of the White Lotus goons said, "Your family will distract you from learning what you need to, Avatar Korra. And we have strict orders to ensure your safety." Seeing something she didn't remember, she admonished the guard once she was outside, far away from her house in the driving cold, in a male voice that wasn't her own, "I never worried about my safety, and the whole world was against me! I was twelve, going up against a juggernaut – Firelord Ozai and the Fire Nation, with a strict deadline!"

A more familiar man, the Grand Lotus, who Korra refused to call by his real name, laughed, saying, "There's no way a four-year old Avatar could channel a past life, bending three elements without instruction or not." She saw herself say, "Consider the orders abolished! All of them! This isn't right! Korra needs a normal childhood - her own culture's, not one like an Air Nomad and Water Tribe hybrid! I don't think I trust you, or even the White Lotus with her anymore - not after all your stubborn, literal-minded behavior! She's four years old, and even I had trouble being the Avatar at the age of twelve!" Korra watched in horror as the Grand Lotus whipped out a small syringe, saying with a small frown, "I don't care if she's four. Ensuring your next life's safety is our mission, Aang - one which you gave us, and one I take **very** seriously for personal reasons. What we are doing - it **is** right." Sighing, he continued, "You aren't thinking clearly, Aang – you're letting Korra's emotions get to you. Neither of you will remember a thing. I had hoped to never need to use this…. modified Spirit Oasis water like this. We have a job to do – protect the Avatar. No matter the cost."

Pushing aside some gnawing questions, Korra only felt her grief for lost childhood intensify as she saw a guard inject a mystery concoction of water and other, darker compounds forcefully, realizing with a start she recognized who it was – a woman she knew only by her nickname, Crasher, one of the few White Lotus guards she liked in her youth. She was crying bitterly. Once her younger self was knocked out, Crasher said, "I… I don't know what I just did, but I do know this – history won't look upon us kindly. I wouldn't treat my own son like this." Approaching the Grand Lotus, she demanded, "What would Uncle Iroh think of this? This isn't a quest for truth! This is the worst kind of lying!" Eyes flaring, the dour-looking man responded, "You know what happened, and why I take my job so seriously - don't you bring family into this! Silence! You're just a guard, and I'm the Grand Lotus! There are good reasons why we must protect Korra. For crying out loud, we're just taking her away for a training session - it's not as if we have any current reason to whisk her away! We haven't seen Red Lotus activity in years. If she were to die in the Avatar State, the Avatar would be dead. Forever. If you care for her so much, never mention this to her – she'd likely break down crying." Crasher frowned, saying, "Fine. But the truth will come out some day…"

As she tried to make sense of it all, Korra listened to Aang say with fury, "Why that little… Is he still alive, Korra? I want him to stand trial – he directly ignored an order from me, and wiped our memories somehow!" Korra shrugged, saying, "I don't know, Aang. I haven't interacted with the White Lotus for a long time. Especially not the Grand Lotus. He annoyed me to no end." Smiling, she said mockingly, "'Republic City is too dangerous, Avatar Korra! Neh neh neh! Just… be more spiritual! Even though I wiped your memory and never told you about it!'" Turning around, she said to Aang, no longer smiling, not even slightly, "You have access to the same alternates that Raava does. I remember a vision she showed me, very faintly, where the White Lotus didn't protect me at all, and Zaheer kidnapped me. Successfully." Hugging a crying Aang, she said, "Even before this revelation, I had partially gotten over my childhood, or lack of one, after Raava showed me this vision. Seeing that you tried your best to stop the White Lotus, even after death, just makes me feel even more whole." Korra was about to say something, but found her mind blank, as though someone or something had stolen her thoughts.

Thinking nothing of it, Korra heard the sound of rushing water as Aang said, "I… I know this alternate you speak of, Korra, even before Raava put it in that special box. I won't pursue this after all, or ask you to prosecute the Grand Lotus." Korra felt someone hug her, hearing Uncle Iroh's voice say, "We can try and reform the White Lotus, together, when things settle down. I doubt they would dare question am immortalized Grand Lotus such as myself, much less a Master Avatar." Korra chuckled, saying with a smile, "Thank you, but I'll just go by Avatar Korra Sato. I've had my taste of people parading their titles around – White Lotus Grand Master, Councilman, Chief of Police, President, Northern Water Tribe Chief, C.E.O. of Varrick Industries, Dark Avatar, Earth-Queen, the Great Uniter, Grand Dark Spirit wannabe…"

Korra tried to break the hug, but Uncle Iroh just hugged both her and Aang tighter, saying with a chuckle, "You didn't have to list everything, Korra – a single world would do just fine. Humility." Korra broke the hug gently, saying, "I guess you're right. Let's see what my ultimate grief is." Looking at the screen, she saw an image of an _actual_ baby Atokara, tears coming to her eyes as she saw Atokara grow up in a normal fashion in a time-lapse, an ominous tick tock in the background. Korra sighed deeply when the real Atokara said, "Why am I making you sad, momma Korra?" After calling Atokara over, Korra explained, saying through a few tears, "I wanted to raise you normally, and spend as much time as I can with you, watching you grow and learn. The energy inside you from Raava means I will likely never have a normal child." Atokara shrugged, saying, "Okay. I still don't get it – I wanna be me, as soon as possible!" Korra smiled weakly, saying, "You really are a spitting image of me, Atokara." Atokara smiled, saying, "I'm Raava's gift, and you gotta deal with it! No babyhood and all!" Korra found herself laughing freely as the wind might have blown outside the Spirit World, the laughter only abating when Asami said seriously, "You're perfect just the way you are, Atokara." After Korra nodded in agreement, she felt a strong feeling of love in her heart as she said, "I accept things for the way they are, not the way they could have been."

Turning around, she saw Sokka poking the fifth pool with his boomerang, Sokka asking, "Why is this pool still blocked partially? What do you lie to yourself about, Korra?" Korra knew the answer, but did not respond, barking instead, "Hey! Quit that! Don't fall in the… water." As Sokka shook the water off, he said with a slight frown, "Oh. So that's what you lie to yourself about, still." Pointing at Wan and then Aang, he said, "I don't understand why you still see yourself as weak. You can do all sorts of crazy things, have mastered the four elements like no Avatar before you…" Korra sighed dejectedly, saying, "Let's save that one for last, Sokka. I've got other, less serious things to deal with." Sokka laughed, saying as a koala-sheep appeared at his side and ridiculous brown hair came into being on his face, "Sounds like you need some Sokka-ology." Raava laughed, saying, "I've got to see this," Aang groaning, "Ugh, Sokka – it didn't really work for me! Ouch – what's with the boomerang?" Sokka said, catching his boomerang, "Yes, it did – eventually! The delay was only because you were too stubborn to sleep, or listen!"

Korra walked between the two, saying, "We're all friends here. No need to fight." Sokka laughed, saying, "Not all fighting is bad. I guess since you didn't have a normal childhood, you never really learned what good-natured sarcasm or harassment was." Korra frowned slightly when Asami laughed, saying, "That explains a lot." Korra looked at Sokka, smiling slightly as she said, "Maybe I need to infobend more than just sword knowledge from you, Sokka." Sokka shook his head, saying, "You can't just infobend _everything_. If you took that kind of thing from me, you'd just start acting like me, instead of yourself." Korra laughed, saying, "Everyone already has to deal with Bolin, so I don't think we need another wisecracker." Sokka smiled, saying, "Nothing beats the original. Now let's get to Sokka-ology. Raava, can you make me a smaller version of one of those televisions?"

After Raava strained for a while, a small rectangular television appeared on the ground, Sokka picking it up as he said, "I wanted a television, not a… what is this thing, Wan Shi Tong?" Korra jumped slightly when she saw an image of Wan Shi Tong appear on the other kind of thingie, a small hole at the top letting out sound as Wan Shi Tong said, "This is a tablet. I'm not sure why Raava is just showing you these Earth things left and right." Korra laughed when Raava appeared, pushing Wan Shi Tong off as she said, "There's no way these two Earth technologies could be reproduced yet. I chose advanced versions of both televisions and tablets for a reason – if you tried to open the inside, even Kuvira couldn't make sense of the electronics. These will both remain here, for anyone else who wants to open their chakras."

Raava vanished, replaced by a color image of Korra that she laughed at heartily, a morose Korra saying, "Just because I can't prevent everything bad from happening or keep perfect balance means I'm weak." Sokka interacted with the image somehow, turning it to face a crowd of past Avatars as he said, "Korra, you've done a lot better job at maintaining balance than Roku or Kyoshi did." Korra smiled when she saw the two Avatars in question nod their heads, Roku saying, "I should have killed him," at the same time Kyoshi did, though they were both referring to different tyrants. As Korra said, "Nobody is perfect, and to think you have to be is a huge lie," she saw the image vanish, Sokka saying as he stroked his fake beard, "Good. Good. Now let's move on to what your final challenge will be."

Looking at the tablet again, Korra saw an image of herself appear, surrounded by the four elemental symbols, a depiction of lava, blue fire, bending metal, a single drop of blood and a ring of lightning forming an outer circle. Towards the center, she saw a circle formed from a freely floating smaller image of herself, the Ember Factory Island main complex, a ball of acid, Raava's human-y form, an outstretched palm and a depiction of Korra's spirit. The image in the center was blind to the talents and strengths that surrounded her, saying, "I'll never be strong enough!" Tapping the center image, Sokka said, "If you never acknowledge your strengths, and be happy with what you're capable of, Korra, you'll never know true peace. I didn't really feel good about who I was until I met and trained under Master Piandao, feeling inferior to the benders around me." Korra saw a tattooed hand other than her own push Sokka's hand aside, Aang saying as he pointed to Korra's many unique abilities, "If Katara could acidbend, the Drill outside Ba Sing Se would have been a joke. Even if she came up with the move your daughter did – the waterjet!" Resting his finger over the Ember Factory, he said, "Not to mention being able to make a whole factory, then your suits, drawing on your own spirit's energy for the suits." Korra said, without reservation, "I am pretty powerful," Sokka laughed, saying, "That's a big understatement. Come on – be honest."

Though she didn't like to brag – at least not now – Korra said, "I am one of the most powerful Avatars of all time, and happy with who I am." Korra gasped in an entirely different kind of pleasure, feeling what seemed like a final weight lifted off her soul, remembering that her two final chakras were more than just fine. Recalling Raava, she bent the two cleared chakra representations closer together as she said, "Watch out!" Apparently, Sokka had been a little slow, landing in the seventh chakra pool, sputtering, "Not again!" After climbing out, he kept a hand in the water, saying to an unseen being, "Is… is that you, Suki?" After an unknown response, Sokka started crying lightly, saying, "I'm out of here – I'm gonna see if I can cheat, and see Suki again!" Before he could vanish, Korra felt a surge of energy, Raava saying, "Wait! Korra moved those pools closer together for a reason. You might want to stick around."

Once everyone had gathered near the screen, except a "freed" Raava, Wan said, "This should be interesting. I wonder what Raava's true form will look like after… whatever it is happens." Raava put her hands on her hips, saying, "Maybe this is my true form now! You got a fetish for spirits or something?" Wan laughed, saying, "No," Korra realizing that Raava was waiting on her and Asami for their betrothal necklaces. Korra grabbed her jade betrothal necklace, saying, "Here, Raava – though I have no idea which necklace goes where." Asami held out her necklace, saying, "And I don't see any 'pool' to submerge a necklace in in my gears."

Raava held both necklaces in her right hand as she pressed a button on Asami's gear chakras, exposing a gently steaming pool of water in the center of each gear. Raava said, smiling broadly, "You and Asami aren't so different when you get down to the most basic level, Korra. Everyone has different versions of the same thing inside them." Crying a single tear, she said, "Well, not everyone - Tonga Beifong is but a small presence inside the monster that is Jinshu Kuangmai." Korra managed to choke out, "I don't know. I felt Jinshu Kuangmai's grief over seeing his soldiers die at the hands of an anonymous airbender, and it didn't feel like he was just sad because he lost so many 'pawns'." Raava gave Korra a funny look, saying, "I don't know if your naiveté is a strength or weakness, Korra." Looking down at the ground rather guiltily, Raava shocked Korra by saying, "I knew of that vision about you and Aang and the White Lotus you saw just now, and half expected you to yell at me, demanding why I never told you." Grinning nervously, Raava asked, "You're not mad at me, are you?" Korra shook her head, saying, "No. You must have kept it secret for a good reason." Raava nodded, saying, "Yes - I didn't think telling you _or _Aang would have been a good idea, seeing how the Grand Lotus reacted to Aang speaking from you. I don't think he would have believed his eyes if I popped out, admonishing him." With a weak smile, Raava said, "He probably would have injected himself with whatever that waterdrug was, thinking he had hallucinated. Even if he believed me, he likely wouldn't have listened anyways, especially seeing how you were kidnapped less than a year after that day by the Red Lotus." Korra heard Wan Shi Tong say, "I've looked at that Red Lotus Korra alternate, inside that little special box you made to hold it, Raava, and I think the Grand Lotus made the right choice, even if for the wrong reasons, and carried out his mission in a rather heartless way." Remembering the being of darkness' intrusions from Earth, and Uncle Iroh's offer to help revamp the White Lotus, Korra said, "We're going to need to re-make the White Lotus anyways, if a certain unwelcome guest is to be locked out properly." Ignoring Sokka and Uncle Iroh's blank stares, she made to finish, interrupted by Aye-zul, who said angrily, "Now there's a being I'd like to get my claws on…"

Korra sighed deeply, saying, "Did you forget what was most effective against him, Aye-zul? Or are you just itching for a fight?" Korra laughed when she heard the spirit say sheepishly, "Itching for a fight. Let's get this over with, so maybe I can go smack some Earth Empire goons or Dark Spirits around." Korra began laughing hysterically when Atokara admonished him, saying, "Being good isn't all about smacking goons and spirits around, you know. I know I wanna fight too, but something about thinking how Tarrlok and Noatak must have felt, growing up as Yakone's sons, makes me wanna heal too." Aye-zul groaned, saying, "Fine. Maybe I need to go talk to Hei Bai - I've heard all he wanted to do after conversion was go wreck Zaofu and Toph's wayward son, and given Jinshu Kuangmai was interrupting us earlier, I don't think he did." Making a mental note to take Jinora and Kai's experience that she knew nothing about from them in the morning, Korra said, "Why don't you lower the necklaces into the chakra pools, Raava." Raava giggled, saying, "I can't wait to feel what… uh, see what happens!" Raava ignored Wan's hysterical laughter, Wan saying, "I caught a glimpse of what will happen, and I know just what you can't wait to fee - hey, quit that, Korra! I want to see! Don't recall me!" Giving him a withering look, Korra said, "Then stop harassing Raava." With a slight grin, she added, "You don't want her getting the wrong idea, and thinking you're attracted to her, do you, Wan?" Wan surprised Korra by cursing loudly, blushing slightly as he said, "You… you have no idea what it's like to borderline despise every other human on the planet from your lifetime, Korra. At least Aang had human allies he liked, and one of them, enough to truly love, and marry…"

Looking to see Raava's reaction, Korra saw the spirit place her free hand on her forehead, saying, "I… I was drunk off my ass at the Avatar Party, Wan. I didn't mean any of that." Korra smiled silently, not needing to be able to sense Raava's spectral heart to tell she was lying. Aang said, looking back and forth between Wan and Raava, "I'm pretty sure anything between you would be breaking all sorts of rules, not to mention, from what I've heard, you don't have the proper equipment anyways, Raava." Raava picked up a small rock and threw it at Aang, saying angrily, "You doofus! Part of the whole reason I'm about to be promoted is that I realize love isn't about sex! I love Korra as well, and that doesn't mean I want to screw her! That's Asami's 'job'! Why don't you go peep on Katara, if that's how you think." Aang looked down at the ground, sullen as he said, "Sorry." Raava sighed deeply, saying, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some betrothal necklaces to 'wash'."

Korra watched as Raava held her own jade necklace over Asami's seventh gear and its steaming pool, Raava saying, "Who knows, Korra - you might be able to connect with the universe whenever you want when I'm done. Now, for the main event…"

With that, Raava lowered the twin necklaces into the water, Korra's pool glowing white and Asami's water boiling intensely, Raava somehow able to stand the pain. Through gritted teeth, she said, "It feels so bad, but so good… I guess this is what being separated from your lover must feel like. I feel no burning, only longing that hurts so much more, but also bittersweet at the same time…" With this, the gear's water stopped boiling, Raava exclaiming, "What's… what's happening? I thought I was supposed to GrOOOOWOWOWWWW! Ouch!" Raava said, rubbing her neck, "What was that? It felt like someone was burning through _my_ chakras, if I had them, all at once!" Korra laughed, saying, "I guess that's why your 'co-worker' wanted me to unlock my chakras. Sounds like you got some help."

Raava looked uneasy, saying as she tossed the necklaces back to Asami and Korra, "Don't look! I have no idea if my clothes are going to bust or not!" Korra laughed, saying, "I doubt it." Korra watched in amazement as she was proven right, laughing when she finally processed what the ridiculous-looking pile of cloth and what appeared to be a single piece of body armor obscuring Raava was for - modesty. Korra heard Raava begin to laugh uncontrollably, saying with glee, "Wow - this… is amazing! I feel like I just drank from Sharktar's pool!" Korra barely contained her laughter as she heard a familiar raspy voice say from her seventh chakra pool, "Hope you don't mind me popping in, Raava. I've got some advice for Korra and Asami after this, and want to see what someone growing rapidly looks like. It's been so long, I've forgotten." Raava said, with an incongruously mature voice, "No problem."

Not complaining in the slightest, Raava gradually filled her new clothes and unique blue and white breastplate, holding up a hand into the air as she said, "Hey - where's my sword I designed? I want to look like Joan of Arc!" Ignoring the rest of Raava's changed form, Korra looked at the large two-handed sword that appeared in Raava's hand, Raava saying proudly, "Life's Gift. I like it." Raava stepped forward, wielding the sword expertly as she said, "Maybe I can be more than just elemental glue now. I've always wondered what it would be like, fighting someone other than Vaatu directly." Realizing that everyone was staring at the sword, Raava stopped moving it, saying, "Here - take a look."

Korra examined the sword, noticing that it looked strong and savage, yet still not barbaric. But just barely. Strange glowing blue letters adorned the blade's center, glowing more intensely as Raava read the text aloud, saying, "Life is to give, but also take away. Wield this sword with hesitation and uncertainty. Quiver, before you take life." Raava flipped the large blade over, reading the back, the white letters glowing as she did so, "Sometimes to create that which is new and right, you must destroy the old and corrupted. New seeds can grow in the ashes of the past." Smiling, Raava slammed the blade's edge into the ground, blue and white lines spreading from it as the sword pulsed. Finally getting a good look, Korra realized it looked nothing like she had ever seen, with Raava's spirit form forming a slightly three-dimensional base for the sword, a handle with leaves and flowers embossed in color jutting skywards. A small, three-dimensional blue and white yin and yang pulsed steadily at the end of the pommel. The sword had sharp, cutting edges that pulsed with blue and white energy, the metal looking as though it was quivering slightly. When Raava removed the sword from the ground, she smiled, saying, "I found it poetic to turn a symbol for evil from another plane into a symbol for love. To twist something associated with death, into something associated with life." Acting like she was testing something, Raava yelled, "LOVE GROWS!" as she pointed the sword at those in front of her, Korra feeling an immense peace within her, grinning involuntarily.

Raava smiled, saying, "Given everyone's smiling, the blade is working as intended. I like that line a lot more than 'FROSTMOURNE HUNGERS!' Ar- errr, he's sadder than Jinshu Kuangmai… or was, rather." Korra gave Raava a quizzical look, saying, "What's Frostmourne? And who could be worse than Jinshu Kuangmai?" Raava frowned deeply, saying, "Let's just say that there are planes more barbaric than Earth. More people than the creators of the Earth show on our own world Aang talked about can see across planes." Aang said, disbelief in his voice, "What, does every creation from Earth spring from another plane? I know that they love to cheat and steal, but surely they could make something original." Raava laughed, saying with a smile, "To use an English phrase, 'They did some good drugs.' Surely you remember their legion of psychoactive substances, Aang." Sokka chuckled nervously, saying, "Yeah… mind-bending." After Korra gave him a dirty look, asking, "Did you drink cactus juice more than once?" Sokka laughed, saying, "Let's just say I tried it with Suki once, and saw what I thought were crazy visions. Given how Suki saw the same thing, and how detailed they were, I guess they weren't." With a nervous look, Aang asked, "You… you didn't happen to 'see' the Trinity bomb test in the Si Wong Desert, did you? The mushroom cloud I made?" Sokka laughed, his ludicrous fake beard finally vanishing as he said, "No. I saw a giant, friendly mushroom."

Before Korra could wonder aloud, she heard Raava say, "No, no cactus juiced Avatar. I don't want you accidentally bumping into some random being of darkness on a vision of your own." Korra sighed, saying, "Fine. I just wanted to have some fun…" Sokka shook his head violently, saying, "Cactus juice isn't fun. The first time I drank it, it was innocuous enough, but the second time was torturous. I saw a bunch of strange men, and some women, with what I now know was Vaatu dancing around them, asking tauntingly, 'Does the little Water Tribe boy and his girlfriend want to see? See beyond? See the darkness inside?'" Shivering slightly, he finished, "That's when I saw Azula join the others, and swore to never drink cactus juice again." Korra heard deep laughter from Raava's direction, turning to see what was going on. Korra heard a muffled voice from the teapot say, "Cactus juice - it's the quenchiest!"

Korra watched as Raava smacked the teapot, saying, "Shaddup!" before sheathing her new sword. Korra finally got a good look at Raava's new form, and given how Raava was posing for everyone, she must have noticed Korra's stare. Korra began laughing deeply when she heard Wan say "Uhhhhh…" as she took in the changes. Raava now appeared to be in her mid to late teens, Raava suprising Korra by saying, "Technically, I'm '14' but the energy in both your necklaces made me look a lot older." Korra laughed, saying as she pointed at Raava's breastplate, "I can see. I like how your white and blue armor has your old form on it." Raava nodded, saying, "Thanks for calling it my old form. The human - no, female - form is a lot more interesting than being some stupid kite." Laughing, she added, "I wonder if Varrick is ever going to make that mover about 'The biggest, meanest, scariest kite that ever flew!' What's the look for, Korra?" Korra laughed, knowing Raava was just being polite by asking, Korra asking, "How did you find out about that? And what mover?" Raava smiled, saying, "Sword, armor, a bigger body and breasts aren't the only good things I got with this promotion. I have more connection with all life now - not just what you or I see." Korra nodded, saying, "I sort of wondered how you knew Kuvira, Tonga Beifong and - wait. That was before." Raava laughed, saying, "I guess it just got stronger, is all."

Wanting a better look at Raava's head, Korra ran up, inspecting as she smiled. Pointing to Raava's white wolf ponytails and multiple half white and half blue hair loopies, Korra said, "I guess you have similar tastes with your best gift - Atokara." Raava smiled warmly, saying, "She's the whole reason I'm no longer a dour white and blue kite, in more ways than the obvious." Raava tapped the light blue and white metal diamond that now covered part of her head, saying, "Oops - I forgot a piece. I don't want to wear a full helmet, so I figure this is the next best - what are you doing, Korra?" On some artistic impulse, Korra had somehow made the odd headpiece into something resembling the large metal necklace Su liked to wear, saying, "Making you look prettier." As Raava giggled as though she were still four, Korra added the finishing touches, a blue and white diamond now surrounded by platinum with the four elemental symbols embossed on each side of the larger center. Korra stepped back, starting to say something, but stopped, seeing Raava take off her creation and add a blue and white cap and dreadful looking deep blue spike to the top. Korra groaned slightly, asking, "What's with you and looking fierce?" Raava frowned slightly, saying, "You're right - that little extra simila- err, touch is a bit much." The impractical, evil looking spike vanished, replaced by a white extension on the helmet in the shape of the very tip of Raava's spirit form. After Raava added a smaller version of the symbol on Korra's right breast, Raava said, "Done. I could use a reminder that Vaatu is technically inside me as well." Korra snickered when she heard a muffled boy's voice say, "Hehe. Inside her." Korra smacked the teapot for Raava, saying, "You certainly act four, Vaatu. I hope you stay that way." Korra laughed when she heard the same muffled voice curse heartily in English, Vaatu finishing, "If I could talk to Jinshu Kuangmai, I wouldn't be four - I'd have my own ironic sword!"

Not sure what to make of Raava disgusted expression, Korra grabbed her hand, saying, "I think we're done here." Raava sighed dejectedly, saying, "I wanna try out my sword with someone!" Sokka volunteered, saying, "Oh, me! Me! And no cheating, Raava!" Raava's body shifted slightly, saying from inside a more complete, ornate suit of armor, "Okay!" Sokka groaned, saying, "No fair! You can't just add armor and claim artistic license!" Raava laughed deeply, saying, "What are you gonna do about it, huh? Come at me!"

As a laughing Raava and incensed Sokka sparred, Korra watched, surprised to see they were evenly matched, aside from body armor. Raava now resembled the strong woman warrior from Earth even more, dress and skin replaced by blue and white armor. Taking a closer look, Korra began crying slightly when she saw Raava's breastplate had the same symbol above her heart that Korra had over her own. Apparently, Korra's emotion distracted Raava, letting Sokka step away and get a shot with his boomerang in. Raava teetered, yelling, "Whoa!" before falling flat on her back. Everyone laughed as Sokka posed in triumph, eventually helping Raava back up. Raava pushed him over with the large, flat blue and white portion of her sword, saying, "Even! We can settle this some other time, Sokka - I think Korra's tattoo job is done now." Sokka groaned, protesting, "Awww, come on! That was a cheap shot!" Raava smiled, saying, "The sooner your sister goes to sleep, the sooner you can see Suki." Aang scratched his head, saying, "What does Katara going to sleep have to do with Suki?" Raava said, with a gleam in her eye, "Let's just say there's a reason Sharktar needs to give Korra and Asami advice. Everyone else, shoo - this is going to be a more private affair." Korra chuckled as she heard Aye-zul growl, "Time to go find some Dark Spirits to teach a lesson in power to!" warning him, "Be careful. Don't tangle with Long Yumao, and if he bothers you, ask Bumju, the Painted Lady, Wan Shi Tong and Hei Bai for help." Aye-zul laughed, saying, "Okay. I don't know what the Painted Lady is gonna do, aside from cheer-lead." Korra heard a light slap, a female voice saying, "Fighting Long Yumao takes all kinds - he hates me! Human spirit, aligned with Raava - the perfect deterrent."

Korra heard many "VSSSHT"s around her, looking to see that she was now alone with Asami, Raava and Sharktar. Asami said, clearly upset, "What did you do, Raava? I wanted to talk to my parents some more!" Raava smiled, saying, "I think you'll find what Sharktar has to say will help with that." Sharktar hissed slightly, saying, "What? I came here to warn them about making sure they don't get absorbed by fantasy by abusing this new 'shared inner space' dreaming." Raava laughed, saying, "Right. Given what Korra wanted to say about 'A different kind of playing' earlier, I imagine Korra and Asami will use it for what you need to caution against first. Inner space isn't good for just quelling dark halves, meeting your daughter, or doing the impossible with one another - you should also be able to visit your parents as well, Asami." Sharktar sighed, saying with irritation, "I know that. That's part of the warning too." Looking directly at Asami, he said seriously, "Now that you mention it, it's the biggest part as well. Talking to the dead has more potential for blurring fantasy and stark, cold reality than any outlandish kind of sex."

Asami glared at Sharktar with contempt, saying, "You have no idea what it's like to be human! I want to talk to my parents!" With a deep sigh, the irritable spirit said, baring sharp teeth, "Yes, I do, and I think you should let them do the contacting. Remember my pool's little side effect - forced maturation. I can remember a few exemplary cases of lovers using the pool, and growing into fine human beings." Through narrow eyes, he stared at Asami as he said, "One of the other transformations I clearly remember was that of a young man stricken by grief at the loss of his mother, hoping to jumpstart a family with his lover to dull his pain." Whipping out a small, odd control, Sharktar said, "Watch, and see why the living should focus on the living, and let the dead be."

Korra turned to see an image of a young man holding a young woman's hands near a nervous-looking Sharktar, who warned, "Young man, you need to get over your grief first, and fully replace it with love for your girlfriend." The image paused, Sharktar saying, "Huh, that's weird. It's in a lot more definition than I expected such an ancient memory to be." Korra noticed the tip of a blade poking up from behind the screen, what must have been Raava saying, "Life's Gift is good for more than fighting. I'm using it to amplify the memory." Sharktar laughed, saying, "Fine with me. I think I forgot my own name once…"

The image resumed movement, the young man saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You haven't told me anything my father hasn't already. How bad can the side effect be - I love my mother too." The Sharktar in the image sighed, saying, "As you wish, but only because your girlfriend wants to drink along with you. She'll go first, only drinking a - hey, stop! Damn - I'm going to have to turn the pool off! Everyone else, get away!" Korra heard some diffuse sounds of panic come from the speaker, the young man having bent a substantial amount of water into his mouth. He hadn't prepared properly, his clothes ripping and leaving him naked. Korra was confused, saying, "His body looks normal - what's the big deal? He's not corrupted like Atokara appeared." The Sharktar beside her and in the image sighed at the same time, the voice beside her saying, "Just watch how he acts afterwards. His grief and obsession with the loss of his mother manifested in a very odd, disturbing way."

Korra watched as the man looked outwards, screaming when she saw his eyes. There was no light in them, the pupils looking black and lifeless as tar, without the gleam pitch might have had. He shook, saying, "Mother? Is that you?" to the air, completely ignoring the cries of his girlfriend, who yelled, "Bato! I'm over here, the love of your life - your mother is dead!" Bato looked at his girlfriend in horror, saying, "No - she can't be dead! She's right there!" His dead eyes widened, as though he could hear a member of the departed speaking to him. He began to cry, saying, "No - you're not dead, mother! I… see you!" Bato didn't even react when another young man ran over to the girl, consoling her as she said, "I… I wanted to start a family, and now Bato's as good as gone." The Sharktar on the screen said mournfully, "I am sorry. There is no cure, and your boyfriend will live out his days neither among the living nor the dead. Torn between worlds."

The image vanished, Korra hearing Asami ask bitterly, "Does… does this mean I can never see my parents again? So I don't become like Bato - alive, but dead?" Korra turned around, seeing Sharktar shake his head, saying, "No. But do not go chasing them - they will appear when they are needed, and at no other time." As Korra thought of what to say, she felt an odd energy pulse when she finally said, "Asami, I understand your residual grief, and why you'd want to talk to your parents as much as possible. But I agree with Sharktar. You've got all the love you need, right here - me." The energy intensifying, Korra said strongly, "Allow the dead in spirit to bury or obsess over their own dead. The living need to busy themselves with the living, and leave the dead to their own devices." Korra hugged Asami as Asami sighed deeply, saying, "I guess you're right. Mako, Bolin, Kuvira - they all have lost parents as well, and I can't see any of them obsessing with death instead of life." Asami stepped back, pointing at Korra's chest as she asked, "Uh, Korra - have any idea what's up with your jade betrothal necklace?"

Korra removed the necklace, inspecting it with a critical eye, noticing that the clasp was open. Looking underneath the image of Asami, she saw the fading English text "Luke 9:60". Not having a clue who Luke was, nor why it did not simply say "10:00" Korra called Raava over, asking, "What's 'Luke 9:60'? And why are you looking at me like that?" Raava stepped closer, tentatively poking Korra with her sword as she said, "Did someone channel what you said about the living and dead, or did you come up with that on your own?" Korra smiled, saying, "That was my own creation. What does it have to do with Luke 9:60?" Raava smiled, saying, "Everything. I guess your necklaces did absorb some of the seventh chakra pool after all." Korra's eyes widened as she realized what this meant, clutching her necklace as she attempted to contact someone - or something. She began laughing hysterically as she heard a gentle voice in her head say, "I wondered when you'd notice that. Just consider the changed necklace a little perk - it should help you with other planes as well…" Korra momentarily saw a flash of another dead-eyed child, apparently wandering in an endless void.

Raava must have been privy to this vision as well, given how she said, "Ugh. I wonder what that monster wants…" Korra saw another flash of the child crying, speaking in a strange tongue through lips that looked dead somehow, gray hair laying on his forehead. Raava cursed, saying, "Sorry!" Thoroughly confused by the whole affair, Korra was glad to see the child smile slightly, pushing him from her mind as she said to Sharktar, "Okay. So you gave us the biggest piece of advice, for Asami. As usual." Asami laughed, saying, "I can't help it if Uncle Iroh and Sharktar both want to give me the most important advice." Korra heard Sharktar cough, the spirit saying calmly, "The other warning, about fantasy. Don't be afraid to go along with whatever fantasy your spirit chooses, but don't go looking for new ones outside your spirit's suggestions." As though recalling a particularly repulsive image, Sharktar said, "I wish I had never looked at the Encyclopedia of Rule 34, or the forbidden pages of the Book of DeviantArt." Korra heard Raava snicker, saying, "Though, given how those two guys on Earth made a television show about our plane, you might find _some_ of the inappropriate images in those… books to be interesting, Korra and Asami." Sharktar blew some steam out of his blowhole, saying, "If you must look, let the library decide what is, and is not appropriate for you to see. I could use some 'brainbleach' as… readers of the books in that section say they need on Earth, after… accidentally reading the Encyclopedia of Rule 34."

Korra sighed, saying, "I can tell you're hiding something about these two books, and it sounds to me like they aren't actually books. You can't _accidentally_ read a book, after all." Sharktar grinned nervously, saying before he vanished, "You'll learn of their true nature once technology here catches up, Korra. It shouldn't be long - you know what Kuvira is working on." Remembering how nice the water in the pool felt, Korra jumped in after imagining herself in a bikini, a similarly clothed Asami joining her after. She was too busy enjoying the feeling of oneness with Asami and the universe to complain when Raava joined them, still in her armor and using her sword as a headrest. As though receiving some instruction or advice, Raava said, "Before we go, let's talk about my new form - and weapon." Holding Life's Gift in the water, Korra noticed that the water now felt pleasingly cool to her, yet somehow felt hot to Asami, given how she said, "Ahhhh - I love hot tubs." Raava giggled, saying, "I didn't put this in here to make the water nicer. This sword is imbued with great power - power we may need to bring to bear on our foes." Korra gave Raava a skeptical look, saying, "How? I'm not projecting you out in the middle of a fight, or even someplace where there might be danger. I'd be defenseless, only being able to waterbend and acidbend."

Twirling the sword above her head, Raava said, "Even I don't know what I will need this for, but I know I will need it for something." Korra heard a young male voice say, "I've got an idea!" turning to see Aang in outsized clothes that looked like they belonged to Kyoshi. Shortly after, Kyoshi herself appeared, saying, "It has not escaped my attention that you let Raava directly control you, Korra. Aang once experienced something similar with myself, temporarily replaced when in my full garb, as you can see here." Remembering that incident, Korra laughed, asking, "Did they ever start cooking the dough for Avatar Day, Aang?" Aang frowned slightly, saying, "No," before continuing in a more serious tone, "We both thought you might be able to do something similar with Raava. You've already let her control you directly like a puppet, Korra, so it may not be a huge stretch."

Even in the wonderful pool of water, Korra felt a little uneasy with how enthusiastic Raava sounded as she said, "Sure! That will be the first thing we test once we get out of here. Maybe find a Dark Spirit to… test my blade on." Korra groaned, saying with exasperation, "What is with spirits and being impetuous?" Seeing the way Raava was staring at her breastplate, Korra added, "I agree to test this, but in an isolated location. You should also see if you can bend. But strictly business - no ogling yourself, Raava! You can do that on your own time." Raava stuck her tongue out, saying, "Fine, to testing this new idea in isolation. What I do is up to me, not you." Laughing, she added, "It's not like you can keep me from moving, like Aang or I might be able to." Korra sighed with fake exasperation, saying in her best imitation of Tenzin, "It's not appropriate for the spirit of light to cuss, much less wield a sword or stare at her breasts!" Even Kyoshi laughed heartily, saying after, "I'm starting to wonder why Raava didn't 'come out' earlier, so to speak."

Finally getting out of the water, Korra missing the cold as Raava left, Raava shook the water out her hair, saying "I don't know, to be honest." Looking rather sheepish, she added, "There was a part of me that was tempted to just become a non-entity, so to speak, after Harmonic Convergence, and for a while I did, not contacting Korra while she fought with the Red Lotus and chased airbenders." Looking like she might cry, she said, "It was only when I lost contact completely that I realized my mistake." Raava broke down, saying, "You weren't the only one doing soul-searching between the poisoning and full removal of the mercury, Korra. I never really grieved the apparent loss of connection with your past lives, but when you were poisoned… it brought everything to a head. I couldn't even talk to you anymore!" Smiling weakly, she said, "There was a lot more behind my decision to become human-y and give gifts to humans than what I've let on."

Given the way Raava was smiling, as though torn between hiding something and letting it go, Korra jumped back as she saw Raava's form grow slightly when she said, "Remember when I told you that you were connected to _all_ the spiritual energy in the Spirit World, before you energybent that prison away?" Korra nodded, ignoring Aang's exclamation of, "ENERGYBENDING?", instead telling Raava, "Yes, I do. What does this have to do with your decision to become more human?" Raava smiled, saying, "I was technically telling the truth - but not all of it." Korra began to suspect what Raava might have lied about by omission, Raava saying, "I didn't know what to make of it at the time, so I simply blocked the interaction," Raava's words only confirming her suspicion. Seeing Raava still looked nervous, Korra said, "It's okay - I'm sure you made the right decision, blocking the cross-plane interaction I think you did. I'd have just thought I was still hallucinating. But when did it happen?" Sighing deeply, Raava said, pointing at Korra's jade necklace with the blade of Life's Gift, "I'm glad you're not offended. To answer your question. When you used your energy to dissipate the prison holding Jinora and the others, I noticed that the same being that sent you a message about John 9:60 tried to contact you to say… Let's see. 'You may not know who I am, but I am proud of your growth, Avatar Korra. I want you to know that the ultimate source of power you draw from is that of love, Raava only a growing servant of a universal constant.' I can tell those tears on your face are happy ones, Kor - Oh, pipe down, Aang - you can babble about energybending, and ask Korra why she didn't strip Zaheer of his airbending, later! Don't make Korra recall you!"

Giving Aang a slight glare, Korra said, seriously considering carrying out Raava's threat, "I thought Air Nomads were supposed to be polite," before looking at Raava, saying gently, "Given what he said, I think concern over how I would have reacted was a… secondary concern." Raava mumbled, "Yes… That was the first time in a long, long time anyone else had contacted me, and I didn't really like the insinuation that I was a servant, much less that I still needed to grow." Laughing, Raava said, "And just look at me now. I made a leap of faith, deciding to embrace humanity, first with Atokara and the tuber-vines, then with much more direct involvement." Hugging Asami, Korra said, "You're not the only one who made a leap of faith. Asami opened herself up to me in ways that I didn't even know she needed to less than a week ago." Remembering there were more people in the world beside Asami and herself, Korra added, "Kuvira as well. I'm glad I didn't kill her now, or take her bending away, as Aang might have - she's made massive progress, since her crisis of soul."

Stepping out of the pool, Korra used her native element to dry herself off, helping Asami when she joined her side. Feeling rather odd about the way Kyoshi was staring at the two bikini-clad women in front of her, Korra imagined herself in clothes again, laughing when Asami said, "Aw, man! I wasn't done looking yet!" Korra smiled, saying as she traced Asami's collarbone, "You'll get plenty of time to look later, when we have our first - no, second, with our little otter-penguin sledding trip earlier - shared inner space dream." Korra looked at Aang, smiling when he asked, "Next time, can I come too? Huh? Can I?" Korra was about to respond, but Raava said, "Aang, be patient. I won't say anything beyond that, for even I don't know exactly how the dreams will play out." Korra closed her eyes, trying to envision herself and Asami playing like children again, only seeing a howling gale instead. There appeared to be a tall male figure inside, cursing and shouting in a strange language, as though torn. Remembering her necklace's new property, she clutched it tightly, eyes still closed. The man's speech was no longer obscured, Korra hearing him howl, "Be gone, fiend! I… I have found a being of light! I have wandered the Void for far too long to give up now! You won't keep me from… her? Who's there? Wait… Jaina? Is it you?" Remembering what the gentle voice from Earth had said, Korra thought, "I am not who you seek, but you're getting close to someone else who can help you. Exactly who I am is not important. All that is important, is that you know what I serve - love." Korra heard a deeper, unfamiliar icy multivoice howl, "**SILENCE, woman! And you - you insufferable pest! I thought I killed your pathetic, childish self long ago - with great satisfaction!" **Forgetting herself, she said out loud, "Jinshu Kuangmai, piss off. I thought I sealed you out!"

Korra felt the tip of a somehow warm blade touch her back, Raava saying loudly, "Cut that connection. NOW. It appears someone wants to change, but isn't done winning their soul back yet." Before doing so, Korra thought, "Strangers - remember that no matter the plane, darkness always yields to purifying light." Korra heard the deeper voice cursing violently, finishing, "**Whoever you are, woman, you are toying with powers beyond your imagining. I am contained, by another fool - for now. If I ever get free or corrupt my jailer, after I take over my own world fully, I'll make sure your plane, wherever it is, is one of the first I get enslaved mortals to make a portal to.**" Korra saw an image of a large, dark gate briefly before finally breaking the connection, telling Raava, "Someone just threatened to invade us!" Turning around, Korra faced Raava, who was wagging a finger as she said, "You should have broken the connection sooner. I thought I told you to not mess with that. Only one other plane at a time, and this non-Earth plane is _very_ complicated and confusing."

More concerned about the threat, Korra asked hotly, "Does that being's threat not concern you?" Raava shrugged, saying nonchalantly, "They wouldn't be able to get here with their kind of portals - they'd have to create a genuine wormhole, without assistance from one of their many different counterparts of the four bending elements. Given how different their rules are to ours, it would be like Jinshu Kuangmai trying to invade Earth with spirit vine weaponry. The only 'spells' from their plane that would work are ones revolving around earth, water, fire or air." Not entirely satisfied, Korra said, "I'm sure they'll come up with something, someday. They must have conventional weapons too, and something tells me there's a lot of overlap with our bending. Can't we just seal them out, like that being from Earth?" Raava had a funny look on her face as she said, "I'm afraid not, but at least they are eons away from true technology, relying heavily on various forms of magic to make their own technologies work properly. Much as the military equipment you and others have designed rely heavily on tuber-vines or bending." Sighing deeply, Raava said, face sullen, "The conflicted individual you were interacting with is not on any plane right now in particular, wandering a shared Void. He is only harassed by the deeper voice because of… his own past life."

Korra was surprised when she heard Aang say, "If it sounds like _Arthas_ wants help from this plane, I see no reason to keep speaking around his name." Aang pointed at Life's Gift, saying as Raava blushed, "Especially considering he wouldn't be snooping around here, if it weren't for your own little stunt with inverting Frostmourne. My best guess is he was drawn by the similarity in form of your sword to Frostmourne, and also the energy of Life's Gift as a potential source for help. You'd be _extremely _cruel to deny help to him. Korra doesn't know his full history, but we both do, Raava. The Lich King…" Walking over and rapping his fingers on Raava's armor, which was an imitation of something from Earth, Aang said, "Speaking of history - we need to focus on our own, and not somebody else's. You'd be wise to follow your own advice to Korra about planes, Raava. No more mimicry, definitely not of the plane Arthas is from. There are too many different powerful beings there. We're lucky that Earth's spirits are subtle, unlike Artha's plane." Smiling again, Aang said, "Which brings me to my next point, mainly curious, but also sort of baffled - why didn't you strip Zaheer's bending, Korra? You've shown you can energybend just fine, what with restoring bending to Amon's victims, holding off UnaVaatu with your spirit's energy, freeing my granddaughter from her spirit prison, not to mention all the stuff you've done lately. Infobending, the necklaces, synthesizing a factory, weapons for Bolin, Opal, Kai and my granddaughter, two mechasuits…"

Korra sighed, saying, "Until recently, I did not feel strong enough to try and challenge someone's spirit to strip their bending. I see no reason to strip Zaheer of his bending now, and given how Jinshu Kuangmai somehow managed to change Vaatu significantly, the best I can hope for is a stalemate." Recalling Raava, Korra said, tattoos and eyes now glowing, "Plus, I've got another way to block someone's bending, at no risk to my spirit - bloodbending." Aang recoiled slightly, saying as Kyoshi nodded with approval, "I know you can take someone's bending without resorting to that, Korra." Korra sighed, saying, "I see absolutely no reason to take unnecessary risks, Aang. Think - if you knew about Avatar State bloodbending, and knew of how you almost were corrupted ahead of time, would you still have used energybending on Ozai?" Aang looked conflicted, saying, "Back then, and still now, yes. Let's agree to disagree." Korra smiled, nodding as she said, "Good. In that case, I have someone I need to talk to."

Korra projected Raava out, thinking, "I need Noatak for a little bit. I don't want to leave anything to chance when trying to remove Jinshu Kuangmai's bending without energybending." Raava nodded, whistling and calling. Aang jumped slightly when Noatak said dryly, "Finally, something interesting. I don't know why I'm in some human spirit waiting room - I want to live again already!" Raava smiled, saying, "I have a particular life in mind for you. One you will share with your brother - though he won't call you that." Apparently, Noatak was smarter than Korra thought, immediately getting the reference as he said, "So, I guess I'm going to be a girl then?" Raava nodded, stopping dead when Noatak added, "Just please, something other than being a waterbender. No bloodbending, period..." Raava had a dour face as she said, "I cannot say one way or another." Raava spluttered when Noatak sighed, saying, "Hiroshi stopped by, talking about how he would need to learn from his past mistakes. If it is your wish that I learn directly about controlling power, I won't protest. I suppose I have a lot of lessons to learn about proper use of power, even if I did save my brother Tarrlok. Other than being a blood-iron bender, I see no other way to learn." Raava looked so mad, she appeared to be ready to slice someone in two, saying with flaring eyes, "I guess I need to have a bit more control over such interactions."

Raava appeared to age reversely slightly. Given how she was crying, it must have been deliberate, saying, "Great. Now I'm back to where I was earlier." Choosing her words delicately, Korra said, "Remember - free will is important. You can't control everyone, and everything." Raava looked hesitant at first, only crying and regaining her slightly more mature form when Noatak said gently, "Trying to control what people can, and cannot say, without good reason, is worse than any bloodbending I ever did in my life. Does trying to micromanage what Hiroshi says to me sound like something the spirit of light would do?" Raava shook her head, saying, "No. Thank you for your honesty." Remembering Raava's little hissy fit about Korra seeing a firebending bear associated with Asami's mother, Korra opened her mouth to ask a question, but Raava beat her to the punch, saying authoritatively, "No, I will not tell you who Yasuko is, in her current life. And before you ask, the gentle being you like so much is backing me up on this one, though for very different reasons." Korra laughed, pointing an accusing finger at Raava as she said, "Let me guess. You're concerned mainly with breaking some rule, and he wants whatever it is about Yasuko to remain a surprise." Korra laughed harder when she heard a click from her necklace, reading the solitary English word "Yes" below Asami's portrait. Clicking it shut, Korra turned to Noatak, saying, "Why don't you let me try and perform your bending-removal form on your head, Noatak. I don't trust blocking someone's bending using only chi blocking points."

Noatak laughed, his form shifting to an unwelcome sight, saying with mock seriousness, "I am not Noatak, I am Amon! Soon, you will have your bending stripped from you for good, Avatar Korra! Prepare to be Equalized!" Recalling a laughing Raava, Korra ignored Aang's protests, noticing that Noatak actually seemed to be trying his best. Besting him without any real difficulty, Korra put a glowing hand on his forehead, successfully blocking the chi in the crown of his head, immediately restoring it after, just in case chi blocking carried across lifetimes. Before she could remove her hand, she saw an image of an ominous looking camp, then a crying pregnant woman with blue eyes next to what must have been her morose husband, both being consoled in secret by a woman Earth Empire guard. After a quick "Thank you," to Noatak, Korra projected Raava out, saying in an authoritative tone, "I don't like how that camp looked." Korra was surprised by how Raava nodded, saying, "Neither do I. It appears Jinshu Kuangmai has outdone himself again. I hope he doesn't emulate Earth…" Raava walked over, putting the tip of Life's Gift over Noatak's heart, cursing loudly in English, saying, "Gaaah! Now, when I want to get a read, I can't! Damn stupid rules!" Korra tried unsuccessfully as well, unable to remember any landmarks, only managing to see the guard's face in more detail after repeating the maneuver on Noatak. Sighing deeply, she said, "At least it looks like what must be Tarrlok and Noatak's new mother and father have an ally." Raava smiled again, saying, "Yes, you're right. Even some of the guards in… _Auschwitz_ were decent human beings, and something tells me this woman does more than give out the odd comforting."

After Korra heard Raava say the foreign word, seemingly eradicated memories resurfaced. Given how she could hear Asami, and even Noatak, crying, Raava must have spread the information around. Overwhelmed by sadness, Korra asked, "Why… why are the death factories relevant again, Raava?" Eyes widening, Korra added, "Please don't tell me you think…"

Looking straight at a distraught unmasked Noatak, Raava said, "I am afraid they have become relevant. I believe that Jinshu Kuangmai has begun finishing what Kuvira started - the purging of the Earth Empire of those deemed undesirable." As Korra felt more information flow into her being, she heard Asami begin to sob violently, Asami finally composing herself enough to speak. Korra turned to Asami, seeing fierce determination in her eyes as she said, "Something tells me Jinshu Kuangmai is going to emulate this 'Adolf Hitler' in a more personal way. 'Undesirables'…" Korra's eyes turned to thin, angry slits, realizing what Asami meant.

Not knowing how much time she had, Korra said, "Talking with everyone else about what happened in here can wait. Even testing the tattoos is unimportant. I have a guard to contact - we need to know exactly what Jinshu Kuangmai has planned. Right now." As a tear rolled down her face, she finished, "We can always use Jang Hui kelp tea if we need to act immediately. The camp didn't look like _Auschwitz_ \- at least not yet."

Recalling Raava, Korra told those around her, "Hopefully, this guard can meditate into the Spirit World. But just maybe…" On a whim, Korra used her necklace to focus on the guard's energy, pleading as she focused, "Please let this work…"

_Your idea - it worked! Direct link established, Korra. Let us hope that this guard is who we hope she is. I'll do the talking._

She could hear Raava laughing inside her as Korra shook her head, thinking, "No. We'll work together."


	44. Chapter 44: The Underminers

Chapter 44: The Underminers

It wasn't often that Jasmine found herself furious, much less with someone she was putting herself at great risk to talk to, much less help. Pointing to her chest plate in the moonlight, accentuating the drop of blood in the center as she spoke to the heavily pregnant woman in front of her, she said, "I'm risking a lot by even talking to you, you know. My 'boss' has no qualms with using his awful gift, and I've seen you harass guards with your bloodbending in broad daylight before, out of sight." Smiling she said as she placed a hand on Sura's shoulder, "I've also noticed you only use it to stop beatings, never using your power to defend yourself."

Jasmine felt like she could just float away, she was so happy when Sura said, her blue eyes glimmering, "I guess I should be less hesitant – you're right. I do love helping others. I hope my unborn daughter and son can live to see a brighter future - one free from the tyrant you 'serve'." Jasmine laughed, saying, "Me too. The only reason I'm here, right now, with this awful armor on, is I figured with my unique talent, I could do more good from the inside." Jasmine smiled, remembering how even Jinshu Kuangmai couldn't tell when she was lying, giving off no signs of her duplicity. And she did it a lot, for purposes more noble than that monster's idol Azula ever did. Jasmine said, aloud, "The truth will certainly not set everyone in this camp free," feeling tingles run up her spine afterwards.

_You have no idea how true that is, Jasmine._

Jasmine looked around, saying with a hushed voice, "I… I think I may have been spotted. Quick, look like you're cowering before me, something!"

_Oh come on, Raava - you can do better than that! At least introduce yourself. _Recognizing the second voice from radio broadcasts, Jasmine thought, "Uh… hello, Avatar Korra. Do I need to go somewhere?"

_That won't be necessary, Jasmine - no one can hear this but you. The woman you're helping, Sura - I … saw her in a vision earlier, and this camp. I need to know, right now - is Jinshu Kuangmai planning on killing the inmates of the camp?_

Figuring that Sura and her husband, Amaguq, could benefit from some reinforcement, Jasmine said aloud, "I've managed to convince Jinshu Kuangmai that everyone in the camp is needed for the war effort." With pride, she added, "It was hard, but I convinced him that instead of killing or torturing the firebenders, they were needed for work in Omashu."

_Are there any other prisoners, other than firebenders and waterbenders? Specifically, people you have no clue why they are coming?_

Jasmine sighed bitterly, saying, "That… was my one failing. I couldn't convince him that who you want to screw means nothing." Sobbing, she added, "Some... some of the inbound 'sexual criminal' prisoners are his own soldiers, having gone on a lie-detecting spree after the disaster that was the conference, enraged that a 'sexual deviant' had managed to best him." Sura gave her a funny look, saying, "We're both missing half the conversation. Are you sure there's no where else we could… talk, if you can call it that?" Jasmine started to answer, saying, "I'm sorry. Only I can hear what must be the Avatar and Raava right now, someho - "

The next thing Jasmine knew, she was standing somewhere else entirely, looking around in wonder. She heard a loud gasp, what she recognized as Sura's voice saying, "We… we must be in the Spirit World? But where?"

"That's much better. No, Raava, I'm not showing them your sword! Ugh! I thought you were supposed to be, like, fifteen now!"

Jasmine turned around, seeing figures she had never dreamed of seeing. Avatar Aang, Avatar Kyoshi, Avatar Korra, Asami Sato… and another person she didn't recognize. Distracted by Avatar Korra's bizarre tattoos, Jasmine listened as Avatar Korra cursed in a foreign, barking tongue, Jasmine only managing to decipher the word "Noatak" before the man's eyes widened, vanishing at the same time another humanoid figure appeared.

Having paid attention to the press release following the conference, Jasmine figured out why Avatar Korra looked so upset, clearly incensed that Raava had come out without permission. Avatar Korra spoke more in the same, strange language, what must have been Raava, Asami Sato and the other Avatars conversing in it as well. Jasmine jumped back slightly when she saw a large mechasuit appear around Asami Sato, the enraged nonbender cursing loudly in words Jasmine didn't know. Jasmine was pretty sure what the word that sounded like "thuck" meant, given how long blades protruded from Asami Sato's mechasuit as she said it, finishing by saying the curse again, this time on Jinshu Kuangmai.

The new humanoid figure turned around, Jasmine gasping in surprise as it said, "I'm Raava. You might recognize the form on my armor better than this new human form, Jasmine. Just give me a minute." Jasmine groaned as what must have been Raava turned around, speaking the unintelligible. Feeling slightly offended, Jasmine said, "If you dorks want my help in liberating that camp, and making sure the shipment of 'sexual criminals' don't get executed, either start talking normally or teach us this language you're speaking! You'll get a chance to 'thuck' Jinshu Kuangmai up if you wish, Asami Sato – but not now." Avatar Korra sighed, saying as she gestured with her right hand, Jasmine admiring the symbol for Water, "Raava, it's only a matter of time before English seeps out, and it could make a very good language to communicate in with the military and secret operatives, like I think Jasmine wants to be."

The bizarre form that proclaimed itself to be Raava sighed, holding up a large, intimidating yet re-assuring sword as she spoke in another language. Raava's mouth moving much as it had before, Jasmine could find herself able to understand as Raava said, "You should now have 'knowledge of the English'." Jasmine laughed, not sure why she found the poor grammar funny, saying, "Back to business. I don't know how much you heard, Avatar Korra, but I am in charge of the camps… program. 'Chief Containment Officer,' though I hate the title, and the armor I am wearing." Avatar Korra said, "You can just call me Korra. We can't talk for too long, or someone might find your bodies. I'll cut to the chase - where is the camp you run located, and when are the 'sexual criminals' arriving?"

Not afraid to talk over Asami Sato, Jasmine said, "You can save your righteous anger for tomorrow, Asami Sato. The camp is located alongside a major railway hub near Omashu. There are many other camps throughout the Earth Empire, and I make sure that when I can, I appoint a foreman with a conscience." Finding an odd sense of relief in Jinshu Kuangmai's efficiency, she finished, "Those camps do not hold benders, or 'sexual criminals' - only the other kinds of prisoners. Thieves, political criminals, rebels and people who need a 're-education.' Jinshu Kuangmai wants to keep a close eye on the benders, and I believe he wants to… see the 'sexual criminals' to their next lives personally." Jasmine started crying, saying as she looked at Asami, "You're lucky you had a tolerant father. There are fates far worse than being repressed - if I remember right, Jinshu Kuangmai wants to kill them, all at once, in a show of power. Slowly. Tomorrow, for… dinner, he's going to have a big 'event' at my camp. The prisoners arrive early in the morning, so I hope we can do something before his sick little party. If you don't help me in an intelligent manner, I'm afraid even Sura's bloodbending combined with a last ditch effort on my part to stop the slaughter will not work." Sighing deeply, Jasmine added, "There are more guards excited about tomorrow than I would like – even some of the bending _prisoners_ want to watch. Most of the ones that know why the Spirit Civil War started…"

At first, Asami Sato looked like she might just try and slice her in two, finally saying with great rage, "As far as I am concerned, those 'excited' prisoners are as good as dead – as bad as any Earth Empire soldier. As soon as we're done here, I'm going in, Jang Hui kelp tea style. Just tell me where this camp is, and I'll slaughter anyone who doesn't stand down. I won't watch and see a miniature Holocaust happen!" The form that Jasmine was still having trouble getting acclimated to said, holding out the strange two-handed sword, "No. That sounds like something the corrupt, amoral Arthas would do, and you know where the inspiration for this sword is from, though you don't know its story. We will cooperate, and there will be no wanton killing." Asami Sato turned to Raava, saying hotly as flame poured from an extended metal-clad arm, "NO! I am sick and tired of standing idly by as others fight! I've finally got a great equalizer – Asami's Reach!" Jasmine heard a strange set of ominous sounds emanate from the mechasuit's chest, noticing Raava looked rather panicked, muttering, "I… what are you… what's wrong with your suit, Asami?" Jasmine recoiled slightly, noticing that the wires on the arms of Asami Sato's suit were glowing a weak red. Asami Sato said, "Nothing is wrong with my suit! Those people - they're evil - beyond redemption! Nazis! To be purged! Jinshu Kuangmai wants blood - I'll give him blood!" As she spoke, the red color on the suit's grooves and its twin blade's wiring intensified as Jasmine heard two muffled "voices" say "**UHHUHHH**" and "**VRM. VRMMM!**", Raava shouting, "What's going on here?! Impetuous Vine and Impatient Leaf should be incorruptible!"

Jasmine noticed Korra staring off into the distance, Korra crying slightly as she said, "Hatred's power… No… You're not welcome here! Get away!" Raava ran over, knocking Asami over, saying, "Stop it, idiot! You're causing Korra all sorts of problems! Not to mention your suit's red lines! What did you do to those tuber-vines, Asami, you hot tempered imbecile?!" Asami Sato looked like she wanted to continue speaking angrily anyways, but was interrupted by Sura, who said, ignoring the bizarre exchange, "Calm down, Asami Sato! No one is totally beyond redemption. There are plenty of guards there who are decent human beings, and I think even the ones obsessed with Jinshu Kuangmai's little event tomorrow can be made to think. Imagine - a camp full of waterbenders, firebenders and 'sexual criminals' escaping Jinshu Kuangmai's iron grasp, along with some of his elite metalbenders." Jasmine smiled broadly, saying as she looked at Sura, "I hope you listened, Asami Sato. Sura is right. Jinshu Kuangmai was absolutely livid about the idealists defecting, and breaking away more people would be a major triumph, one sure to shore up the legitimacy of the United Earth Republic."

When Jasmine looked to see what Asami Sato's response was, she saw Raava removing her hands from both Asami and Korra's foreheads, saying, "Given Asami's behavior, it should be obvious why Arthas's tale was relevant. Better to suffer now than let hate grow, Asami. Especially considering Korra's little terror spell. One, I might add, you aided, indirectly, Asami." With disgust, Raava added, "Your extreme emotions somehow even managed to temporarily corrupt the spirits of the tuber-vines that power your suit. I'll need to conduct a little experiment after this, and cheat to design a failsafe. I don't want tuber-vines turning in the hands of out-of-control soldiers…" Sighing, Korra said with a hint of anger, "I want to know exactly just what happened to Impetuous Vine and Impatient Leaf as well. And the other thing. The sooner we help the _good_ Arthas, the better. I'm sick to death of this cross plane crap. 'I may not be welcome in you, but it appears your lover has other ideas – she's already corrupting beings, and you know the power of blood…' I hope that wretch was lying." Asami Sato looked down at the ground, sullen as she said, "I'm afraid the necklace had nothing to do with the tuber-vines turning. It was my own hatred. They have minds of their own, and both thought my bloodlust was justified." Sighing, Asami mumbled, "Any equipment that uses them will need a failsafe – even my own mechasuit, apparently." Breaking down, Asami said, "What you showed me, Raava… I thought my father's sullying of Future Industry's name was bad. That plane is worse than Earth."

Looking at Jasmine directly, Asami Sato said, "You can just call me Asami, Jasmine. I'm sorry about that - especially you, Korra." Turning away from Jasmine, Asami kissed Korra, the normal-looking suit vanishing, saying, "I promise I won't make you my Jaina. Ever." Jasmine tapped her foot impatiently, saying, "Whatever that means, and all this babble about planes. I see nothing wrong with a name that means 'good character'. Let's try and set something up for tomorrow, before someone discovers my body." Jasmine laughed when she heard what must have been Avatar Aang admonish Asami, "I don't know where that came from, but it can stay there. Seems to me like you could use a talk with my granddaughter, Jinora." Asami sighed, saying, "You know what Raava showed me. That won't be necessary. The only thing necessary will be coming up with a way to ensure tuber-vines aren't swayed by the emotions of their 'master'…" After a slight pause, Asami added, "If and when we do interact more directly with that conflicted soul, Arthas, we should act as though we know nothing about him, unless he acts otherwise." Raava nodded, saying, "I agree. Enough with this cross-plane crap, as Korra said - I'm vaguely considering re-forming this sword. He can get help from his own plane!"

Asami did a double-take, saying, "Atokara says no. Very emphatically, I'll add. She wants to talk to him." Korra groaned, saying, "Oh, great - my daughter's witnessed life being snuffed out on one planet, and some of the worst corruption I've ever seen on another, and she's not even been born yet!" Asami smiled, saying, "Atokara says - wait. Why don't you just come on out, Atokara?" Jasmine saw a flash of light, turning away when she saw what must have been Korra and Asami's child was wearing – or rather, wasn't. Jasmine heard a young voice laugh, saying, "I don't like clothes! But if you want me to, I'll put something on." Jasmine peeked, saying with wonder, "I had heard that your daughter was unique, Korra, but… nothing could prepare me for this. She's not even a week old, technically, but she seems like she's… four, given her size and dress?" Jasmine was slightly flustered when Korra said, "When I see you tomorrow, I can explain more. A lot has happened, even since the press conference you obviously paid attention to."

Getting an uneasy feeling, Jasmine said, "To recap – the event is at 6:30 PM tomorrow, at the big rail hub outside Omashu. The newer prisoners should be arriving in about six hours – 8:00 AM. I recommend you make all haste possible, and bring plenty of transportation." Feeling the unease intensify, Jasmine turned around, barking, "Who's there? What do you want?"

Jasmine shook her head, hearing surprised gasps from behind her, unable to believe her eyes. Avatar Aang ran over to the unlikely figure, yelling, "Bumi! I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been?" The ancient looking former ruler of Omashu snickered, saying, "Living a new life, though I don't know who I am. Not that I always knew all the time anyways." Giving Raava a squint, he added, "I appreciated your offer of spirit immortality, but life's too fun to stop forever. I'm sure I'm having all sorts of wacky adventures." Avatar Aang laughed, saying, "I'm sure you are. But why are you here?" King Bumi laughed wildly, asking, "Do you remember the time Sokka helped evacuate Omashu?" Avatar Aang nodded, saying, "Yes, I do, and if what Raava told me is true, it sounds like Omashu is under a different tyrant's thumb right now."

Realizing what King Bumi had in mind, Jasmine said, "No – you've got to be crazy, Avatar Aang! I know King Bumi is, but evacuating all of Omashu? How?" Avatar Aang laughed, saying, "You can stop with all the formal titles, Jasmine." Smiling broadly, Aang continued with a more serious face, "Before we decide on what we're going to do with Omashu, I need you to tell me – what kind of fortifications does it have?" Jasmine said evenly, "The city is much different from your time, Aang. It has a lot of industrial capacity – it's even expanded physically, especially since Kuvira took control, the most modern equipment on the city's expanded outskirts. The mesa the city sits on top of has been reinforced with steel, platinum - coated bridges linking is to its surroundings." Seeing Bumi looking rather disgusted, Jasmine added, "The historical buildings remain intact, Omashu thankfully spared the treatment Zaofu and the Fire Nation capitol got." Smiling broadly as she saw Kyoshi's eyes light up, apparently glad that Omashu had not been spoiled, Jasmine finished, "There are plenty of fortifications, but not enough manpower to defend them. For every elite metalbender on the walls and manning a spirit cannon turret, there are 49 militiamen. Who, I might add, are quite devious themselves. Everyone in Omashu who can bend has taken the metalbending training program initiated by Kuvira and then Jinshu Kuangmai's troops with enthusiasm, professing false loyalty much as I have. Kuvira even stationed one of her actual schools inside the city, residents encouraged to learn many disciplines." Pausing for breath, Jasmine finished for what she though was for real this time, "Also, I've managed to get contact with a resistance leader inside." Remembering who the resistance leader was, Jasmine continued, saying, "A pregnant airbender."

After the gasps had died down, Jasmine said, "Omashu has many secrets. For years, they have hidden their own new airbenders – first from Earth Queen Hou-Ting, then Kuvira, now Jinshu Kuangmai. I had to appear in Omashu personally before the rebel leader on the pretenses of talking out terms of surrender before learning the city's best kept secret." Korra said passionately, "If we can convince Omashu to revolt, and join our side, we could use it as a forward base! Forget Long Yumao – crush Jinshu Kuangmai first!" Jasmine nodded, seeing everyone else agreeing. Or so she thought. Bumi said, coughing lightly, "No. Omashu was founded because of a war getting out of control. I don't want it destroyed by one." Getting blank stares, Bumi said irately, "What, are you all stupid? Jinshu Kuangmai could easily just use earthbenders to topple the land it sits on. A crack here, a fissure there…" After Kyoshi said with disgust, "I will support nothing that could lead to a city as culturally significant as Omashu being toppled!" Korra whistled, another mechasuit appearing at her side as Jasmine heard her say, pointing at wires that closely resembled those on the blades of Asami's mechasuit, "He can't topple the city if we put spiritwire on top of metal around the base." Jasmine groaned, saying, "I don't mean to insult your intelligence, Korra, but unless you can coat the entire mesa and basin the city is precariously positioned upon with your miracle metal and wire in an instant, Jinshu Kuangmai would just undermine the city's foundation – the bedrock. He may care somewhat about old Earth kingdom greatness, but he's not above destroying the whole city if it rebels."

At first, Korra looked defeated, saying, "I guess you're right, Jasmine," as Kyoshi cursed. A sudden light appearing in her eyes, Korra said, "The Spirit Portal seals!" Jasmine said, impressed, "I had forgotten about that. Raava, what do you think? Pump your energy into the city and its foundation?" Raava mulled it over for a while, finally saying, much to everyone but the dead centenarian's shock, "No. I saw what tuber-vines can do to Korranium earlier – instantly separate the go boom stuff from the dense stuff." Too confused to speak, Jasmine listened to Sura ask, "What's Korranium, and how could it make fortifications useless?" Raava sighed, saying, "Let's just say it is a metal with the potential to be used as a weapon that would obliterate Omashu, even with my energy protecting it. Omashu is close enough to Zaofu that Jinshu Kuangmai could fire a Korranium warhead from a railway gun, much like the one Kuvira used as a test bed for her initial spirit cannon test."

Korra stamped her feet angrily, cursing in English, Jasmine now fully understanding what the "thuck" she was talking about. Once Korra had calmed down, she said, frowning, "Great. We've got to choose between saving the prisoners, and liberating Omashu. I can't decide which." Asami smiled, saying, "Why don't we use the airships I am sure are stationed near the prison camp to help evacuate? And Korra, you can project to President Raiko and whoever is in charge of the Southern Water Tribe in your parent's absence – 'We're gonna need a bigger boat.' Wan Shi Tong, I didn't know you had such a good sense of humor, nor why I find that funny."

Jasmine could hardly believe her ears and eyes, stammering, "B-b-but I thought Wan Shi Tong hated humans? What are you doing here?" The odd-looking owl chuckled, blue-lined feathers pulsing slightly as he did so, finally saying as he stared at Jasmine with blue eyes, "Helping plan a _very_ impromptu evacuation. You need to tell me exactly what kind of forces are stationed around the camp and Omashu before we proceed, Jasmine."

As Jasmine explained, she saw Wan Shi Tong whip out a detailed map, handing it to Asami, who asked, while drawing on the troop positions outside the city, "Can I take this map with me out of the Spirit World?" Jasmine had just finished explaining when she felt unease permeate her being, saying, "I've got a bad feeling – and something tells me this is physically caused."

Her eyes opening, Jasmine felt her heart stop momentarily, now looking at a very angry and suspicious guard. Completely ignoring Sura and Amaguq behind him, he advanced closer, armblade extended as he said, "I always thought there was something off about you, 'Chief Containment Officer' Jasmine. I know what that pose means – you were in the Spirit World, likely with these two pieces of Water Tribe filth." Smiling broadly, he said, "I'll be taking your title, traitor, after I take your life."

The blade jerked away from her throat, cutting her face deeply instead, Jasmine gnashing in pain. The irate guard was now levitated off the ground, jerking violently, managing to sputter, "YOU – you're a psychic bloodbender, aren't you?" Amaguq laughed, saying, "Typical Earth Empire arrogance. Any skilled waterbender can bloodbend under a full moon, and my wife made sure I knew how, in case the need ever arose. Like right now." The guard managed to yell loudly, "HELP!" Jasmine cursed in English, telling Sura in the same tongue, "Let's hope your psychic bloodbending is empowered by the moon like regular waterbending is. Quick, patch my face up – I'm going to need to make a little speech." Sighing, she said, "And you two will need to help me make sure no guards contact Jinshu Kuangmai. Even if you have to kill. I've got to go – I have control over all the radios in this camp, but I've got to get there first."

After Sura assured her she was willing to kill, saying with tears as she healed, "I want to make sure they have a chance to surrender first, though," Jasmine ran off, not finding the final gasps of the guard disturbing in the least. She was no idealist, and when she was honest with herself, she thought Asami had a point – Jinshu Kuangmai deserved death, after all.

_Just do your job. I'm going to help you out – this is Korra. I have a little agreement with Jinshu Kuangmai's good side – he has to give me permission to take… Jinshu Kuangmai's life._

Finally reaching the radio room in the center of camp, Jasmine thought, "Thank goodness I'm the first here. Now, to de-activate all the radios…" Jasmine unplugged the transmitter to the outside world, cursing when she heard a voice yell "Jasmine is a traitor!" seemingly to a radio outside regardless.

_I hope you're as smooth a talker as Azula._

Not speaking, Jasmine made sure the spy's death was quick – both for practical and moral reasons. Ignoring his dead gaze from the ground, she pushed his body further away from his head, picking up the radio he had been holding before he came down with a fatal case of disconnected head. Speaking, she said, "Jinshu Kuangmai, your little spy is dead."

_Time to give him our conditions – we'll take the sexual prisoners off his hands. Raava suggested it – she hopes he just wants them gone from his territory, like someone from one of those planes we were talking about did at first with a different group of "undesirables"._

* * *

Jinshu Kuangmai hated being woken up violently. Glad he slept in his armor, he jumped up, pushing away the covers as he yelled, red and black metal blade extended, "This better be good, Jang! If it were anyone but you, you'd be sporting a nice gash right now!" Jang sighed, saying, "It appears our Chief Containment Officer is not who we thought she was. We just received a transmission from the camp outside Omashu, one of our spies… only managing to radio in 'Jasmine is a traitor!' before I heard a wet slash over the radio, followed by an audible crumpling." Holding the communicator in question, Jang said, "Jasmine is demanding to speak to you. Apparently, the Avatar has a rather unorthodox method of communicating now, and is feeding Jasmine conditions."

_What in the name of the Earth Empire is going on here?!_

Jinshu Kuangmai growled angrily, taking the radio as he asked, "What do you possibly have to offer me, you… you liar! How could you have…" Jinshu Kuangmai almost crushed the receiver as he heard Jasmine laugh, taunting, "Even though I really think of Azula as an evil monster, I share one thing in common with her. I can lie like there's no tomorrow. My body betrays nothing." Finally roused from sleep, wishing his night had ended with the vision of Vaatu changing into a humanoid form, he said, "THERE IS NO TOMORROW FOR YOU! I will not negotiate with traitors and unnatural wretches! Jang, wake up our elites, and set half of all Zaofu's war balloons for that camp, the other half for the sexual deviant railcars! And bring spirit vines, and sling smaller spirit cannons underneath each one – there will be nothing left but ashes!" Snarling, Jinshu Kuangmai added, "And the other prisoners, the not-yet arrived sexual deviants – they're as good as dead!"

Jinshu Kuangmai heard Jasmine curse in a strange language he had never heard before, beginning to speak normally, the traitor saying, "You forget the Avatar has spirit allies, you arrogant fool. There's one in particular who will take great pleasure in dispatching the monsters you have assigned to guarding the railcars." Jinshu Kuangmai laughed, saying, "The nearest Spirit Portal is ages away. I fail to see how any of the Avatar's weak little spirit friends will arrive in time."

Jinshu Kuangmai was rather puzzled at how Jasmine responded, "Let's say someone is willing to push the envelope of what is, and is not allowed. You won't know what hit you."

With that, the radio fell silent, Jinshu Kuangmai telling Jang as he hurried to the new underground airship hangar, "I want some spirit cannons directly slapped on these ships! Scratch that – I want to do it myself!"

The time passed in a blur, not even bothering to think as he modified one airship personally, testing his idea. When the ship was airborne, he pressed the firing switch, immensely satisfied with how the airship lurched forward rapidly under the moonlight. Remembering the limitations of his current technology, he began to yell for more spirit vines for his new spirit engines.

"Avatar bad. No able talk to Vaatu. Me help Jinshu Kuangmai. Biiig help."

Jinshu Kuangmai turned around, saying incredulously, "Pfft – you're so tiny! How can you help me?" The small spirit swelled in size, saying as its yellow eyes flared, "Human hate energy of Jinshu Kuangmai make strong. Show you how I help now." Jinshu Kuangmai watched in disbelief as the globular spirit extended a shadow-sheathed black and red tendril towards a group of terrified-looking soldiers, touching a spirit-vine casing. Somehow reaching inside, the spirit let out a loud screech as dark energy he found mesmerizing pulsed through the extended tendril, more tendrils reaching out and touching other spirit vine containers.

_What – the spirit vine! Black! And it's got red lines – and it's pulsing!_

Jinshu Kuangmai watched as the spirit placed this new type of vine in front of him, saying, "Changed by human hatred. Yours. And your soldiers. Power inside cannot be deplete, unless your hatred of enemy runs out." Jinshu Kuangmai cackled, bragging loudly, "My hatred will never run out! Soldiers – this new unconventional ally. You are to treat him with the same respect and fear you give Jang."

The spirit morphed, taking on a form Jinshu Kuangmai found most pleasing, barely able to stop from blubbering like a fool. The spirit said, with a female voice he thought he would never hear, "Respect and fear – good. Getting closer to you, I know who you admire, Jinshu Kuangmai. I can see I made the right choice, assuming Azula's form. A shame I can't bend… but I can do _this_." Jinshu Kuangmai heard a shattering sound, seeing that the spirit vine had outgrown its container. Remembering his vision of Vaatu morphing, he explained what he thought may have happened to Vaatu as the soldiers hooked up the spirit vine to a new housing, noting with pleasure that only a few soldiers around him looked uneasy. One said, "I won't feel comfortable with this until we see what else this spirit does for us". Jinshu Kuangmai smiled when he saw the other reluctant soldiers nod in agreement, not sure if he was happier that people took to the idea of Vaatu as a kindred spirit so eagerly or that the spirit vine had grown.

Apparently, the spirit now had common sense that matched Azula's, saying, "You and Jang go do whatever you need to do. I'll be converting spirit vines while you're busy. I'm going to need some help – something tells me you don't have that many large spirit vine containers. You should be able to slice pieces off, the missing piece regenerating as long as there is sufficient hatred around it." Deciding the helpful spirit needed a proper name, Jinshu Kuangmai said with a smile, "Sure thing, Vaazula." The spirit laughed, saying, "I like that name. Death to Team Avatar! To Team Hate!"

After connecting the new powersource to the engines and a smaller repeating spirit cannon mounted on the prow, Jinshu Kuangmai climbed into the airship with Jang, along with a platoon of soldiers who busied themselves talking about what Vaatu's possible changed nature meant for the war effort. He idly thought, _After this, I won't be completely furious if the Avatar saves those reprobates or not. Limitless spirit vine energy… I'll swamp those fools with spirit vine weaponry!_

Jinshu Kuangmai laughed as he gunned the new engines, condenser rings opening wide as he heard his annoying half say from within, "Not caring about your little pet project… Maybe I can win after all."

_Hah! I'll still be furious. Maybe Vaazula and Jang can help me with some __**pest control **__after this…_

Jinshu Kuangmai smiled broadly, both at how his weaker self was weeping, and the speed with which they were approaching the outbound train that carried the prisoners. Squinting, he saw the train was moving, even though it was supposed to stay stationary.

_Wait – what are those blue...? What… __**bending?**_

As Jinshu Kuangmai stared at the scene before him, for the first time in his life, he felt fear. Slamming his fist down, he screamed, "You aren't supposed to cheat, you lousy little wimp!" Jinshu Kuangmai clenched his fist in anger as a teenage female voice laughed, intoning, _Not cheating – pushing the envelope. The Spirit World and the physical world are more closely linked than ever. And I've grown in power, thanks to the power of humanity. The good side, that is._

Grinning broadly, Jinshu Kuangmai thought, _You must be Raava. I'm not the only one with new spirit allies. Vaazula will serve me well, and I know what I "did" to Vaatu now._

Fear fled his being, reveling in how he had made a being of light curse and swear like a sailor.

* * *

One minute, Wan Shi Tong was idly looking at his curious feathers in the Spirit World, waiting to see what Raava had in mind, and the next, he was near a massive train, wondering how he would be of any real use in helping break the prisoners free, feeling an odd energy suffuse his being.

_Let's just say the big envelope push wasn't teleportation._

Not having any time for Raava's cryptic answer, his form shifted, assuming his more capable and intimidating self, using his elongated neck to look around for the spirit allies Raava had promised. Not immediately seeing anyone, Wan Shi Tong flapped massive wings to take off towards the accelerating railcars, noticing that his flight was stronger than normal, wondering aloud, "Wait – how can I even fly in this big form? Most strange…"

_Just wait and see._

Feeling something rather alien, Wan Shi Tong hooted in annoyance as he thought, "Now I know what it's like to be Korra. Answer me, annoying teenage twerp!"

_No. I want it to be a surprise. I hope you like it just as much as the Plane: Earth wing._

Wan Shi Tong spotted what appeared to be a junction of sorts, realizing as the first railcar changed direction that it was a smaller rail hub, the train must have now been heading towards "Jasmine's" camp. Remembering images from Earth of cattle cars loaded with Jews, he felt rage take over, rapidly making his way to the junction. He saw a large, hulking form already near the junction, recognizing Hei Bai's Dark Spirit form, noticing with his quick glance that he now sported blue claws that vaguely reminded him of those of a badgermole on his larger arms.

Landing behind Hei Bai, Wan Shi Tong used his beak to tear into vulnerable parts of the railway, unleashing torrents of energy from his beak at stubborn sections. The train stopped and his rage fading, he shook his head, saying, "I don't remember being able to project energy like that. Is that the gift, Raava?"

_Look at Hei Bai again, specifically his extra hands, and you'll see._

Wan Shi Tong flapped beside Hei Bai, noticing that the smaller hands were moving in a pattern he recognized… but from humans. He'd never seen a spirit try to earthbend before. Looking at the railcar as Hei Bai roared in fury, Wan Shi Tong realized with shock that the metal around many key parts was warped and twisted slightly, certain sections occasionally splitting open to reveal human soldiers, some fighting each other, the metal closing back up as Hei Bai roared in anger once more. The train was completely stopped, apparently by Hei Bai's wrath.

Wan Shi Tong suppressed his urge to study Hei Bai's apparent bending, instead trying his own wing at whipping up an obscuring dust cloud around a group of what appeared to be the prisoners who needed rescue. A large dust vortex formed, Wan Shi Tong trying to direct it towards a group of soldiers who were running with purpose at the group of prisoners.

_Stop! I'll illuminate friendly targets – Jasmine is doing her job very well. And don't steal anyone's breath!_

Wan Shi Tong noticed that his vision had shifted slightly, seeing blue and red overlays over humans nearby, directing his actions towards knocking over a group of soldiers he didn't need the overlay to tell were still loyal to Jinshu Kuangmai, given how they were yelling. After buffeting them back and forth with his massive wings and puzzling new power, he noticed that other groups of hostile soldiers were incapacitated, one group encased in ice and another looking as though they had been roasted or fried, all laying on the ground in an undignified mass death pile.

"Fine, fine! I won't kill any more soldiers if I can help it, Raava! But don't expect me to stay my claws often!"

Wan Shi Tong turned to see Aye-zul pouting near the group of dead soldiers, suppressing what Raava might have called a "snicker" of a hoot when he heard the Painted Lady say hotly, "Don't pick on Aye-zul, Raava – I'm a protector, and those soldiers were lit up bright red! Murder in their hearts!"

_Sorry. Asami's earlier… antics put me on edge. We only just now figured out the full implications of the tuber-vines having free will – I'll have to talk with each and every one, or just wipe their personalities. Be careful!_

Wan Shi Tong heard a loud trilling, noticing that Bumju had arrived, and given how he was rapidly knocking down soldiers with swathes of air, he must have gained bending as well. Seeing that soldiers were now either cowering in fear or listening to a tinny speech over the radio intently, Wan Shi Tong "asked" Raava, "How were you able to give us bending?"

_After my promotion, I managed to find the spirits of the original lion turtles by accident, getting their assistance for this gift. There are still limitations, however – immortalized human spirits cannot receive bending, and in order to bend, you must be fully physical. Be cautious – I don't want anyone getting hurt by spirit weaponry._

_Oh, and one of Korra's older spirit friends should be arriving shortly. Korra just re-connected with her a short while ago. I didn't get a chance to give her bending, however, so make sure to protect her. She will likely only show up when the situation is under control anyways. I have something special in mind for her – something I'll need help with. Human help._

Wan Shi Tong scanned the skies, only seeing a large approaching war balloon. Shaking his head, he said, "Wait – that ship. It looks like it has engines, like what the braintrust designed!" Realizing who must be inside, Wan Shi Tong said loudly, "Bumju, come with me and help hold Jinshu Kuangmai back. Aye-zul, Painted Lady, and Hei Bai, help get the prisoners protected and organized!" Wan Shi Tong was surprised to hear a man yell loudly, "I'll help – I was the conductor of that train, Jinshu Kuangmai thinking it ironic to have a 'sexual criminal' conduct the train under threat of death. As soon as the guards started fighting over what Jasmine was saying, I put the train into full throttle, knowing I needed to get as far away from Zaofu as I could." The man barked, "Everyone who can bend, fix the tracks – given what I heard Jasmine say, it sounds like we have a new, nicer reason to go to her camp! Hurry up!" The last thing Wan Shi Tong heard before the flapping of his wings drowned out speech was Aye-zul saying, "I'll try and help – maybe I can melt metal together. I never thought I'd be a firebender! Talk about irony!"

_I'll let everyone know the change in plans. I hope that train is loaded with equipment and supplies – talk to the conductor after._

Flapping his wings, Wan Shi Tong made for the airship, beginning to form an energy blast, forced to dodge aside by an incoming blast of spirit energy. Noticing that the energy looked different than normal, Wan Shi Tong flew in for a closer look, shrinking in size to present a smaller target and shifting to become incorporeal, noticing that flight was no easier now, even with his changed form.

As Bumju harassed the front of the war balloon, trilling happily as he playfully buffeted the massive craft, Wan Shi Tong slipped inside the war balloon, impervious to any assault while in spectral form. Laughing, he stuck out his raspy avian tongue at a group of frustrated elite metalbenders, saying as he felt another new, pleasant feeling he had read of, "Nanny-nanny-boo-boo! You can't get me!" The soldiers now apoplectic, Wan Shi Tong inspected a large container hooked to many thick wires in the middle of the ship, realizing with mute horror that there was what appeared to be a large corrupted spirit vine inside what must have been the ship's new power source. Like the blast of spirit energy he had dodged earlier, the vine was black and red, red lines pulsing stronger as he heard a voice say loudly with fury, "Unless you get that damn owl off my ship, you're all going to re-education camps, lost soldiers to Jasmine's backstabbing or not! Speaking of which – Jang, I want a personnel damage report as soon as possible!"

Having gotten the information he wanted, Wan Shi Tong left, re-assuming a larger and physical form once he was on the outside, for some reason taking pity on the soldiers, not wishing "re-education" on anyone, especially not after seeing Earth's gulags. Getting an idea, Wan Shi Tong decided to play some psychological warfare of his own, not wanting to leave everything to Jasmine, assuming a spectral form in front of the war balloon as he taunted Jinshu Kuangmai. Bumju's air blasts passed harmlessly through him, keeping the ship occupied. He found himself relying heavily on tricks from the Plane: Earth wing of his library, taking great delight in calling Toph's wayward son names Jinshu Kuangmai didn't understand, speaking in German and Russian at times, mixing Jinshu Kuangmai's personality with that of Hitler and Stalin as appropriate.

Wan Shi Tong would have smiled if he had anything but a beak as he heard an exasperated male voice yell over loudspeakers, "Screw this stupid owl and rabbit! I can't even understand what that accursed bird is saying! The prisoners are lost – we can't handle five _bending _spirits by ourselves! Jang, turn every airship around – we need to cut that piece of traitorous filth off!"

As he felt a flow of information not much different from Korra's own infobending, Wan Shi Tong made to chase the retreating war balloon.

_No. We're going to have enough trouble with just evacuating the prisoners and Omashu, and those new spirit weapons you discovered would tear you to pieces. It looks like Jinshu Kuangmai just pulled a Long Yumao on us – we gain a little, the enemy gains more._

Wan Shi Tong couldn't help but wonder if the new corrupt spirit vines could regenerate or grow larger, shivering slightly as he landed, knowing the answer. The spirit vine inside the main compartment looked as though it had been hastily hooked up – as if it had outgrown its previous container.

Turning to the source of a gentle squawk, Wan Shi Tong stared at the dragon bird spirit he was looking over his back at, thinking to himself, "So this must be Korra's friend." Watching the dragon bird land gracefully and prisoners flock to climb on her back, the great bird obviously offering to carry her maximum weight limit selflessly, he idly wondered if spirits were actually inferior to humans. He found himself frustrated, unable to appreciate the beauty of the dragon bird in the way a human male might have a human female's form. He admired her massive body nonetheless, seeing her form appeared to have changed in color similar to his own change.

_That's… something for later. I still can't make sense of my feelings for Wan, and I've been exposed to humans directly for ten thousand years. _Wan Shi Tong heard a different female voice interject quickly, _Love isn't supposed to make sense! I'd love to see fire owlets, _recognizing Korra's voice after the fact. Rolling his eyes slightly, he thought, "All I want to do is be able to appreciate this spirit work of art, not have owlets with her. I've barely started feeling human emotions! Talk about a huge leap…"

Wan Shi Tong busied himself by talking to the conductor, glad to learn the train was carrying a huge stockpile of food. From what he knew of Earth concentration camps, the prisoners would likely need every bite.

* * *

Having finished communicating with Jinshu Kuangmai, Jasmine cleaned the blood off her armblade, saying with disgust, "I knew he spied on everybody." Laughing, she thought, "Except his precious Jang. Sometimes, I half wonder if he's gay for him…"

_This is the last communication I can give you for now, Jasmine – I don't think so. I doubt if he could love anyone, no matter what Korra thinks. Now go give your speech!_

Vaguely disappointed she wouldn't find out what Raava's little trick was until later, she told a firebender who was staring at her in fear, "I'm on your side. Why don't you dispose of this vermin's corpse quickly, and go help the other prisoners fight the other guards off for long enough." The man nodded, saying, "Sure thing, Chief Containment Officer Jasmine." Jasmine gave him a look of disgust, saying, "And tell everyone to never call me that again!" The man nodded, saying enthusiastically, "Fine by me."

Jasmine ran off to the radio controls again, smiling as she got an interesting idea. Knowing the game was up, she set broadcast to almost Empire wide, saying, "This is former Chief Containment Officer Jasmine speaking, as just Jasmine. I have a special message, for anyone with a conscience." After letting the confused responses die down, taking a few minutes for people to stop yelling about being woken up at 2:00 AM, she continued, "Officers – look to your subordinates. Guards – look at your prisoners. Stay your hand if you are beating someone, and silence your hatred for those Jinshu Kuangmai deems undesirable for long enough to think." As silence grew, Jasmine said, "I want you to ask yourselves – are you happy with what you've done over the past three years? Moreover, are you happy that you've chosen to keep fighting for the Earth Empire, even after Kuvira, its founder, has seen the error of her ways?" After a false pause, she continued, "I know many of you hate the Fire Nation after the indignities the Earth Kingdom suffered during the 100 Year's War. I know one thing the old Fire Nation shared with the new Earth Empire – hatred." Practically yelling into the microphone, she said, "AND, if 'we' carry out Jinshu Kuangmai's vision for the Fire Nation – turn the island nation to ash – we will be no better than Sozin, who attempted to wipe out the Air Nomads, and failed! Furthermore, I am sure each and every one of you knows someone who was caught up in Jinshu Kuangmai's little 'sexual deviants' purge, even if only remotely. Do you really want to live in a world where young women and men are killed for something they can't help, much less comrades who served beside you, trying to restore order to the Earth Kingdom?"

Jasmine wasn't sure what to make of the maelstrom of noises coming from each camp's feed, much less the feeds from major cities like Zaofu and Omashu. She heard all sorts of reactions – crying, fighting, people insulting her honor, some insinuating incorrectly that she wanted to get down and dirty with another woman – but the reaction she loved the most came from the large speaker she knew was coupled to the railcar. Leaning closer, she heard many human voices, some repeating, "NO!" over and over on top of the sounds of fighting. Jasmine had a pretty good idea what Raava had done, given she heard decidedly non-human voices as well, hearing roars intermittently.

Knowing the spirit allies could handle themselves, especially if they were getting help from the prisoners and, apparently, some of the guards, Jasmine finished by saying, "I can see there are some among you with souls! And to those that still fight, for Jinshu Kuangmai's sickening banner, and its gleaming drop of blood, I want you to look at your fellow soldier or officer in the eye as you kill them. For their crime of humanity. And know, your crime _against _humanity will not go unpunished. You will die for your crimes, should you resist surrender, when the Avatar can bring all her might to bear upon the inhuman Earth Empire." Hearing some scattered insults, Jasmine scoffed, saying, "You can call me all the names you like, but that won't stop me from wondering how many times your mother dropped you on your head when you were a baby, or why your father abused you so. Your amorality is your loss – no one will mourn the passing of murderers. Do you feel sorry that Avatar Aang took poor little Firelord Ozai's bending away? Or the death of three of the insane people who tossed the Earth Kingdom into chaos in the first place – P'li, Ghazan, and Ming-Hua?" Jasmine actually started crying, she was so happy when she heard some of the recalcitrant Earth Empire goons say things like, "Do… do I really want to be like Zaheer? All that death from the anarchy – it's no different than the death I've wrought!"

_Now would be the time to say something nice._

Suppressing laughter, Jasmine heeded Korra's advice, saying, "Remember – even Kuvira was forgiven. There is no such thing as unforgiveable sin. Remember this, when you look your family in the eye, explaining what mommy or daddy does at work." Jasmine broke into a laughing fit when she heard Jinshu Kuangmai's voice yell over the central, ornate feed, "Screw this stupid owl and rabbit! I can't even understand what that accursed bird is saying! The prisoners are lost – we can't handle five _bending _spirits by ourselves! Jang, turn every airship around – we need to cut that piece of traitorous filth off! Vaazula's going to have 'her' work cut out for her, and not just converting spir – ah, damn it all! I'm such a moron!" With that, the feed let out static, Jasmine imagining with pleasure that Jinshu Kuangmai had just crushed yet another expensive piece of equipment.

_Wait – Vaazula? Oh, no… the little spirit that got away earlier at Sharktar's oasis! It found Jinshu Kuangmai! It sounds like … she's able to do something to the spirit vines, if what Raava relayed what Wan Shi Tong just told her about the airship he was fighting is right._

Jasmine's face drained of color, running outside to try and contain the chaos she was sure would greet her. Looking out in the moonlight, she smiled broadly, noticing that there were less than two dozen bodies lying on the ground, most in Earth Empire uniforms. Everyone not taking a permanent earth nap in Earth Empire uniform was crying or approaching her with hesitation. One, who she recognized as Chun, the airship commander for the base, said, "Something tells me we'll need these airships for more than just rescuing the… sexually interesting."

Jasmine laughed deeply, hearing Korra say internally, _I love that turn of phrase. Sexually interesting pride!_ Remembering the plan for Omashu, she told Chun, "Yes – we have another target. Omashu."

_Hang on – think of the resistance leader for me, Jasmine. Good. Now let me see if we can take Omashu in one strike as well._

Remembering that the feed from Omashu had unusual activity, Jasmine told Chun to follow her, yelling into the radio feed that connected to Omashu, "Does King Bumi reign supreme?"

"Yes. Yes, he does. And with all the chaos you caused outside the city, the Earth Empire suspects nothing. We executed our job perfectly. What are your orders – are we to make the city into a fortress, with all these defector's help, or sabotage and abandon?" Jasmine wanted so badly to tell the resistance leader, who she did not know the name of, "Yes – make Omashu a fortress!" but she remembered the babble about Korranium bombs.

_It's no babble. I saw a whole world destroyed by those weapons. _

_Order them to hold until help arrives, gutting industrial buildings as they wait. Make the rendezvous point Hei Bai's forest, inside the United Republic of Nations. I have already contacted President Raiko. Two warships will be in the nearby sea and a multi-national force will be there in roughly six hours._

Chun had noticed the delay, asking incredulously, "Who's talking to you?" Jasmine laughed, saying before she gave the marching orders, "Avatar Korra, though I don't know exactly how."

_Still in the Spirit World. Every living being is connected, Jasmine – even… Tonga Beifong, also known as Jinshu Kuangmai, is connected to me._

Jasmine's mouth fell open of its own, barely managing to give the patient resistance leader her orders. The woman said once Jasmine had finished, "The name is Yangchen, by the way. My parents were deeply curious about Air Nomad culture, and I'm sure it's why I ended up becoming an airbender three years ago." Jasmine heard a somewhat familiar voice interrupt, saying, "Surely, you don't want us to just destroy all this wonderful industrial equipment, Jasmine? Or the bridges? There's a lot of platinum coating them." Getting a devious idea she was sure a merciful Korra would disapprove of, Jasmine said, "No. Do you have any explosives?" Jasmine heard Yangchen laugh, saying, "Of course! No resistance leader worthy of the title would be without." Jasmine smiled, saying, "Good. I want you to rig the bridges to explode when enough weight is over the center, if possible, and rig the most valuable industrial equipment with booby traps. Knowing Jinshu Kuangmai, he'll be too stupid and greedy to resist ordering production to resume."

_I like the bridge idea, but leave the industrial equipment alone. No booby traps there. The only people who would die are innocent workers, most likely._

Jasmine smiled, saying, "Yes to the bridges, no to the – what in the blazes do you mean you can pack up all the factories, Korra?" Jasmine saw a vision of a tired, tattoo-free Avatar synthesizing a whole factory from only raw materials, Jasmine saying in disbelief, "How… how do you expect to haul all that metal and equipment, Korra?"

_Omashu is very defensible, so we can come back later in the day and strip everything of use, using a man-made dust storm as cover. We'll be leaving a line of hollowed out industrial buildings around the city's edge, to entice Jinshu Kuangmai in. _Hearing laughter in her head, Korra finished, _This little trap is nothing compared to another one that has yet to be triggered._

After Jasmine finished explaining the plan, Yangchen said, "I'll order the charges placed, but hopefully they won't be necessary. We've got a little trick or two of our own. Over and out," the radio feed dying. Jasmine smiled, saying to Chun, "Avatar Korra isn't who I thought she was. When I met her in the Spirit World earlier, I figured her for the soft, sentimental type. But she can think like a killer when she needs to." Hearing a familiar female voice, Jasmine turned to see Sura say, "You can kill, and still retain your soul, as long as it's for the right reason. As much as I hated doing it, one of those dead guards met his end by my hands. He was about to run his blade through a firebender protecting his daughter…"

_Sura's right. Asami's over her anger now, indirectly hearing about your little stunt. I'll explain more later. Good luck, Jasmine. See you tomorrow. I've got some other business to deal with._

* * *

Korra found herself vaguely disappointed, having just met the dragon bird she helped what seemed like many lifetimes ago, only to see her go again, Wan Shi Tong apparently not interested in becoming any more human than he absolutely had to. Sighing, she said, "It's only a temporary separation," telling Raava, "Tell Hei Bai and the metalbenders to tear up the train track as they go, using the metal to fortify the camp, holding there. I don't want them bumping into the army outside Omashu. I remember the map Asami drew. All those soldiers…" Reneging on an earlier promise, Korra said with a toothy grin, "I think I'm going to make everyone's suits anyways, even Kuvira's, with what we'll be facing, trying to cover the evacuation. I hope Varrick and Zhu Li have figured out how to make Lipowder work properly. It sounds like a whole army is stationed outside Omashu, and I imagine Jinshu Kuangmai will send reinforcements. I wonder what Jinshu Kuangmai was planning, before our little impulsive invasion?" Raava had a predatory grin, saying, "I'm sure I could help speed along the gunp - "

Remembering with a start that they were still in the Spirit World and people would likely be worried about their safety, Korra held up a hand, saying, "Hold that thought. Raava, why don't you try your hand at infobending with that new sword of yours that's caused us such grief, and I'll try to contact Yangchen." Korra heard an older female voice say calmly, "I'm right here," Korra wheeling around and giving the dead past life Yangchen a funny look as she said, "You know what I meant. Now let's go."

Korra was utterly baffled by how both Aang and Raava were looking at her with great unease at the mention of infobending. Putting something together that Korra hadn't Asami said hotly, "Wait – you two! Aang – you talked about some orders for the White Lotus in that vision, and given how you said 'All of them', there must have been more left behind than just 'Protect the next Avatar!'" Korra saw Kyoshi and Yangchen disappear as she said, feeling some sort of block lifted, "Wait – were you screwing with my mind earlier, Raava? I remember wanting to ask something about the Grand Lotus' comments about family and Red Lotus activity, but the question vanished from my mind. And I think I know who did it. YOU."

Raava sighed deeply, saying, "This is a matter best discussed with your parents. If you don't mind, I'd like you to hurry up and contact the other Yangchen and just… show everything _relevant _with infobending." Feeling angry in a way she hadn't in years, Korra pointed a shaking hand at Raava, saying with fury, "No! This is something that sounds very personal, and I'd like to talk it out! This issue is after only talking to Yangchen in priority. We can drink some Jang Hui kelp tea if needed to stay awake."

Raava began crying while Aang backed away, looking guilty as Raava said, "O…okay. I think that should be fine, as long as everyone eats and drinks." Only angrier with Raava's attempted deflection, Korra felt like she wanted to freeze Raava inside an iceblock, Korra took a few deep breaths, saying, "Calm… cool… like ice." Korra lost it, encasing a nervously grinning Raava in ice when she heard Asami say, "No. Sometimes, anger is justified, and it seems to me like you aren't the only one hurt by whatever lie this was. If my hunch is correct, it sounds like the Grand Lotus lost family to the Red Lotus before you were discovered, Korra. Which would explain a lot – why he was so over-protective." Raava nodded, saying from her ice cube, "Yes, you have a right to be angry, Korra, and I suppose the Grand Lotus does too, in a way. Had he not gotten such strict orders from Aang through proxy of Tenzin, he might have talked to you about his personal loss. You might have even liked him – Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq, another father, as Aang had originally hoped, instead of just annoying White Lotus leader."

Korra's eyes widened, saying hotly, "I'll be right back! Asami, see if you can get anything out of these two, about the – ugh! I don't want to talk right now!"

Korra had never tried to contact someone while angry before, focusing on Yangchen's energy. She saw the pretty woman turn around after Korra said, "Uh, hi. Got a little change in plan." Yangchen laughed, saying, "Just now remembered the army outside Omashu, huh? From what Jasmine has been able to pry from a somewhat cooperative captured officer, it was to be a first diversionary strike against Republic City from the south, drawing volunteers from Omashu. Hah! As if… Jinshu Kuangmai wanted to strike while you and other world leaders were distracted by the Spirit Civil War." Korra's eyes thinned, saying, "I bet that wasn't the only reason he wanted to go there. The Republic City Spirit Portal… maybe he thought if he got close enough to it, he could contact Vaatu again. Typical – forgetting the Spirit Portal walls…" Yangchen gave her a quizzical look, saying, "Everyone else, out of my room! Yes, you too, sweetie. And you too, handsome." Korra saw a small boy run with unnatural speed in front of Yangchen, a slight wind buffeting her. What must have been her husband followed, panting on top of a sloppy air scooter, "Even with airbending, I can barely keep up with Gyatso! I'm gonna getcha!" Korra smiled, feeling her anger start to fade as she heard the sounds of laughter, frowning slightly when she realized she would likely never hear her own child laugh like that, given Gyatso appeared to be about two years old.

Sighing, Korra said frankly, "I'm a little jealous. Atokara will never be a normal child – aged four, from time of birth, growing to eight soon after somehow..." Yangchen gave her a withering look, saying, "You're complaining? He might look cute now, but he can be a real pest when he wants to be. I hate it when he makes little tornadoes on 'accident' in our hiding space." Imagining Atokara using a weaker version of her metal-slicing water jet form on Korra's Spirit or Asami's Reach accidentally, Korra said, "Okay, you have a point. I still wish I could raise Atokara normally, but I guess with her, she is as normal as she can be, having two mommies. One of whom didn't have a real good childhood, and the other who lost her mother at the age of six. But I didn't come here to talk kids or personal woe – I came to talk war." Looking around the room, Korra saw a more detailed map of the forces outside Omashu, noticing that two out of the three main army battalions were labeled "Conscripts", though the central army battalion labeled "Elites" had a note: "Fanatical". Pointing a spectral blue finger at the map, Korra asked, "Can you try and see what's going on outside the city? Something tells me those conscripts might be fighting their officers, after Jasmine's little speech." Yangchen sighed, saying, "You underestimate the power of fear, Korra. The only radio chatter from that camp we've heard was a single broadcast – 'I'm Chief Military Officer 'Wuqing', and don't you forget it! Merciless is the only name the likes of you need to know! If anyone ELSE wants to die today, be my guest, traitors – I don't care about lowly conscripts, even if my second in command does!' We heard this voice admonish someone named 'Chin' after a loud slap and a hot interjection of, 'I consider my soldiers family, and you'll have to explain to Jinshu Kuangmai why your bloodlust cost you two battalions of conscripts – and your second in command!' We heard the same voice brag about his knack for innovation, the accidental broadcast ending in static after the sound of metal crumpling and a punch being thrown."

Korra sighed, having a hard time believing someone could have a conscience, listen to what Jasmine had said, and still fight under Jinshu Kuangmai's banner. Remembering how Jinshu Kuangmai had come up with the idea of spirit engines himself, Korra said, "I don't know if I hope the commander dies, or the second in command does. We don't need any geniuses helping Jinshu Kuangmai." Yangchen nodded, saying, "Back to the reason you're here. I assume you want us to blow the bridges now, to prevent the army from marching in." Korra nodded, saying, "Yes." Yangchen pointed to a different wall, flicking a light switch so that Korra could see in greater detail. Korra's eyes widened, saying, "It… that looks totally novel. How does it work?" Pointing at a large, javelin-like schematic, Yangchen said, "This is a little improvisation we came up with. An earthbender takes a hollow metal pipe and forms it into a throwing javelin, and a contact charge is placed in the pointed tip, the rest of the tube filled with explosives and shrapnel. Using these with hit and run tactics, we should be able to shred the infantry that come across the bridge, using explosives on the few tanks that can cross at a time. Remember, we've got spirit vine weaponry of our own, a good portion of the officers surrendering, then cooperating when they remembered what Jinshu Kuangmai would do to Omashu." Laughing, Yangchen added, "Apparently, blood and culture runs deeper than loyalty to madmen than they would like." Korra found the weapon horrifying, remembering that two thirds of the army was conscripts, saying, "Is there any other way? That weapon looks like it would inflict horrible wounds. Bleed out…" Yangchen slammed the table, saying, "I thought you were supposed to be tough! It's either this, or we fall! Unless you have a mode of transport that can get here before the army wakes back up and sees what has happened, and you're willing to fight on almost no sleep, this weapon is our only option!"

Korra started crying lightly, saying, "Just a minute, Yangchen – I need to talk to someone." Yangchen gave her a slightly dirty look, saying, "No. Decide, now – take down the bridges, and ensure that Jinshu Kuangmai will fracture Omashu's base, or leave them up, and hold them with these explosive shrapnel javelins. We've got some that should be effective against tanks as well, but not many. Yet." Cradling her jade betrothal necklace, Korra waited for an answer, getting nothing, though Raava was not the one she wanted to talk to.

Korra felt a flow of information suffuse her, the images and sounds she saw and heard seeming more crystal clear than anything Wan Shi Tong could have hoped to give her about Earth. She saw a line of soldiers in ridiculous red uniforms with long weapons over their shoulders, one soldier she somehow knew to be an officer riding on a strange four-legged animal. As they entered a thick wood, the soldiers maintained formation on a wide path, a single crack ringing out from the trees. The fancily dressed officer keeled over, clearly dead. One of the soldiers yelled in an odd form of English, "No – Archibald! Damn you rebel cowards! Come out and fight honorably, like Englishmen! Line on line – quit hiding in the trees like a bunch of red-skinned savages!" She heard laughter from the trees, a hidden man saying with a thick drawl, "I ain't fighting like no _honourable_ lobsterback fool, all lined up and ready to die! See you round, you king-kissin' tyrants! Tread lightly - these woods are alive!"

The scene fading, Korra saw an image of a famous rebel from her own plane, Jet, remembering how he had to fight "dirty" against the Fire Nation, remembering bitterly his attempt to manipulate Katara and Aang into wiping out innocents. Realizing that she had gotten her answer after all, Korra said, "Very well. I want Jinshu Kuangmai to think he can take Omashu back, not realize he can't and order it destroyed. Do not blow the bridges, and use these explosive javelins if you must, but only if needed. I will not condone their use by any of our militaries, however." Yangchen smiled, saying, "Good. I should probably order all explosive javelins destroyed and the blueprints burned after we win, or if we lose, lest Jinshu Kuangmai get his hands on them." Looking rather nervous, Yangchen said with a final air, "Do try and hurry, though. Something tells me that Jinshu Kuangmai is going to try and send reinforcements." Korra smiled, asking, "Can you project? If you can, contact me and let me know if you need spirit help." Yangchen nodded, saying, "I can try. I have an idea…"

Yangchen closed her eyes, apparently focusing on another's energy. Yangchen smiled slightly, opening her eyes after a few minutes and saying, "Yes, I can, and I just managed to convince that officer named Chin that I… I was the spirit of his dead wife. I don't know where it came from, the idea, but he bought it, promising to not let Omashu be razed if he could prevent it. I managed to get a sneak peek on goodwill, under the pretense of trying to see his three children. Apparently, his commander has a nasty temper. Remember how the broadcast cut to static randomly? His superior wrecked all the high-powered radio equipment in a fit of rage, meaning they're cut off from the outside world completely. On the way to Chin's tent, I also noticed they didn't have any war balloons present, meaning the only way they have in to Omashu is over the bridges. Said something about sending them to Omashu for retrofitting them with 'fire earth' weapons he wanted to show off to Jinshu Kuangmai. The irony is delicious – we have control of them now, I believe." Korra smiled, saying, "Good. I'd hate to see 'fire earth' weapons in Jinshu Kuangmai's hands – we haven't even made our own version a reality yet, being busy with other things. I'll tell you about Lipowder later." Remembering the other portion of what Yangchen had said, Korra added, "I think you might have gotten some help. Asami saw her parents in the Spirit World earlier – both of them." Yangchen's eyes widened, saying, "Wow. Forget Lipowder, whatever it is - I can't wait to see the catalyst for all this change in person, Raava, and meet you." Korra was about to say goodbye, but she lingered, remembering to say, "You too. I've got the feeling your child will be a good person. Have good character." Yangchen's eyes lit up, saying, "That's it! I had wanted to name the child Jinora if it is a girl, but Jaina sounds even better, and more unique." Wincing slightly, Yangchen added, "I hope the child decides to wait until after the battle to join the living." Korra smiled, saying, "So do I," for reasons she wasn't about to heap on Yangchen. Korra was pretty sure where a certain lost little boy was meant to be, if he could earn his soul back completely.

Korra smiled broadly, waving goodbye as she remembered Arthas' love interest, musing to Raava, Aang and Asami when she opened her eyes again, "It sounds like our little inter-planar traveler might find a home here after all." Seeing the blank stares she was getting, and that Aang looked as though he had been crying, Korra said, "Let's go talk about this outside. I've got a lot to infobend out." With a wink, she added, "Let's just save the White Lotus stuff for another time. Omashu could be in trouble." Korra was perplexed by how Aang nodded, yet said, "No. That's the first thing we're going to do, and I think Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq would appreciate it. Greatly," before he vanished.

Before exiting the Spirit World, something occurred to Korra that made her slap her forehead, congratulating a confused Asami, "I just now realized that you must have meditated in here all by yourself! I wasn't touching you at all. Good job!" Asami's jade green eyes widened, saying, "Wow. You're right – though, I did get some help from this wonderful betrothal necklace." Smiling broadly, Korra said, "There's nothing wrong with a little help," Asami blushing slightly in a way that made Korra want to go to sleep and find out what their inner shared world had in store for them.

Raava laughed, saying, "Playtime, in due time. You can get some sleep on the way to Omashu inside your transport." While Korra did not feel physically tired, due to her odd sleep habits lately, she felt emotionally drained, saying, "Sleep sounds good. Just a minute." Korra recalled a surprised Raava, using the Avatar State to swathe herself and Asami in water from Korra's own seventh chakra pool, pushing the twin pools up onto a shared pedestal after, inscribing "For anyone who needs help" in both English and normal characters beneath the pedestal. Feeling rejuvenated, Korra told an eager-looking Asami, "Last one out's a rotten egg!" in English, Asami laughing freely, looking for a split second as though she had eaten one. Asami hesitated, Korra beating her out, the last Korra heard was "Atokara, just be patient! I'll eat soon!"

When she opened her eyes, she saw that the room where her physical body was packed, noticing that the room was brightly lit, her body still on the table. Taking in everyone's expression, Korra stood up with a little effort, saying, "I'm sure you'd all love to know why I was 'gone' so long, but we have a situation that demands our immediate attention." Korra was about to explain what they needed to do in Omashu and the forces they would be up against, but she never got the chance, feeling a surge of energy, noticing the tattoo on her right hand did in fact glow temporarily during the energy surge. After calming everyone down about Raava's new appearance, Korra let Raava speak, Raava saying, "There's something a little more personal both Aang and I want to come clean on first."

Raava walked over to Korra's parents, both looking confused as Raava said, "Aang has a confession to make. Tenzin, get over here as well – you were the one who… carried out the orders." Korra watched a slightly sleepy looking Tenzin walk over, shoulders slightly slumped as he said, "I thought this would come out some day. Tonraq, remember our agreement on Korra needing to be protected after the White Lotus attacks?" Her father nodded, saying, "Yes, I do, and I remember having my reservations as to why you and the Grand Lotus stressed we weren't to be allowed to live with our _five-year old _daughter. Visiting never satisfied my desire to be with my daughter fully. I know your father wasn't the best family man, but I never figured out why you, of all people, would throw your lot in with that cold, controlling man. Care to explain what this has to do with Raava's little dirty secret?"

Seeing Tenzin looking like a particularly nervous Bolin, idly strumming his finger together, Korra projected Aang out, saying when she saw how he manifested, "Aang, appearing as an adult isn't going to smooth over whatever happened. Especially considering it sounds like these orders were given by an adult Aang, and not the fun-loving kid everyone prefers to remember." Aang laughed, shifting as he said, "You're right, though I already talked with Asami about this while you were contacting Yangchen." Tenzin gave Aang a funny look, asking, "What does Avatar Yangchen have to do with anything? What, is she the one who gave you the original ideas?" Aang chuckled nervously, saying, "Nope. I own the orders completely now, Asami having convinced me that I was trying my best, and that's all that matters." Aang added, looking guilty as he said, "I should have listened to Katara, and not hidden everything but the first, basic idea of a mixed childhood from her." Korra saw Katara with "that look" on her face on the periphery of her vision, and Korra's father was becoming increasingly angry, saying, "Explain, Aang, why I missed half my daughter's life and most of her childhood, and quickly!" Senna nodded, saying, "I want to know as well. I know you weren't the best of fathers, Aang, and I will be very disappointed if I learn your poor parenting skills affected your next life from beyond the grave." Aang began sobbing, saying, "I'm so sorry - I was just naïve, and I thought my orders would be carried out better than they were. I wanted the White Lotus to be like a second set of parents, closer to what Korra would have experienced as an Air Nomad. I… I even gave Tenzin the instructions on what to do if Korra was ever… abducted."

Tonraq turned angrily to Tenzin, looking like he wanted to deck him in the face as he said, "Wait - so you mean to tell me Aang came up with that half-baked idea about half Water Tribe family, half Air Nomad White Lotus standins that ended up being more like… oh, I don't know. Old men with more interest in my daughter as the Avatar than as a person, interacting more with her than her own **PARENTS**?!" Tenzin stepped forward, saying, "If you want, you can hit me, if you think that will make you feel better. You can't hit Aang, after all. I just want to move forward. I'm not proud of what happened, and - what are you doing?" Korra's father had formed a small, tight band of ice around Tenzin's forehead, saying, "Here - feel how cold my daughter's upbringing was, thanks to you and your father! Aang, you might have been a good Avatar, but as a parent - a disgrace! The old Air Nomad ways are outdated, and were in your time as well!" Korra slapped her forehead as Jinora piled on, saying, "Maybe Kya and Bumi are right about you, grandpa! The new codes on family will be much different than your bumbling," Aang crying bitterly as Katara attempted to console the sobbing blue image.

Korra was sick of this, just wanting to know where the hell her childhood had gone, and most importantly, _why_. Korra broke the ice around Tenzin's head, saying, "I want to know where my childhood went, and this isn't helping anything! If you can't act civilized, maybe I'll have to separate you - forcefully!" Remembering Asami had already talked with Aang about his supposed crimes against Korra, Korra said, "After Asami explains what happened, I want to use infobending on Aang, then Tenzin and my parents, so my mom and dad might understand what happened better."

Korra gave Asami an expectant look, Asami saying strongly, "Enough violence! Korra and I will never have a normal experience with raising Atokara, courtesy of her unique nature and Raava's energy, and I fail to see how lost time due to Aang's orders are any different! If no one else wants to talk openly about it, I will. Apparently, Korra, shortly before Aang passed away, he left a set of secret orders for the White Lotus and Tenzin, Tenzin learning of the orders directly from Aang, writing them down on a scroll he keeps hidden in the artifact room." Tenzin took a deep breath, "Thank you, Asami. I think I can explain from here. Calmly, and fully. Aang wanted the next Avatar to grow up in a mixed environment, the best of Water Tribe love and family strength blended with the spirituality of the Air Nomads. The White Lotus and Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq were to hopefully act as a set of second parents, as well as protectors and teachers." With a deep sigh, Tenzin said, "That was before the first Red Lotus attack. And not the kidnapping. While searching for you, Zaheer led an attack on some of the White Lotus' leaders' families, hoping to distract them from their search for long enough to find the Avatar himself, before the world knew what happened, or who you were." A tear streaking down his face, Tenzin continued, "The Red Lotus escaped, and Ataninnuaq lost his whole family – his wife and young son. He ordered the attack covered up, not wanting the White Lotus to look weak, only informing me because of another order, related to the Avatar's safety. But I think the real reason he covered it up was he still mourned the loss of his wife, Sakari, and their son, Siku, and didn't want to be reminded of their passing." Korra felt a deep sadness, hearing her father say, "Tenzin, I am so sorry for my abominable behavior just now. Asami is right about lost time - quantity doesn't matter as much as quality, and Korra turned out fine, regardless. As I am sure Atokara will." Korra blushed, saying, "Thanks, dad. I bet you'll love something I'll show you later." Her father continued, weakly stating, "I just hope I can accept what has happened as well as you do now. You have to show us what happened inside the Spirit World, when you get the time." Tonraq cried slightly, saying, "That personal loss of family… that explains why Ataninnuaq was so overbearing and protective. Korra, I think… I think he looked at you as a replacement for his dead son. It would certainly explain his reluctance to let you get into danger, and why he tried so hard to get you to be more spiritual." Korra winced slightly as Raava said the obvious, stating, "He always did try and steer you away from purely physical bending. I believe he may have seen a bit of Zaheer's violent nature in you, Korra. You did pass your firebending test rather… aggressively. Not to mention what you would've done to Tarrlok, had he not bloodbended you."

Korra felt a surge of guilt rise in her, saying, "I… I never treated him right. I didn't even call him by his name! I don't know why he never told me any of this." Aang grinned nervously, Tenzin attempting to rib his father's blue image as he said, "You also have Aang to thank for that. He told me he wanted the next Avatar's childhood to be as care-free as possible, remembering the shock of being told he was the Avatar at the age of 12. As long as it did not interfere with his or her safety, the next Avatar was to be trained in a warm environment, when he or she felt ready. No talk of death, or loss. I suppose that's the reason Ataninnuaq never told you about the Red Lotus killing his family – even after Zaheer tried to kidnap you." Laughing weakly, he added, "Plans on a 'warm environment' changed a lot after Zaheer tried to kidnap you, obviously, your parents not housed in the compound due to security concerns, from both myself and Ataninnuaq. You know, some friend of the family might betray them and let hostiles in under a false pretense." Korra was glad to see no ice ring forming around Tenzin's head, her mother saying, "I'm glad you're calm again, honey. I'd hate to think what would have happened had Zaheer taken Korra."

Korra saw Raava begin to raise her sword, stopping at the last moment when Aang said, "Not now, you dolt! You've got to give it context! And I thought you locked that memory up!" Korra laughed as her father gave Aang a withering look, asking, "What, Aang, more hiding?" Aang frowned, saying sternly, "I just stopped Raava from showing you a very bleak alternate involving your daughter and Zaheer." Her father said, "Oh," pausing long enough to let Tenzin cut in, sighing as he said, "Speaking of Zaheer - at the time of the attack, we did not know anything of the Red Lotus, fearing they had an army of adherents. Aang hoped his order to seclude the Avatar would never have to be carried out." Korra heard Raava sigh, saying, "I wonder if he wiped your memory for his sake, or what he thought would be in your best interests, considering Aang's orders." Tenzin said with a slight smile, "Probably the latter. He did go above and beyond to ensure your safety, and that the Red Lotus were imprisoned properly, even if he didn't let Korra visit with her parents as much as Aang would have liked."

Korra was ready to try and contact Ataninnuaq, but Raava held up a hand, saying, "In a second. My part in this whole deception was stealing thoughts from your mind about how Aang, being a terrible liar, kept talking about his orders over the past few days, often going beyond what was already known - that he ordered you protected. He wasn't SUPPOSED TO even vaguely let on anything beyond that." Aang grinned nervously, Tenzin groaning, "It's too bad you never took lessons on lying from a reformed Azula. I wonder where she is now…" Raava's eyes widened temporarily, saying with an even tone, "Keeping _Admiral_ Zhao company, I'm afraid." Aang sighed, saying in his best Uncle Iroh impression, "It's just so sad…"

"Yes, it is, and I think I can help Korra with Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq. If I am needed, that is."

Korra shook her head, saying, "I didn't think human spirits could teleport!" Uncle Iroh laughed, saying, "I didn't. Both betrothal necklaces now have universal energy imbued into them, letting me appear here." Smiling, he turned to Katara, asking, "Would you like to see Sokka?" Raava laughed, saying, "See you, Korra and Uncle Iroh. Since you're so well protected right now, I'll be temporarily taking your waterbending and seeing what I can do with this new form." Korra felt an eerie energy enter and then leave her, feeling as though "Amon" had just taken her bending away - permanently. Realizing she'd need to draw on her spirit to project, she focused on the energy of a man she wouldn't have given the time of day to ten minutes before. She ended up rather shocked at what happened, keeping silent, observing.

* * *

Ataninnuaq was in the middle of a wonderful dream, one in which he was somehow talking to and interacting with his dead son, Siku, and his departed wife, Sakari, directly. He was crying slightly, having gotten a negative reaction from his wife when he explained how he channeled his grief, protecting the Avatar in what he realized was more than a slightly overzealous manner. Seeing her reaction, he realized that telling her of the memory wipe would be a very bad idea. She sighed, saying, "I know you had good intentions, honey. It's just too bad that Avatar Korra was too much a rebel, even at the age of four, to see what you were trying to do. That is, not to say you were without fault - not letting her parents live in the compound. That just… why?"

He sighed deeply, feeling unworthy of the title of Grand Lotus as he said, "We thought the Red Lotus had all sorts of operatives! Some even thought they would come with an army, like what Amon ended up doing to Republic City! They were complete unknowns. If we had known it was just four crazies we had under lockup and scheming Unalaq, we would have gone with the original plan, after deposing Unalaq - a more normal childhood for Avatar Korra. I… had great hopes myself, that the blend of Air Nomad and Water Tribe style parenting would work wonderfully. A spiritually and humanity-connected Avatar, the likes of which the world had never seen. I thought Tenzin was mad, saying that his mother, Katara, had reservations about the setup his father came up with." Looking down at the ground dejectedly, he said, "But she was right - it turned out horribly wrong, Korra never able to be a child, or even herself! Not the Avatar - her! What I did is something that I will regret until the end of my days. I'm probably one of the biggest reasons she ended up so… conflicted. I am sure that if she had lived with her parents normally, she might have even been more spiritual - love is a more powerful teacher than any book or scroll, and both Senna and Tonraq are good people. I haven't talked to her since telling her Republic City was too dangerous for her. I just didn't want to see her die…"

"Hello, Grand Lotus **Ataninnuaq**. I hope you don't mind me dropping in on your shared inner space dream, or sharing what you've said with everyone gathered around my physical body."

Ataninnuaq turned around, saying, "Who are you? 'Light Korra'? And what is that scandalous thing you're wearing? I've listened to the radio, but I don't remember anything about airbender tatt - wait, what's that on your forehead?" The strange looking facsimile of Avatar Korra laughed, saying, "You can just call me Korra. After all these years, Aang and Tenzin finally spilled the secret orders and story about your dead family, once I saw you wipe my memory on accident." Ataninnuaq panicked, saying, "Please, forgive me, Sakari! I thought it was the best thing to do!" as he heard his wife yell, "WHAT?" He saw Korra's eyes widen as she said, "Uh-oh. Looks like Sakari is having some… issues." Ataninnuaq turned around, noticing that his wife looked different somehow as she said, "You wiped the Avatar's memory? How could you? Would you have wiped our son's memory?!" As he stammered, Ataninnuaq noticed with horror that Sakari's more spectral form was taking on a darker hue. He heard another female voice yell, "NO! I have forgiven your husband - forgive him, before it poisons your soul more! You may be dead, but if you become corrupted, your current life might go insane!" His wife looked torn, hesitating for long enough for Korra to run over, placing a hand on Sakari's forehead as she said, "I am only showing you this so you can see what would have happened, had my childhood not been so protected. Know that this evil work was prevented by your husband's vigilance."

Ataninnuaq watched in fascination as he saw apparent infobending firsthand, Korra gritting her teeth as his wife began to cry, saying, "I… I forgive you. Korra, show him that - I know it must pain you to relive it, but I think my husband could do with seeing what he helped prevent."

Deeply curious, Ataninnuaq said, "Sure. What could be so horrible?" A single tear ran off Korra's face onto her partially exposed chest as she said, "Dark Avatar Korra. And… the death of the Avatar Spirit, at the hands of a partially righteous Amon. I was to be a monster, under Zaheer. The emotional issues your missteps caused in me are nothing compared… to this." Ataninnuaq stood still, taking in what Korra labeled "Zaheer Kidnapping Alternate" with horror, surprised he found himself rooting for Amon by the end. Partially.

"I was rooting for him too by the end, now that the memory block has been lifted, aside from the whole one totalitarian world government thing. You know, just a minor detail." Ataninnuaq did a slight double-take, saying, "I didn't hear any sound, yet you spoke, then I heard you laugh! What is this infobending, Korra?" Retracting her hand, Korra said with a smile, "I guess it's my new trademark, like energybending was for Aang. Before you ask, no, I'm never energybending someone's bending away - too much risk. I'd rather use the technique that Noatak showed me earlier." Ataninnuaq Gave Korra a dirty look, saying, "What's someone like you doing traipsing around with the likes of Amon? Is he still alive?" Korra laughed, saying, "No, he's dead, about to live again. And I know just in who, and where, as well. Which brings me to the next part…" Smiling, she said as she placed the same, strange tattoed hand on his forehead, "You may as well be caught up on current events more fully. When I first saw you wipe my memory, I wanted Uncle Iroh to take over the White Lotus again and your name blackened, but I don't think that will be necessary. I will give, as well as take. I want my parents, Tenzin, and Aang to see what you experienced first-hand"

Even though the amount of information was vast, he absorbed it in an instant, saying as information left him for the Avatar, "Who in the blazes is Arthas? And why are you looking at me like I'm crazy, honey?" His wife shook her head, saying, "I can't understand you." Placing her hands on her exposed hips, Korra said with a smile, "You now have 'knowledge of the English.' And I have two more requests for you - I want you to bring Baatar Jr. from Air Temple Island to merge with the forces bound for the Great Bannyan tree, and I want you to prepare for a meeting with Zaheer, though certainly not tomorrow. As soon as I explain Vaatu's changed nature and the fact that he now throws his weight behind human tyrants, our former foe may be willing to help us more directly than assisting me in the Spirit World." Ataninnuaq nodded, saying, "Of course! Any other orders?" The Avatar placed her left hand to her chin, Ataninnuaq noticing it bore the symbol for Air as Korra said, "Yes. Tell President Raiko to redirect the troops and airships being sent to Hei Bai's Forest to this location." Korra stamped her foot, noticing that there was a large red X near the Swamp as Korra continued, "And tell them to bring plenty of saws, metalbenders, and as much equipment from Varrick Industries and Future Industries as they can manage. The Great Banyan tree - it's a trap for Jinshu Kuangmai, and a resource for us. Should he be so inclined, I need Baatar Jr. to help outfit the allied militaries with spirit vine weaponry. I can only hope Ikki helped him overcome his personal 'demons'. Don't worry - as long as the people doing the cutting are pure of heart, no one will die, and the tree will easily regenerate. You may even find some spirit allies flocking to you - I have been so consumed with other things, I barely know what is happening in the Spirit Civil War. Now if you'll excuse me, Raava's begging me for help - something about tuber-vines."

With that, Korra was gone, leaving more questions behind than answers. Ataninnuaq woke up immediately after hearing a raspy voice say, "Remember what I told Asami about visiting the dead!"

Ataninnuaq nodded, setting about his work, no longer feeling intense, constant grief over the loss of his wife and son as he remembered what Korra had told a morose Shiro Shinobi. They weren't gone, and never would be. He had the feeling both Sakari and Siku would visit him often, in this shared inner space dreaming Korra had shown him. Laughing, he realized he might even get to have relations with his wife again, given what Raava had told Korra about the… other uses for shared inner space.

* * *

As Raava exited the room, glad to see Katara so happy as she talked to a young Sokka, she idly looked around in the moonlight, noticing that Ember Factory Island seemed more crowded than the last time she saw it. Thinking, "Asami, please come out here, and help me make sense of this mess!" Raava ran over to one of the biggest piles, noticing all sorts of insects swarming around it in the moonlight. Wondering if she could smell, she took a big whiff, cursing in multiple Earth languages afterwards, wondering aloud, "Who brought a bunch of bird crap to Ember Factory Island, and why?!"

"Isn't it obvious? Explosives!"

Raava turned around, seeing Varrick and Zhu Li running behind Asami at a pace that must have meant they had been drinking Jang Hui kelp tea. Varrick pointed at the dung heap with wide eyes, saying, "Go on - we've got plenty of metal and other ingredients! See if you can bend, and synthesize us some explosives! Jinshu Kuangmai - ka-pow! Dead!" Raava hesitated, not sure how that would mesh with various rules, hearing Korra's voice say, "Just do it! You already 'cheated' once!" Raava shook her head, thinking, "Did you just talk to me, Korra?" She heard a gentle laughter followed by "No, she who has been promoted," blushing as she realized who had just talked to her.

Holding out Life's Gift, Raava said, "Before I do this, you have to show me that you know how to - oh, wait, never mind. You blew up your own building once, after all." Varrick laughed, saying, "And don't forget the charcoal, volcano yellow, and the stuff. I want lots of Lipowder mixed as well. Maybe even throw some of the bird crap in to the Lipowder - see what happens." Raava laughed, saying, "Good to see you know at least one name, and you did already come up with high explosives yourself, so I'll just fudge a little. Let's call the others sulfur and saltpeter, okay?" Remembering someone other than herself had use for this island, a human who could definitely not synthesize, Raava said, "For this and anything else, I'll go ahead and make the equipment you'd use to make it yourself - less of a breach of the rules, and Firelord Izumi can use them when we're done." Varrick nodded, grumbling, "Doesn't get me any money, but whatever. You gotta do it first!"

Her first attempt at synthesizing was a failure, barely able to manipulate the wet mass in front of her. Sighing, Raava said, "Seems to me like I'll need to practice bending." After running over to a clear portion of the island near the sea, Raava took a deep breath, moving Life's Gift in slow, calm movements, remembering bitterly how natural Wan was at his first tries. She saw a small stream of water form, saying, "YES!" causing the water to fall back down, splashing. On a whim, she tried to enter the "Avatar" State, noticing nothing happened. Raava realized she needed Korra as much as Raava needed her, trying a different power source. At first, she thought of her love for the universe and life, but found her mind constantly wandering towards Wan, stamping her foot in frustration as she said, "Gah! If I had known becoming human-y would make me get a crush on Wan, I might have had second thoughts!"

After she heard loud laughter from behind her, she threw Life's Gift on the ground with disgust, saying seriously, "Maybe this whole thing with humanity was a bad idea. I never thought you'd laugh at me like this. Love's not funny!" Raava looked on in horror as the sword began to shift slightly, Asami saying, "Sometimes, people laugh when they are uncomfortable, not meaning any harm. Take that comment back, right now! You and I both know where that sword's inspiration came from! Wait - that skull! Quick!" After a slight moment's hesitation, Raava envisioned herself hugging Wan in a borderline nonplatonic way, noticing that the signature ram's skull of the Scourge had been replaced by her form once more. Small bits of blue and white energy now danced over her likeness on the sword's base, much as souls might have over Frostmourne's tip. Letting some initially unwelcome emotion take control, she felt as though she were now actually kissing Wan as the image shifted appropriately, relishing Wan's blush.

Looking at the sword again, Raava noticed it now had what appeared to be plasma dancing across the blade's edge. Still thinking of Wan, she picked it up and let out a surprised yelp, turning around to hide the unexpected… engraving that had been revealed underneath her spirit form. Chuckling, she said, "Well, looks like I get to know what human loves feels like directly anyways." As Zhu Li and Asami both said "Awww" Varrick gave her a dubious look, saying, "I still think that's borderline incest, just plain creepy, but whatever. Now let's make some stuff to blow Earth Empire goons up - something tells me we'll need a lot of ammunition, and soon!"

Remembering what Korra had said about wanting to make everyone's suits, Raava said, "Varrick, bring me Mr. Tuber-Vine, and Asami, bring me Asami's Reach. I have an idea to get us more tuber-vines, right now."

Mr. Tuber-Vine was the first, the "plant" knowing what Raava planned to do. Not caring that the little secret compartment was open, Raava brought down her sword cleanly down the middle of Mr. Tuber-Vine, ignoring the horrified reactions she received. Raava smiled broadly as she saw Mr. Tuber-Vine regrow his missing half, bumping up against what she assumed to be Mrs. Tuber-Vine. Raava said, pointing at the pair, "I'll need to do this a lot more if we want to power three more suits. Kuvira's getting one, whether she likes it or not, and I think she would be better used to direct all these Earth Empire defectors and Omashu rebels than running around, feeling all guilty."

"I'll decide what I, and don't, do, Raava. It will take a lot of convincing to get me to use Kuvira's Remorse early. Nice… locket, by the way. Maybe Mako will pose for me like that some time."

Raava found herself laughing deeply as she heard Vaatu grumble from his teapot, "Eww, now you wanna have a human relationship with Wan? Geh! Jinshu Kuangmai would never be held back by romantic relations!" Raava grinned widely, saying, "Why thank you for the idea, Vaatu." Successfully bending her breastplate on her first try, Raava stuffed the teapot inside the metal covering, saying, "Let's see someone sneak off with your prison now, Vaatu!" Raava cursed when Vaatu said loudly, "Yes, yes - delay the end of the Spirit Civil War! Let Jinshu Kuangmai grow in strength again and again!" Sighing, Raava said, "He sort of does have a point, you know." Wanting to cheer herself up, she formed an ice mirror, adjusting her armor to be more feminine, managing to form a piece of armor to protect her more exposed chest using a synthesized material from another plane with sentient life more advanced than even Earth's. Laughing at how Kuvira was pointing at Raava's chest, she said, "Can… can I have something like that?" Raava shook her head, saying, "No. Even Earth doesn't have the technology to make transparent, strong armor, and I'm not about to spread it around. I'm calling supreme spirit privilege here."

Wanting to test her other idea, Raava pointed her sword at Mr. and Mrs. Tuber-Vine as everyone around her laughed, saying, "LOVE GROWS!" Raava was rather taken aback by how much it _did_ grow, both tuber-vines now glowing white and blue, pulsing as they seemingly embraced. Feeling the energy being emitted, Raava said proudly, "You probably only need one tuber-vine per suit with that kind of power. You can replace the void left behind with whatever radio weaponry I'm sure Shiro came up with." Kuvira nodded, saying, "We'll need to modify Asami's Reach and Korra's Spirit - Shiro came up with a miniaturized version of Varrick's EMP generator with Varrick's help. Our equipment should remain unaffected, running on spirit energy." Raava nodded, truly noticing how sharp Asami was for the first time when she said, "But what about the regular mechasuits, and mechatanks?" Raava said, not really caring about the slight cheat, given how Shiro and Varrick had managed to make a miniature EMP generator, "There's a way to shield wiring against electromagnetic pulses. Given how the little EMP generator is unlike anything on Earth, I see no problem with 'borrowing' that tech. What the Russians or Chinese would give for spirit vines. How are the EMP generators powered, anyways?"

Varrick smiled, picking up Mr. Tuber-Vine with effort as he said, sounding like he had over-estimated his strength, "Tuber-vines, of course." Looking at Impetuous Vine and Impatient Leaf, Raava said, "Let's see if they can split after getting a power-up." Pointing Life's Gift at an eager-looking Impatient Leaf, Raava said, "LOVE GROWS!" When the tuber-vine began glowing blue and white much as its other two compatriots did, Raava asked, "Asami, do you mind me trying to split him in two?" Asami shook her head, saying, "No, I don't mind - but be careful. Anything could happen - remember how he was easily swayed by my hatred earlier. Mr. Tuber-Vine could just be a really, really nice tuber-vine."

Wanting to see what would happen, Raava brought the sword down, jumping backwards when she heard an ominous rustling. Much like Mr. Tuber-Vine, Impatient Leaf split into two.

But one was Impatient Leaf, a tuber-vine, and one was… something else. Eyes widening in terror, Raava yelled something she never thought she would yell, watching what looked like an Earth bromeliad shift ominously, making a dry rustling sound.

"KORRA, I NEED YOU! This is NOT a tuber-vine!"

* * *

Korra ran out of the large room, knocking over a tattooed Kai as she did so, saying, "Sorry!" as she ran as fast as she could. She saw Raava holding Life's Gift out, as though ready to kill something. Korra tried to form a ball of acid, seeing how panicked Raava looked as she cursed at something she called a "dark bromeliad", but found she couldn't, Raava having temporarily taken her waterbending. Korra tapped Raava's shoulder lightly, saying, "If you can borrow my waterbending, I can borrow your sword. Fair's fair." Raava looked at Korra angrily, saying in English, "Hell no! But I don't want to put the sword away either! Ugh! Look at this… thing!"

Korra took a better look, certain what this plant was the counterpart of. Sighing, Korra asked as she dodged the plant's first attack of razor-sharp red and black leaves wielded on the ends of red whips, "Just what did you do to create this thing, Raava?" Raava blushed as Asami said, "Used her sword to empower Impatient Leaf then split him in two in an experiment. I tried to warn her." Korra laughed, saying as she grabbed Life's Gift, "Seems like someone doesn't know everything. Let me try something, Raava." Raava sighed, saying, "I know what you want to do, Korra, but be careful - there's a lot of malevolent energy in that plant."

Taking a deep breath, Korra drew on her spirit as she handled the sword in much the same way a corrupted Arthas might have, saying, "Illuminate the light in the dark!" strongly, watching as blue and white energy danced around the sword in a spiral. The strange plant hissed, speaking in a strange but hateful sounding language Korra had heard her dark half speaking in before dragging out her prisoners earlier. Korra saw a very small blue and white energy pulse near the base of the red "flower". Finding this small orb of energy responded to the blade's movements, Korra lifted the sword towards the moonlit sky, gasping in surprise when she saw what appeared to be a small blue and white seed. Flicking the seed off to the side, Korra drew the sword back, saying, "Get lost!" as she ran Life's Gift into the plant, recoiling when she heard the plant speak, saying, "Hate me more - that's it!" in a familiar raspy voice, noticing the plant's inner flower pool was now filled with blood. Changing her tact, she thought of Asami and Atokara as she said out loud, "Troubled spirit, leave in peace."

The plant shrieked much as Dark Korra might have, Korra withdrawing the sword as she watched it convulse and shudder, red and black erratically coursing over its form. At first, it looked as though the plant was still alive, but it suddenly turned to ash. Examining the ash, Korra poked it with Raava's loan, pleasantly surprised to see a small shoot growing from the ashes. What appeared to be a razor-leafed tuber-vine grew rapidly, a hybrid between tuber-vine and dark bromeliad. Korra poked it with the sword, saying, "Anyone in there?" After the alien script on the sword momentarily glowed red, a small globule of red and black energy formed above the shifting plant, the energy saying once it had assumed a vaguely plant-like form, "Yes. But not for long." The plant spirit made to extend a tendril of dark energy towards the new tuber-vine, but Korra used the flat of the sword to whack the spirit away, saying, "Okay, now you can get lost!" The plant spirit shifted slightly, saying, "I may as well go meet Jinshu Kuangmai now."

Korra heard Raava yell, "Oh no you don't!" Korra automatically threw Raava the sword, wondering what Raava would do. Raava managed to somehow flare the plasma dancing around the blade, using it to kill the spirit before it could react as she spoke in a familiar, reassuring language. Raava said, now sounding resolute, "That spirit's not dead – just imprisoned in the spirit world! Splitting tuber-vines - I'm not doing that again!"

"UHHUHHH!"

Korra looked at Impetuous Vine in disbelief, saying, "What, you want the same treatment? Are you crazy?" Korra laughed when she heard the tuber-vine intone, "UHUH". Raava sighed, saying, "Okay, but only because I want to test something else as well. Korra, I can't bend for 'bupkis' - look at this weak attempt to bend water!" Korra watched the massive ball of water that formed with curiosity, saying, "That looks pretty good to me. Wait - what's that little latch on your sword?" Raava blushed, saying, "None of your business!" Korra smiled, saying, "None of my business, sure, but I'm sure Wan will want to know why he's in a speedo on your sword. And quit blushing!" Korra suppressed a laugh when Raava nodded, saying, "Yes, ma'am!" though unfortunately Varrick did not have the same self-control. Raava turned to him, saying calmly, "Keep this up, and something tells me Zhu Li might not give you any Thing tonight." Varrick looked around with wide eyes, saying, "I hope not. This Jang Hui kelp tea would be amazing for the Thing!" Zhu Li finally spoke, saying, "I talked with Kuvira earlier, and she convinced me using denial of the Thing as a control was a bad idea. Now come on, and let's make some explosive and Lipowder. The bird guano should be right - what is that thing? I've never seen a tree like that before."

Korra turned to the direction Zhu Li was pointing, seeing a half crystalline, half living tree growing, its size increasing as the size of the bird poo pile shrank. The center trunk was half blue and white crystal, half deep green flesh that resembled that of the new Great Banyan tree. Once the pile had completely vanished, it still kept growing, Korra noticing that what appeared to be a fair number of small tuber-vines were sprouting near the tree's multicolor crystal roots. Korra noted sourly, though, that there were still less than a dozen total. Walking closer, Korra touched one of four hanging crystals, feeling the crystal begin to pulse as she did so. Raava joined her side, saying, "I think I need to do something. Korra, I need to do something rather unorthodox."

Korra felt a large surge of energy enter her, hearing Raava intone, _Now just let me assume full control, Korra. Like Aang inadvertently let Kyoshi take over a lifetime ago._ Korra did so without hesitation, laughing hysterically, though she now had no mouth, when she realized what had happened.

* * *

Raava felt fully physical, idly wondering if she could go have kids of her own, right now, listening to Korra's laughter.

_No! Just stick to giving people unconventional presents, like you gave me and Asami._

Raava shook her head, saying, "Korra? Did we swap places, or something?" Raava groaned when she heard Korra "say", _Ehhh, not quite. But I have access to lots of information now! Now do whatever you wanted to do to this tree, so I can go look at the Plane: Earth wing unimpeded._

Raava sighed, saying, "Kuvira, go get Mako. I need you two for something special after this." Kuvira nodded, saying cheekily, "I'm sure Korra will love the Earth 'computer' section. Maybe she can get some… information for me." Raava's eyes widened, thinking, "HEY! Stay away from there!"

_Quit your whining. You disobeyed me plenty, and I'm too busy trying to find a certain television show Aang mentioned - "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Ouch! Wan Shi Tong, where'd you come from, and why'd you peck me? Aren't you supposed to be helping Jasmine?_

Raava laughed hysterically as she heard Wan Shi Tong say clearly, _Those cartoon television shows are most definitely for later! I'm the librarian! Why don't you go read some Earth spiritual texts instead? _Raava groaned, not sure what prospect she found worse - Korra watching "The Last Airbender" and "The Legend of Korra" alone, or reading certain… sections of the monotheistic religions' shared texts.

_What sections? Raava, is there something __**else **__horrible about Earth you haven't told me?_

Tiring of this exchange, Raava thought finally, "Listen to Wan Shi Tong when he tells you what portions are acceptable to read, or are true. Let's just say, even more than here, you can't believe everything you read, holy book or not. Humans wrote them, after all."

_Oh, good! Now maybe I can see what_ _Luke 9:60 is. _Raava smiled, thinking before shutting Korra off, "That portion doesn't contain much questionable content. Now leave me be!" Thinking to herself, Raava "asked", "Wan Shi Tong, what's the status on the prisoners, and the camp?"

Raava heard a decidedly directional voice say, "Both are secure, and fortifications are underway. The train had a large stockpile of hidden weapons as well. I want to watch you interact with this tree, and any weapon synthesis afterwards."

Raava laughed when she heard Varrick say hotly, "Forget the stupid tree - where'd all the bird guano go? We worked a long time to collect it from the Ember Island seabird colonies!" Raava smiled, saying, "After I am done with this tree, you won't need conventional explosives. Think spirit bombs." Varrick sighed, pointing out something Raava hadn't thought of when he said, "Okay, that's good and all, but what if Jinshu Kuangmai comes up with a way to counter spirit weaponry, like our own spirit wire energy absorption? Still need conventional explosives, and I can't make the rarest part myself! What I needed was in the crap!" Wan Shi Tong buffeted Varrick slightly, laughing as he said, "You don't need the bird guano for explosives. Not when you can get someone to generate lightning for you. Though, Raava might want to go ahead and make your equivalent of the 'Haber process' equipment right now - you can't make everything you need without 'your' equivalent Varrick process." Seeing Varrick's confused expression, Raava explained, "When lightning strikes, it fixes a… different kind of element into a changed form, the one used in fertilizer and explosives. Given you made explosives in the first place, and your mover film, one you've likely already dealt with in multiple forms. After I fix this tree up and give… Alysrazor her gift, I'll - "

_Hey! Cross plane stealing foul! I thought I told you, no more! And that name is associated with corruption anyways - hardly appropriate for the symbol of Kuvira's growing love for Mako!_

Raava sighed, saying, "Apparently, Aang finds a problem with my new name for the dragon bird. Asami, any idea what to call a - uh, nevermind. I'll let Mako and Kuvira name her." Raava laughed when she heard a sleepy male groan, "What do you want with me, Raava - I just want to go to sleep, even if Kuvira's all hopped up on Jang Hui tea. She's been working on her 'Kuviracomputers' nonstop…" Turning around, Raava said, "Just watch this first, help me, then you can go be sleepy all you want. Though, you'll miss the explanation for where Korra currently is, and what happened in the Spirit World." Mako yawned sleepily, saying, "Gimme! Uh, please," as he pointed to a partially filled cup of tea in Kuvira's hand. Raava shook her head, asking, "Where are your handcuffs?" Kuvira laughed, saying, "We were busy while waiting on whatever happened in the Spirit World to end, and they got in the way. With so many tattoo artists and a full moon, the tattoo process didn't take long."

Raava, frustrated to not know what had gone on in her absence, finally began her work, but not before idly testing something else. Taking a deep breath, she faced towards the sky, attempting to project energy with her mind. Given the surprised yelps she heard, she was able to combustionbend successfully. Raava felt somewhat safe in the knowledge that combustionbending was _mainly _hereditary, and had extremely low penetrance.

_I wanna try that! I don't care what you say about genetics - I'm going to try it the first chance I get._

Raava groaned, saying, "No, Korra. I don't care if you have a forehead tattoo like P'li, you are not going to - oh hush with that alternate already! I thought I wiped it from your mind."

_Let's say I showed it to the Grand Lotus to make him feel better._

Raava sighed, distracting herself by forming an acid ball of water, barely managing to avoid letting both it and the ball of base fall down when Zhu Li squealed, "Oooh, you can acidbend too? That will be great for chemicals and industry! I hope Senna is comfortable with acidbending on a large scale!" Raava laughed, saying, "Yes, I can. Now stand back - I want to make a little lavabending- fueled addition to the island."

Raava swept her sword out towards the endless sea, smiling to see how easily the water began to boil, admiring the broken red glow of magma rising from beneath. Realizing that Ember Factory Island had no airstrip, Raava formed a flat surface on the new addition, surprised to hear Varrick say, "You don't need to make it any longer. Meelo came up with a major change to our aircraft earlier." Finishing by adding multiple mooring points made of earth for war balloons, Raava turned around, curiosity starting to eat away at her.

Rushing her next job, she just lightly smacked the fully-grown tree with the hilt of her blade, saying, "Love matures!" as she did so, the tree groaning slightly as it shifted, white-striped spirit vines growing around the tree's bare branches, surprised to see blue and white flowers appear. What she knew to be four elemental crystals assumed their mature form, and the tuber-vines around the tree's roots began to grow to full size. Still puzzled by their presence, Raava idly wondered where they had come from.

_I think that and the flowers might have been the work of your new "appreciation" of Wan. He's been bugging me nonstop while I try to read._

Raava blushed slightly, distracting herself by calling for the dragon bird to come, admiring the mix of light and dark blue feathers that covered her body, still resembling her older form. Ignoring surprised gasps around her, she told Kuvira and Mako to come towards her, explaining, "Initially, this dragon bird wanted to be Korra's 'spirit animal', but she refused, her attachment to Naga overriding this bird's ability to fly. I tried to think of who could use a companion, and then it hit me - Mako, you have something to remind you of Kuvira, but she doesn't have anything similar." Kuvira nodded, saying, "Yeah, but I don't see what that has to do with a dragon bird. Which sounds like it 'belongs' to Korra anyways…"

Raava smiled, saying, "I want to try something even more radical than giving bending to spirit allies, but I think I will need human help. Specifically, you and Mako's help." Raava picked up Life's Gift, saying, "I need you two to think of each other, Kuvira holding my hand as she holds Mako's. Our dragon bird friend here already knows and approves of what I plan to do, being a phoenix and all. I don't think I could do what I am about to on any other spirit, unless they transform in a nonphysical way."

Once she was holding Kuvira's hand, Raava held out her sword, saying as she plunged it into the dragon bird's chest, "LOVE GROWS!" Raava kept steady as energy channeled itself through her into the sword, and into the surprisingly quiet dragon bird. As soon as she removed her sword, the great bird turned to ash, the pile shifting slightly. Raava was about to placate a mortified Asami when she noticed that ash pile begin to re-form more rapidly than she had ever hoped, realizing why she heard Mako say, "The way they approved… Even your parents were there somehow… I... I don't know if I want to wait, Kuvira. Not after that." Kuvira giggled, saying, "Wow - Baatar Jr. never kissed me like that, much less grabbed my chest!" With this last word, a small form appeared in the ash pile, rapidly growing to full size.

Raava stared at the reborn dragon bird, noticing that it now had steel over parts of its enlarged wings, three clawed fingers and a thumb spike on the end of each wing. Apparently, the wings were load-bearing now with the added steel and primitive-looking hands, given how the dragon bird walked forward, Raava admiring the dancing multicolor fire and pulsing blue steel yin yang symbol in the center of its shining metallic chest.

"Hello! Are you my mom and dad? What's my name?"

Raava shook her head, hardly able to believe her ears, saying, "Just what did you think of each other doing earlier, Mako and Kuvira? I never expected her to… talk!" Raava turned around, seeing Kuvira say with a smile, "We thought of our parents meeting each other for the first time, and… it actually seemed like they did, for a split second." Raava said, eyes widening, "I guess it's not just shared inner **dream** space then."

_Speaking of which - lemme out! I want to go to sleep as soon as possible! I'm tired of reading - most of this supposedly revolutionary stuff just seems blindingly obvious to me. I guess people on Earth were even more stupid 2,000-3,000 years ago than they are now. Though, from reading different sources, it sounds like the great thinkers thought the same of their contemporaries. I like this Jesus Christ fellow - he had quite the acid tongue._

Raava smiled, saying, "Sounds to me like someone wants to swap places again." As she gave control back to Korra, she thought of Wan, hugging him tightly once the swap was finished, saying, "I… I think I love you." Wan returned the hug, saying tentatively at first, "But what about what Varrick said abo - oof!" Raava sighed, saying as she hugged him tighter, "If Asami has taught me anything, it's that what other people think doesn't matter. I'm sure I'm pissing off all kinds of spirits right now, but I honestly don't care." Wan blushed, saying, "Never mind. As odd as it sounds, even to myself, I… love you too. Ten thousand years is an awfully long time to wait to confess. For both of us." Wan laughed, saying, "Technically, you've already been inside me, at my insistence, I may add." Raava laughed hysterically, saying, "Yes. Yes, I have. But we've got all the time in the world, so let's go slow." Wan snickered, saying, "I didn't mean it like that - I meant you were inside my heart."

Raava sighed deeply, feeling a sense of oneness she had never felt before, saying, "I never would have thrown Life's Gift away had I know what this felt like." Raava felt herself shifting slightly, now closer to Wan's face than before, saying in a human voice that almost matched that of her outdated form, "I can't wait to see what happens when Korra goes to sleep."

* * *

Korra was about to project Raava out to give the sword back, not wanting to accidentally misuse Life's Gift, but stopped, somehow privy to a very private interaction between Raava and Wan.

_I trust you with that sword, but do be careful with it. Given I'm no longer holding it, it should have less power._

Korra picked up the sword, explaining what had just happened. Varrick laughed, saying, "Ehhh… I _guess_ it's not so weird, considering what Wan said about Raava being inside him. Does give me a funny image, tho - ouch! I thought you weren't going to hit me anymore, Zhu Li, much less with a rock!" Rubbing his head, Varrick said, "And it felt really hot too… What's going on here?! Don't tell me you can lavabend now, honey."

Zhu Li stammered, pointing off to the side as she said, "I… Kuvira, I think your new spirit friend is rather special." Korra turned around, eyes widening in shock when she saw the dragon-bird crying, saying, "Sorry, Varrick. I don't know my own power - I just wanted to hit you with a small pebble." Korra shook her head, saying incredulously, "Wait - don't tell me you can bend both earth and fire." The dragon-bird nodded, saying, "That's why Raava needed Mako and Kuvira's help. Raava wanted me to remind Kuvira of Mako, but still be connected to Kuvira."

Kuvira gave her new ally a confused look, saying, "I thought only the Avatar, Korra, could bend more than one element?" The dragon bird cocked its head to the side, saying through a metallic beak, "Raava can bend more than one element, and she put some of her energy inside me, as well as what you feel for Mako." Korra's eyes widened in panic, saying, "Oh, great am I going to have a miniature Avatar for a daughter?" Korra felt an energy surge beside her, turning to see Raava holding Wan's oddly corporeal hand as she said, "No, Korra, your daughter will not be able to multi-bend. I'm pushing the envelope of what is, and is not allowed as is, only able to grant this spirit two forms of bending with human assistance."

Korra examined the sword she was holding, realizing she could give it back to its rightful owner, curious as to why the sword still looked much the same as it had before, plasma and all. Korra nodded, saying, "Catch!" as she tossed Life's Gift to Raava. Raava caught the sword, handing it back as she said, "Not just yet. I want you to see if you can give Impetuous Vine the same treatment that I did to Mr. Tuber-Vine and Impatient Leaf, hopefully this time without corruption." Korra took the sword and prepared to strike reluctantly, stopping at the last minute, holding her jade betrothal necklace as she pointed the sword at the shivering tuber-vine.

Impetuous Vine erupted in a riot of colors, Korra hearing a nasty voice say internally, "You'll never get me out! Glory to hate! Go on - split this fool in two so I can go talk to Jinshu Kuangmai!" Korra took a deep breath, deliberately envisioning a plant-shaped Dark Spirit interacting with "Jinshu Kuangmai". Or rather, the _real _Jinshu Kuangmai, and not the sad monster of a man that lived, while Tonga Beifong languished. Impetuous Vine thrashed violently, as though he were fighting with himself. When Korra saw that he was gradually growing darker, she took a deep breath, putting down the sword and placing a hand on the being's main body as she said, "Cease struggle, and yield to purifying light."

Korra smiled broadly as she heard Impetuous Vine loudly hum "VRMMM VRMMM" as his colors shifted, rubbing her forehead after he spit a small seed out at her. Picking up the seed, she realized what it was for - another one of the odd trees. Raava said, picking the sword back up and successfully splitting Impetuous Vine in two after, "The tree here should serve as protection for Ember Factory Island, as well as a ready source of spirit material." Remembering her private house she shared with Asami, Korra said, handing the seed to Asami, "I know just the place to plant this seed, after we liberate Omashu and smash the Earth Empire armies gathered outside." Remembering that more than half the army was made of conscripts, she added, "I hope to take out the elites and get everyone else to surrender. If we can take out their heartless commander, that man named Chin will be the new Chief Military Officer. I don't think he'll turn on Jinshu Kuangmai anytime soon, but given what I know of him, I'd be shocked if he didn't cut his losses at some point and order a retreat." Staring directly at Raava, Korra added, "And if he does so, I want the army to be left alone."

Raava frowned, saying hotly, "Korra, now is not the time for mercy at every turn - those conscripts will likely fight just as hard for Chin as the elites fight for their current commander, who only goes by the moniker 'Merciless'." Korra held Life's Gift tightly as she said, "Maybe I won't give this sword back to you!" Raava apoplectic, Wan held out a hand, saying, "No. You have changed a lot over the years, Korra, from hotheaded warrior to merciful lover. Just pretend that the Earth Empire is a suffering beast that needs to be put down." Korra sighed, saying, "I know that. Those elites - they deserve whatever happens, but if an offer of surrender is made, I AM going to let everyone else go." Smiling, Korra said, "Who knows - an act of mercy tomorrow may plant the seeds of doubt in this Chin's mind."

Korra saw Raava smile, saying sheepishly, "I guess this is where I learn from you. Again. You're right, Korra. Perhaps it would be best if Chin got promoted - Jinshu Kuangmai might be consumed by hatred, but so far he has shown remarkable restraint and common sense compared to the likes of Hitler, and might be slightly less vile with Chin directly advising him." Korra nodded, laughing as Varrick said, "I want to know everything that happened, now! This talk of Omashu and other stuff is making me really annoyed - I have not a clue what's going on!" Walking over, Raava took Life's Gift from Korra as she said, "In due time. There's one last modification I'd like to make to the two existing mechasuits, before explanations - see the plasma on this blade's edge?" Getting an idea with what Raava wanted to do, Korra said, "Yes - and you want to see if we can make our own, tuber-vine powered version." Raava smiled broadly, saying, "Yes. I'll let you, Asami, Varrick, Zhu Li and Kuvira work on it while I help Mako come up with a name for Kuvira's new friend." Attempting to form some fire to see better by, Korra told Raava with a smile, "I want you - need you - inside me." Wan and Raava laughed hysterically before both vanished, Korra now holding a ball of blue flame in her hand, glad to finally have her bending back.

Korra started to make a comment about her relief, but stopped, remembering more than half her current company couldn't bend. Her face must have betrayed her, given how Asami innocently asked, "Why are you smiling so broadly, Korra?" Giving Asami a nervous glance, Korra lied,  
"That, uh, Wan and Raava like each other!" Korra saw the flame turn red, fessing up her true feelings, glad to see neither Zhu Li nor Asami took offense. Asami just laughed it off, saying, "After we perfect Asami's Reach, Iron Varrick and Zhu Li's Thing, we'll all be more powerful and well-protected than any bender aside from you, Korra. Technology has done what 'Amon' could never have dreamed of doing. Speaking of anger and resentment, Varrick - mind getting over your indignation for long enough to tell us if you brought the mockups to Ember Factory Island?" Varrick nodded his head, saying, "Yes, we did bring the mockups here." Stroking his mustache in the moonlight, he said, "Say, I have an idea! Mako. We have a useless mockup of Asami's Reach, given Korra already made the real thing. How'd you like it if Korra used the mockup as a base for a suit of your own? Kuvira's got one, after all." Mako blushed slightly, saying, "Uhhhh" tentatively. Kuvira let out an odd guffaw, saying, "I don't know if you're uncomfortable with the idea of using a suit based on your ex-girlfriend's body, or your other ex-girlfriend giving you a gift to put your body in." Korra laughed, sensing Mako was lying when he said, "No - it's just not fair to Bolin, Opal, Jinora or Kai! Not to mention the 'adults'!" Snickering, Korra said, I can tell you're lying, Mako. Whatever - that's something for another time. Let's do our experiments on my suit and Asami's to get the plasma working, make Varrick some replacement… nitrate, Wan Shi Tong calls it, the go-boom stuff in the vanished bird poop - what is it, Kuvira?"

Kuvira had interrupted Korra, pointing to the patient dragon bird as she said, "Can we give her a name first? Please?" Remembering her gift of language to Jasmine, Sura and Amaguq, Korra held out Life's Gift, initially planning on giving English to just those in front of her, slamming it down into the ground at the last minute, imparting the strange language to everyone on the island. Korra heard a distance young male voice scream, "HAH! That's what ass means? Wait a minute - forget what my mom told me, I'm not calling Korra 'Miss' anymore! Pet nicknames are for married people, or ones that wish they were married, like Korra and Asami!" Shortly after, Korra heard a female voice demand faintly, "When are you going to give me a nickname like that, Tenzin? And Meelo, that's fine - I don't even really know why I told you and Ikki to start calling people Miss or Mister anyways." Korra scratched her head, sure she'd never fully understand people, remembering her muted puzzlement at Ikki and Meelo's sudden politeness.

_Welcome to the club._

Korra suppressed her laughter at Raava's comment, saying, "That give you any ideas for a name, Mako and Kuvira?" Kuvira nodded, saying, "This English - it has all sorts of weird rules, but I like it. Dragon bird, I think I'll call you… ugh, this is hard." Not sure why Kuvira was giving her a withering look, Korra figured out who the look was intended for when Kuvira said, "I'll name her Alyssralove. I don't care what Aang says. Mr. Serious Aang can go screw himself. " Korra laughed as she heard Raava intone, _Yeah, Aang. Quit being so serious - who are you, Lin? _Wanting to see the look on Aang's face after Kuvira had just told him to go screw himself, everyone laughed when a sullen-looking Aang said with an initially angry tone, "Hey! I was busy talking with Sokka and Katara! I _guess_ it's okay, given you changed the name, and Alyssa is another English name anyways. Like the love part." Korra was surprised to hear Alyssralove chirp like the dragon bird chick Korra accidentally knocked over years ago, the spirit saying, "Okay! I think I can help with the lightning part Wan Shi Tong talked about. Watch this!"

Alyssralove flew over the airfield and war balloon mooring island, Korra noticing that her flight was augmented by concentrated jets of blue flame on her down strokes, coming from long angular metal organic-looking "engines" Korra swore had just appeared underneath the massive spirit's wings. Alyssralove opened her metallic beak wide, taking a deep breath, her chest expanding as the flame jets intensified. Somehow able to stay aloft using only the jets of flame, Korra watched in wonder as the spirit began generating ball lightning with its delicate yet savage-looking metallic talons and thumb spike. Once the light from the lighting was blinding, Alyssralove brought her digits upward, a strange basin rising from the sea near Korra. On the spirit's request, Korra cleared the basin of mud and oceanic debris, Alyssralove unleashing the ball lightning at the basin once Korra was finished. Having seen this spirit in action, Korra vaguely regretted not taking Alyssralove's earlier offer to be her companion, given how Naga couldn't even bend.

_June's shirshu caused Aang plenty of trouble, and she couldn't fly. Alyssralove has a terrible sense of smell, being a bird spirit and all._

As Alyssralove flew back over, Korra smiled as she heard Mako stammer, "Ma… maybe I could use a suit after all. I can't make ball lightning like that! That was amazing, Alyssralove. When Kuvira goes on tour, she'll be safe with your protection, that's for sure." Alyssralove chirped, cocking her head as she asked, "Why does Kuvira need to do that, again?" Kuvira sighed with slight irritation, saying, "Because that's what we agreed my punishment would be, I want to, and plus… I'm hoping to find that orphan I saw in my vision, and adopt her." Korra wondered if she had made a mistake in lovers for a split second, seeing how Mako ran over and hugged Kuvira so passionately. Any such notion of mistakes vanished when she felt Asami hug her deeply, barely able to hear Asami say, "I'm so glad everything turned out good for everyone," over the sounds of a weeping Varrick. Korra saw Kuvira break the hug, the former enemy saying bitterly, "Well… not everyone. Poor Baatar Jr... I hope he's okay. I hope I didn't ask Ataninnuaq to ship out a crazy person…"

Korra saw a sudden image of Baatar Jr. alone in a wooden cell, sweating profusely, beginning to smile gradually. At first, Korra thought this was a vision of Baatar Jr. going insane, but given how she heard a familiar young female voice say, "Come on, Baatar! You can do it! I know you can!" Korra knew everything was going to be fine, or was already fine.

_He can show you tomorrow, after we crush Jinshu Kuangmai. Come on, let's move - we've got a lot to do to prepare for battle tomorrow. Bumju just went on a recon mission over Zaofu in his small spectral form, and it looks like Jinshu Kuangmai is creating all sorts of new equipment. It is time for us to do the same._

After Asami had re-inserted Impetuous Vine into her mechasuit, Varrick and Zhu Li picked up Mr. Tuber-Vine and Mrs. Tuber-Vine, respectively, saying in unison, "Suits, please!" Korra laughed, saying, "Not just yet - I want to make plasma blades a reality. I hope you kept making spiritwire while I was 'gone' - we're going to need a lot for the equipment we'll need."

"Jinshu…. Kuangmai making… new spirit… weaponry. Will be… delayed. Prepare… well. Wait - no! He's… Hope that tree… protects my mother... from…"

Korra's eyes widened in terror, realizing who had just spoken to her, and why Jinshu Kuangmai might have an "interest" in his estranged mother. Explaining what had just happened, Korra said, "I'm projecting Raava out, and she can do the synthesis. Make Varrick, Zhu Li, Mako, Jinora, Kai, Kuvira, Bolin and Opal suits, prioritizing the nonbenders first, and see if anyone else wants military equipment made. Better to over-prepare than under-prepare. Sounds like Jinshu Kuangmai is 'coming loaded for bear'." Korra added, "Just call everyone out here - I know I promised Lin and Su something, and I saw Bumi working on an odd-looking tank blueprint. And at least make some protection for everyone else, even including Wu and Pema. We'll need their help evacuating the prison and Omashu, respectively - I hope Wu can… _woo _some badgermoles to help us with a prison break." As everyone groaned at her terrible English pun, Korra continued, after booting a peeved-looking Raava out, "Raava, keep all the bending - you're going to need it. I won't need bending for this next part - just my spirit." Korra figured out why Raava looked mad, saying, "You can do whatever you were doing with Wan later. Take your sword, and see if you can make the blades on Asami's Reach and Korra's Spirit have plasma cutting edge capabilities, like your sword, then move on to everyone else's equipment. And all of the blades, if possible - including the detachable leg blades on my suit." Raava blushed, saying, "We were just hugging! I thought I had a dirty mind… but I'll try and see if I can make it so you can bend from those blades as well, even if they are far away from you. Good luck convincing Toph that she needs to run away from the Swamp, Korra."

Taking a deep breath as she sat down in the moonlight, Korra focused on Toph's energy, saying under her breath, "Don't be stubborn - please!"

"Don't be stubborn what? 'Cause that's awfully unspecific, Twinkletoes."

Korra laughed, glad that Toph couldn't see her new tattoos as Korra said, "Well hello to you too, Toph. I have a request - go to a root of the Great Banyan tree with me. I have something to show you," Korra intending to use the tree to show just how far gone Toph's son was, and why she needed to flee, maybe throwing in a little family guilt for good measure. Toph groaned, flicking a hand to open a moonlight in the roof for Korra's benefit, getting up as she said crankily, "I thought I told you, no more spirit mumbo jumbo!" Korra frowned, wishing Toph could see her expression as she said mournfully, "It's about your wayward son, Tonga, Toph. I think he might be coming for you. And not for hugs."

Crossing her arms, Toph said, "Even if I am old, I can handle him! Plus, shouldn't the tree help protect me?" Korra sighed, explaining how her own mechasuit and new technologies would hopefully work, stressing that Jinshu Kuangmai could soon have similar capabilities, possibly including spirit energy absorption. Toph yawned, saying, "And I should be concerned why? Frankly, if I go down fighting, it's fine with me - I'm old. Beyond battle, and I just want to be left alone. By ALL my family, and you too. I'm satisfied with how good I've left things, especially with Lin, and don't really want to muck anything up. Again." Korra began crying, saying, "How can you say that? Any of it? Don't you want to live to see your new family? Muck ups or not, they'd much rather you be cranky alongside them than be dead!" Toph laughed, saying, "See my family? Oh, yeah? How? I'm blind! And don't bring up that infobending garbage - the only infobending I want you to do on me is to erase what everyone looks like. Ruined my fun, warped internal 'visual' view of the world. I just want to fade away, peacefully, living the last years of my life much as I have up to this point, since I left Republic City. In solitude. It's time for the younger generation to take over." Korra cursed in English, yelling loud enough to make Toph jump, "YEAH - the Jinshu Kuangmai 'generation' just might take over, not to mention the Spirit Civil War, and you don't want to do anything about it - not even act as moral support for your family! Yes, you are blind - in more ways than one. Maybe Lin was right about you abandoning Jinshu Kuangmai at the age of four… you're a brave warrior, but an emotional coward."

After apparently using her hearing to figure out where Korra's projection was, Toph shot a large rock at Korra's projection, saying, "You have no idea what I went through with him, or what my life has been like!" Korra sighed, saying, "In a way, you are right, but enough!" Raising her voice again, Korra said sternly, "You need to get out of here, before it's too late." Toph smiled, saying, "I'm staying put. You're just wasting your time here." Wishing she could just bloodbend the stubborn earthbender, Korra said, "There are more people in this world than just you, you know, Toph. You may have smoothed things over with your family, but that doesn't mean your 'job' as mother and _grandmother _ends there. You might even live to become a great-grandmother, if Bolin would hurry up with Opal. I can see what no one else can, in themselves - the hole left by missing mother or grandmother Toph. You need to stop being so selfish. You may think you can't help, but you can. Even if spirit Amon magically took your bending away, you and your _love_ would be much appreciated, for its own sake." Toph crossed her arms in a huff, saying, "You sound just like Katara. 'Pull your weight, Toph! Not like that – help carry our weight too!' I carry no one else's burdens but mine. The way it should be." Korra began crying, saying, "Toph, from what I know of you, you never learned that helping to carry someone else's burden can feel _good_." Korra began grasping at straws when Toph stuck her tongue out at her, Korra saying, "What would Uncle Iroh think you should do?"

The way Toph was laughing after the sound of a tapping foot, Uncle Iroh might have just appeared beside her. An old, exasperated male voice said, "I think you should leave this place, Toph, or at least move to the northeastern portion of the Swamp. Friendly forces will be there relatively soon, and you can have more protection. Also, even if you don't want to now, I think you will find re-joining the world and your family a very positive experience." Toph quaked, saying as cracks appeared beneath her feet, "I am NOT helpless! I don't need protection! And I'm done with the world! When will everyone get that through their thick skulls?" Korra was tiring of Toph's stubbornness, saying with a harsh tone, "You haven't changed a bit over the years, have you. I want you to look deep inside, Toph, and stare what you're running from straight in the face instead of fleeing like a little scared girl. Stand your ground. Tell me with truth that you don't care about your grandchildren's lives." Toph appeared to crack slightly, saying, "Quit lecturing me! I need to go back to sleep - I've had enough!" Toph laid down on her earthen bed, saying, "Just go away! I need… peace."

Toph closed her eyes, though they immediately re-opened wide, the stubborn earthbender saying nothing. Korra recognized what was happening, thinking, "Raava, help her! I don't know what's eating at her, but it can't be good!"

_Your words are eating at her, Korra. Do not be alarmed - this is a good thing. I'm letting others handle this - her family, all of it, when she decides to touch the tree she hides near._

Korra watched Toph begin to breathe heavily, Uncle Iroh saying, "I am unsure why Raava is barring me from helping." Korra shrugged, saying as she stared at her blue hand, "Same here."

After what seemed like an eternity, Toph sat up, seemingly sleep-walking out towards the door, mumbling slightly about family. Korra noticed with a queasy feeling that spirit vines were encircling the house, as though protecting the old earthbender. Toph touched one of the vines, the white lines pulsing intensely as she began to cry, finally speaking clearly, saying, "I… I am so sorry. For so long, I thought being weak, especially emotionally, was a bad thing. But it's not. With people you love, it's a good thing. I'm coming - all of you! Even you, Tonga Beifong."

Korra floated through the vines, sensing that Toph was somehow connecting to all of her family through the tree's vines, even Su's adopted children, indirect "family" like Bolin and Jinora included. Korra saw a male figure in the far distance of the scene fighting with itself, crying out when she heard an enraged voice say, "ENOUGH! I want nothing to do with you, or your insipid family. I will not be softened like Kuvira!" The vision vanished, Korra seeing the spirit vines begin to coil up like snakes, one letting out a large groan as razor-sharp edges appeared along its length. This strange vine lashed out at an unseen target, Korra wincing as she heard the sound of a female cry and tearing flesh.

"What was that?! I'm… bleeding! Badly! Can… can spirits die, Jinshu Kuangmai? I feel something fading… I've only known you for a few hours, but… I don't want to leave you! And not just because I want to help so much… more…"

Korra shifted her projection, focusing on a different Beifong. She saw a familiar large man alongside a smaller male metalbender, shocked to see Jinshu Kuangmai crying slightly as he and who Korra assumed was Jang trying to fend off a multitude of vines.

_The Great Banyan tree is ready to end all three of these abomination's lives - Jinshu Kuangmai, Vaazula, and Jang. All it needs is your permission, Korra. Actually, let Vaazula bleed – we need to see if spirits can truly die when struck in their physical form. What she said about fading… our spirit allies may need to be very careful._

Korra said, noticing that the vines obeyed, "Vines, squeeze hard, but not fatally! I want Toph to see what happened to her wayward son before he is turned to ash." Korra didn't even bother to give instruction on Vaazula, content to let the spirit possibly die as per Raava's instruction, if that was possible.

Directing a vine to touch a skeptical-looking Toph's forehead, the Great Banyan tree fed Korra's former earthbending teacher everything it could. Korra felt a reverse flow, eyes widening as she saw Jinshu Kuangmai's unseen earlier interactions with Vaazula, hardly able to believe she saw them… hugging, en route to the swamp on a modified airship.

_No! Could it be…? Painted Lady, Alyssralove, go to the Swamp, now! I find Vaazula vile, but if she can elicit emotions Jinshu Kuangmai has never felt before… make sure she doesn't "die"!_

Korra saw the vines unfurl, Jinshu Kuangmai and Jang somehow knowing why they had been spared. Jang laughed, saying, "Seriously? Both of you - Korra, for being so weak as to give your sworn enemy mercy, and Jinshu Kuangmai for - hurk!" Tears streaming down his face, Jinshu Kuangmai barked, "One more word, and you're swamp rat food, Jang. Asphyxiated. I never figured you for stupid - I see nothing wrong with loving another 'person' as much as power, especially when that 'person' shares your world view." Jang's eyes began to water as Jinshu Kuangmai said, "You're just jealous I found someone, even if they are a spirit, who loves me for who I am, not running away because they think I'm misguided." Turning around, Jang falling to the ground blubbering after Jinshu Kuangmai's hand ceased moving, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "That's not to say I will ever forgive you, _mother_. You are an emotional coward." Toph stamped her foot angrily, saying, "WAS! Maybe if I had stayed with your father, raised you like my parents did me, I could have gotten you under control. I just hope your special little talent wasn't passed on to Su after all." Jang got up, saying, "Wait - what? You told me we were coming here to take an important hostage from near a helpless tree, not have a family reunion!" Jang whipped out a radio, saying hotly, "You - you've been lying this whole time!" The radio warped as Jang lifted off the ground, Jinshu Kuangmai looking ready to kill Jang for this implied threat.

"Don't kill him – he still has his uses. And you, Jang. What of the lie, moron? Would my _human _namesake have done any differently? How'd you like to be third in command, behind a 'female' spirit?"

Korra turned around, surprised to see Vaazula walking normally in front of a smiling Painted Lady. Korra smiled, temporarily souring when she realized she hadn't managed to get a favor out of Jinshu Kuangmai in exchange for the little healing.

_Tomorrow. We may end up needing it then, not now. _

_And given how much trouble the Painted Lady had in saving her, even under a full moon, helping her is its own reward. The Painted Lady told me it seemed Vaazula was gradually losing her physical form, likely stuck in a spectral form – __**permanently. **__We now know that spirits in a physical form can be wounded gravely even in the physical world, if they are taken by surprise and the right energy and force is used. I knew that Kuruk, being the Avatar, was capable of killing Koh in the Spirit World, had he wished to do so, but this… is totally new._

Turning around, Korra searched for Alyssralove. Korra saw flashes of blue flame coming from the trees, seeing the vegetation give way to Alyssralove's massive form. Slamming a metal thumb-spike into the ground, Alyssralove launched Toph onto her back, saying as a metal shield formed around Toph, "I'm heading out now, Korra, as is the Painted Lady." Vaazula said loudly, "Stop! Big bird! Can you… do what I think you can do? Whatever you are?"

A brilliant idea occurred to Korra, saying, "Yes, Vaazula, Alyssralove can bend two elements at once. As a spirit. There are limitations." Jinshu Kuangmai took the bait, saying, "I have a deal to make." Korra nodded, saying with false reluctance, "What, you want more, after the Painted Lady just saved your lady spirit friend? From what Raava is telling me right now, had she 'died' she would have been stuck inside the Spirit World, blocked off from you just like Vaatu is." Jinshu Kuangmai laughed, saying, "Of course I want more! In exchange for saving Vaazula and then somehow giving her dual bending tomorrow - fire and earth - I will refrain from turning the prison camp to ash with one strike, fighting as fairly as I feel comfortable doing. Which isn't much." Korra was puzzled, saying, "How do you plan to do that?" Grinning, Jang said, "We've come up with a way to project a large spirit vine bomb at a very high speed using a railway gun. If you try to destroy it, the gun will be fired at the prison camp, and at Omashu, should it fall." Jinshu Kuangmai walked over calmly, slapping Jang as he said, "Okay, that does it. You're officially third in command now, and if Chin manages to keep his bloodthirsty commander from destroying Omashu, he'll outrank you as well. Wait – SILENCE! You dare call me merciful? SHUT UP, before I show my 'mercy' on you! I am not being soft - pragmatism knows no allegiance. Omashu is more valuable intact than a pile of ash, unlike that prison camp. Azula's father didn't level the old city when his forces took over, after all."

Korra smiled, saying, "Very well. The exchange will take place after the outcome of the battle, regardless of victor. If we win, we will allow your forces to retreat, and if you win, you are to allow our forces and the civilians to retreat." Korra was pleasantly surprised when Jinshu Kuangmai nodded, saying, "Agreed," cursing in English once he continued, "All spirits aligned with Vaatu are connected, and Vaazula got a good look around Ember Factory Island through that short-lived corrupted 'tuber-vine'. Those two mechasuits intrigue me, and I am sure Chin will be more than glad to help me replicate them. Don't think we didn't notice Bumju snooping around Zaofu either."

Wanting Jinshu Kuangmai to think he had come out ahead, Korra cursed in words he understood, saying, "Toph, get out of here, on Alyssralove's back! Painted Lady, go tend to the sick in the prison camp. I'm done here. Damn spies…"

Korra deliberately appeared to have vanished, watching from behind a shielding vine with a smile as she heard Toph say, "You know, son, if you keep this up, you might just end up surrendering like Kuvira did. You both had very bad experiences with family, after all…" Jinshu Kuangmai just laughed, saying, "Vaazula won't soften me - she'll harden me! To Team Hate! No - Team Vaatu! He approves of humans dominating one another now, if I had my best guess." Throwing Toph's son a bone, Korra had a vine etch "Yes" into the ground in front of Toph's son, the vine shaking in fake fear afterwards.

Before breaking the connection, Toph long gone and the vines refraining from attack, Korra thought to herself, "Oh, yes, Vaazula will. Raava's giving her a whole lot more than dual bending… She has to have a 'transformative experience' to get dual bending anyways!"

_I hope this ploy works. And if it doesn't eh, no big deal - she'll be a one trick polar bear-dog. And Jinshu Kuangmai won't wipe the prison camp off the map._


	45. Chapter 45: Preparation Cram

Chapter 45: Preparation Cram

Not one to stand around idly, Asami pointed at Raava's sword, saying, "Now, to figure out how to get that plasma… onto one of our blades." Now standing in front of her mechasuit, Asami studied it in a mix of moonlight and firelight from Mako. Poking the blade, he asked, "Plasma… what's a natural source of plasma, Asami? Or do you think the tuber-vine can really power a plasma sheath?" Asami thought, remembering Alyssralove's feat with envy, suddenly realizing the answer. Getting Raava's attention, Asami said, "Forget plasma saws – too cumbersome. I know plasma is created naturally by lightning. Think we could electrify our blades enough to create a plasma sheath?" Raava shook her head, smiling as she said, "No, but electrified blades might be a good non-lethal alternative to just slicing someone in two, like you wanted to do earlier to Earth Empire goons while high on Jang Hui kelp tea." Asami frowned, saying, "Not funny. After we figure this out and make the three suits, at least, I want you to show everyone not in the know what happened earlier."

Asami was surprised when she heard Raava say in English, "Damn it – we forgot to show Korra's parents and Tenzin Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq's experiences!" Asami shrugged, saying in English, "Everyone settled their differences – does it really matter? People are going to be reeling enough from what happened during Korra's tattooing." Asami jumped slightly when she heard a familiar male voice say, "I used to think I was dumb, but not that dumb, Asami. Raava gave us 'the English' as well, so your little secret language with Korra is a goner." Laughing, Bolin added, "And I think I know a nickname for you, Opal. Well, it depends – sweet, or dirty?" Asami laughed as she heard Opal's voice say enthusiastically, "Dirty! Something as good as 'Assami'!" Asami turned to see Bolin being joined by many others, the members of the Tenzin family stopping and staring at the new tree in awe, even Meelo gasping. Asami noticed the tree began to gradually give off more and more light as more people gathered, the tree providing perfect light by the time Bolin finally said, "Ooohpal! That's it!" Opal laughed lightly, saying, "Try again sometime. Maybe you should just stick to the sweet, _loverboy_." Asami chuckled, saying, "Hey – quit stealing!" only remembering that her nickname for Korra was a secret when Opal gave her a confused stare.

Raava sighed, saying, "Enough chit-chat. Anyone else got an idea on how to make a plasma sheath around a blade?" After silence, Asami walked over, getting a better look at her suit's chest in the tree's light, inspecting the twin breastbeams. Tapping one, Asami asked Kuvira, "Kuvira, what do you think would happen if you aligned two condenser rings and shot energy through them? Or some other energy sink?" Kuvira laughed, saying, "We tried that as an experiment, and it didn't go well. At first, it looked promising, but as soon as the spirit vine power source died out, the beam – wait a minute. Raava, these tuber-vines have limitless power, correct?" Raava nodded, saying, "Practically limitless. Given how Asami managed to twist Impetuous Vine and Impatient Leaf, they must be linked to their user's emotions as well," Raava forgetting that everyone but herself and Asami had no idea what she meant. Asami said, while inspecting her suit's longblades, "Okay, great – but rings on a blade sounds rather… cumbersome. Just a minute…"

Taking out a blank blueprint, Asami sketched out multiple ideas, finally settling on a more angular condenser "ring" design. Letting Raava take the idea from her more fully, Raava modified Asami's Reach accordingly, the base into which each blade retracted now having a slightly raised form, a rhombus-shaped condenser surrounding the blade's base, the spiritwire hopefully serving as a conduit for spirit energy. Wishing the suit could follow commands like Naga, but smarter, Asami climbed in to her mechasuit, pointing the barely visible spiritwire-coated blade skyward. Imaging herself about to cut Jinshu Kuangmai in half in defense of Korra, she extended the blade, smiling broadly to see a plasma sheath more substantial than that around Raava's own sword form, the plasma extending slightly beyond the end of the blade. Wanting to conduct an experiment, she imagined herself cutting down droves of benders at Amon's side instead, glad to see the plasma blade vanish.

"Hey, Asami, quit that! You don't want to undo what Korra did earlier, do you? The purification? She didn't get everything bad out of me – just enough that I'm not quite so foolish anymore."

Asami shook her head, saying after she opened her helmet, "Raava, why can I understand Impetuous Vine now?" Raava stuttered, "What were you thinking of when you made that plasma, Asami?" Smiling, she replied, "Protecting Korra from Jinshu Kuangmai with lethal force." Raava screwed up her face, saying loudly as she raised her sword skyward, "Vaatu, leave Wan alone!" Asami recoiled in shock, seeing a large blast of blue and white energy leave the sword as a plasma equal in size and intensity to the one Asami had produced danced around the blade. Asami got over her shock when she heard a small, muffled voice say, "I'm not doing anything to your 'boyfriend', moron! Oh, wait – you were thinking of your first cooperative effort with Wan, weren't you. When you locked me away." Raava laughed, saying, "You've got that right. Now shut up! Let me fix the other blades up, Asami – you might want to step out for this." After hearing Impetuous Vine say, "No – I've got an idea," Asami shook her helmeted head, saying, "No. Let's see what Impetuous Vine wants." Raava gave Asami a withering look, saying, "No. Get out of there – I don't want to have to explain to Korra how I killed both people she holds dearest, one of them not even born yet."

Asami exited the suit, taking an insistent Impetuous Vine with her. Tickling the tuber-vine on a whim, she felt an odd exchange of energy that vaguely reminded her of love, asking the tuber-vine, "What, are we bonding or something, Impetuous Vine?" She was rather surprised when she heard the plant respond, "Yes, and quit calling me that. Reminds me of when you managed to sway me to partially turn dark." Shrugging, Asami said, "Sure – how's Passionvine sound instead?" Asami laughed when she saw a beautiful flower appear on the top of Passionvine, the tuber-vine saying in a warm voice, "Sure thing, Asami." Seeing Raava was done with modifying the blades, Asami asked Raava, "Think you can modify Korra's shoulder cannons too? Add some to my suit? And modify the other condenser 'rings'?" Seeing Raava's puzzled look, Asami drew a small picture of a new type of spirit cannon, four long rectangular condensing elements lining the outside of the weapon's barrel. Realizing that there would be no need to separate the barrel from the angular focusing elements, Asami erased, re-drawing the end profile as a more angular form, adding a note that said, "Spiritwire Bundles" to the inside of each of the four beveled ridges. Asami hoped this would increase the weapon's power enough to cut into any anti-spirit weaponry armor Jinshu Kuangmai came up with, realizing that neither her own nor Korra's suit had Lipowder or explosive weapons.

Raava rapidly made the changes to both mechasuits, saying, "It's a good thing you didn't work for the Equalists, Asami – you've really come into your own over the past few weeks." Smiling, Raava asked, "That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with your love for Korra being out in the open, would it?" Asami cried slightly, saying, "Yes – when we couldn't find Korra after the explosion a week ago, I felt shattered, just staring… I even had a thought flit through my mind – 'Where's my electroglove?'" Raava looked at Asami in horror, no one but Raava knowing what this comment meant, Raava saying, "NO! Again? I thought you had – " Asami slapped Raava lightly, saying tersely, "It was only a thought – I can't control what goes through my mind! No human can! As I was saying, love has helped me ignore and banish such evil thoughts from my mind." Smiling, Asami added, "With help from Atokara, I might add, who says 'Bring mommy Asami food, now!'. Thank you for all you've done for Korra, me and humanity, Raava." Raava blushed, saying, "It's nothing. I feel good, serving many instead of helping one. Speaking of which…" Raava walked off, returning with large amounts of food and drink, everyone eating in silence for a few minutes. Coughing after a botched attempt to eat, Raava said, "Now that Atokara's happy, let's see if anyone else wants a mechasuit – there's another nine or so tuber-vines to go around that came with this huge…. lovetree." Asami gave Raava a hug, saying, "I'm not the only one who's come out of her shell this week. What do you want, Jinora? I'm having a moment here."

Jinora walked over, calmly smiling as she said, "I've come out of my shell too, you know. I want… A mechasuit. If at all possible. And one for Kai – I don't want my boyfriend dying before I get a chance to properly love him. You know." Asami was about to laugh, but realized that Jinora and Kai, being so young, would need protection just as much as herself, Varrick and Zhu Li. Asami nodded, saying with a smile, "You need protection just as much as I do, being so young." Jinora looked like she took offense at first, saying with reluctance, "I guess you're right about our age, Asami. I have no idea what I want specifically, though, so I'll just take a suit of metal armor like what Raava has on, except a lot more flexible. I can't metalbend, after all. Armor that offers better protection on our arms than the airbending projectile gloves." Jinora paused as Zhu Li interjected, "About those, and the ammunition – we don't have infinite shirshu poison. I'm going to go try an experiment quickly." Asami was slightly puzzled as to what Zhu Li intended to do with saltpeter, much less why she was heading for the Jang Hui kelp tea stores. Jinora said, "Anyways. We don't have infinite materials, so maybe just make everyone a similar set of armor, and make them unbendable by the enemy, like our various weapons." Remembering that Mako wanted the ability to generate ball lightning, Asami took out multiple pieces of blueprint paper, saying, "Sure, Jinora – I'll need some help, though. Kuvira, do you have any idea how to make a suit of armor that's protective, yet flexible and lightweight? Hopefully enhances the user's bending without too much spiritwire?" Kuvira shrugged, Asami remembering how the first mockup of her own suit had been inflexible, unable to even move her fingers properly. Whipping out her design for the airbender projectile glove, Asami made some minor adjustments, adding increased armor. Kuvira took the pencil away, saying as she erased the back of the hand, "Smaller pieces, and less armor, not more – people have to move their hands properly, after all. I've got something else in mind. Raava, break off a piece of the four glowing crystals on this lovetree, and let's see if it will do what I hope it will."

Raava yanked off all four crystals in their entirety, ignoring protests as she said, "Don't worry – it should be simple to regenerate them." Asami laughed as Raava pressed her sword's special Wan latch against the tree, Raava blushing slightly as Asami laughed. All four crystals regrew, but vanished when Raava said, "Okay – now we need to make sure they'll regenerate in my absence." Raava grabbed a special couple, telling Korra's parents, "See if you can – uh, nevermind." After Senna blushed following Tonraq's playful booty grab, the four elemental crystals re-appeared, Asami noticing that the blue crystal was glowing brightly, growing in size. Asami watched the others begin to glow as well, seeing many impromptu kisses, smiling to see Opal hover slightly out of Bolin's reach. Feeling Korra's absence more acutely now, Asami said, grabbing her betrothal necklace, "Okay, Kuvira, let's hear your idea. Kuvira. Kuvira!"

Asami coughed, saying, "It's an evil hour in the morning, and the quicker we get this done, the quicker you can do whatever with Mako. Why don't you show me all four glove and armor mockups you have in mind." With that, Kuvira broke her embrace, rapidly forming four sets of protective yet minimal armor, Asami seeing many smaller pieces fit together as one whole, only the breastplates, leg guards and arm guards being solid pieces. Gems of each appropriate element were embedded into the metal, minimal spiritwire running through each piece. Grabbing Mako's hand, Kuvira pressed her own against the fire gemmed armor, the gems beginning to glow before bending the armor onto Mako. Asami watched with muted envy as Mako generated a substantial amount of lightning with his hands, somehow storing it in the metal gloves without harm. Mako took out his dual dao swords, creating a medium-sized ball of lightning between the blade's tips. Clearly satisfied, Mako said, "I don't need a mechasuit – not with this! Thanks, Kuvira. Raava, make all the benders custom-fit pieces of this armor, please."

It was at this point that Asami saw another spark of electricity, but this one from the direction Zhu Li had run, seeing smoke rise with growing panic. Asami began to run to Zhu Li's aid alongside Varrick, but stopped when she heard Zhu Li say, "Relax! Now just let me test this…" After Asami heard the sound of someone taking a careful sip, she heard Zhu Li say sleepily, "Okay, that's an antidote to Jang Hui kelp tea made. Let me try it again…" After a second sipping sound followed by a loud whump, Asami ran over, watching in horror as she heard Zhu Li mouth out the words, "New… paralyzing… agent… made. Give me… some… tea." Asami did so without hesitation, glad to see Zhu Li back awake. Taking a look around, Asami said, "Wow – you certainly made a lot of this new weird drug!" Zhu Li smiled, saying, "We'll need it, if the airbenders among us are to be able to knock someone out without killing them or risking a skull fracture. Not to mention if everyone's going to sleep tonight. Now let's get back to where everyone else is. Varrick, stop – I'm fine!" Asami smiled as she saw Varrick frantically patting Zhu Li's slightly singed clothing, making sure she was fine, Asami saying, "You remind me a little of Korra now, Varrick. All attentive." Varrick laughed, saying, "Ehhh, maybe. I'm still irritable, though. Speaking of which – where's my damn suit! I can't bend, you know!" Asami sighed, saying, "Neither can I, or your wife, and we're not complaining. Come on, and we'll get your suit made."

As they walked back to the main group, Asami noticed some people were reluctant to don the new armor, Tenzin saying, "I know I probably should wear this – it certainly would have come in handy against the Red Lotus. But can't I wear my regular clothes over these things? I can stand the wingsuits, but this is just too militaristic for my tastes!" Raava sighed, saying, "No. Flowing robes aren't exactly practical fighting equipment. They might look nice standing around in, but there's too much to grab. Oh, hush about cultural heritage already! Mr. Picky, would it make you happier if I got rid of the metallic sheen? Made everything look more airbender-y?" Before Tenzin could respond, Asami was surprised to hear Lin agree, saying, "Yeah – I want those gems inserted into my normal armor, or this new stuff to blend in with my other metal armor!" Curious as to why Raava seemed reluctant, Asami asked, finally close enough to see Raava's reaction, "Why are you so hesitant, Raava? What – more rules?" Raava nodded, saying, "Yeah, but now that I think about it again, I don't care. I'll 'pigment' the armor for everyone, even without real materials. Everyone, put your hands to the ground, and show me what you want your _personal _armor to look like." Curious to see if Raava slipped up any, Asami put her hand to the ground, noticing that Raava did indeed send out information as well, though only about Omashu, the prison camp and something Asami knew nothing about – Korra's interaction with Toph.

Asami began crying, not understanding how Toph could be so… Toph! Given how she didn't hear anyone talking about Toph, Raava must have shown her this specifically, her suspicion confirmed when she heard Raava intone, _Don't talk to anyone about that just yet. I'm going to need every Beifong's help in a while, depending on how long Toph wants to sit on that cot._

Raava coughed, saying audibly, "And now, to make the suits and various ammunition everything will need. I may even make some changes. I'll be right back." Asami laughed when she heard someone yell, "Oh, yeah! Another evacuation! Time to be useful again!" Remembering the Cave of Two Lover's location, Asami approached Wu, saying, "You might even be able to find some badgermoles, near Omashu. You can get their help to tunnel underneath the prison camp, and sneak everyone out." Wu nodded, saying, "The Cave of Two Lovers! I wonder if Hei Bai responds to singing?" Walking into view, letting Asami get her first glimpse of the new airbender armor, Jinora said, "Not really - we tried whistling to calm him down, and he just roared harder. I haven't seen him since… yesterday. Damn, I've been running on a combination of Jang Hui kelp tea and adrenaline for a long time." Wu yawned sleepily, saying, "Not me. It's almost 3:00 AM – I need to get some beauty rest!" Asami was slightly startled when she heard a young male voice say, "Not yet – you're not sleeping here. Nobody is! Our transport isn't done! Asami, wanna help me finalize it, while Raava makes everything? Maybe a braintrust meeting?" Asami turned to Meelo, smiling to see that his armor wasn't aggressive-looking like she feared it might. Laughing, she said out loud, "Well hello, Meelo. I didn't expect you here." Asami groaned slightly when she heard Wu say, "Ooh, braintrust! Can I sit in?" knowing she'd have to be dealing with another excitable airhead soon, if Ty Lee was to be of any use running a decidedly changed factory. Sighing, she said, "Sure – but don't say anything, please, unless it's asked for." Wu nodded, saying, "Fine – I can tell when I'm not wanted. I'll just go kick a rock around. While singing. You know, because I'm no bender, and apparently not smart either."

Feeling guilty, Asami sighed, saying, "Sorry, Wu. It's just I'm going to have to talk to Ty Lee soon, and two excitable talkers are going to ruin whatever I'm trying to get across, if you both don't keep quiet." Turning to Jinora, Asami said, "Jinora, try and get the braintrust to come with me to the factory." Jinora smiled, saying, "Sure. Kai, why don't you see if you can find our staves, and see how they interact with this new armor." Asami watched Jinora fly off, wondering how Raava had managed to make the armor resemble a wingsuit without paint or dye acidbending.

Looking at Meelo's armor, she ran her finger over the metal, noticing that it felt just like the metal on Asami's Reach – smooth. Asami smiled, saying, "I wonder how Raava did the 'paintjob' on your suit, Meelo." Asami laughed when she heard Atokara say, "Raava was busy makin' everything, mommy Asami, but she told me to make everything colorful, she 'cheated like a son of a -'. I know what she meant – what happened to the cursing Raava?" Asami thought, re-assuring Meelo she wasn't crazy in the meantime, "I'm sure she's still there. Wait. When she stopped, did she say anything else after?" Asami's eyes widened as she heard Atokara say, "Something about Toph getting ready to get off a cot. And Raava not working on the synthesis anymore." Asami cursed herself, saying as she watched the braintrust approach, "Okay, quickest braintrust meeting ever! Where is Kuvira?" Varrick shrugged, saying, "Putting her hand to the ground near that crystal tree, along with everyone else remotely associated with the Beifong family. Say, you wouldn't happen to know why, would you?" Asami said, "Rats! It's her we needed most – how are the Kuviracomputers coming along?" For once, Varrick didn't demand an answer, saying, "Not great. I managed to make a display for them earlier using tuber-vine ash glass and spiritwire with Bolin's help, sort of like the SpectroMovers, but the stupid machine… it doesn't do anything but sit there!" Shrugging, Varrick said, "It wasn't a total loss - came up with another use for the special volcanic glass. VarriVision!" Ignoring Varrick's comment about VarriVision, thinking what Korra had said about Kuvira skipping a stage of development on computers compared to Earth more important, Asami said, "Sounds like you have to tell the Kuviracomputer what to do first. Some kind of language, to translate what you want, into making the computer work." Varrick groaned, saying, "Did you not hear what I said? Sounds like I need some kind of translator for _you -_ aren't you the least interested in VarriVision?" Asami chuckled, saying, "I am, and I have a pretty good idea what it is as well. I remember seeing Aang talk to Jinora about something called 'television' from Earth…"

It was at this point that Kuvira ran in, saying, "Sorry I'm late. Just convincing Toph she needed to leave the swamp. Let's talk tech first, though – what about Kuviracomputers?" Asami said, after shushing an excited Varrick and pointing to a blueprint Varrick had produced, "It sounds like your little machine doesn't have any instructions on what to do." Kuvira laughed, saying, "Yeah – it's just on or off at this point. Wait – on, or off! That's it! A basic language!" Asami scratched her head, saying, "Huh?" Taking the piece of paper and a pencil, Kuvira drew what Asami knew to be "Arabic" numerals near the Kuviracomputer, seeing a nonsense string of zeroes and ones. Kuvira finished, saying, "A zero stands for off, and a one stands for on. With a lot of hard work, detailed information should be able to be encoded into a string of these numbers." Sighing, Asami said, "We don't have time to do a bunch of weird number coding! Let me think – something we already have that can act as a brain…"

Asami nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a metal finger tap on the outside of the factory, Ty Lee yelling, "Oh no – a monster!" Laughing over Mai's nonchalant response of, "Settle down, Ty Lee. Monsters aren't real – well, except the spirit ones. And Jinshu Kuangmai," Asami was relieved to hear a familiar warm voice say, "What about me? If I can move this suit myself, I don't see why another tuber-vine can't act as a 'brain'." Taking a quick look at Asami's Reach, she noticed the suit seemed changed somehow. Larger, taller, but still graceful, and it had two odd heavily armored cylindrical drums with the symbols for Fire on the back. As she approached, the mechasuit opened up, revealing complex controls Asami had no memory of helping create. Curious, Asami said as she climbed in, "Passionvine, great idea! Who told you that? And who changed the suit's design? Especially the size, and the controls - and what looks like some kind of body cavity for the driver?" Asami snickered when the tuber-vine attempted to kick her out of the suit, Passionvine saying, "Nobody told me that idea about being the brain. Raava made modifications to all the suits, including the extra flamethrower fuel on the back, and the new controls. Raava started by increasing Zhu Li's Thing in size to accommodate the massive Varrick gun, and… kind of got carried away from there. Even then, Raava had to fall back on a much smaller, different five-barreled design Varrick came up with earlier. Without the inner changes, you and everyone else would have been very uncomfortable." Realizing that the tuber-vine might possess a primitive form of infobending, Asami thought of her fighting style, feeling her necklace pulse with energy. Asami groaned when she heard Passionvine say, "That's a negative, Asami. I cannot absorb your fighting style like that. Yet. Let's see what happens when you test the suit out, outside."

Telling everyone else through her comm, "Just give me a minute – if this works, even Korra might want a tuber-vine, and we won't need to code tuber-vine Kuviracomputers!" Asami walked outside, noticing that her suit moved in perfect concert with her body inside the surprisingly comfortable inner cavity, rarely needing to press any of the clearly labeled controls. After performing a series of backflips and using the engines to move in the air nimbly, she landed, exiting the suit, waiting to see what Passionvine could do. The mechasuit made blocky motions on the ground, hearing Passionvine say, "It'll take a lot more than that, Asami," as the mechasuit hovered in mid-air. Sighing, Asami asked, "Do you think you could pilot it well enough to fly alongside the transport Meelo was talking about?" Asami's Reach's head nodded, Passionvine saying, "Yes, I think I can, but just barely. It doesn't help that I can't see." Asami groaned, saying, "Let's go fix that," hopping in as she headed towards the lovetree. Asami noticed that Uncle Iroh was standing near a motionless Raava, Uncle Iroh saying, "I'm afraid Raava is busy. Apparently, there may be something worth saving in Jinshu Kuangmai after all, if he can manage to love a 'female' Dark Spirit." Noticing that Uncle Iroh was smiling broadly, Asami asked, "What do you mean, 'female' Dark Spirit?" Uncle Iroh smiled, saying, "A very specific female – my long-dead niece, Azula. The spirit assumed her form, correctly figuring Jinshu Kuangmai would find Azula's body more enticing than a large glob of dark energy." Crying, Uncle Iroh added, "Apparently, the real Azula is still stuck in the Fog of Lost Souls. It would be a cruel irony if a Dark Spirit mimicking my niece's form learned to love and became pure before… before Azula."

Asami ejected out of the suit, consoling Uncle Iroh, saying, "I'm sure Azula will break out some day. Beat her fears. Noatak and Tarrlok broke free, after all, with some help from the outside." Asami hugged Uncle Iroh tightly, ignoring surprised exclamations around her. Asami covered her eyes, the tree now shining brightly as she felt a flow of information. Asami laughed, practically cackling, "I know just what Korra plans to have Raava do to Vaazula – impart Azula's life and experiences into her! I hope she ends up a blubbering mess!" Asami was shocked when she felt Uncle Iroh push her away, the sad old man saying, "Never wish suffering upon your enemies, Asami. In doing so, you become more like them. Would you like it if someone wished you had succeeded in your suicide attempt?"

Asami shook her head, crying, saying, "No! And I guess you think wishing Vaazula going insane is the same. But it's not. Vaazula's pure evil - a Dark Spirit!" Asami heard a deep, mournful sigh from behind her, crying when she heard a female voice she loved say, "That spirit was light less than a day ago, and I hope she becomes light again, taking Tonga Beifong with her. That's the whole point of this plan - not to cause Jinshu Kuangmai pain and suffering. The only reason I didn't kill him was because of the feelings Vaazula managed to elicit in him!" Wincing, Asami listened as Korra continued, Korra adding with an unusually harsh tone, " 'I hope she ends up a blubbering mess.' How could you say that, Asami – you said you loved your dark half, and a being infinitely more vile than Vaazula! Another plane's supreme being of darkness! Uncle Iroh is right. I have something to say to you, from the same plane, and a planet which I am beginning to love instead of hate." Korra coughed, Asami listening intently as Korra said, coming into full view, "I am sorry for the tone of voice - it was uncalled for." Korra chuckled nervously, saying, "Guess I absorbed a little too much of an Earth spiritual text, the 'New Testament', and the main speaker's penchant for biting speech. He rarely minced his words. This same man we saw on the cross earlier from Earth, Jesus Christ, once said, 'You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.' I hope Raava reads that and other spiritual texts as well, given how she views Vaatu." Asami refrained from laughing when she saw Raava bonk Korra on the head lightly, saying, "How can I view him as anything else but the enemy?"

Korra groaned, saying, "I know you and Vaatu used to fight 'like cats and dogs', but look at him now, and yourself. After his change, he's closer to Earth's being of darkness than his old self… though still more sane than that… thing." Korra laughed, adding, "Not that that's hard to do." Raava sighed, holding out a shrieking Vaatu as she said, "We have been fighting since time began, Korra, and old habits die hard. I don't think I'll ever be able to love him, like I think you want me to, Korra, but I do pity him now. Never able to enjoy anyone like I do Wan now…" Vaatu twisted his small body, hissing before he said, "I have no idea what's going on, or why Korra's trying to get Raava to love me! What, is Wan not enough for you? Weirdo!" Coughing, Asami said, "I take back what I said earlier, Uncle Iroh. I hope Raava manages to – why'd you just stuff Vaatu back in your chest?" Raava gave Asami a dirty look, saying, "The plan is still a surprise, and after hearing how that dark bromeliad spirit communicated with Vaazula, I didn't want to risk anything. Armor-bound teapot prison, or not. Anyways, go on." Smiling, Asami finished, "I hope Vaazula does what Azula did not, and that Jinshu Kuangmai one day decides to join the Beifong family again." Still feeling sheepish, Asami justified her earlier comment, saying, "And I hoped Vaazula would be a blubbering mess to prevent her from inflicting harm on others. Well, sort of."

Korra shrugged, telling Asami, "Even with my… overzealous correction of your 'mistake', Asami, I'm not sure why you feel the need to justify yourself on something you apologized on. Raava, get back in here, and maybe send Sokka and Uncle Iroh to Republic City to help plan out what we're going to do with all the refugees. Omashu, plus the prison camp – we'll practically need a whole new city to house everyone, given Republic City's center was gutted!" After Raava vanished, Korra placed a hand on Asami's forehead, Asami savoring the feeling of oneness. As she felt Korra stress her sad wish to have mothered both Azula and Tonga Beifong, Asami broke down, thinking, "I… I don't deserve you." Asami saw an image of a frowning pregnant Korra, arguing with a stubborn Mako in a police chief's uniform as a small child cried off to the side, hearing Korra think, "You do deserve me. Don't think such things. We were meant for each other, Asami, and one statement that the vast majority of people would agree with you on doesn't make you any more, or any less." Vaguely curious to see what the alternate with herself marrying Mako was, Asami saw an image of Mako walking in on her with her childhood suitor, Mako barking, "Wha – I love you, Asami! If you'd be happier with someone else… Why didn't you just tell me the truth, Asami? Or yourself, for that matter – it looks like you want her more than you've ever wanted me!"

Thoroughly disturbed by these alternates, Asami felt them both pushed from her mind as Korra said out loud, "What ifs and might have beens are a very dangerous thing, Asami. We've still got work left to do." Korra paused for a moment, as though she had just received a message, saying, "Uncle Iroh and Sokka managed to catch Baatar Jr., and they say that he's transformed, Ikki insisting on coming along with him. Why don't we go talk to the brain trust, and coordinate our efforts. Apparently, the URN military has been delayed, trying to sort out all sorts of volunteers." Laughing, Korra added, "Even Tahno and his pro-bending team want in on the action. Hang on a second." After another pause, Korra's jaw dropped, Korra finally saying as Asami waited patiently, "After Uncle Iroh announced Vaatu's changed nature and his 'alliance' with Jinshu Kuangmai over a loudspeaker… you'll never believe it. They received a radio transmission from an unknown source, that simply said, 'Technology has achieved Equality, and we will not allow Jinshu Kuangmai to take Equality away. We will fight alongside you _benders… _for now.'" Asami shook her head, saying, "WHAT? Equalists, hiding in wait all these years? And apparently sort of friendly? What's next, Zaheer joining our side?" Korra smiled broadly, saying, "After all this is over, I have a prisoner to meet. I hope Ataninnuaq can convince Zaheer I'm not coming to toy with him. It's a shame that we didn't capture P'li, Ghazan and Ming-Hua again, instead of killing them – I imagine, after learning of Vaatu's changed, more humanly evil nature and desire to see humans dominate one another, they might have reluctantly fought at our side, not wanting to see Jinshu Kuangmai rule the world with an iron fist, or Long Yumao rule the world with an iron… claw? Beak? Whatever – thank goodness the Spirit Portal seals are holding."

Asami felt very uneasy all of a sudden, remembering how since Harmonic Convergence, plenty of spirits had crossed over into the physical world, even before the new seals. When she told Korra this, Korra's eyes widened in terror, saying, "Wait – no. Long Yumao might be stuck in the Spirit World, along with Koh, but there are probably still rogue spirits. No - there are. Vaazula was a happy spirit less than a day ago. I have an idea, with the Kuviracomputers – we need a spirit alert system." Remembering Korra's comment about the Red Lotus, Asami said, sourly, "And what you said about the Red Lotus - they held for thirteen years in horrible conditions. Don't get your hopes up for your meeting with Zaheer, Korra." Korra sighed, protesting, "But what about Kuvira?" Very gently, Asami told a hopeful-looking Korra, "You know what Kuvira went through - feeling the pain and suffering she caused others. I imagine Zaheer might just dismiss the pain and suffering he caused as necessary to bring about whatever lunatic world 'order' he wanted. Or rather, world disorder." Korra sighed deeply, saying as she placed a hand on Asami's chin, "If there's good inside Jinshu Kuangmai in the form of Tonga Beifong, I'm sure there's something inside Zaheer..."

Seeing Korra's expression, Asami did not want to say what she really thought - the new Korra was hopelessly naïve, much as the being of light from Earth had observed. Asami thought to herself, "There are those beyond redemption, and I consider Zaheer the perfect example, regardless of his indirect help against Kuvira." Asami cursed under her breath when she heard Korra say, "If you have something to say, say it, Asami. Let's just… work."

Time passed in a blur, Asami working with Korra and the braintrust to design perfect multiple Kuviracomputers hooked to tuber-vines, Asami no longer able to keep track of their names, the nine provided by the tree having been doubled carefully by Korra. Remembering that the oceans held many secrets, Asami suggested, "Korra, why don't we try and test this new warning system together, in the open ocean to the north?" Korra shook her head, saying, "No. Let's not go looking for trouble – one foe at a time. Speaking of which, we need to modify the mechasuits with these Kuviracomputers. I imagine they will help operate our suits much better, and the tuber-vines need a way to see out anyways." Korra gave Kuvira a funny look, asking as she poked Kuvira accusingly, "Why did you ask Raava to not make Kuvira's Remorse?" Kuvira frowned slightly, saying, "I told you before – I decide when I get that suit. I haven't done what I **want **to yet." Korra lost her temper, saying, "You might not get to do what you want to, Kuvira, if you DIE!" Kuvira pushed back, saying, "Okay, what about the rest of the benders, huh? Mako doesn't have a real suit – nobody but you, Varrick, Zhu Li and Asami do!" Before the two could come to blows, Asami said, "Enough! When we get the chance, _if the person wants to,_ and we have enough tuber-vines, we will make everyone a suit. I have a hard time imagining anyone except Baatar Jr. wanting a suit, given how he can't bend and all, and that everyone seems happy enough with their special armor."

Korra sighed, saying, "Kuvira, I think I understand why you don't want your suit – the real reason. You want to be just as vulnerable as Mako is in his new armor." Kuvira spluttered, saying, "Th- that's not true! Wait. Damn it! You can sense I'm lying, Korra, given how you're laughing. You'll have to see if you can train Bolin and I to do that some time with some help from 'Grandma' Toph. That, and earthsense." Korra grinned, saying, "Not until Mako talks some _regular _sense into you. MAKO! Come over here, please, and help me convince your girlfriend that she needs as much protection as I do." Kuvira grumbled, saying once Mako arrived, "Don't tell me you're on her side, Mako. I want to be just as vulnerable as you are! No suit!" Mako groaned, saying, "Ugh. Korra, Kuvira. Both of you! What is with women and sides? When I was dating Korra originally, she'd always demand whose side I was on when I said _anything_! Right, Korra?" Korra laughed, saying, "Yes, I remember that. Anyways, Kuvira. I know you are a very capable bender, having bested your adoptive mother in a one-on-one match, but Jinshu Kuangmai… he can control your body. Speaking of which…. I need to test something. Asami, get in your - nevermind."

Asami had gotten Korra's drift, slipping into her improved mechasuit, flipping the helmet down for full coverage. Standing up, Asami smiled, eagerly anticipating bedroom fun, seeing the way that Korra lit up as she tried and failed to bloodbend Asami inside the mechasuit. Asami stepped out, saying, "See? Not even Avatar State bloodbending can penetrate these mechasuits, Kuvira. And don't fool yourself, thinking you won't be a target tomorrow - Jinshu Kuangmai is likely to order all sorts of spirit weaponry fired at you, and seek you out for a duel." Mako added, kneeling near Kuvira, "We've both lost our parents, though in different ways, Kuvira, and I don't think mine would approve of me losing you. Not to misplaced desire for 'equality'. You're the former leader of the Earth Empire, and I'm just your firebender boyfriend. You'll be a big target for them, and I'll be fine tomorrow in the wonderful armor you designed for everyone." Kuvira began crying, saying, "I'll do it, but I want you to be careful, Mako, tomorrow." Korra sighed, saying, "Yes - don't do anything stupid. Control yourself. Vaatu may not be able to communicate with Jinshu Kuangmai, but you need to remember what Raava showed you. You're a lot more important than you think, Mako - Vaatu himself wants you dead." Mako looked sheepish, saying, "Okay, if you say so."

Kuvira placed a hand on Mako's neck, saying, "Tell me you think you're important, Mako - because I think you are." Kuvira frowned when Mako said indignantly, "What are you talking about? Of course I think I'm important, Kuvira. I've been a member of Team Avatar for years!" Kuvira asked, with an accusing tone, "Then why is your heart beating funny…? I've got my finger right over one of your major arteries, you know, Mako... You liar. But - why?" Asami blushed as Korra said, interrupting Mako's response of "Wu babysitting – duh!", "Hah - looks like you just figured out how to read people properly! The first time I detected a lie, it was when my hand was on Asami's inner thigh, Asami telling me three glasses of strong sake was a normal amount to need for a buzz." Asami facepalmed, saying "Korra, don't forget we have a nine-year old on the braintrust." The color draining from Korra's face, she said, "Why - why don't we look at some old designs, Meelo? Show me the updated aircraft designs, and whatever this Raging Shark Whale is? That first - we're going to need it to get to Omashu. The Zhu Li can't fly."

Asami was relieved that Meelo happily obliged, idly thinking of a wonderful dirty nickname to use with Korra later, grumbling when she realized that they would be in the cargo hold of a massive aircraft. Tapping Korra's arm, Asami whispered the name, relishing Korra's blush as she continued, "How are we going to tire ourselves out, besides sex, so that we actually sleep on the way? I don't trust that weird tea derivative Zhu Li made." Korra responded, loudly, "I'll tire myself out making Kuvira's Remorse, adding Kuviracomputers to the mechasuits, and finally making this 'Raging Shark Whale' airplane. It looks like it will take a lot of energy to make." Responding to an unseen speaker, Korra groaned, "I need to be tired, so I can sleep! You can't help me, much less do it for me."

Meelo sighed, saying, "I'm trying to work here! Please be quiet!" Asami looked at the blueprints for the first time, looking at the airplane's unconventional engine setup. The tip of each wing had a large spirit engine, Asami starting to understand how the craft worked when she saw Meelo add "Verticals - rotating engine" next to them. Pointing to an engine, Korra said, "Unless the tuber-vine is a really, really good pilot, and the Kuviracomputer amazing, I don't know if that's a good idea, Meelo. Raava says people on Earth tried something like that, and it's finicky, at best. Here - give me the pencil. Hey! Give. Me. The. Pencil. MEELO!" When Korra finally won the tug-of-war, pencil slightly the worse for wear, Asami watched her re-draw the wings, noticing Korra added a thick strange rotating disk to the wingtips with twin spirit engine holes in the middle, angular pieces of metal jutting from the disks, what Asami could only assume were rhombus-shaped condenser rings. Korra added two other spirit engines with twin condenser rings on the rear of each wing mounted inside strange circles labeled "rotator verticals". After a pause, Korra added more conventional engines under the wings as well, saying as she streamlined the transport's overall shape, "This thing will need to be fast, and I don't think verticals by themselves will be enough to get this monster moving at an acceptable speed."

Asami looked at the design, thoroughly impressed, but still asked, "If everything rotates, how are the wires going to not break?" Korra grinned, asking as she pointed to a crystalline shape, "What wires? Remember how my suit worked, before you added the co-pilot tuber-vine - tattoo power. We should be able to do something similar, using crystals from that big tree outside the factory." Smiling broadly, Korra said, "Maybe even use spirit vines themselves to link wing and ball, given how they aren't made of snappable metal. I remember how tenacious spirit vines were in Republic City, not to mention the new ones with Raava's energy." With that, Korra finished by drawing in large networks of spirit vines covered in metal that covered the aircraft, replacing spiritwire bundles, the only spiritwire remaining fine detail work.

Meelo stole the pencil back, saying, "Mine!" before attacking the other aircraft blueprints, saying confidently, "With Korra's idea, we may not need airfields at all for the smaller planes! They can take off like my sister chasing Kai! Let's finish this plane so Korra can go make it." Asami laughed when she saw Korra's eyes and tattoos glow temporarily, Raava saying from beside Korra, "Seeing how complicated this… 'transport' is, I want to make it myself. Korra, you can tire yourself out making the Zhu Li the first battleship." With that, Raava vanished, Korra muttering, "Hurry up, so I can get this done, before I fall asleep for real. And don't forget that Jinshu Kuangmai may rush at Omashu and the prison camp."

Working at a frenetic pace, the braintrust finished the Raging Shark Whale, the final product half gargantuan transport, half gunship, with significant aerodynamic improvements made by Meelo, the last thing he added an intimidating "face" on the front that resembled the plane's animal namesake. A separate stationary Meesile pod and rotating gun turret were slung under each wing between the two under wing engines, the streamlined Meesile pod full of spirit-bomb and regular explosive tipped Meesiles guided by the spirit energy designator Varrick had come up with at an earlier braintrust meeting. The gun turrets held twin Varrick guns and twin spirit cannon repeaters, a solitary turret under the aircraft's nose holding two VarriMag guns similar to the ones on Iron Varrick, but larger and inside a ball setup Kuvira had suggested. The interior of the nose held a sensor suite, a massive Kuviracomputer to help detect spirit energy from far away, as well as something Shiro had been working on while on Jang Hui kelp tea - "Shidar," supposed to be able to detect metallic objects with radio waves. Remembering that Korra had been making an awful lot of contributions and tweaks, Asami ribbed her, asking, "Has someone been cheating?" Korra laughed, saying, "No - I'm not stupid. At least, not any more. Raava's just been giving me small… suggestions, to speed things along. She says she wants us to hurry the hell up so we can go to sleep. Well, if that's the case…"

Asami yelped, surprised to see Korra vanish, replaced by Raava, who took the blueprints, saying, "Put your hands to the ground, all of you - this is getting tedious. I still haven't gotten to finish modifying the mechasuits. Compared to those possible with a computer directly linked to a sentient being, the mechasuit controls I made are quaint. Maybe I can pick your brains for help." Asami did so, feeling herself connected with the braintrust intimately, laughing when she heard Wu say, "Forget it! I'm going to sleep. Ty Lee and Mai are going with me too. We all need beauty rest." Asami heard a fading voice say, "Yeah - we can figure out this computer stuff tomorrow! Bye! Don't forget what 'I' showed you about chi blocking, Asami - if you use your robot to do it with, you should be able to chi block anything, armor or not!"

A short time later, Asami felt the information flow stop, Raava saying as she rapidly scribbled, "Okay - give these blueprints to Korra. Everyone else, except Meelo and Asami, come out to the tree. I'll be helping Korra with the suit finalization." Curious as to what Raava could want, Asami tapped her shoulder, asking once everyone but Meelo and herself had left, "What do you need me for?" Smiling, Raava said cryptically, "I heard the original plan was for Shiro to pilot the Raging Shark Whale. I'll be busy helping Korra tire herself out synthesizing and adjusting equipment, so you'll have to rely on your betrothal necklace."

At first, Asami was baffled, watching Raava shift back to a form Asami found infinitely more attractive. Korra proved more helpful, saying, "I managed to sneak a read on Shiro while Raava was doing her thing, and while I trust him to not betray us, I do **not **trust him with the Raging Shark Whale. He is still too hurt, and likely to lash out if given too much power." Walking over, Korra said gently to Meelo, "If I didn't have to go do something that had everything to do with what Asami needs to talk to you about, I'd stay, Meelo. Just remember - those who are most reluctant to take power are oftentimes the best to wield it. Like your grandfather."

With that, Korra left, Asami having a pretty good idea what Raava wanted her to do. At first, Asami just talked with Meelo, idly asking, "Meelo, if you were given great responsibility and power _now_, what would you do?" Meelo surprised Asami by hugging her tightly, saying after a pause, "I don't know! I remember what I did to those lemurs at the Southern Air Temple very clearly, for some reason." Asami asked, confused, "What did you do?" Meelo said, sighing, "Took my father's advice too literally. He wanted me to train Poki to sit, roll over, that kind of thing, and I went overboard, being mean to Poki and training every lemur there to follow my every command. Poki didn't like me for a while after that." Asami remembered what Meelo had done with the new, raw airbending recruits as well, saying, "I remember what Jinora told me about your training of the new airbenders as well. Your… enthusiasm, for your father and Uncle Bumi's methods." Asami felt a strange energy emanating from her neck and torso as Meelo said, after crying for a while, "I don't want power anymore – I know what it did to Jinshu Kuangmai and Kuvira!"

Asami was baffled, asking Meelo, "Who showed you all that stuff?" Meelo laughed, as though being tickled, Asami thoroughly confused. Knowing that Raava was busy helping Korra and that the being of light from Earth's plane was unlikely to know the details of Jinshu Kuangmai and Kuvira's lives, that left one possibility, Asami starting to cry. Meelo hugged her tightly, saying, "Atokara somehow got Wan Shi Tong's help in showing me what Jinshu Kuangmai and Kuvira went through directly, Wan Shi Tong dipping his wing in some funny pools." Deeply curious, Asami asked, "Was Atokara infobending?" Meelo laughed, saying, "No – that'd be silly! Your necklace and tummy felt weird, though, Asami. Good-feeling energy. And Wan Shi Tong went on and on about some gentle voice."

Asami was thoroughly surprised, asking herself, "What did we do to deserve all this help, other ally?" Her necklace flashing a bright blue and white, she opened the latch, seeing the English text "Help this lost soul, please, Asami," beneath an image she recognized with trepidation, staring at the corrupt Arthas, his wispy hair immobilized. Remembering what Atokara wanted, she saw the image shift to that of a passingly familiar man in golden armor wielding a large hammer, the text now reading, "I am not yet free. I need help, from outside myself, I believe. May the Light smile upon you, stranger, and wherever you call home." With that, the image shifted, an odd hybrid between the Lich King Arthas and Champion of the Light Arthas appearing, fading gradually, replaced by the accurate depiction of Korra that Asami loved.

Asami's heart jumped in her chest when she heard Meelo say excitedly, "So that's what a naked lady looks like! No wonder you like Korra!" Blushing as she shut the latch, Asami said hotly, "You weren't supposed to see that! Little nine-year old sneak!" Asami felt her heart move in a different direction, feeling as guilty as she had after striking Korra in the middle of the back as she heard Meelo say sadly, "Okay, Asami. I was just glad to see what I might get some day, if I'm good, and wait to find whoever I'm meant for. No need to yell. Maybe you can't help that weird guy with the hammer after all." Before Asami could apologize to Meelo, she heard Atokara say internally, with acid on her tongue, "You need to be careful, mommy Asami! You saw what Raava saying she regretted her new pact with humanity did to her sword! Wan Shi Tong and I showed Meelo more than 'just' Kuvira and Jinshu Kuangmai's fall from grace, you know." Asami sighed deeply, saying, "I am sorry, Meelo – now it is I who am shaming the Sato family name, not treating you like the maturing young man you obviously are now. Atokara just told me she showed you something else with Wan Shi Tong's help as well. What was it?" Smiling broadly, Meelo said as he scratched his nose, "Let's say Kuvira won't be the only one searching for a special girl. Some weird feeling of oneness, somehow knowing I would feel it someday, and not now. Wait. Tuyen…?" Sighing, Asami said, "That's just great, Meelo. Though I have no clue who Tuyen is." Meelo blushed slightly, saying loudly, "None of your business, or Ikki's! Especially not Ikki's!" Asami just hugged him, saying, "It's all right, Meelo – something tells me you finally saw that obscured woman in Sharktar's vision for you, and given how you're smiling, she must be beautiful. It sounds like you even already met her, given your comment about Ikki." Asami added, tussling Meelo's hair to turn his slight frown into a smile, "Who knows – Korra might help you out with your search." Remembering the other vision of Meelo, Asami asked, "I remember the fighter-pilot Meelo as well. Just curious – you run into any dark halves?"

Meelo shrugged, saying nonchalantly, "Not until just now. I'm just going to ignore him, though – he can't do anything to me." Asami patted Meelo on the back, saying, "Hard to believe you're declining a fight. Care to explain?" Looking around as though checking for someone's presence, Meelo said, "Don't tell my dad, but I paid more attention to stories of grandpa Aang than I let on. I wanted to get in a scrap with… 'Oleem' at first, but realized I didn't need to. Like that lion turtle told my grandpa – 'The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light.' I think the only reason people have 'had' to fight the darkness within lately was emotional hurt." As Asami listened to the nine-year old continue by saying, "I think even Kuvira's internal struggle was more about emotional hurt," she couldn't help but wonder if maybe Meelo could drink from Sharktar's pool after all, saying nothing of it when she realized what Tenzin would think of such a thing. Meelo noticed her lack of reaction, poking her stomach as he asked, "What's Atokara saying now?" Asami laughed, saying, "Nothing. I'm just thinking."

Taking out the relevant blueprint Korra had left - that of the Raging Shark Whale - Asami told Meelo, still having a hard time believing what Raava wanted, "Despite your reservations, Meelo, I'm afraid since Shiro is still grieving the loss of his family, and the fact that you designed this aircraft, you will need to pilot it tomorrow." Though Meelo's shocked and then concerned expression tore at Asami's heart, she found the reaction re-assured her, saying, "Meelo, it's a good thing you're reluctant to pilot this plane, even after seeing whatever Atokara and Wan Shi Tong had for you. I remember the vision of what would happen if you drank Sharktar's water." Meelo smiled, saying, "That won't happen - I want to see who that obscured girl was more badly than I want to be older now. Now let's go see what Korra is doing. And I wanna watch that plane turn into the Raging Shark Whale!"

Asami found herself running out of the factory alongside Meelo, laughing when she head Passionvine yell through the speakers on Asami's Reach, "Hey, wait up for me! I still can't see anything!" Remembering that Korra wanted to modify her suit as well, Asami doubled back, slipping into to her mechasuit, laughing wildly when she heard Atokara say, "I want a mechasuit too, mommy Asami!" As Asami approached Korra, she thought, "Not until you're older." Asami had no idea what to answer when Atokara responded, "Meelo's nine, and you're going to let him pilot something more deadly than a mechasuit! And I'm sure I'll be a big target for Jinshu Kuangmai - bigger than Kuvira. Not to mention Long Yumao – he hates me more than anything!"

* * *

Korra had just finished creating Kuvira's Remorse when she heard heavy footsteps behind her, turning to see Asami in her own suit next to a contented-looking Meelo. Curious to see how Asami's talk with Meelo had gone, Korra put her hand to Meelo's forehead, nearly fainting when she saw one of the more… personal things he had seen. Korra was tempted to yell at him, or wipe the image from his mind, but once she realized how pivotal it was to Meelo being ready to pilot the world's first tuber-vine powered aircraft, she refrained. Remembering the part about Tuyen, Korra smiled broadly, thinking before she removed her hand from Meelo's forehead, "I'll see what I can do, Meelo. Just the two of us. Later," glad to feel Meelo so excited about something other than fighting. By this time, Asami had exited her mechasuit, saying, "How'd the Kuviracomputer modification go? And everything else?" Korra shrugged, saying, "Fine - but there won't be any EMP devices in these suits. Kuvira says that even using a tuber-vine as a brain wouldn't prevent the computer from frying. I've still got to finish modifying the other suits, and pick out my own tuber-vine."

Before she could continue, she smiled when Meelo asked meekly, "Just to make sure, can you give me the nicest two tuber-vines for the Raging Shark Whale? I don't wanna corrupt them like Asami did hers." Asami frowned, saying, "Maybe we do need to fight Oleem, Meelo." Korra respected Meelo wishes when he said, "No! Ignoring him is the best option," Korra saying, "I'm guessing Oleem is your dark side. I have to ignore Dark Korra, and given you're such a good little boy - well, most of the time - he shouldn't give you any trouble."

Remembering three tuber-vines in particular, Korra searched, finding the three she had in mind - one for her suit, and two for the Raging Shark Whale. Remembering the vision Sharktar had of Meelo, she handed Meelo the first tuber-vine, saying, "Why don't you call this one Sharktooth, and why don't you call this one Patientstem. To remind you of Sharktar's little warning for you." Korra jumped slightly when she heard Sharktooth speak in a familiar gravely voice, saying much as Sharktar might have, "Why don't you take me, Korra, given Sharktar is supposed to be your neutral advisor, and Meelo can take the other one instead… 'Jinorahead'. He needs to emulate his sister as well, tomorrow - the new Jinora. One who's willing to take life." Meelo began sobbing, saying, "I don't want to kill anybody now! Not if I can help it!" Korra sighed, saying, "Like I told you earlier - those who are most reluctant to wield power are often the best suited to do so. And I'm not exactly keen on killing either – if you are, something's very wrong with you. Hang on a minute - I have an idea."

Taking Jinorahead, Korra requested Aang's attention, thinking as she called for Jinora and the rest of the Tenzin family, "I need your help, Aang. Meelo needs your help, more precisely." Korra was rather shocked when she heard an older Aang's voice reply internally, "Jinora wants the new Air Nation to rely far more on judgment than it did in the past, and I don't think giving Meelo all the answers, or even this tuber-vine as an explicit advisor, is the right answer. And nobody ever knows perfectly when it is okay to take life anyways. When everyone who is among the living sleeps tonight en route to Omashu, I will have a talk with Meelo, much like I did with Jinora."

As Korra explained what was going on to the Tenzin family, omitting any talk of Tuyen, she felt herself agreeing strongly with Tenzin about guidance when he said, "What? No! I don't like the idea of my nine-year old son piloting a war machine, much less without proper guidance. I guess my father really is a rather lousy parent. Bumi and Kya were right. Maybe once everything settles down, we can have our own little vacation. Preferably better than the one you took with Asami, Korra."

Taking a terrified look at her glowing hands, Korra saw the tattoos begin to shift into blue arrows, feeling another Avatar begin to take over, her consciousness fading.

Aang had not truly been in over two decades, only the thought of what he had to say to Meelo overriding the joy he felt, finally existing as more than just an image helping someone.

Sighing, Aang pointed to his shocked granddaughter Jinora, saying, "A family vacation - that sounds like a great idea. Tenzin, while I'm glad you're learning from my mistakes, don't repeat any, treating one of your children differently than the other." Turning to Meelo, Aang said, picking him up with his strong arms, "You're just as capable as Jinora - you just haven't been tested yet. Tomorrow is your test, I believe. Jinora had to deal with spiritual matters with spirits, and you will have to deal with one of the oldest dilemmas of time - when it is okay to take another living being's life." Aang saw Meelo shift uncomfortably, telling Meelo, "Remember - Korra killed that shark whale a few days ago in self-defense, and I struggled with the same question. I had my own answer - stripping someone's bending. Only the Avatar can do so, and Korra is reluctant to use the ability - it has a chance of backfiring." Remembering a particularly nasty alternate, Aang shivered, upsetting Meelo further.

Aang sighed deeply, saying, "I was just remembering what would have happened had I refused to take Ozai's life after a botched attempt at energybending. You wouldn't be here if I had let myself pass quietly into the night, dead by Ozai's hand, stupidly insisting on pacifism. I nearly lost - almost corrupted by Ozai's energy. I know you must be feeling confused, Meelo - told to dampen your militarism one minute, encouraged to design weapons of war the next, shown a vision of what love of war and not women could do to you, and finally being asked to pilot a machine of war you designed." Seeing Meelo was exactly that - confused - Aang said, "I was confused and scared when told I was the Avatar at the age of twelve. I don't want you to repeat _my _mistake - running away from responsibility, and your problems. Someone needs to pilot that plane, and Asami, Raava and myself trust you to do so, without being told when and when not to shoot." Seeing Meelo smile, Aang continued, "Meelo, I want you to imagine something. Imagine yourself, in the control room of a Raava's Wrath, hovering above Zaheer and the rest of the Red Lotus, Zaheer about to steal your father's breath. What would you do?" When Meelo replied, without hesitation, "Fill them full of holes, of course! My dad's my dad! And Zaheer was, and still is, a bad man!" Aang smiled, replying, "I know you paid attention to stories of my life, even if you never let your father see it well." Aang snickered when Meelo groaned, "Aw, granddad - dad's not supposed to know that!" having deliberately said so in front of Tenzin, feeling mischievous. Aang returned to being serious, saying, "I just want you to remember what Guru Pathik told me about the illusion of separation. The whole world is one gigantic family, one nation, one soul - even those who do not act like it." Aang said, feeling himself fading as he lowered Meelo back down, "Protect your family. Even the enemy is your family - many of the soldiers under Jinshu Kuangmai's thumb serve out of fear, just like the soldiers under my oldest enemy's banner, Firelord Ozai." Smiling, Aang added as he faded almost completely back to Korra, "Perhaps Asami should design some **non-lethal** weaponry for your creation, Meelo."

Korra felt an odd sense of déjà vu, unsure why Meelo was tugging on Asami, saying, "Design me something, pretty lady!" Korra rubbed her head, beginning to ask what had happened, but felt a very bizarre type of infobending take place, somehow Aang telling "herself" what had happened. She heard Aang's voice say, "Now you know what it felt like, to be replaced by Kyoshi in Chin village. Just plain weird. Anyways. You might want to re-assure Meelo you think he is suited to his task. I may be his grandfather, but you're 'his' Avatar." Korra picked Meelo up, saying, "I'm sure you'll do just fine tomorrow, and I have an idea for your non-lethal weapon." Pointing at Asami's hand, Korra said, "Lightning weapons. I am not sure how to get them to work at a long distance – I'll leave that to Asami." Korra saw an odd image appear, seeing electricity jumping from Earth Empire soldier to soldier, seeing a familiar gray-haired boy smiling afterwards.

_Hmmm. Odd. Looks like someone wants to try to teach you something later, even if he never did it himself. _

Pushing this odd interaction aside, Korra re-focused on the present. Liking the positive reaction she got from Meelo and Asami, Korra said, entering the Avatar State, "Now, it's time for me to finish my work, and hopefully tire myself out in the process." Korra walked away from everyone else, only Kuvira following for advice on the super Kuviracomputer that was to be housed in the Raging Shark Whale. Blueprints in hand and drawing on her spirit as well, wanting to make sure that every suit was finished before deliberately exerting herself on the massive plane's creation, Korra put the finishing touches on the five mechasuits, adding spirit engines to her own mechasuit for Sharktooth's benefit, carefully installing what Varrick called spirit glass as well. Korra saved the most personal modification for last, eventually relenting and letting Raava take control, watching with awe as Raava used Korra like a puppet to re-form the suit's two sets of twin longblades into more appropriately sized weapons. Remembering that they were supposed to serve double-duty, Korra tried the twin Avatar's Bites on. The gauntlet that came up to her mechasuit's lower forearm almost came up to her elbow, her arm tattoo's curve around her arm completely obscured. The only reason her arms could move normally was the metal deforming slightly as she moved, apparently adjusting through metalbending. It was only really then that Korra realized the suit's massive scale.

Every mechasuit now stood at least nine feet tall, the new smaller-bore five-barreled Varrick gun and its chest-located ammunition stores in Zhu Li's Thing making the mechasuit even more massive. The right arm's huge closed cylinder that concealed the Varrick gun and the slightly visible ammunition drum near the elbow made the limb look like a misshapen tree trunk, and Zhu Li's Thing itself stood twelve feet tall! Korra was well aware that she couldn't make _everything _she needed for military hardware, and found the idea of relying on others appealing instead of revolting, as she might have when she first came to Republic City. Lingering over her own suit, she noticed that the paintjob did not resemble her newer clothes - it resembled those she wore when she first came to Republic City!

At first, Korra didn't know how to interpret this odd choice, realizing the reason for the change once she remembered she was wearing her older, skimpified clothes in the Spirit World earlier as well. Giving a confused Kuvira an impromptu hug, Korra said, "It's nice to be self-confident again. Kuvira, I'm done with the suits, but I have a request for you." Kuvira laughed, saying, "That bikini hug... no, if the request is lewd. I'm with Mako, doofus, and don't bend that way." Korra broke the embrace, blushing as she said, "Sorry. Didn't even think it could be interpreted that way at the time. I want you to see if my parents happen to have any of my old clothes with them - I noticed they brought a large trunk on the Zhu Li." Kuvira nodded, saying, "Not sure how this has anything to do with getting your confidence back, but okay. Wait, let me guess - you feel more like the headstrong teenage Korra than you have in years?" Korra nodded, saying, "Yeah, I do. And I finally have the self-control and wisdom to make that confidence a strength instead of something that just gets me in trouble. I'll wait here, seeing if I can bond with Sharktooth."

As Kuvira ran off, Korra swore she heard Kuvira say, "Wish I had clothes like that," Korra laughing at the idea of Kuvira in revealing wear. Given how Kuvira turned around and gave Korra a deep stare, Kuvira must have really said that, Korra saying automatically, "Avatar's Desire will cover that, Kuvira. Or rather, won't cover." Laughing, Kuvira ran off, Korra hearing a gravelly voice say, "You gonna talk to me, or what?" Korra sighed, saying, "I guess tuber-vines are sort of like airbison - they choose you, and you don't choose them." Sharktooth groaned, saying as he whipped some vines with awfully sharp-looking leaves around, "You want an in-house advisor, or not? Besides Raava, that is. She's not exactly… impartial. Oh, hush, Raava - you know it's true!" Korra laughed, asking on a whim, "You wouldn't happen to have a direct link to Sharktar, would you?" The tuber-vine shifted, Korra jumping back slightly when crude teeth made from jagged leaves and twin dark spots appeared on Sharktooth, the tuber-vine saying, "Now I do. Why don't you see what the inside of your suit is like, with all the changes and me inside."

Remembering something she infobent from Asami earlier, Korra tried her luck with infobending the tuber-vine, pleased to hear the vine say, "I got some of that, Korra. Specifically how to pilot the suit autonomously. I saw how you move and fight. Why don't you go do the same to the other suits, after placing me inside, so I can try out the equipment." Korra did so, vaguely creeped out by a large metallic form that mimicked her own closely following her, cursing at Sharktooth when he got the thigh blades a little too close for comfort. Korra heard a whimpering sound, saying, "Sorry, Sharktooth. Just don't mess with any of the weapons until I have."

Korra took a deep breath, wondering what to do while waiting on Kuvira. For a brief moment, she entertained the thought of making good on her earlier vow to try combustionbending. Korra got as far as mimicking the movements she had seen P'li perform before deciding that combustionbending would not mix well with her mechasuit. At all. As she remembered P'li's demise, she found herself thinking automatically, "Appropriate end, to a misguided monster." Korra shivered, crying lightly as she said, "No - there is good in everyone. Kuvira…"

Looking for reassurance from someone other than the bellicose Raava, Korra grabbed her betrothal necklace, opening her mind to whatever the universe had as an answer, closing her eyes.

Korra heard an initially gentle voice say, "I can see you chose to cherry-pick the words of one of Earth's great spiritual leaders, the one some incorrectly consider my one and only son. You are a soul of extremes, Korra, from what Raava tells me of your past. Not every situation calls for lenience. Sometimes, you must **kill**. No matter how happy you are that Kuvira has seen the light of day, you must find balance. Between mercy… AND RIGHTEOUS WRATH!" Not liking this last part, Korra sighed, asking herself, "I thought I was done finding balance?! When will I ever find perfect balance?" Removing her hand from the necklace slowly, Korra heard a fading gentle voice sigh, "You will NEVER find perfect balance, Korra. That is one of the worst lies in every universe - the allure of perfection. You will have to learn to balance the light and dark within and do so until your dying days." Feeling enraged, Korra clenched her fists, wishing for a split second that her decisions could be made for her, hating the dichotomy of choice.

_You - no! Don't you ever think that again! Here - my co-worker has something to show you. Or rather, a someone… _Initially puzzled as to why Raava did not immediately force her hand to her betrothal necklace, Korra winced, hearing Raava intone, _If I did that, I'd be mimicking the being you are about to see… in his home._

Closing her eyes, at first Korra saw nothingness, thinking, "What is here - I see nothing!" Gradually, she saw a massive undulating void form in front of her, hearing a voice she thought she would never hear again say, sounding vaguely pleased, "I… am… here. I… heard… you… wish… for… no… choice. No… free… will." Korra heard raucous laughter, seemingly from billions of souls, followed by the voice saying proudly, "Here, there is only one will - my will, the burden of choice lifted forever. I can tell the choice between mercy and killing weighs heavily on your soul, even from… 'here'. I can fix that. Care to join us?" Realizing who she was interacting with, Korra roared defiantly, "NEVER! I would sooner throw the world into chaos than attempt to surrender my every choice to the likes of you! Zaheer was right about something other than the Earth Queen being a tyrant - freedom at all costs!"

Korra found herself booted back to her own plane after an ear-splitting screech, hearing a gentle voice say, "Good. Now never bother me, when your own judgment will suffice." Korra smiled when she heard Raava intone, _I'll still offer advice, Korra, but I am never seizing control of your body again_. Korra burst out laughing when she heard Raava add, _Just… don't try combustionbending, or I might go back on that. The alternate you saw… The Red Lotus Korra had to train for many, many years under P'li to master combustionbending. Given she is currently stuck in the Fog of Lost Souls much like Hama, holding on to her misguided hatred of governments and nations instead of the Fire Nation like Hama, there are no suitable tutors in existence. Especially considering you are no longer a suitable student, for reasons I won't go into…_

At first, part of Korra felt like making a visit to a part of the Spirit World she had never seen, but decided she would respect P'li's free will, even if her decision saddened Korra. Looking around, Korra wondered what was taking Kuvira so long, slapping her hand against the ground to try and pinpoint Kuvira's location. The brief image Korra saw made her begin to laugh uncontrollably, seeing her mother trying to trim Kuvira's clothes to more closely match Korra's "modified" dress. Wanting to get some use out of her suit, much to Sharktooth's pleasure, Korra jetted over inside Korra's Spirit, landing as she asked a shocked looking Kuvira through an open helmet, "Am I going to need to have Raava 'repaint' your mechasuit as well?" Kuvira laughed, saying, "Yes, you will. And re-form the metal – I've decided I want to wear the Zaofu Metal Clan guard 'uniform' again, like when I was captain of the guard. Figure it will mess with Earth Empire soldiers. I imagine Jang will have a fit when he sees it." Smiling, Kuvira added, "And I have an idea for your suit as well - metal cables. You won't have easy access to water tomorrow, given Omashu is not exactly wet."

Korra smiled broadly, saying, "I like that idea, a lot. The Zaofu Metal Clan guard armor too. Here – give me those clothes, and I'll see what I can do." After Kuvira handed Korra the "Avatar's new clothes", Korra began to put them on, stopped by an impromptu hug from her father. Breaking the hug, he said, "I never got a chance to say how much I loved what you did in the Spirit World earlier, not to mention Atokara's actions. I cannot wait to see her, up close and personal, Korra." As she got fully dressed, Korra said, realizing personal time with Asami could wait, "You'll get to see her directly tonight, mom and dad – I can't wait to get to sleep, and 'dream', much as Ataninnuaq did." Compressed by multiple hugs, Korra swearing she felt a metallic arm in one spot, she added, "You should even get to meet Asami's parents." Kuvira started blubbering, saying, "I… I got to see my biological parents as well as Mako and Bolin's earlier, and both our parents were ecstatic. My mom even said sorry for abandoning me…" After a slight pause, Kuvira added, "Thankfully, my parents are really out of the loop, not knowing what their daughter did to the world… I'd rather my parents not know what I've been up to, the past three years, aside from this hectic week. My mom would probably have spat in my face, and rightfully so. I wish someone would have stopped me…"

Korra shivered, a slight information flow letting her know that Kuvira said one thing, but meant another. Speaking sternly, much as the being of light had to her a short time ago, Korra said, "Kuvira, no. Never wish surrender of choice. Before I begin any other work, I have something to show – I make the decisions here, Raava!"

_Very well. I shall not violate your free will._

Korra explained to her parents and Kuvira her earlier interactions, saying as she put a glowing hand to the ground, "I believe everyone needs to see this, despite Raava's reservations." As Korra pumped out her experience, she thought strongly, "We will have many difficult decisions tomorrow, none of which we can just pawn off on Raava completely. You saw that being, and my fleeting desire. Only a few people gathered on this island have ever taken a life – Mako, killing Ming-Hua, and Su, killing P'li. We will need to rely on each other's judgment tomorrow." Korra was about to continue, but "heard" Jinora think, "Korra – you killed Unalaq when he was fused with Vaatu…" Korra stood up, smiling slightly as she thought, "I… I have already had to balance mercy with righteous wrath," clutching her betrothal necklace, breathing a deep sigh of relief when she heard a gentle voice say, "Good," laughing when it continued, "I'm still a lot more advanced than Raava, so why don't you go to her first instead. She could use the practice…"

As Korra worked on Kuvira's Remorse and Korra's Spirit, an ironic thought occurred to her, laughing as she formed a long platinum-colored metal chain to wrap around her right Avatar's Bite with a malleable shiny end intended to look like mercury, savoring the internal screeching she heard from Dark Korra. Seeing her parent's and Kuvira's horrified and confused looks, respectively, Korra explained, adding many small detachable metal strips to Kuvira's mechasuit arms to either side of the spirit-wire coated metal "armor" armblades as she did so, "I have a meeting soon with Zaheer, and I thought incorporating his attempt on my life and my triumph over it might unsettle him enough for him to be slightly more… reasonable. And I hope you like the 'ammunition' on your arms, Kuvira. And quit looking at me like I'm crazy, all of you!" Her father sighed, saying, "I still do not understand what you think you will accomplish anything other than annoying him, Korra. Zaheer held for thirteen years in prison, and has held for another three after that."

At first, Korra was at a loss, suddenly questioning her desire to see Zaheer. What if he didn't act reasonably, just as Asami had warned her he would? Or even worse - what if _she _didn't act reasonably, carried away by emotion? Sighing, Korra said, "Just a minute," assuming a meditative pose, finding herself in the Plane:Earth wing of Wan Shi Tong's library. Looking around for Wan Shi Tong, she jumped slightly when she heard a voice say, "I'm sorry, Avatar Korra, but Wan Shi Tong is busy at the prison camp. Oh, sorry – this is Professor Zei. I can help you with what you're looking for." Korra turned around, saying, "Thank you, Professor. You should know the question I am asking, if – where are all the books? It seems like a large portion of this wing is… missing" Professor Zei said, somehow interacting with what looked to be one of many Kuviracomputers, "Wan Shi Tong converted anything that was on a computer on Earth to Kuviracomputer format after you helped perfect Kuviracomputers." Pointing to a palm-shaped indent in a console, he said, smiling, "Put your hand here, and the information you _need _should be retrieved automatically, in greater detail than before."

Korra did so, feeling herself transported to a different desert environment than the one that the man called Jesus Christ had inhabited, hearing a man in a similar robe and different features speaking in a foreign tongue to a large crowd. After hearing a neutral voice intone, "Arabic translation activated," she heard this man say at great length, "Allah said, of deeds on the Day of Resurrection, will be the true weighing, for Allah will not wrong anyone. We shall set up the Balances of justice on the Day of Resurrection, then none will be dealt with unjustly in anything. And if there be the weight of a mustard seed, we will bring it. And sufficient are we to take account. Surely, Allah wrongs not even the weight of a speck of dust, but if there is any good done, He doubles it, and gives from Him a great reward." The man paused, beginning again with a stronger tone, "Then as for him whose scale of good deeds will be heavy. He will live a pleasant life in Paradise. But as for him whose scale of good deeds will be light. He will have his home in Hawiyah - Hell. And what will make you know what it is - it is a fiercely blazing Fire!"

At first, Korra was horrified, realizing how what this man said applied to her situation, averse to tossing anyone into their equivalent of hell for their sins – the Fog of Lost Souls. Collecting herself somewhat, Korra cried slightly as she said, "I want to see if I can convert Zaheer – not toss him in the Fog of Lost Souls!" After hearing the same computerized voice intone loudly, "MEMORY BANK AND SIMULATION OVERRIDE. Direct contact initiated," Korra felt the heat of the desert and slight hot wind blowing without stop, the man turning to her with a smile, saying sourly as those he had been talking to vanished, "Strong-looking woman, with strange tattoos… 'Korra'. Allah has mentioned you passingly. If only I could contact my current… 'adherents' like this, or like Raava does you, but our rules are different from your plane, for better or worse." Korra was confused, asking, "What do you mean?" The man sighed, saying, "People alive on Earth believe they are fighting in my name, and Allah's, but they are really working for the Devil. I am the one 'Muslims', those who submit to Allah, call the Prophet Muhammad." Frowning even deeper, he continued, "When those misguided jihadists die, they will not meet me, or Allah – they will burn in Hawiyah - Hell. Allah, who you know as a gentle voice from my plane, does not have room for the unworthy and those who do not believe in _love_ – true infidels – in His kingdom. He is merciful, much as you wish to be with this 'Zaheer', but His mercy has limits. He does not allow spiritual vagrants into His kingdom. You have already seen where they go..." After a loud beep, Korra saw an image of Zaheer tossing Aiwei into the Fog of Lost Souls appear in the desert town, and given the Muhammad's reaction, he must have seen it too, saying, "Allah is great, but this man, 'Zaheer' – tossing his fellow disciple into your equivalent of Hell – this man is anything but!"

An image of a scowling Aiwei behind by Dark Korra appearing, Aiwei bound in red and black chains, Muhammad smiled, saying, "As one of my predecessors said, 'Vengeance is mine, said the Lord.' I see you are unwilling to condemn any soul to Hell, or your equivalent, even if they deserve it richly. There is another alternative, to tossing them into fire yourself, after Raava makes her foregone judgment on this Zaheer, from what little I saw, and care to see. Let the enemy do your work for you. Let the infidels and unclean deal with one another as they see fit, Korra. You do not have to harm this Zaheer – only let the universe exact justice upon him, should he decline whatever offer you make him." Slightly annoyed by all the constant male pronoun usage, especially considering Raava was female and Vaatu male, Korra said, trying to mask her annoyance, succeeding until the very end, "Thank you for the help, Muhammad. I think I know what I will do with Zaheer now, just as you suggested. Offer him a chance at redemption or even just a chance to think, and let the universe take its course, not interfering past a certain point, though I plan on overriding any read or decision Raava makes. I can see from your expression you think this foolish, but it's my decision. Just one question, though – what's up with all the male pronouns? People on Earth think women are subservient or something?" Korra recoiled slightly, unsure as to why this great Earth soul looked so mad, loosening up when he said, "Relax. I am not angry at you. I am sorry – your comment only brought up a subject I find particularly painful. I stress, time and time again, in the Quran and my teachings, that women are to be treated with respect, one of my wives a successful businesswoman in her own right, and then… see for yourself! They sicken me."

Korra saw a series of images she'd rather forget, but as she watched, she felt some sort of fire building within her being, finally saying after she witnessed a young girl killed in cold blood for her outspoken nature, "ENOUGH!" A large blast of blue flame hit the image, Korra not caring that it now depicted someone labeled "Twisted 'Holy' Warrior" burning, the man screaming, "ALLAH HAVE MERCY! SAVE ME FROM THIS DEVIL'S FIRE!" with his plea only answered by a deep, ominous laughter she recognized from earlier. The label reminding Korra of Arthas' plane and his former life's ability to turn warriors to his side, Korra innocently asked, "The twisting of the 'Holy Warrior' – did someone else do that? Like another plane I've interacted with?" Slapping his bearded face on the forehead, Muhammad said, "By my beard! Allah, I know you said this woman was naïve, but… Korra, that 'man' corrupted himself, with his actions. No outside evil influence – all the work of the darkness within."

With that, Korra found herself booted back to the Spirit Library, Professor Zei saying excitedly, "I got all of that – that's great! I'll have my work cut out for me, analyzing updates from Earth and books with that information on the third monotheistic Prophet of Earth." Korra rubbed her head, saying, "Ugh – it feels like everything's stored in here. Manually. Get it out, quick!" Professor Zei chuckled nervously, saying, "I know books best. Korra, you've worked with Kuviracomputers some, more than I have." Pressing her hand against the console, Korra felt the throbbing cease as she said, "Computer, create… 'Infile: Prophet Muhammad and Avatar Korra on Mercy', and make it accessible to only Avatars, and those given the highest level of clearance." After a loud clicking sound, the computer intoned, "Infile saved. Session terminated."

Finding herself staring at her parents and a concerned looking Kuvira and Jinora, Korra opted at first to just explain what she had in mind for Zaheer, relenting and telling the whole story when Jinora observed, "While I like that idea a lot, I fail to see how you went from being willing to give up your free will over the agony of killing someone to being willing to let your dark half and Aiwei toss Zaheer into the Fog of Lost Souls." As Korra finished another mass infobending, she heard many female voices shout out in anger, Jinora saying, "I hope this 'Allah' sends plenty of woman abusers to burn in hell!" Korra sighed, saying, "That's above my head, Jinora. The gentle voice's business is his own business." About to leave the subject of Zaheer's fate, Korra paused, remembering how she could steal secrets from anyone's mind, saying, "And when I'm done with Zaheer, either way, we'll _finally _know the identities of the rest of the Red Lotus, and we can crush that organization forever., prying the identities of the remaining Red Lotus members from Zaheer." Korra laughed heartily when she heard her father say, "Now that's more like it," hugging him deeply, saying, "For a while, I thought that the old Korra was wrong somehow – not understanding enough, too hotheaded. But I was wrong. I can't maintain balance properly without being flexible. Not with the Spirit Civil War, and Jinshu Kuangmai running around." Korra felt a small point of metal poke her lightly, saying, "Not now, Sharktooth," surprised to hear Jinora say, "That wasn't him – it was me. Korra, I want you to promise me you'll set some sort of limit to your mercy for Jinshu Kuangmai. We cannot let him grow stronger and stronger, refraining from killing him just because of some deal you have with his inner child."

After Jinora finished, a horrible thought occurred to Korra – what if Jinshu Kuangmai really had killed or completely controlled his inner child, and Tonga Beifong's acceptance of Korra's offer was nothing more than a ruse, intended to buy Jinshu Kuangmai time to become untouchable? Putting off synthesis of the Raging Shark Whale, Korra explained the possibility, grated only slightly when she heard Kuvira say, "Well DUH! It doesn't take a detective like my boyfriend to be suspicious of this Jinshu Kuangmai – even I watched my back when I was in charge! If he can manage to influence Vaatu, the supreme spirit of darkness, I wouldn't put it past him to come up with that ploy!" Korra blushed out of embarrassment, saying, "Just a minute – I have someone to try and contact, even if they might be a front."

Closing her eyes, Korra focused on Tonga Beifong's energy, finding herself staring at an angry looking three-year old boy, crossing his arms in a pout. Finally acknowledging her presence, he said, "Darkness can never extinguish light, nor can it control it." Korra sighed, knowing she likely didn't have much time, saying, "Sorry. But I AM setting a limit – if he ever tries to vaporize a city or deploys utterly depraved technologies, he's either dead, or having his bending stripped and thrown away like Ozai." Tonga shook his head, saying, "Death is the only option. We both know that. He doesn't need bending to be effective… not with all these technologies he's dreaming up, along with Vaazula." Looking especially concerned, Tonga began to say, "There's one in particular that I think is worth killing him ov – "

Korra felt herself booted out after an angry voice said over top of Tonga, "I HEARD EVERYTHING – EVERYTHING! PEST CONTROL – SOON! DON'T YOU DARE TELL HER ABOUT THAT IDEA!" Korra desperately tried to reconnect, getting nothing, letting loose a stream of curses, saying, "Now I know how Jinshu Kuangmai feels about not being able to talk to Vaatu!" Not feeling like talking, Korra just infobending the short exchange out, projecting out Raava and asking her after, "What do you think Jinshu Kuangmai could be dreaming up, that's so horrible?" Raava closed her eyes, sighing deeply as she said, "I can't tell either. Whatever bond Jinshu Kuangmai is forming with Vaazula, it is very strong – strong enough to block unwanted intrusion attempts, just like our own lock on Vaatu and locking out of the Earth being of darkness." Realizing that spirits had free will, Korra was less and less hopeful that her ploy with Vaazula with Raava's help would end up working, Vaazula likely to simply shrug off the real Azula's life experiences. After Korra said as much, Raava smiled, saying, "If she doesn't change any, she won't get any bending, and we'll have evacuated the prison camp by then anyway. We can use another one of Zaheer's tricks tomorrow, aside from your symbolic grappling chain."

Jinora picked up on Raava's suggestion before Korra did, saying, "The 'airbender' water dummies! I suppose with how dry it is near Omashu it will need to be earth dummies, though." Sighing lightly, annoyed at all the interruptions to her work, Korra said, "Great idea! Now I just need to tell Jasmine about it." Raava laughed, saying, "Don't forget our spirit allies in the region. It's already being done." Korra simply said, "Oh. Thanks, Raava. While you're at it, see if you can try relaying all our technology ideas to Baatar Jr. If they go in with regular military equipment from the north of the Swamp, they'll get slaughtered." Raava stood silent as Kuvira said tersely, "He can handle himself, Korra. He was the real brains behind most of our technology. You're just lucky I paid attention." Korra smirked, saying, "It wasn't luck, given how you knew Baatar Jr. might turn on you someday. Just like Jinshu Kuangmai on him, and you. You're more like Toph's wayward son than you realize."

Korra felt a sudden electric shock hit her back and spread outwards, crumpling down to the ground as she stared upwards, barely able to begin to move her neck. Korra recoiled in fear when she saw a visibly incensed Mako staring at her, feeling small as he said, "That was not cool, Korra. Now that I think about it, neither was that shock, but something… took over." Sighing, Korra said, "Same here. I spoke before thinking." Kuvira shocked them both by yelling at Mako, saying, "Sometimes, the best things are said before thinking! I've got plenty thick skin, Mako." Korra refrained from calling Kuvira on her slight lie at first, finally saying, "It's okay to feel hurt from my nasty words, Kuvira. I'd be more worried if you didn't feel anything." Standing up, Korra got a dual hug from Mako and Kuvira, Mako saying, "Sorry, Korra. Not talking about feelings, and taking deep offense over relatively small slights was the whole reason we didn't work out anyways. And I don't want to repeat the past…" Feeling the hug getting rather personal, Korra pushed her way out, letting Kuvira embrace Mako more directly, Kuvira saying, "I guess feeling hurt… lets you know you're alive, just as much as joy does. Maybe we need to make a trip to the chakra gears and pools that Asami and Korra created someday, Mako. We both have a lot of… issues still."

Coughing lightly, Korra said, "While you two talk about feelings, I'll be finishing my job." Korra made Raava laugh loudly by muttering "Finally" under her breath as she walked away, sensing where Asami and Meelo were after recalling Raava, needing the finalized blueprints, with new non-lethal weaponry. Korra approached, seeing Asami tussling Meelo's dark black hair, looking up as she said, "We're waiting on Zhu Li to get back with a new piece of equipment she says will let us direct lightning without bending, even at a distance. Her and Varrick have been working on it while you were doing all that… stuff." Asami smiled broadly, saying, "Do you consider me your successful businesswoman wife, Korra? Though I can't wrap my head around the idea of having multiple wives…" Korra smiled, realizing her infobending went farther than she had intended, "I just consider you Asami, Asami. Not defined by what you do, but who you are. Why the funny face?" Asami sighed, saying, "I just wish Raava could give me bending, like in the shared inner dream world." Korra shrugged, saying, "You're perfectly able to handle yourself without bending, especially with Asami's Reach. And the Equalists have no idea how right they are, about technology equalizing benders and non-benders." Remembering Kuvira's earlier outburst, Korra added, "You'll be better protected than most members of Team Avatar, Asami, and one of the few able to cut platinum."

Asami still did not look satisfied, interrupted by an excited Varrick jumping in front of Korra's face, saying, "Look at this – the Liser!" With the flick of a switch, Korra saw a small red dot appear on Meelo's forehead, thoroughly unimpressed, saying, "Okay. I don't see how you can direct lightning long distances with this." Varrick laughed, saying, "Put them on Iron Varrick, and I'll show you, after you modify my suit accordingly." Varrick whipped out a blueprint as Korra heard the trudging of metal feet approaching, along with a new voice that said, "Hello, Master Avatar Korra. I am Mr. Tuber-Vine, and it is my pleasure to serve you and your allies." Resisting the urge to tell the tuber-vine to not call her "Master" anything, or even Avatar Korra for that matter, Korra laughed hysterically when Zhu Li said, as though she had the tuber-vine as a butler all her life, "Mr. Tuber-Vine, go grab some metals – you know, the stuff we need for zap!" Asami groaned, saying, "Now, now, Zhu Li, don't abuse your husband's tuber-vine like he's your personal servant." Zhu Li smiled, adjusting her glasses slightly as she said, "I'm sure I'll tire of it. Eventually. Just like Varrick did. Though, I don't want to do the Thing with Iron Varrick…" As Korra told Zhu Li and Varrick how she had playfully made Asami's Reach and Korra's Spirit embrace, Varrick and Zhu Li both laughed themselves hoarse, Varrick suddenly stopping, saying, "Shhh! I hear something…"

Looking in the direction that Varrick was now pointing, Korra smiled, seeing Iron Varrick and Zhu Li's Thing holding hands as each carried materials with the other, hearing a female voice say from the monster that was Zhu Li's Thing, "Here you go, Zhu Li. Let us know if there's anything else you need." Varrick opened his mouth, about to say something but stopped, shaking his head, instead saying, "That will be all for now. Just stay still while Korra modifies the mechasuit around you." Realizing that Asami would probably like the ability to direct lightning long distances as well, Korra called Asami's Reach over, first testing this "Liser" on a rock, hooked to Mr. Tuber-Vine and Iron Varrick as a power source. Korra winced when she saw the rock begin to melt, Meelo yelling, "That doesn't look very non-lethal to me, Varrick! Mr. Tuber-Vine, try toning it down a little." With that, the red beam dimmed, Korra generating lightning to try and send along the beam's path, frustrated when the lightning refused to follow the generated path, electricity striking the ground instead of the partially melted rock. Trying again, this time holding out her hand until the Liser started to hurt her hand slightly from the heat, Korra tried again, celebrating when she saw the lightning strike the rock instead of the ground.

Smiling broadly, Korra said, "Now I just need to add these Lisers and more lightning generation capacity to the mechasuits. This Liser would likely make a good designator for weapons, and a good weapon itself if hooked up to a tuber-vine powersource. Designate multiple targets with multiple Lisers under the missile pods of the Raging Shark Whale." Starting to feel excited, Korra said, "Okay, everyone – follow me. It's time to get this show on the road!" Korra was surprised to see all five mechasuits now in a row, Iron Varrick and Zhu Li's Thing in the center, the latter dwarfing the rest. Wanting to make sure that she had enough energy to fabricate the Raging Shark Whale no matter what, Korra drew on her spirit to modify the mechasuits, the only change she made to Kuvira's Remorse cosmetic and adding electrical capabilities to the metalbending cables. Asami's Reach now had a Liser directly above each longblade's angular condenser ring, the electricity to be pumped through the spiritwire on the longblades. Stepping back as she watched Asami test the contraption on a random rock, Korra realized that the earlier "failure" with the Liser's power was likely its best feature, the red dot appearing on the rocky target almost instantaneously as Asami tested the weapon.

Remembering the massive "Intercontinental Ballistic Missile" fusion and Korranium delivery rockets from Earth, Korra began modifying her own suit to include a larger, higher powered Liser on the left arm, the addition's end laying over top of the left Avatar's Bite gem inlay. Korra had been so focused she didn't hear Asami, apologizing to a grumpy-looking Asami, "Sorry I didn't watch all of your weapon test, Asami. I just had an idea that might help us avert catastrophe, should Jinshu Kuangmai ever perfect massive Meesiles like the ones we saw in that horrible vision. Anti-projectile Lisers." Everyone but Asami gave Korra an odd look, sighing as she explained exactly how the vision of Earth's destruction came to pass, massive Meesiles and all. As Korra finished, saying, "Given Jinshu Kuangmai somehow figured out spirit engines on his own, this horrible fate for anyone who opposes Jinshu Kuangmai could become reality soon," she felt an energy surge beside her. Turning around, Korra was puzzled by Raava's indifferent tone, Raava saying, "Without knowledge of ballistics or tuber-vine Kuviracomputers, that day is far off."

Remembering what arrogance and over-confidence cost herself, Korra snapped, saying hotly, "In war, you can never be overconfident! After our clash with Jinshu Kuangmai tomorrow, he'll see what we've been working on! And we cannot be complacent – who knows when the first true dark bromeliads will show up! Or worse – Jinshu Kuangmai managing to get ahold of tuber-vines and corrupt them!" Raava sighed deeply, saying, "You're right, as much as I hate to admit it, Korra. No one suspected Kuvira would bring her spirit weaponry on top of a massive bending controlled and spirit-vine fueled Colossus a week ago. And this special project Tonga tried to warn us about… I cannot find out what the project is. As much as I hate to send Bumju out on another scouting mission, on second thought, we have to know what could be so horrible to deserve sudden death." A single tear dropping down Raava's cheek, Korra realized there was a real possibility Bumju… might not come back, the unknown weighing heavily on her mind. Sighing deeply, Raava called those still awake over, telling a concerned-looking Bumi, "I know you love Bumju, and he was my first convert, but Bumi – this could be his biggest contribution." Bumi began crying, saying, "Can I at least see Bumju again before he goes?" Raava said, patting Bumi on the arm, "Yes. Anything else would be cruel. Bumju!"

With that, the large friendly spirit appeared, trilling happily as he came from near the tree, Korra hearing, "Don't worry, Bumi – I'll be fine!" Feeling a sense of dread nonetheless, Korra watched Bumju vanish after Bumi gave him a big hug, wondering what the spirit would find. Remembering she had a job to do, she turned to Raava, saying, "While Bumju sees what he can find, we need to work, and test." Raava did not respond, crying lightly as Bumi re-assured her, "If spirits can die, or be locked away forever now, I can think of no better way for Bumju to go than seeing what this mystery project is." Korra heard Asami say, voice cracking, "My father sacrificed himself for the greater good, Bumi. I'll be there for you, Bumi, should Bumju not return."

* * *

Bumju was not sure why everyone else had been so afraid, still feeling care-free as he found himself over the Great Banyan tree, twirling and fluttering his way towards Zaofu, remembering his earlier scouting mission.

_Go in small – you need to avoid being spotted at all costs._

Heeding Raava's advice, Bumju shrunk down to a less noticeable size, turning spectral at the same time. After a while, he approached the plain surrounded by mountains that had once been Zaofu, seeing many small red humanoid outlines. Spotting a group that looked especially mean, even seeing a Dark Spirit apparently sitting at a table inside a mountain, Bumju flitted from rock to rock, making sure to avoid prying eyes. He drew on Bumi's war stories for knowledge, not sure why other humans hated them so much.

Before entering the mountain, Bumju silently scanned the valley floor, hearing Raava curse as he took in the massive amount of dark spirit vines and their vile energy. Bumju slipped near the two humans and single Dark Spirit, listening from inside the wall.

"I don't care if the enemy might strike and annihilate part of our forces. We've got a huge technology gap, Vaazula. We aren't moving out until our preparations are finished." Slamming his hand down on the table, the big human continued, "Speaking of gaps… they have SIX bending spirits, one of which can bend two elements. And those mechasuits we saw briefly, through whatever you called that friendly plant-like Dark Spirit – they looked like they could take out whole platoons of soldiers in even the most inexpert of hands, much less… admittedly strong fighters like Avatar Korra and Asami Sato." Another human said, snickering, "What, so now you admire the Avatar and her lover's abilities, as well as being a filthy liar? Beifong!" At first, the big human looked like he wanted to kill the smaller one, instead saying, "Jang, you're walking a very fine line. Now either start acting like you should be, or I'm strapping you into an airship, sending you on a one-way trip to let the Great Banyan tree have its way with you!"

_Well, I guess they completely understand what the Great Banyan tree can do now. Rats. So much for the trap. Just stay put, Bumju._

The big human began laughing wildly as the smaller one cowered in fear, saying, "S-sorry, sir. What you said earlier about family, specifically mine – it's true. I need to master my jealousy, before you kill me." What appeared to be a human female but was really a Dark Spirit sighed, saying, "As long as you have a use and remain loyal, Jinshu Kuangmai has no need to dispatch of you. Right, 'Dark Human'?" Bumju stifled a disgusted squeak at what must have been the female spirit's nickname for the big human, hearing the big human respond, "I love it when you call me that. Right, Vaazula. I vaguely hope that when you gain bending tomorrow, Raava tries to infuse you with the real Azula's experiences. Her knowledge would prove most useful. I am sure you will be able to resist insanity. Or, if the rumors really are true, her… sexual preferences." The Dark Spirit laughed, saying, "Of course! I suspected that the gift would come at a price – Korra's not a complete moron, to give an enemy dual bending _just _to ensure the safety of the prison camp. That's not to say we'll renege on the deal – the allure of bending is too great… greater than killing all those prisoners. Firebending…"

_CRAP! Crap crap crap!_

Bumju stayed quiet, listening intently as Raava continued to curse in stronger English, finally thinking, "Please be quiet! I can't hear!"

_Sorry. Korra is not happy either… although, she's glad to hear we may have additional time for the evacuation._

Bumju managed to catch the smaller human looking proud as he said, "Jinshu Kuangmai, if my idea works, will you promise to never kill me?" The larger human sneered, "Perhaps. We do need better security against little snoops like Bumju, and linking dark spirit vines to those specialized towers you designed should block Zaofu from unwanted intruders. Just like I did earlier, stopping Tonga from spilling the beans about my greatest idea. Forget spirit weapons – if it works, we can – wait a minute. Something doesn't feel right… Like I'm being watched." The female spirit said, looking around wildly, "Jang, get those towers up immediately! I can feel a very faint presence of a Raava-allied spirit - his fear, specifically! Hmmm… some kind of flying rabbit? Wait - I recognize him. BUMJU! Come out, you coward!"

Bumju did not wait to see their response, asking Raava to transport him away. He trilled sadly, looking at a frowning Korra as he "said", "I am sorry, Avatar Korra, that I could not find out what the secret project is." After Raava showed all Bumju's other human friends what had happened, Bumi hugged Bumju, saying, "You tried your best, and didn't get hurt, Bumju. It sounds like we might have a little extra time tomorrow. Plus, we learned Korra was right – never underestimate the enemy." Laughing, Bumi added, "Look what underestimating the enemy got the URN forces with the Equalists," Bumju trilling happily once more, completely forgetting about this secret project.

* * *

Korra felt extremely frustrated – Jinshu Kuangmai knew that the Great Banyan tree was most definitely a trap now, Vaazula had a _pet name _for her human… "love" interest, and the mystery project remained that – a mystery! Sighing, she turned to Asami, Kuvira, Varrick and Zhu Li, saying, "Show me those lightning streams again. I need something good after that failure…. Not that it was Bumju's fault. At least we'll have some time before the more technologically advanced Earth Empire forces show up." Korra watched as Zhu Li projected a large stream of lightning from her suit's stocky arms, Zhu Li saying happily, "With this, I can have all the nitrate I want, any time!" Varrick stopped shooting lightning steams from Iron Varrick's twin Liser-sighted hybrid VarriMag and lightning projectors, lost deep in thought. Kuvira was too busy testing out her new twin breastbeams and electrified whips to notice Mako grumbling as he had been since Korra made the modification to hear Varrick when he said, "Kuvira, I think I know a way to revolutionize the United Earth Republic! KUVIRA! Stop playing with your mechasuit, and listen to me!" Kuvira stopped, saying impatiently, "This better be good, Varrick. That was an awful lot of fun. Though, the beams aren't quite as good as they could be…" Varrick groaned, saying, "Of course it's good! I figured it out – nitrate must be good for plants too, given how the bird crap tree sprouted so fast, and there's nitrate in the bird poo! With enough lightning generation of nitrate, we could make Ba Sing Se a true fortress for cheap, totally self-sufficient! If this lightning fertilizer boosts production enough, Ba Sing Se might even be able to _export_ food." Raava ran over, saying with a smile, "Sounds like you're going to be very busy soon, Zhu Li. I won't give you any hints – just know that Varrick's idea is a solid one, and the basis for a revolution in food production."

Coughing, Korra said, "That's good to know, but we have a battle to fight tomorrow. I'm done with all these constant suit modifications – any more weapons and features, and the user will be overwhelmed." Korra saw Asami inside her suit, looking like she was concentrating intensely, saying, "Asami, over here!" After making a quick succession of movements, illuminating different points on the ground, Korra watched in amazement as Asami managed to produce not one, but three different lightning streams, albeit very close together and all but one fading very quickly. Clearly not satisfied, Asami said, "Needs more Lisers, so there can be more lightning paths." Korra shook her head, saying, "While that sounds like a great idea, I think we need to stop before these suits become too heavy, if nothing else. Just look at Zhu Li's! " Looking around and seeing dwindling spirit wire supplies, Korra added, "_We _still have a massive transport to create. I will likely need help for this task. Come on – the Flying Tuna is over here, near the airfield. Everyone, bring supplies, and don't forget the large spirit vine cuttings!"

Making ready to leave, Korra saw Kuvira lagging behind, looking slightly troubled. Walking over, Korra said, "What's eating at you? And don't bother lying – I can just read you, remember." Kuvira sighed, saying, "Nothing. I was just thinking." Sensing Kuvira was mostly telling the truth, Korra decided not to push anything, saying, "What were you thinking about?" Korra burst out laughing when Kuvira said, deadpan, "Breastbeams." Korra listened as Kuvira explained, Kuvira only snickering once, "Remember the ball I suggested for the front on the Raging Shark Whale? What if you put that kind of setup on the chest weapons – including Varrick's?"

Watching as everyone else worked, Korra said, "That's a good idea, but how can we make it look not totally ridiculous? Balls on the end of metal breasts… not exactly low-key." Laughing, Kuvira said, "Oh, like breastbeams are low key in the first place. What if we just put the ball's outside flush with the surface? There could even be a cover, if you're thinking about modesty at all. A press conference with condenser rings above where your… you know." Korra blushed slightly, saying, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's see what Raava will do for us – I want to leave nothing to chance with the Raging Shark Whale."

After Korra had gotten all five mechasuits in front of her, including Zhu Li's Thing just because, Korra explained what Kuvira had come up with, laughing when Zhu Li said, "Do mine too – but more room for ammunition disk storage!" Korra nodded, saying, "Sure – I can barely tell that thing is supposed to be female as is anyways," a small smile forming on her face when Zhu Li blushed lightly after Varrick said, "Throw some more curves in there, while you're at it!" Seeing Zhu Li didn't protest, Korra let Raava take over, enjoying the entirely different feeling of oneness as she let go control. Remembering her earlier struggle, Korra thought, "How is this not violating my free will, to let you control me like a puppet?"

_You're letting me control you, direct you, guide you, like a child following her mother's commands eagerly. That's love, in its purest form._

Satisfied with the answer and wondering what play with Asami might be, doing something similar, Korra told everyone, "Test the weapons, and let's go!" Initially just watching, Korra still found the sight of controlled spirit rays coming from breasts funny. Testing her own, Korra found her suit functioning smoothly. Done with the test, she flew over to the airfield, saying, "Let's go!" Once everyone had assembled near the airfield, Korra said, as she used Avatar State earthbending to create an outline of where the spirit vines would need to be placed, "Okay, listen up! Anyone who cannot bend metal, fire or water who's not on the braintrust should go help Asami, Varrick and Zhu Li gather up everything else we'll need to make, and then put on this plane. That includes extra supplies, building materials, key things like parts from the lovetree and extra tuber-vines. Leave five here for Firelord Izumi, Ty Lee and Mai - I suspect Firelord Izumi already has one, the one she found in Republic City. Maybe her recluse of a daughter is already experimenting on it. Oh, and last but not least, Poki, Pabu and Naga. And try to keep Naga away from me – I don't want to screw up because she licks me." As her parents laughed, Korra waited until everyone was near to infobend out the design for the Raging Shark Whale, making a slight modification, multiple independently-targetable Lisers and lightning generators now having dedicated weapon pods near the tips of the wings, realizing Meelo would need to knock out many targets at once.

Helping move the rest of the materials and miscellaneous ammunition using her mechasuit, Korra saw everyone else learning to use their mechasuits with only slight issues. Korra idly tested her thigh blades in the Avatar State, smiling broadly when she saw she would be able to bend the four elements from them at a distance. Enthralled by this amazing blend of technology and bending, she nearly hit Varrick in his own mechasuit, Varrick yelling through the comm system, "Hey, watch it! I don't want a peg-leg! I may have stolen Asami's stuff a long time ago, but that doesn't mean I want to be a pirate. Well, not too bad, anyways. With the Zhu Li all fixed up with the new stuff, I'd be the terror of the seas!" Korra laughed, asking, "What do you want, Varrick?" Korra listened intently as Varrick said, "Kuvira was just idly talking with me over the radio, waiting for something to do, and she came up with another idea. We can't decide what to call it just yet, but the basic idea is this - we have tuber-vine powered super Kuviracomputers in each capital city, and when things settle down, we can link them together underneath the sea using massive cables. Eska and Desna could talk to your parents in an instant with this system."

_Oh my. Maybe you need to try out Jang Hui kelp tea sometime, Korra - they just invented the… nevermind. I'll let you come up with your own name._

Sick and tired of serving as a relay, projecting and infobending and _talking _all the time, Korra said enthusiastically, "Great! And I can go to the seafloor and put Raava's energy around the cables, so no one can mess with them! When do you want to start?" Korra snickered when she heard Kuvira butt in over the radio, saying, "As soon as we can decide on a name, and central waystation for this idea." Figuring that both Varrick and Kuvira wanted their name to be attached to the project, Korra said, "We'll call it the Kuvarrinet. Oh hush, Varrick - it's using her computers!" Korra sighed as Varrick continued insisting on calling it the Varrinet, Kuvira starting to get cranky as well, finally telling them, "HUSH! What are you, toddlers? I just can't stand people hopped up on Jang Hui kelp tea. Makes you act like a genius hyperactive manchild or womanchild, apparently. I'll call it Korranet if you don't quit complaining, both of you. Technically, if it weren't for my idea about tuber-vine brains, Kuviracomputers would just be a big hunk of metal." When neither objected, much to Korra's surprise, she said, "Good. And I think I know just the place to house the central hub for this communications and military network, the 'Kuvarrinet' - Ember Factory Island. If the central lovetree is anything like the Great Banyan tree, it will be very hard to take out the central super Kuviracomputer, and it can be linked to the Fire Nation and Northern Water Tribe very easily." Thinking of another good, secondary location, Korra added, "The second hub can be near my little addition to Air Temple Island, which I think could do with some more additions anyways. Or maybe inside the mountains outside Republic City. But that's something for another time, after I talk to Tenzin, Jinora and President Raiko about all this."

Seeing that everyone who could help was gathered around her, Jinora jumping up and down, asking, "What are you guys talking about?" Korra tried out one of the unique features of her mechasuit, glad to see a world map projected from her right palm as she explained the idea with her helmet down. After a round of applause, Korra saw that Jinora looked to be lost deep in thought, asking Jinora, "What's the matter? I thought you liked the idea." Jinora nodded, saying, "Oh, yes, I love it, but seeing that world map with these supercomputer locations… there's one nation missing." At first, Korra was confused, saying, "What do you mean? You've got the two Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, the United Earth Republic, the United Republic of Nations, and you've got the Air Nation, based on Air Temple Island." Jinora smiled, saying, "After tomorrow, there will be a lot more airbenders out and about in the world, no longer hiding inside Omashu. No matter how much you expand Air Temple Island, I think we need an actual capital city." Letting Tenzin calm back down, Jinora continued, "With your ability to repair massive amounts of damage or create anew, Korra, I would love it if you would rebuild the Northern Air Temple as a central airbender hub." Jinora laughed when Tenzin lifted her in the air, telling her father, "I hope you stay this happy." After her father put her back down, clearly happy with Jinora's idea, Jinora said, as though she were about to make Tenzin mad again, "Although, I'll want help designing a decidedly new addition to the Northern Air Temple, from Kuvira, Varrick, Asami, Bumi and my father, should he decide to help. Probably Baatar Sr., as well – he's a good architect. I want a secondary spire. An armory and military complex."

Tenzin looked furious, saying, "Are you suggesting that the Air Nation have a standing military, Jinora? That runs contrary to everything Air Nomads have ever stood for!" Jinora sighed, saying, "Times change. Dad, my brother has designed many things to kill people, to put it bluntly. And you were advising me that I needed to be more willing to take life less than a week ago. This _volunteer _military would be only for when other nations request assistance, or for self-defense." At first, Tenzin looked hesitant, finally saying flatly, "You're right about what I said, Jinora, but I will take some time getting used to this idea. When it comes down to it, I… I guess I don't like change." Tenzin squirmed slightly when Pema hugged him tightly, blushing when she said, "That's it! That's why you can't fly, sweetie!" Tenzin mulled it over, admitting, "Perhaps. That's something for another time, though - let's help Korra make this transport… gunship so we can get out of here." Meelo and Jinora joined the hug, Meelo saying, "Maybe after you see what the Raging Shark Whale can do tomorrow, you won't have so many reservations, dad. It can transport _and _protect refugees." Tenzin smiled, saying, "I suppose everything has its time and place."

Korra smiled, saying before she put her helmet back on, "And it's now the time and place to make this beast. Mom, dad, Kya, Katara - I want you to see if you can hold the spirit vine sections aloft in the air, in the proper orientation." After they had successfully done so, only managing to hold up the spirit vines for the cockpit and forward section of the plane, Korra realized she'd need to help. Lifting the rest into place, Korra said loudly over the radio, Sharktooth turning on outside speakers, "Okay - everyone who can metalbend, I need you to form the hull and wings now. I'll place in as much of a spiritwire network as possible – this thing will likely come under spirit weaponry fire tomorrow." The process was slow-going, even using the Flying Tuna as a crude base for parts, Korra felt like a moron when she realized she hadn't been in the Avatar State during the whole process. Before turning on the power boost, Korra stopped, thinking, "Wait - how am I able to elevate all those spirit vines, without the Avatar State?" Korra got her answer when she heard Kuvira yell loudly over the radio in excitement, Korra watching in amazement as she saw the metal shift substantially as Kuvira said, "This suit's amazing – I feel like I'm the Avatar! BEND, metal, bend!" Entering the Avatar State and making sure to emulate Kuvira's apparent pushing of her mechasuit, Korra found herself able to keep the spirit vines elevated with her right hand and able to manipulate the metal and new spiritwire sprawl with her thighblades and other hand. Feeling a little tired, Korra stopped moving, realizing as she watched Kuvira finish the basic metalwork that the mechasuits somehow greatly enhanced the user's bending.

Drawing on her spirit to finish off the Raging Shark Whale, knowing only she or Raava could do all the fine detail work, Korra felt herself becoming gradually more and more tired. At first, she thought she would be unable to finish the craft, feeling weak, closing her eyes. Korra saw many images of herself getting her ass kicked over the years, her failure to defend Raava against Unalaq and defeat outside Zaofu stinging her particularly badly. Korra knew that it was weakness of will and not body that was her downfall outside Zaofu instead of inexperience and reluctance to fully use her Avatar State power, like with Unalaq and so many other times. Thinking on why she never used the Avatar State very much until recently, Korra realized the answer – she felt it was a crutch, and she felt like she needed to prove herself strong, with Raava's help. Ignoring some small nagging, voice, Korra let herself get angry, yelling as she moved, "I AM NOT WEAK! I am STRONG! I will take WHATEVER help I can get and use EVERYTHING in my power, and not hold back any longer!" A wonderful burst of adrenaline rushed over her, managing to not only finish the Raging Shark Whale, but improve it slightly, somehow accessing knowledge from the Plane:Earth wing to help. Flipping her helmet down, Korra admired her work, explaining to a shocked audience what had happened, finishing, "I want to test-drive this thing! Meelo, watch what the wings can do now! Without bending!"

As Korra left her mechasuit, she felt a searing pain dance its way from her forehead down her spine, hearing a very annoyed Raava intone, _While I'm glad you're re-connecting with your older, headstrong self, there are limits! Quick, grab Asami - we have a pool we need to visit. _Korra felt herself fading, asking out loud as her mechasuit's hand moved in of itself, hearing a gravelly voice lecturing her, "What did I… do to myself…"

When Korra woke up, she found herself submerged in a pool of water, Raava standing over her as she moved her hands back and forth, Raava saying, "Don't move. While you free will has no limits, your spirit, particularly what you can do while directly drawing upon it for power, does. Now just stay still." Smiling, Raava added, Korra too weak to laugh, "Nice job bypassing the lock on adjustable geometry wings, though, Korra, and the controls. You even managed to make the wings able to pivot downwards - something no Earth engineer has figured out how to do." Smiling, Korra said, "We… don't have… to worry about… wires and twisting, like they do. Tell me - why did the blueprint I saw, the 'F-14 Tomcat', seem so right somehow? It read 'United States Air Force' on a portion." Raava sighed, saying as Asami came into view, Atokara in tow, "That fighter jet was designed by the nation founded after the rebellion against the English my co-worker showed you on Earth succeeded. They formed the 'United States of America' that you mentioned. It was also the nation you, Asami and Jinora saw obliterated by a mix of fusion and what they call 'uranium' warheads." Raava groaned deeply when Atokara asked, tugging on Raava's white hair, "Can I learn more about them? Huh, Raava? Are they anything like the United Earth Republic?" Pushing Atokara away as Asami laughed, Raava said, "Perhaps, and sort of. Their system of government is similar to the United Earth Republic's, but has differences in power structure that I am sure would bore anyone but Jinora. No, make that Wan Shi Tong - she seems to be more and more about fighting."

Raava put her hands on her hips angrily when Korra asked, feeling the same age as Atokara, "Raava, do you think mister Zaheer might like them? These Americans? Or the United Earth Republic? I wanna make friends with everybody I can!" Korra blushed, crossing her small arms over a pudgy belly as Raava laughed hysterically, saying, "You're a little too connected with your inner child in some ways, Korra. Zaheer hates every government. You need to grow up." Korra stuck out her tongue, saying, "Well, I'm the Avatar right now, and you gotta deal with it!"

Feeling the water lap around her body, Korra closed her eyes, ignoring Raava, placing her hand on the bottom of the pool, giggling when she felt two fish touch her. At first, Korra wanted to try and catch the fish, but she stopped, keeping her eyes closed, watching a set of images she found fascinating appear, even hearing sound eventually. Korra felt rock creep over her small hand and lower body, cursing in English at Raava's attempts to pry her loose from the pool, saying, "I wanna watch this weird-looking mover! Go away, Raava!"

With that, Korra felt Raava stop tugging on her, Raava saying, "Very well, I will respect your free will. Just remember - this takes real time, so I'll be cutting it a little short." Still unable to move her arms, Korra protested, "NO! I wanna watch more!" Asami laughed, saying, "Come on, Raava - I think I know what Korra wants to watch. That 'television' show Aang told Jinora about, my best guess. She can heal and regain strength from her exertions while she's in the pool." Ribbing Raava, Asami added, "Plus, maybe you could contact some people who need to be brought up to speed. Like President Raiko, Jasmine, Yangchen, Baatar Jr, unpronounceable Grand Lotus guy…" Raava smiled, saying, "Good idea, Asami. Korra, this should take roughly twenty to thirty minutes, and when this first episode is done, you're out of that pool." As if anticipating Korra's thoughts, Raava added, "And no, you can't show this to anyone else. Not for a long time, at least. And just watch, enjoy it - don't analyze it."

As Korra closed her eyes again, the mover resumed, not sure if she thought the weird art style was stupid or beautiful. When she saw Roku bending fire, she yelled, "Beautiful!", wondering who the beautiful woman was at the end. She had this stupid pudgy belly - surely, that wasn't her! Korra was about to ask a question, but found herself mesmerized by Tenzin's voice, idly wondering "How often did Aang get beaten up?" The mover stopped after Tenzin's voice said "Firelord Zuko," showing a quick succession of images in the same art style showing a young Aang getting his butt kicked in numerous different ways, Korra laughing when she saw him get his butt "kicked" by hallucinations. Feeling some odd energy temporarily, Korra thought, "You can't win all the time," seeing images in the same art style of what she knew to be herself taking frequent dirt naps. For a moment, she felt ashamed, but took a deep breath, saying, "But I got back up! That's what really counts! Never give up!"

Feeling something strengthen within, the original "mover-toon" resumed, Korra slightly bored by the rest of what Tenzin had to say, knowing everything. Watching what came next, Korra smiled broadly when her mother said, "Korra, please come in here," laughing wildly when she heard herself say, "I'm the Avatar, and you gotta deal with it!" The frame froze for a second as she felt another pleasant energy, saying out loud, "And I'm still the Avatar, and people - and spirits - will just have to deal with it! Raava included!" Taking a quick look at Raava, Raava said, "Hmmm, interesting. You unblocked your chakras fully, and now you're improving and strengthening more, what people on Earth would call, 'Western' concepts - your self-esteem and ego. But in a good way. Now just watch, and let me at least contact one person before saying something again!"

Closing her eyes again as she heard Asami laugh, Korra loved the way the fire was depicted as she passed her firebending test, but not the way her adult self was using it - no restraint, just like the old White Lotus man said. Korra was rather shocked when she heard a different male voice say, over top of a different Earth mover-toon scene, "Do not swing too far the other way, Korra. I am not you - I am Avatar Roku. You can see what my mercy cost me with Sozin. But your deal with 'Tonga Beifong' strikes me as the worst kind of foolishness imaginable." Korra sighed, saying, "Just let me watch! I make my own decisions, old man."

After the sound of an old man sighing deeply, the main mover-toon resumed, Korra getting too caught up in the first episode of this "Legend of Korra" to think any more, laughing, cringing and crying freely. Korra didn't even notice the swirling energy around her. As she watched the end credits, she felt rock shatter around her, now fully "old and boring" again. Feeling as confident as the Korra she had just watched and as full of hope, rejuvenated, she grabbed Asami's butt after leaving the pool, saying, "I can't wait to watch the first one with you in it." Looking around, seeing Raava looking busy, Korra drew on her spirit to sneak Asami what she had just seen using infobending, Asami saying, "Wow. That was something else." Remembering what Professor Zei had said about the storage system, Korra said loudly, wondering if commands would carry in the Spirit World, "Wan Shi Tong Spirit Library Kuviracomputer, store 'Book 1: Air Episode 1: Welcome to Republic City' under a new infile." Korra got angry when she heard a computerized voice from beside her say from behind a rock, "Error: infile already exists," realizing that Raava had been hiding this all along. She was puzzled when it continued, asking, "High Clearance User Avatar Korra, overwrite infile, or create new infile?"

Going over the first Earth mover-toon in her mind, she said, "Keep old infile, and keep the label, tagged 'Suitable for all ages'. Create new infile, named 'The Legend of Korra: Alive', but with missing events added, such as the two Red Lotus attacks, and Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq's little memory wipe. Label 'Judgment or consultation with the nearest tuber-vine advised before viewing.' And make it so we can take physical copies out, if we use a Spirit Portal." Pausing, Korra added, "But keep the art style. I can't wait to see what everything looks like. Especially the first time I have sex with you, gorgeous." Asami blushed, saying, "Thanks, but I'm not so sure they'd show that on what looked like a kid's show." Looking ashen, Asami said, "I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped as soon as we entered the Spirit Portal. If they even showed that…" Shifting slightly, Korra heard the computerized voice intone, "Affirmative. Infile for 'Legend of Korra' from Earth stops at Spirit Portal." Smiling, Korra said, "Well, I guess we'll have to fix that. With infobending, our production costs should be non-existent."

Korra rolled her eyes as she listened to Raava lecture her, scoffing before saying, "Relax, Raava. Remember what you said about not interfering with my free will. And plus, this thing wouldn't be released until we get things better under control." Laughing, Korra continued, "It probably wouldn't be the best thing to release something that depicts me getting my ass kicked so often when I need public support. Maybe release the other one instead, and let Varrick and Zhu Li get the profit from it." Raava looked deep in thought, finally saying, "I don't know. I suppose people seeing your past life's mercy for Ozai would be good, maybe deflect criticism for you not just going for Jinshu Kuangmai's throat tomorrow." Chuckling, Raava added, "'Avatar: The Last Airbender' would also not require much 'additions', given it's about Aang's younger years and he didn't do anything sexual with Katara for a good while after defeating Ozai."

Raava smiled, saying, "Enough about that. We can come back to that later. Jasmine has been told in greater detail about the clothes and earth dummy deception, as well as the fact that Wu will be coming from underneath with badgermoles and that she can expect the initial assault to not include the more advanced military hardware that Jinshu Kuangmai is creating right now. Yangchen has been told that Omashu _should _ be safe, but I advised them to create bunkers outside the city just in case. Baatar Jr. is delaying slightly, wanting to make sure the URN military forces, civilian volunteers and Equalists are equipped for battle and not slaughter. They should be ready to move out soon. For now, President Raiko and _both _Irohs are overseeing the operation with Sokka helping, Uncle Iroh better at land operations than sea. Not that Iroh II has a stellar track record…" Sighing, Raava said, "I'm afraid Ataninnuaq met with less success. Apparently, Zaheer has become a little unhinged - well, more than usual - because he can no longer meditate into the Spirit World without Long Yumao booting him out. When Ataninnuaq went to see him, Zaheer tried to knock him over with a powerful breath, Ataninnuaq freezing him in ice. They've put a special muffling mask on him, not wanting someone to get knocked out and the keys sucked off them. Given what Ataninnuaq said, Zaheer's been practicing mouth airbending in lieu of visiting the Spirit World." Raava frowned slightly, saying, "And I tried seeing if I could get any help to see what Jinshu Kuangmai is up to, but no dice. Although…" Aang appearing, Raava asked him, "Do you think it is likely that Koh may know what Jinshu Kuangmai is planning, given his unusual pathways to information?" Aang shook his head, saying, "I don't know."

Korra heard the muffled sounds of clacking feet, musing quietly to herself that she never thought she'd be glad to hear from Koh the Face-Stealer. Yelling loudly, knowing she was out of range of face stealing atop the strange elevated rock, "Koh, tell us what you know! Something tells me whatever Jinshu Kuangmai is planning, it involves spirits!" Korra groaned when she heard Koh say, "Forget it! Give me a face, and I'll talk - tell you what I know." At first, a devious idea occurred to Korra, knowing Zaheer's weakened state would leave him vulnerable to Koh, but she rejected it, saying, "No. And don't you owe me a favor anyways, Avatar Kuruk sparing your life?" She heard Koh's voice sigh, saying, "Enough. I tire of this game, Avatar. Or should I say, Avatars… I can sense you up there, Aang." Aang sighed, saying, "What you told me, a lifetime ago, about the Moon and Ocean spirits - it helped both spirits and humans alike. Something tells me this is no different." Korra heard Koh give out a dejected sigh, saying, "You are right. And Long Yumao would probably bite me in two if he knew how long I avoided telling the Avatar, ally to _all _spirits, about this." After a slithering sighing, she heard Koh say, "All I will say is this. I speak in riddles, not clear statements. 'For every yin, there is a yang, even between different kinds of darkness. Reciprocity is coming.' And, to be honest for once, this is all I know." Korra sighed, saying, "Thanks, but that favor still isn't repaid. That was awfully… vague."

With this, she heard Koh howl from below, Koh saying with anger, "You think I like the vagueness any better? I don't particularly like the idea of reciprocity - someone stealing my faces? Or what about Long Yumao - someone - bah! Too ridiculous to even say." Before Korra could say anything, she heard the clacking of many feet fading fast, frustrated.

Sitting down, she thought over the riddle, realizing that the yin and yang between darkness must have referred to Long Yumao and Jinshu Kuangmai. Thinking of Long Yumao's ultimate goal and reciprocity, she still found herself at a dead end, only one ridiculous idea occurring to her, dismissing it out of hand. Given how Raava was laughing, she thought it ridiculous too, saying, "That idea. Hah - Jinshu Kuangmai, enslaving Long Yumao! Now there's a long shot. Enough with this riddle garbage - we've got a flight to catch. Your bodies have all been loaded onto the plane, apparently with Bumju's help, from what he's trilling on about."

Remembering an earlier promise, Korra said, knowing the enhancement that the nearby pool provided to communication via projection, "Tell Tenzin to get Meelo in here. We've got some girl named… Tuyen to find?" Raava sighed, saying, "Tomorrow, Korra. I will only say I delay, because I don't want to trouble Meelo. Or give him any reason to just mow down Earth Empire elites…" Seeing the stink-eye Korra was giving Raava, Raava said, "She's more than fine, Korra, and her parents. I just don't want Meelo taking the wrong message away from her story, especially not before a battle. She didn't call for the deaths of the elites in Ba Sing Se when she gave her speech, and she wouldn't want him committing mass slaughter over what happened to her." Raava slapped her hand over her mouth, cursing in English, Korra smiling as she said, "Said too much, huh? Sounds like we've got more than just official business in Ba Sing Se, and Tuyen's more than just a pretty face. Wonder why they described her as a 'peasant girl', though… Ikki told me Tuyen looked well off on the way to Zaofu, much to Meelo's _great _pleasure." Raava grinned nervously, saying, "Let's just say in times of chaos and uncertainty, wealth is… fluid." Korra shrugged, saying, "Hey - there's a lot worse things that could happen to you than losing your _money_. At least Tuyen still has her parents, unlike Mako and Bolin, or Asami."

Raava stood silent, finally saying, "I'm sorry - you're right. While you take a tour of your creation with Asami, I can talk to Meelo, if you wish." Korra nodded, asking, "There any chance you could somehow gauge his reaction without showing him what happened? Like a pre-reading?" Raava laughed, saying, "NO! That sounds awfully human-y to me, and even with all this, I'm still learning the ropes, so to speak. Now let me back in so I can learn more!"

After a slight jolt, Korra found herself laying against Naga's side next to Asami, her parents idly talking to her other side. Yawning, her father said, "Oh good, you're back. And glowing. Literally." The yawn infectious, Korra yawned, then asked, hearing some shouting and light cursing, feeling energy dim inside her in more ways than one, "What's going on? Why does it sound like Meelo and Bumi are fighting?" Her father laughed deeply as her mother said, "Just trying to decide who gets to pilot the Raging Shark Whale while on Jang Hui kelp tea." Not liking the sound of either option, Korra leapt up, grabbing Asami's arm as she said, "Neither one of them are going to! They need to sleep!"

Looking side to side slightly as she ran through the cavern that was the inside of the transport, she saw everyone else looked exhausted; the only ones who were fully awake were Zhu Li, Meelo and Bumi. Giving Zhu Li an exasperated look, Korra groaned, "Don't tell me you gave them more Jang Hui kelp tea, after giving everyone else the antidote." Zhu Li nodded, saying, "Yes, I did. Who do you expect to pilot this huge thing? Meelo designed it, and Bumi has military 'cred', I believe. Is that the right term?" Korra shrugged, saying, "I guess. Now help me pry them apart!"

As she approached, she could make out Meelo saying, "No, Uncle Bumi, you can't test the weapons out on the sea! You might kill some innocent creature - and we need to conserve ammunition anyways!" Bumi whined, saying, finishing as crossed his arms, "Come on - just one little Meesile! I wanna see this stuff in action! And I didn't even get my tank!" Torn between curiosity about this tank and wanting to smack Bumi, Korra said, clearing her throat, "Ahem. You both need sleep, Jang Hui kelp tea or not. I mean, Bumi, how else will you see your mom and dad when they were younger again? And Meelo - don't you want to see grandpa Aang again?" Bumi immediately stopped squabbling, letting Meelo sit on his head in triumph as he said, "Sure! Zhu Li, do the thing! The knockout tea thing!" Zhu Li chuckled, saying melodramatically, "Only Varrick gets to tell me that!" laughing when Bumi had a genuinely concerned response, giving him a teacup anyways. At first, Korra laughed as well, but stopped, asking, "Okay - but who's going to pilot this thing?"

When Korra heard a loud trilling from behind her, her first instinct was to laugh, snickering slightly when her brain translated Bumju's speech as, "I'm a spirit - I don't need sleep! Can I try?" Given his slight whimper, Bumju must have caught her snickering, Korra apologizing, saying, "Sorry, Bumju. Just one problem - no one has ever flown this thing before." Korra not keen to wreck the craft she had worked herself near to breaking on, she was glad to hear Asami volunteer, "I'm a pretty good pilot and driver, and when I'm done, you can transfer the knowledge to Bumju, and everyone else can go to sleep." Korra nodded, saying, "I want to take a look around - see how much stuff fit in here." With that, Korra turned around, Asami too enthralled with the controls to respond.

* * *

Asami was mesmerized - these controls looked like nothing she had ever seen before. Not wanting to accidentally discharge a weapon or send the transport careening into the sea, she looked around for instructions of some sort, finally seeing more conventional controls off to one side. Sliding in the pilot's chair to the side, she involuntarily jerked a little when she heard a voice laugh from a speaker, then say, "Hey, check this out, Patientstem - I guess Asami's old fashioned! Doesn't like the new controls Korra made. Or rather, stole." Rubbing her head, Asami asked, "Uh, Jinorahead - I thought all she changed was the wing shifting?" The voice laughed, saying, "Nope! Why don't you go look at the real controls and sensors."

Asami rolled back over on the track the pilot's chair was linked to, taking a good look at the display above the controls for the first time. Laying her head back against the headrest, she was surprised to hear a computerized voice say, "Hello, High Clearance User Asami Sato. I detect you need instruction. Do you wish manual instruction, or direct instruction from the Plane: Earth wing?" Forgetting all about time concerns, Asami said, "The first one!"

The computerized voice that she recognized earlier from the Spirit World said, "Request acknowledged. Please wait until User Bumju is in attendance." Asami studied the display while waiting, noticing that there was a highly detailed world map projected onto a curved suface behind the main Kuviracomputer terminal and display. Seeing an odd detail, Asami commanded, "Computer, show me a detailed map of our current location," knowing the islands Korra and others had just created shouldn't be on the map. The image shifted, multiple displays of Ember Island and its new neighbors appearing, the Kuviracomputer intoning, "Multiple scanning systems online. No metallic movement or spirit energy activity detected in the immediate vicinity. Expanding scan…"

Asami sighed slightly, relieved to hear the computer say, "Scan in hundred mile radius detects no spirit energy activity, and scan in fifty mile radius detects no threatening metallic movements." Asami heard both panting and a loud trilling from behind her, hearing Korra say, "Forget the tour, I'm exhausted. Raava, help me show Asami, Bumju and Meelo how to pilot this thing. And computer, make sure to keep an eye on the spirit energy scanner." Feeling tired herself, Asami said, patting Korra on the shoulder, "Let's get this over with. I want to see my parents again, among… other things." As Asami felt a flow of information, she heard Atokara's voice remind her, "We've got somebody to help, remember, momma Korra and mommy Asami!"

Asami was rapidly becoming too tired to think coherently, accidentally calling Korra the dirty nickname she had come up with earlier. Korra blushed, saying, "You can do that to me, later, in the shared dream world. Good thing my parents and everyone else is already asleep. Don't want Meelo knowing _that _nickname…" Approaching a snoozing Naga next to Korra, Korra added, with a wink, "I like that name too. See you on the other side, Assami." Asami collapsed onto Naga's flank, the last thing she said before falling asleep being, "Can't wait to see what your little personal fantasy is, Korra."


	46. Chapter 46: Conscience

Chapter 46: Conscience

Kuvira did not know what to expect, falling asleep aboard the monstrous aircraft she had assisted Korra in creating. Looking around, she saw that Mako was sound asleep next to her, his brother by his side. Opal was the only one close who was still awake, Kuvira seeing that the airbender was giving her a skeptical look. With a long sigh, Kuvira said quietly, meeting Opal's gaze, "I know what you're probably thinking, Opal - 'One slip up, and I'll end you.' I know what I did to your family - to Zaofu. The monster I recruited - Toph's wayward son. How I started the abuse of spirit weaponry." Opal nodded, saying in the same quiet volume, "Close, but not quite. I was just wondering - have you had any… experiences, since the day after the battle? Ones that might be signs of trouble?"

Kuvira's pulse raced, knowing the answer to that question. One that she didn't like at all…

The answer was yes. One she had lied to Korra about earlier, unsure why Korra had not called her out on her small lie.

For a moment, she considered lying to Opal as well, both to keep her from worrying about something Opal couldn't control, and also to help keep up the façade - to herself. Hearing an inner voice say, "**Darkness hates exposure to light. Tell her," **Kuvira said, after a long pause, still quietly, "Yes, I have. They have only taken the form of dreams thus far, the dreams becoming more and more 'hellish', the closer I get to Mako, and the more I help…" Feeling bitter, Kuvira whispered, "I haven't had a truly good night's sleep since I changed, inside that wooden box. I just want this to be over…"

Seeing Opal's concerned look, Kuvira admitted lowly, "I should have told everyone about this earlier, but I didn't want to worry or distract anyone. There's a reason I've been hitting the Jang Hui kelp tea hard 'today', aside from the computer stuff - I want to avoid sleep..." Seeing an image she'd rather forget, of Korra crying in platinum chains displayed as a trophy, Kuvira continued, "The dream is always the same, in growing detail…" Remembering the outcome of the last dream, Kuvira choked up slightly, saying, "The last time, like every time, I was in Korra's shoes, facing off against my Colossus. Except Hiroshi never got through the armor…" Getting to the part that disturbed her the most, and an odd request for Opal, she said, breaking up intermittently, barely able to keep her voice down, "You can fill in the rest. But only partially. The dream continued last night, for the first time, past the fall of Republic City. As Korra, I was on the run, powerless to stop… myself? from continuing on past the goal of 're-unification' of the Earth Empire… The Northern Water Tribe was the first to fall, not even Tui and La combined with 'my' might able to stop an upgraded Colossus. Next was the failed defense of the Fire Nation, Firelord Izumi falling easily, cursing her decision to gut the military with her… dying breath. As Korra, I was yet again helpless to stop the Colossus at the South Pole, eventually bound in platinum chains and displayed in Ba Sing Se as a sick trophy, the world 'united' in what must have been less than four months. I can see the terror in your posture and sympathy in your eyes, Opal, but the worst is to come. I need you to do something." Opal nodded, crying slightly as she asked, "What is it?"

This the part that had truly unsettled her, Kuvira said, feeling shamed, "Though I feel clean in soul, sort of, when the dream was done, and over, waking up in a cold sweat… part of me _liked _what I had seen. Thoughts… Thinking I had slipped backwards, I tried meditating, only seeing an image of a tuber vine placing a white tendril over my heart, and a red and black tendril over my forehead." Opal interrupted, stopping Kuvira from making her request, saying with a hushed voice, "What we saw recently, about Korra five months ago or so… the envelope. It sounds to me like you have changed, but your mind is… stubborn. Just like Korra's was. And I think I know what you're going to ask - that if you ever slip backwards, you want me to kill you." Kuvira nodded grimly, saying very quietly, "Yes. And keep this to yourself, for now. To be honest… the only reason I confided in you was my conscience." Opal smiled warmly, saying a little too loudly for Kuvira's tastes, knowing there were others still up near the controls, "As long as you listen to that little voice - you, your better side, the one you want to be fully so badly - I really don't see what we have to worry about. I'd rather not kill my sister."

Kuvira sighed deeply, saying, "Thank you, I don't even feel worthy of you calling me that fully yet, but… You've never been through what I have, even if you have 'felt' it, thanks to infobending. I felt ready to break, in that crate… You've always been a good person, doing nothing to deserve the suffering you have felt, mainly at my hand." Wanting to close the conversation, Kuvira yawned, saying, "Sometimes, will alone is not enough. I would have likely taken years to get to where I am now, were it not for Raava's 'divine intervention'. No matter what happens, I want you to keep your willingness to take life - even if it is that of a traitor." Kuvira didn't like how Opal squirmed slightly, Kuvira saying flatly, "People will die tomorrow, Opal. And more will be injured. Make sure you do whatever it takes to not end up among the departed…" Seeing Opal still looked slightly torn, Kuvira added, with a very slight smile, "Pretend they're all me, pre-change, but worse. Because they are – aside from the conscripts, Jasmine's speech made sure of that. I know you would have stolen my breath after the fall of Zaofu, if you could have." Opal nodded, Kuvira confident she had taken the words to heart, glad to see her smiling slightly as she laid against Bolin.

Feeling some burden lifted off her soul, though the random thoughts still persisted, Kuvira lay back down at Mako's side, quietly wondering what Jinshu Kuangmai and his troops would think of the Raging Shark Whale and the five mechasuits as she drifted to sleep.

Kuvira found herself staring at a familiar white sphere with yin yang lines in pulsing blue. Out of panic, she ran up, putting her hand on the sphere, looking around to make sure she was alone.

As Kuvira waited, she found herself growing uncomfortable. Because of the absence of the normal dream, or any opponent at all - she didn't find this peace consoling at all. Impatiently tapping her foot on the floor, she heard a thought drift through her mind, what she saw shifting slightly when it was finished.

"There is still time… for true greatness."

Kuvira could see a massive humanoid-shaped mass appear in the darkness, and looking at her own hand, she saw her skin was much darker than normal. Saying "I don't want your kind of greatness!" loudly, she saw the female form move as though laughing, but she could hear no laughter.

All she heard was the sound of moving metal, smoother than anything her own Colossus had ever made.

Kuvira saw the form come into slightly better view as she felt an errant thought flit through her brain: "You aren't even Kuvira anymore! You dream of being Korra, fighting a hopeless battle against a superior foe. Your soul - I've seen airbenders with more steel in them! Like your… 'sister'. Pathetic. How you've fallen."

Kuvira winced slightly, hearing massive footsteps that brought this massive form into better view, feeling smaller somehow. Kuvira frowned deeply when she heard an audible voice for the first time - her own. Laughing, it said, "HAH! You're not even adult Korra anymore - you're a scared little child! Cower – it's the last thing you'll ever do!" Trying to peer into the cockpit, to see if the figure piloting it was metallic, she couldn't, crossing her now brown arms and saying, "Damn it!"

Somehow, this unseen pilot knew what she wanted to see, Kuvira not sure if she was glad to see it oblige, an unexpected part of the massive machine opening – a protrusion from the chest. Looking at whatever she could call this enemy, her brain, she saw spots of metal - but in all the wrong places. Around the neck, around the shoulders… down the back. The figure laughed as it turned around, saying as Kuvira took in her old personal armor with horror, "Your fear is feeding your soul's dark side - I hope you stay afraid, so it can help me make you forget everything. Like Korra's mind did. 'I' saw what Korra's brain did to her, under half a year ago, with aid, at the same time you did… I hope to do the same. Your darkness is weak, but the brain… all your old habits catch up to you, tonight! What I'll do?" Scowling, this representation of what years of evil actions had wrought on her mind continued, "MAKE you forget everything, all this garbage, you've had over the past week. Everything you're trying to foist on me - memories of being anything but an aspiring, no, successful conqueror." Spitting, knowing it was a purely symbolic act, Kuvira said, "That's what I think of you! I just wanted to unite the Earth Empire, misguidedly - not rule the world! Even that 'Uniter' title sickens me now!"

A flood of the thoughts that had plagued her brain after what Kuvira had thought the worst possible dream screamed through her head, seeing the blackness around her replaced by a bombed-out remnant of a city, near a shore. Seeing a familiar statue of one of the world's greatest ever Avatars lying in the water, beheaded, Kuvira felt her rage growing at the same rate her surroundings seemingly shrank.

Realizing what portion of the dream she was in now, Kuvira let the usual shift take place, noticing as she felt the shift occur that she now sported the Master Avatar Tattoos… that she had designed earlier, the remnants of the resistance against Kuvira having given her the markings, hoping for any power boost possible. Even if the Avatar lying in Republic City bay deserved them more than she did… Calling on all her fury, entering the Avatar State, Korra said, "Aang's statue… You're going to pay for that!" Blue fire erupted from her palms at the same time she began flying effortlessly, taunting, "You got an upgrade, and so did I, thanks to my love for Asami! That new model of Colossus won't save you!"

She was confused when she heard Kuvira say, crystal clear, "Repeating the other dreams… You'll NEVER beat me like that, fool! You're still blind, stuck! Hah – I won't even have to use its full capabilities – not like this!" Recognizing the repeating spirit weapons trained on her from earlier attempts to beat Kuvira in a one-on-one match in the ruins of Republic City, she weaved and dodged, attempting to melt the platinum armor in one place with super-heated flames, too concentrated to take in the new Colossus' form. Korra heard the barking of chain guns, managing to only sustain a minor injury to the arm, using Avatar State bloodbending to heal the wound. She screamed when she saw Kuvira's face appear on the wound, laughing as it said, "Even if I can't win, I'll just keep you here forever! I know you can't turn down a good fight! You've got too much pride!"

Growling, Korra said, "You want a fight? I'll give you a fight!" Trying a different tactic, she rapidly danced around the huge Colossus, too fast to track as she bathed the abomination in blue fire. Seeing one section looking weak, Korra superheated a ruined Satomobile to drive into the yellow and orange spot on the foot's armor, cheering when the armor was dented slightly. Wondering why Kuvira was letting her perform the same move over and over, Korra picking up different wrecked husks each time, to the point that there was a medium-sized hole partially covered by thick strands of strange red and black pulsing wire, Korra said, "It's time to attack! Come on - we've got an opening!" The Colossus beginning to flail and fire at her incoming allies, Korra stayed out, wanting to make sure everyone got in safely, only approaching when she saw Asami enter the horrible suit, looking determined to avenge her father's death - when he had failed to breach the first time.

That was when solid plate reformed somehow, the hole closed completely, everyone she loved trapped inside.

Korra heard an awful muffled hissing sound. Remembering the hissing sound from when the Fire Nation had fallen - that horrible gas - she began to cry profusely, saying, "It was a trick! No…" She heard a deep laughing emanate from the center of the Colossus' chest as a platform came out, Kuvira saying with a smile, "All your remaining allies - dead. That Kuviron gas gave them a horrific - what's this? Kuviracomputer, what do you mean there's one life sign remaining? Oh - it's just Asami. Stupid wretch can't even bend!"

Too stunned to move, too hurt to care about anything other than Asami, Korra hovered, finding herself unable to move when she wanted to, _needed to_, Kuvira holding a coughing Asami aloft with one hand, a small amount of blood on Asami's mouth and chin. Laughing, Kuvira said, "You should have taken the offer I gave to you and Varrick once Republic City fell, Asami. Now you can join him. Watch, helplessly, 'Korra'! See her DIE!" Korra could have sworn she heard a whispering voice say, "Just like Mako will, by your hand, when I'm in control again…"

Asami hit the foredeck of the Colossus' cockpit. Kuvira said, before plunging her blade into Asami's body, "I should have just killed Baatar Junior and made you my second in command to begin with, Jinshu Kuangmai! Thanks, for holding the 'Avatar' still for me."

Jinshu Kuangmai…

"**This isn't real! Get yourself back together! Fight as yourself, Kuvira!** **It's the only way…**"

Ignoring the odd voice, not recognizing it as Raava's and finding the implication insulting, Korra watched with horror as Asami met her end, the blood suspended mid-air. Managing enough strength to turn around, she saw that monster of a man cackling from inside a smaller mechasuit of his own, Jinshu Kuangmai saying after a hatch revealed his gleaming eyes and a sneer, "Before you die, Avatar Korra, I just want you to know who I really am. Though I detest my heritage, I imagine you will find my mother's identity quite shocking." Grinning broadly, feeling herself begin to fade, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "I am Toph's 'wayward' son. Kuvira got to kill Asami, so I guess you'll have to do. A pity there will be no one left to weep and wail over your death. Kuvira and I look forward to raising the next Avatar together – the first _Eternal_ Earth Empire Avatar! The only kind of Avatar that will ever live to see its first birthday!"

As Korra felt her life force fade, she found she did not die, watching in horror as her hand shifted, tattoo vanishing… the skin the same color as Kuvira's.

A cacophony of thoughts making her head hurt, Kuvira expected the dream to end. To be released from agony. Korra had died, after all… But she felt nothing but her terror.

Kuvira could only manage heavy panicked breathing, hearing a female voice cackle, "A pity the real Jinshu Kuangmai can't see this, being too busy. If you don't break tonight, perhaps I'll have to see if I can invite him to the party, with that dark meditation of his. The next time you sleep…. If there is one." Looking upwards, Kuvira still saw the same strange Colossus she had earlier, studying its design in horror. The head appeared to be nothing other than a turret similar to the original, except instead of a cockpit, it held what she recognized as both full and reduced size Varrick guns and spirit repeaters and sensor arrays, the form more humanoid overall. At various key points on its body, it had many other turrets much like the one on the front of the Raging Shark Whale, apparently for close-in defense.

Wondering where the design had come from, she thought, still scared, starting to cry when she realized the answer - her subconscious must have been working on this horrible weapon without her consent somehow! Looking back at it, she knew this had to be right, given the thick wires "she" had seen as Korra earlier - spiritwire. Looking at the hands, she even saw protrusions from the knuckles, recognizing them as containing the recessed weapon mounts she had thought of earlier, though she noticed five-barreled Varrick guns as well. Not just spirit weapons…

Feeling at a low point, Kuvira listened as her "brain" said, "The Colossus. Yes, Kuvira, 'I' have been busy. You may crave one thing, but after three years of POWER, 'I' crave other things. You can't just not sleep, and with the new inner dream world - I might just be able to keep you locked up here forever! Raava herself cannot break in - and believe me, she's tried." Kuvira recoiled slightly when her tormentor hopped down, saying as she walked over slowly, "I am coming, little reject…" Kuvira winced as her doppler towered over her, eyes obscured by some unknown force, "Give up, little cast-away girl… the void is calling."

Her tormentor shifted slightly, Kuvira unable to spot the difference at first. Kuvira began screaming when she saw the eyes. The pitch-black, infinitely deep eyes. Listening to her mind doppler say, "I always get what I want. In the end…" Kuvira began to feel hopeless, some awful, unfamiliar energy tugging at her as her doppler changed into a horrifying greyscale, a void over where the heart should have been. Smiling, it continued, "The real Kuvira never got what she wanted - dominance, respect through fear, uniting the Earth Empire - but maybe I can change that… Wouldn't it be great, taking Kuvira's 'Remorse' and a corrupted Conscience to Jinshu Kuangmai, taking your rightful post back by force, then the world?"

Kuvira cringed, thinking. One word came to her mind, giving her strength as she repeated it: "Conscience… conscience… conscience!" Smiling slightly, Kuvira said, "I never got what I wanted. This is true. Instead, I got what I NEEDED. A reconnection with the adoptive family I hurt so badly. Real friends. Real allies - not just scared underlings. And most of all, love. The true love I never felt. Not even from my own parents. The love I failed to absorb properly from Mother Suyin. Not even that unbalanced relationship I had with Baatar Jr…" Looking at her assailant, Kuvira laughed, saying as she saw spreading shatter lines, "Forget fighting you as Korra - I'm gonna fight you as myself! I'm plenty strong! You're not all you're cracked up to be anyways - you look like a cheap vase someone's been trying to save from the garbage bin! Which is exactly what you are – broken, and unwanted!"

Now looking her tormentor in the eyes, no longer a scared little girl, Kuvira still recoiled slightly when her ashen image said, turning to flawless metal a moment before a hand cracked off, "FORGED IN HATRED! This is the last stand - I've got a Colossus that would bring the Avatar to her knees. Forget that – RAAVA! You haven't even seen the real thing yet. What do you have? Metal and some rocks? Come at me! You can't just kick me this time!"

Shrugging, Kuvira said, "Typical. You forget, if what I've heard is true, that this is a shared dream space. And I've got a hell of a lot more friends than you do. MAKO!" Kuvira glared intensely when her doppler laughed, saying, "Oh, yeah, like the fire did anything to the Colossus in the first place. Useless firebender boyfriend…"

"I may have been assigned to babysit Wu, but I am NOT useless! 'Useless' this!"

Kuvira barely dodged the blast of flame, though her doppler, fortunately, did not. Screaming, it said through a partially melted face, turning into an amorphous mass and streaming on the ground towards the Colossus' cockpit afterwards, "I'll get you too, little street rat! I'll see you inside! Come and fight me!" Seeing Mako run forward towards a partially opened foot, growling in rage as he unsheathed his dual dao swords, Kuvira said, "No, stop! It's a trap! This thing has some sort of horrible last line of defense - poison gas, if you get inside." Mako stopped dead in his tracks, demanding, "That's sick! Just where did this thing come from? And why am I here in the first place, instead of with Bolin, talking to my parents? I thought you already crushed her, your dark self – shattered her into a million metal pieces!"

Kuvira sighed deeply, not really feeling like explaining herself right now, saying, "I'll explain after we beat this thing. If… you don't happen to know how to make plasma, do you?" Mako shook his head, saying, "I've got nothing. Nobody can 'plasmabend', after all… what's that noise?"

Kuvira heard a deeply unnerving humming she had never heard before, realizing with a panic it vaguely resembled the noise that the original Colossus made while firing… but deeper. Raising her hands up and shifting her feet quickly, she bent herself and Mako to the side using a piece of metal on instinct. Kuvira took cover with Mako behind a ruined piece of heavy industrial dock equipment, two thick red spirit beams surrounded by thinner twin black helixes raking where they had been standing just a moment before. The shattered pavement and underlying rock actually boiling and molten at the edges of the deep cut, Kuvira knew this weapon was like nothing Baatar Jr. had ever designed. Hearing an unearthly chittering shortly after, Kuvira involuntarily bent an earth shelter around herself and Mako, saying, "This is why I don't have time to explain! Look at what happened to the pavement! See if you can get Bolin in here!" Hearing the distinctive humming again, Kuvira knew they needed to move. Kuvira said, continuing to speak after Mako honored her request, "Mako, pick me up, and jet us out of here! Now! She -it - whatever it is- was toying with me earlier, but it seems like it's on now! Your little fireblast really ticked her off! She wasn't even using the Colossus to its full potential!"

In Mako's arms in the air, Kuvira tried getting a better look at the Colossus than she had earlier, searching for a weak point. Telling Mako to touch down behind the massive metallic nightmare's back, she tried seeing what her subconscious had been up to. She didn't get as much of a chance as she would have liked, even the back having close-in defense weapons. Their tracking was impeccable, sporting both spirit repeaters and Varrick guns in different small ball fixtures. The only major things she was able to spot were two odd vertical boxes with what looked like massive spirit engines on the outer sides, as well as a massive broadsword stored in between the bigger boxes. Trying to get a better look at the sword, Kuvira asked Mako to stop jetting side to side momentarily, seeing the sword appeared to have rhombus condensers that stopped halfway down the blade. Ball-bound spirit repeaters chittering from the back of the odd boxes, Kuvira felt bursts of energy come uncomfortably close, hearing her doppler say over a loudspeaker, "That was just a sample – I can tell you're admiring 'your' handiwork! See what you could accomplish with me fully on your side, Kuvira? Just give in – you could conquer whole other planets with this weapon! Fill the hole you know exists in your heart!" Grumbling slightly, Mako said, Kuvira feeling that hole slightly as he spoke, "Don't – whatever that is can't give you happiness! What is with 'her'? I've never seen any weapon design like that! Come on - explain a little bit? Please? Don't tell me you're going nuts!"

Once Mako had landed behind what seemed to be sufficient cover, Kuvira explained quickly, "Remember what we saw about Asami's love envelope to Korra? How her brain revolted? This is basically that, for me, except with less Metallokuvira and more brain, given how it seems my brain has been busy designing… that, without my input. This place we're in, the fight - empowered to nightmare status by this new inner dream world crud. To be honest, I'm not sure what it's good for - I don't want to have to face this every night!" Mako looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped, saying, "Wait. Something doesn't feel right. I just heard some really loud roaring noise. Like someone launching a really big firework…We need to move, now!"

Opting to flee in a different direction, Kuvira struck her hand against the ground beneath them in a desperate flurry of strikes, hitting the ground intermittently with powerful kicks. Managing to get them both underground safely, she heard a muffled roar followed by a loud explosion, the hastily constructed space shaking violently. Kuvira felt as though she might shrink again, her resolve strengthening when Mako said, "If you have to face this every night, I'll be there for you every night." Kuvira blushed slightly when Mako finished, "But facing that thing, we'll need a lot of help. You tried getting Korra in here yet?" Kuvira sighed, saying, "No. Even Raava couldn't butt in to see what's happening. I may as well give it a shot…" Kuvira tried calling out Korra's name, getting nothing but a deep laugh from above, hearing her doppler say, "Korra, again. You're so thick headed…" Grasping for straws, Kuvira began yelling, "BOLIN! HEEELP!"

Immediately after, their underground shelter became much more crowded, Bolin whining, "Ouch! Watch the swords, Mako! What do you want? I was talkin' to my mom and dad just now! She wasn't happy when you left for whatever, Mako!" Mako patted his brother's back, saying, "This is a lot more important. I'm sure they'd understand. Something wrong's going on inside Kuvira, and we need to help her. And Korra can't help, for some reason. Not even Raava - Hey – straighten up! We need to help Kuvira, or she might go crazy." Kuvira grimly agreed with Mako's assessment as she expanded the shelter slightly, reinforcing it with earthen struts. Trying to think of what weapon could make a huge explosion and involved a roar, she muttered, "The huge tubes! My subconscious must have given that thing vertical Meesile launchers on its back! And the things on the sides – I think it must be able to fly somehow too!" Pressing her hand against the wall as Bolin talked to Mako, Kuvira felt something she hadn't before, listening to the earth. Seismic sense, of some sort. Grabbing Bolin's hand, she said, "Quick, before it goes away. Can you sense that thing, Bolin?" Bolin paused, nodding before breaking into a panic, "Yeah, I can and OH WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE. That thing is huge! But not as big as the original…"

Sensing the Colossus was now standing directly above them, Kuvira said, "Bolin, quick, try and sink the earth underneath its furthest leg - and do a better job than last time!" Kuvira didn't have time to respond to Bolin's grumbling, herself working on the earth beneath the closest leg. As she worked, something didn't feel right - why wasn't the Colossus trying to counter? Kuvira's eyes widened, remembering the large broadsword on the Colossus' back, realizing what her doppler intended to do – strike through the earth. Without explaining, she knocked Mako and Bolin into yet another hastily-created space nearby, hearing an unnerving humming grow louder as she did so, recognizing it from earlier. Crawling backwards, she was shocked to see an all-too familiar energy beam appear in front of her, barely able to see the broadsword's form behind the beam, the blade sheathed in plasma completely. Slamming her hand against the ground, she sensed that both Mako and Bolin were okay, though even Mako's heart was beating fast. Trying to think where the beams had come from, she realized the first twin beams must have come from the sword, remembering the rhombus condensers that ran halfway down the blade, apparently a spirit energy conduit.

Knowing they were doing just what the enemy wanted - being locked up in some nightmare - Kuvira tried calling out to Opal, figuring she would be very willing to help. After the sword moved, cracking and shattering crystallized earth as it moved, Opal appeared in front of Kuvira, looking rather confused, asking, "Where am I? And why does this place seem familiar somehow?" Sighing, Kuvira said, "What I wouldn't give for infobending," afterwards yelling loudly, "Okay - why don't we go to Future Industries Tower, or where it should be? There might be platinum there! We can hole up behind metal sheets, and I'll explain everything there."

Hearing Bolin agree loudly and Mako shortly thereafter, Kuvira turned to Opal, saying, "I don't have time to explain much of anything, but just know this is more than a sign of trouble. I have no idea what would happen if we lose, given you, Bolin and Mako are all in my 'world' right now…" Sounding determined, Opal said, "Then let's get out of here, and see if we can beat this thing. We beat your Colossus – I can't imagine this one is invincible." Bending their way back to the surface, Opal clearing the dust as Kuvira knocked away dry earth, Kuvira looked around, puzzled as to where the Colossus was. Looking up, she felt herself shrink slightly, hearing Opal say strongly, "Don't get scared – not now!" Kuvira looked up, wondering aloud, "Just what is powering that thing? It's awfully acrobatic, for being so large! Spirit engines on the feet, back – and maybe the hands too! Yes - look!" Kuvira found herself staring at the feet the most, an angular spirit engine on the sole of each. Looking up, Kuvira noticed with panic that the soles of the feet no longer showed spirit engines, the Colossus dropping rapidly. Not wanting to dawdle any longer, she took Opal's arm, saying, "See that tower husk over there? I hope you can carry me there!" Opal shook her head, saying, "I think I can carry Bolin, but you might be a bit too much! I can't fly like Korra or Jinora can yet…"

Hearing the roar of engines return, this time close enough to feel hot air coming from above, Kuvira said, "No time! Looks like she wants to roast us! Sadist - gah – if only I had something to equalize the playing field a little!" Hearing a female voice boom from above, "You'll never beat me – give up!" Kuvira tried in desperation, calling out as she felt the heat intensify, "MOTHER SUYIN!", "VARRICK!", "ZHU LI!" and "ASAMI!" Feeling herself shrink, noticing with distress that Opal looked younger as well, Kuvira said bitterly as the heat intensified, "The only really powerful thing I've got on my side is my conscience… Wait. CONSCIENCE!"

"Hello, Kuvira. I was wondering when you might request my assistance."

Looking up towards the source of the sound, Kuvira saw her comparatively smaller mechasuit waving its hand, Conscience saying, "For now, I am not sure where this enemy came from, or what it is, but I will help you fight it." Kuvira stood up tall, telling a scared-looking Opal, "I'll carry you to safety, and try to hold this thing off. Now let's go." Still a child, Opal said, "Okay, big sister!" Kuvira felt sick, saying, "Don't call me that! I don't deserve it… I might never deserve it." Opal cried, saying as she rubbed her eyes, "Don't say that! I – I'm glad Korra didn't kill you now! I grew up around you – you just… wanted to help people, like Korra, and like my mom did with you! You just really blew it! Big time!" Kuvira smiled slightly, saying, "Never thought I'd hear that…"

That wasn't the only thing Kuvira heard as she slipped into her mechasuit, picking up the toddler before her in strong metal arms, tussling Opal's black hair with a flesh-colored metal finger. Unable to make sense of what the words were being shouted above her, Kuvira said, "Conscience, translate that language, while I take Opal over to the old tower, before engaging." Kuvira felt chills down her spine when she heard the tuber-vine respond, "That's not any old language – it's the universal language of hate…" Kuvira felt better when the tuber vine continued, Kuvira guiding her flight carefully all the while, "Don't fret – it's just a string of curses and screams, mainly revolving around little Opal calling you 'big sister'... It appears its biggest weakness is not physical." Remembering the odd hybrid between brain and Metallokuvira's reaction to her little speech earlier, Kuvira touched down, telling a wide-eyed Opal, "I don't know how much of that, if any, you heard, but it sounds like this thing has no physical weakness – only emotional weakness." Opal nodded, saying in a much more mature voice, "I remember how often love has been the key to winning these kinds of things recently. But that thing is still huge. We'll need to get her out, before this will end for any time past just tonight."

Exiting the mechasuit, scanning quickly for Mako and spotting him, Kuvira said, "You need to see if you can get your weapon and airbender gloves, like Bolin and Mako have their weapons, and I have mine. I'm going to be busy trying to fight this monstrosity by myself, after I try and get some information. I'll need to do something I'm not particularly good at – meditating." Opal gave her a slightly skeptical look, saying, "Okay, if you think that will help…"

Sitting down in a lotus position, Kuvira took a deep breath, thinking over and over again, "I am the master of my mind… and you will obey." After the fifth repeat, she said out loud, "Now give me that thing's blueprints! NOW!" Opening her eyes, she saw her command had been obeyed, hearing a loud screeching in the distance. Hoping she had likely bought enough time for Opal, Mako and Bolin to study the plans, Kuvira said, motioning for Mako and Bolin to come over, "Opal, try doing the same thing for your guandao and airbender gloves. The meditating. Mako, Bolin – I helped design the original, and you guys were instrumental in its downfall. Find me a weak point – I'm going in blind for now!"

Mako gave her an odd look, asking, "Do you really think this is best? Going alone?" Regretting not pressuring Korra or Raava into making more mechasuits, Kuvira said, "I've got Kuvira's Remorse, and you guys have some body armor, and smaller special weapons. The only way in that thing is with technology. I'm sure you'll be safe – I imagine she's going to be focused on me, and me alone." Mako nodded, saying, "Okay – just be careful. These blueprints… six tuber-vine equivalents for power? Not to mention all those Meesiles in the back – eight by eight, four deep in one, plus four by four, two deep in the other… that's almost 300! If you had this a week ago, I'd probably be dead." Kuvira frowned, not liking the painful reminder of her past and her recent other nightmares, saying, "This ends now. Study it for any weakness you can spot. Don't forget the inner gas defenses!

Sliding into Kuvira's Remorse, she heard Conscience say, "Battle systems online. You will have to fight 'manually' at first, Kuvira, until I learn your fighting habits." Looking at her mechasuit's arms after sneaking out towards the waiting Colossus, noting with a bitter taste in her mouth that it appeared fully ready, Kuvira said, "Gah – needs more spirit weaponry, or Lipowder weapons! The cable, the metalbending strips – useless!" Kuvira actually laughed when Conscience said deadpan, "At least you have convenient plasma, and some spirit weapons. Korra just had those hummingbird suits and some plasma saws…" Kuvira stopped laughing immediately, remembering with remorse how she had been directly responsible for Hiroshi Sato's death. As though the tuber-vine could tell what she was thinking, Conscience said, "Channel your remorse. Aaaand you _might_ want to move…"

Looking up, Kuvira saw the massive hybrid weapon pointed straight at her, beginning to hear a steady humming, seeing weapons on the hands holding the sword also moving. Not knowing the best way to go, Kuvira slammed her hand into the ground, successfully sensing her surroundings, not having time to hope she could do so outside this nightmare. Hearing the hum reach a high point, Kuvira jetted to the side at the last minute, heading for an interesting feature she had sensed around her – a massive beam of warped metal.

Landing near the steel beam, Kuvira tore half of it off, forming a long sharp javelin with half, and a protective shield with the other. Using her left hand to keep the shield up, Kuvira pressed against the ground, launching herself into the air as she tried to spot a good place to throw the spike. Seeing a particularly delicate looking sensor exposed from behind a metal sliding door on the roof of the Colossus, she changed direction, building momentum as she streaked downwards, having discarded the hole-ridden shield.

Grasping the javelin directly, she threw it downwards with all her might, pleased to see the metal point penetrate the exposed spot, sparks and smoke erupting from the impact point. Wondering why she had not met any resistance, Kuvira noticed with horror that the Colossus was heading towards the ruins of Future Industries Tower, holding out the long sword with a steady aim… as though about to fire.

Remembering that this Colossus had a different kind of weakness, Kuvira taunted loudly, "Is someone too 'chicken' to fight me? I'm up here, scumbag – are you scared of me now? Pick on someone your own 'size'!" As she thought her opponent might, the Colossus turned to face her, hearing a metallic voice screech, "I'll show you true fear! Behold – infinite energy! Power sources, direct all energy to the sword, and maintaining motion! Shut down the engines!" Kuvira saw the massive sword swing her way, knowing she had no desire to be caught by its sweep. Knowing she couldn't evade all by herself and that the Colossus was now practically immobile, Kuvira said, "Conscience, bring us up, while I try sniping off key parts of the Colossus!"

Feeling the suit begin to move without her input, Kuvira squinted, seeing an improved version of her scope on the original Colossus appear on the screen in front of her. Noticing a good target, Kuvira thrust her arms forward slightly as she honed in on a weak-looking joint in the Colossus' right shoulder, wondering what her brain had been thinking, putting a small ball of metal at such a critical point. To her shock, the metal absorbed the blast, seemingly drawing power from the breastbeam's strike. Thinking of Mako on a whim, she saw the beams change from a calm blue to an intense blue and white helix, seeing the beams penetrate the armor and strike…. what appeared to be a plant.

Though she had never seen a dark bromeliad before, Kuvira knew what she had just scorched, Conscience confirming it by saying, "Dark bromeliad power source number six compromised." Kuvira was surprised to hear Conscience continue, "Keep thinking of Mako - it empowers your weapons, apparently! Good, keep firing at it – look at it shift!"

As Kuvira kept her gaze focused on the targeted dark bromeliad and Conscience performed evasive maneuvers, she noticed the plant appearing to shift – just like she had heard tuber-vines could. Kuvira heard a loud metallic screech and watched in horror as the left hand reached over, carefully placing the mostly transformed spirit into its hand, beginning to fire an opened spirit engine. The tuber-vine persisted for a short time, eventually turned to ash by a large flare of red and black energy after Kuvira heard a loud "PFFFFT PFT! PFFFT!" Kuvira smiled slightly when Conscience translated, "I don't want to work for you anymore! I'm more than just a power source!" Knowing she had the enemy sweating, Kuvira repeated the same process on the right shoulder, with the same result, the tuber-vine saying something much more earthy before being incinerated.

Speaking loudly, Kuvira taunted, "Let's see you fly now!" Kuvira wished she had kept her mouth shut when she heard a metallic voice yell, "I don't have to fly to kill you! Eat this!" Kuvira saw the twin hatches on the top of the Meesile tubes open, watching as all the smaller Meesiles were fired off in a ripple, saying, "There's no way I can shoot down that many!" As they approached, she saw an alert pop up on her screen that said, "Earthen materials detected in incoming."

Knowing she could work with this, Kuvira extended her hands, her mechasuit's bending power increase letting her re-direct all sixty-four Meesiles in the first wave, trying to target the Colossus' legs when she could. Seeing holes in both calves, Kuvira swooped in, flaring her armblade's plasma sheath as she got closer, severing what looked to be vital cables. Directly sticking her armblade into what appeared to be a spiritwire and spirit vine hybrid, she saw the location of the remaining powersources appear on her screen. Noting that two were stuck in the "buttocks" of the Colossus, she carved them out while avoiding the close-in defenses' hail of fire. To her dismay, she received a less warm welcome from these potential tuber-vines, ending up having to dice the dark bromeliads up.

Kuvira didn't like how she seemed to enjoy this slicing slightly more than the last defiant calls of the other two "power sources"…

Kuvira felt chills run through her veins when she heard a metallic voice yell, "I guess we're not so different after all! KILLER! You killed Hiroshi Sato, monster!" Feeling angry, Kuvira flared her armblade's plasma, going around to the front of the mechasuit as she said, "ENOUGH! Being human is hard enough without all this endless garbage! You die, tonight!" Kuvira saw an opening to go straight for the cockpit, extruding her twin armblades and yelling, "You're CRIPPLED! Die, and go back to the void you came from! I want to be free!" Getting in close enough to strike, she saw plasma dance then plunge into metal, thinking how badly she wanted to break the rules, and truly kill this inner darkness, so she could just get on with her new life…

Kuvira heard an alarm blaring inside her mechasuit, a computerized voice saying, "Tuber-vine resisting corruption. User Kuvira resistance indeterminate." Looking back at her mechasuit's arm, she saw something that made her retract her arm, frantically trying to get something most disturbing off her blades, and failing.

Red and black lines, where the spiritwire should have been.

Kuvira cursed and screamed, howling, "WHY CAN'T I JUST KILL YOU?! Be rid of this forever? I don't want to be a burden!" Much to her horror, the lines began pulsing, mortified to hear deep, metallic sounding laughter from outside. Hearing an odd garbling, Kuvira heard Conscience say with a vaguely mournful voice, "I have blocked you from hearing what your doppler is saying right now. Kuvira, just because you have feelings does not make you bad – enjoying slicing the dark bromeliads slightly. Just like thoughts, you cannot control feelings. I know why you want to kill this thing – to avoid future struggle, and to avoid troubling others with asking for their help. Needing help, to fight this battle night after painful night, until you 'get it right'." Conscience continued, Kuvira feeling her body moving high up into the sky, noticing with relief that the swords looked normal again, "Asking others for help should not weigh heavily on your soul. In fact… I just found something Mako said to you, having accessed your earlier memories." As though replaying a recording, Kuvira heard Mako's voice say, in perfect clarity, "If you have to face this every night, I'll be there for you every night," Conscience saying after in her own distinct voice, "There is no shame in getting help, Kuvira. You are a proud woman. Be proud for what you do for others and in your abilities, and not on being foolishly independent. And on the other part… remember, you're partially fighting your own mind, not just 'Metallokuvira'. Look – even now, it's conspiring against you. You're fighting a battle on its turf, so to speak – you'll need something more than just fighting ability to see the real world again…"

Kuvira found herself forced to look at the Colossus, gasping when she saw all the damage she had caused had been reversed, arms materializing out of thin air after a slight shimmering, the arms and body moving as if Metallokuvira were having a laughing fit. The background garbling continuing, she heard Conscience lament, "It is the fate of all mortals to struggle with good versus evil until the day they die, Kuvira. You cannot simply kill your inner darkness, and be done with it. I think you might find this 'recording' of Korra's own struggles relevant… though probably not uplifting." Kuvira saw an image of Korra appear on-screen, somehow feeling Korra's anguish directly as the Avatar heard a gentle voice Kuvira swore she had heard before say, "I can see you chose to cherry-pick the words of one of Earth's great spiritual leaders, the one some incorrectly consider my one and only son. You are a soul of extremes, Korra, from what Raava tells me…" By this point, Kuvira knew what Conscience was showing her – the infobent-out struggle, Korra grappling with free will, and the decision to kill. Much to her horror, the vision deviated once it reached what must have been Earth's real "hell", Kuvira finding herself staring at the same void, seeing a simulation of sorts play out, a voice offering an obscured form, "Seeking to destroy your inner darkness? I can help in your quest for total purity… At a price." Kuvira felt a sickening pit in her stomach when she noticed she appeared as a scared, lonely child in the vision, the image of her asking, "What's the price? I- I'll pay… I don't want to bother anyone… I don't want to burden…" The image of Kuvira seized, the last thing she heard was cackling laughter… as the little girl grew, morphing into a metallic monster, seeing only a tiny sliver of human skin left on the face, under her distinctive mole.

Breathing heavily, Kuvira heard Conscience say, Kuvira smiling slightly at the quip after the fact, "A ridiculous vision, don't you agree? You wouldn't need truthsense to tell he was lying…" Remembering a particular firebender that Jinshu Kuangmai loved, Kuvira ventured, "That was pretty transparent. I bet he's called the Prince of Lies, or something. Like if Azula was turned into a 'god'…" Conscience actually managed a fairly human laugh, saying, "Maybe you need library access."

Kuvira glanced at the screen in front of her, puzzled as to why she could see no movement on any kind of sensor – Shidar or otherwise. Deciding that she needed to deal with her foe in a way Asami had dealt with her inner darkness, Kuvira smiled to see a massive energy surge below her, a computerized voice intoning, "Temporary incapacitation of target detected. Screening out screeching…"

At first, Kuvira made to "strike" by herself, but remembered she was not alone. Mako, Bolin and Opal had all come – to help her in her hour of need. Knowing her past behavior, and her pride, Kuvira knew she'd have to physically best the Colossus AGAIN somehow before she could even hope to approach her tormentor. Directing herself past the Colossus, a computerized voice said, "Incapacitation extended and intensified," Kuvira eventually landing near where her display said everyone else was. Exiting her suit, Mako gave her a confused look, Opal saying with a slight frown, "What are you doing? You stopped fighting, right when you had her beaten… She didn't even have any arms left! You could have just asked us to come help finish her off, you know!"

Again wishing for infobending, Kuvira explained the new plan from outside her mechasuit, finishing by saying, "We still need to beat this thing physically, though, like I almost did. She didn't just shrivel up earlier, when I defied her, or when Mako got her right in the face, or those 'power sources' defied her in death. She's still got the illusion of power, with that awful Colossus." Mako smiled knowingly, saying, "When I was on the beat, not once did a bad guy just throw his hands up in the air without a fight, unless he knew it was hopeless, metalbender cops on all sides. No escape. Even if all he had was a knife, he'd still keep fighting if he even thought he had a chance – you're right, Kuvira. To do any good, just like what happened to you a week ago in that wooden box, she's going to need to see her cause is hopeless. There's some kind of lesson in here – I just know it…" Mako rubbed his forehead, saying, "I think I know – I remember Korra talking about what Aang told her before all of Korra's bending was restored. 'When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change' – something like that. That was certainly your case, Kuvira. Maybe I shouldn't leave all the 'spiritual' stuff to Korra – it's more like 'life' stuff. There's a lot of overlap. It's a lot more relevant now, than it has been since Harmonic Convergence, and not just with actual spirits..." Mako nodded when Bolin said, "Pfft, forget that! Then, we just had to deal with one real 'Team Bad' – now we've got two! Spirit, and human! It's MORE relevant!" Kuvira's eyes widened when Opal said, "I… I'm glad you didn't just 'finish her.' It would have finished you – and maybe all of us. I hope the fighting, in the real world, tomorrow, doesn't make spirits mad. Long Yumao never specified it had to be Jinshu Kuangmai acting 'bad' for him to grow in strength…" Not wanting to consider the possibility of a humanitarian mission causing the Spirit Civil War to get serious, Kuvira said, "Mention it to Korra tomorrow. Tell her she needs to be careful, to not repeat my mistake, going for the heart without good intentions. We've got two problems to solve right now – how to get you all better protected and, uh… useful, and how to weaken the Colossus again…" Seeing Mako's irate expression, Kuvira grinned nervously much as Korra might have, pointing out, "I didn't single you out as the only 'useless' one, Mako – you all don't have mechasuits, after all!"

Mako smiled, saying with a slight smirk, "You're right. I bet you're glad you decided to take the gift now, aren't you?" Kuvira said sheepishly, "Yes… now let's do something! But what? Oh - show me what you found on those blueprints!" Kuvira sat down, Mako sitting next to her as he pointed at the blueprint on the floor, saying, "This thing has very few weaknesses. There's some weird half cable, half spirit vine things running through the Colossus' entire body, and given the note about 'reformation cables', they can't be a good thing. But I bet if they're cut, it will be crippled." Remembering how the metal had somehow transitioned from slag to solid plate while fighting Kuvira as Korra, Kuvira said, "I know what those do. I think I cut one earlier, using it against her when I pinpointed the other dark bromeliads. Any hole you make in the armor without cutting what must have been spiritwires, she can just re-seal the hole somehow. But that won't matter if we sever the spiritwires, I think." Pointing at another area, Mako said, "Okay – but not all good news. We can't just shut it down by taking out one powersource. We've got six to take out! Not to mention the gas defenses, and the huge arsenal! That thing has more firepower than the Raging Shark Whale… How are we going to down this thing?" Looking up, Kuvira saw Opal examining her gloves, lost in thought. Smiling, she said, "I think I have an idea. See all these openings – the engines, the larger spirit weapons? What if we shot explosive rounds into them?" Looking at the blueprints again, Kuvira felt hopeful, saying, "That might just work!"

Before she could even stand up, the blueprints shifted before her eyes, Kuvira cursing as she realized her brain was making improvements. Even the engines on the back now had sliding metal doors… Frustrated with what she perceived as a setback, Kuvira said, "So much for that idea. At least it can't fly all the time now…" Looking at the blueprints again, Kuvira noticed another change, this one rather absurd – a representation of Metallokuvira's head sticking out a shiny tongue, a text bubble reading, puzzlingly in English, "Can't beat me! Can't just kill me, and I'm not shattering like last time!" Trying a different kind of meditation she had only heard about, Kuvira tried opening her mind – or rather, her soul, given her mind's insolence – to any number of possibilities. After a short time, she saw an image of herself, Mako, Bolin and Opal holding hands in a circle, wondering why they all appeared as toddlers.

Taking Mako's hand, she finally explained to everyone everything that had been going on at night over the past days, as well as what she thought was going on, feeling it relevant to what had happened when she tried going for the mechasuit's heart in her rage. Smiling broadly, Mako said, "A week ago, I told another strong woman that I'd always have her back, no matter how crazy or bizarre things get. Seeing how Korra has grown since then, and hearing about your continued… issues, especially what just happened out there, I just want you to know, I'll do more than that for you. Don't obsess over trying to kill your inner darkness, out of remorse. Focus on the present, someone else – me. All of us." Kuvira tearing up slightly, Mako continued, "Earlier, you sensed I felt unimportant. I was actually talking to my parents about that before you called me here, and after telling them everything we'd done, my father, the last thing he heard was your detection of my lie, told me this: 'Son, given what Bolin told me about his boneheaded antics with Varrick as Nuktuk, and under Kuvira, trying to climb in rank, keeping blinders on, drifting away from Opal… you don't have to be important to be happy. Oftentimes, it's the most important people who are the unhappiest. Just look at your surviving family – poor, but happy. What the world thinks? It won't heal anything. Or fill any holes. Only what _you _think of yourself is of any use. How important you are to those around you. And based on what you've told me, you are very important to those around you, and more than that. Your work as a police officer, Team Avatar member, and more recently motivational speaker – you turned out great, son. As did Bolin.' I thought about this, and realized he was right. Maybe I can talk to Baat– quiet, Bolin! Quit whining about 'favoritism'. It was bad enough the first time. We don't have forever… That Colossus could come back online at any moment. I remember seeing it marching toward us earlier, sword extended with both hands…"

Clearing his throat, Mako said when Bolin stopped abruptly, looking earnest in a way that made Kuvira feel at peace, "Kuvira, I'll do more than just have your back. If need be, I'll carry you, literally and figuratively. Don't hide anything – please. That vision you described, that Conscience showed you... gech! It made me sick. You're only a burden if you think you are one, and act like it." Kuvira finally broke down when Mako said, a single now tear on his face, "I don't want you to leave me in spirit, but still be at my side physically. Insane or broken, much as you could have been. No matter how bad things get, I'll help make sure you stay the real Kuvira – the humane one, the new one. Even if we're repeating this dream long after the world is at peace." Kuvira simply hugged Mako, noticing after some time Opal was hugging Bolin in the same way. Hugging Mako tighter, Kuvira said, "If that's not love, then I don't know what is," giggling like a little girl when Mako said, "Whoa, whoa – I like you a lot, not love you 'Korra and Asami' level just yet! They had years of history!" Snickering, Kuvira said, "I can tell you're lying a little! Keep in mind – 'I always get what I want'. Especially if that what is really a hunk of _who_."

Kuvira found herself feeling small, but not caring, tugging on Mako's adult hand as she said, "Come on – sit with me!" Mako shrugged, saying, "What the hell. Let's try this. Maybe it will help. Bolin – be glad your girlfriend can't tell when you're lying." Kuvira playfully slapped Mako across his boyish face, saying, "Then maybe you shouldn't lie in the first place! You're the one who told me to be honest!" Kuvira began crying slightly when Mako said, looking deeply concerned, "I guess the only reason I lied… was because I know your history, and know there's still a chance I'll wake up tomorrow, and you'll be staring at a wall absently. Or, given what just happened out there, trying to kill me… I'm holding back, out of suspicion, but also because I don't want to have my heart broken." Sighing, he said, "It's going to be a long road. But the hardest part is over – that first step that you took in that wooden box." Kuvira crossed her arms, knowing he was right, relieved to hear what must have been Opal say, "You've got our mom too, Kuvira! AND your cool tuber-vine co-pilot, Conscience! And me! I don't see how you can fail!" Feeling confused, Kuvira laughed when Bolin shrugged, saying in a surprisingly squeaky voice, "I got nothin. What? Is it my voice? Why are you laughin?"

Continuing to laugh, making Bolin blush slightly, Kuvira took Mako's hand and then Opal's, asking, "Friends?" Seeing everyone else nodding, Kuvira tried to nod herself, but found her neck stuck, confused, and feeling afraid. She couldn't even talk…

"I finally pinpointed you wretches. I won't stop until you're all 'dead', trapped forever. Prepare for the void! Insanity… It comes! All of you – payback for crippling me, and turning two of my only 'friends' against me!"

Kuvira knew what the voice was, managing to grit her teeth as she thought, "I WANT TO LIVE!" Finding the lock on her body removed, she heard a metallic voice say that chilled her to the bone, "Time for a rematch, then. The first time… you just scratched the SURFACE! A pity you didn't corrupt yourself earlier…" Suddenly realizing that she was fully in control of her own actions in the _real _world, and not in this nightmare, Kuvira said strongly, "I don't just want to live – I WILL live! My BRAIN does not control me! I do!"

Energy she hadn't directly felt since her original breakthrough course through her, she felt herself growing taller, stronger. Looking around, she saw she saw now holding hands with an adult Mako and Opal, Bolin looking determined. What she saw that she didn't recognize were three tall figures shrouded in the ruins of Future Industries Tower that appeared familiar somehow standing behind all three, surprised to hear one speak in a flat tone, "Get inside me, Opal. We don't have much time. And no gawking!"

Obeying without thinking, Kuvira hopped into Kuvira's Remorse, saying over the comm system, "You guys figure out what 'your' mechasuits can do while I fight! And do it quickly – don't bother naming your co-pilot!" Kuvira smiled when she heard Conscience say, "Thank you for calling me co-pilot consistently. I appreciate the sentiment. 'Power source'. Beyond insulting. Now let's see what we can do." Maneuvering the suit backwards, Kuvira heard a familiar roar, saying, "Get out of here, now!" Seeing Mako wasn't moving fast enough, Kuvira knocked a hole in the ruins of Future Industries Tower, intending to intercept the Meesile.

Seeing her target, she saw there was more than just one Meesile, and larger ones than the swarm she had bent away earlier, hearing twin roars as the increasingly closing targets approached. Not knowing exactly what sort of Meesile they were, Kuvira took off, extending her twin armblades after a computerized voice said, "No earthen materials detected. Earthbending impossible deterrent,", flaring the plasma as the large red and black pure metal Meesiles drew closer. Focusing on the one that was closest, Kuvira sliced the warhead off the Meesile, noticing with panic that her more direct method had cost her precious time, one Meesile about to strike the ruin.

A large blast of air erupted from the building, a rock deforming around the Meesile to wreck the rear of the weapon. An unseen bender tossed it towards the direction it came using the choking rock. Kuvira heard a satisfying explosion… and a slight humming. Kuvira turned around, finding herself staring at the end of the broadsword through her mechasuit's display, noting that the condensers and added protective metal covering were not closed, apparently preparing to fire. Remembering an earlier plan, in a series of quick hand movements, Kuvira shot two waves of explosive grenades into each barrel from her suit's shoulders, ignoring the slowly building red and black energy within. Seeing explosions erupt and hearing an alarm wail that was not her own, Kuvira smiled, knowing she had just disabled one of her foes' main weapons. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Kuvira flew in closer, weaving and dodging preemptively with her co-pilot's help as she used the plasma swords to completely dismantle the massive broadsword energy weapon.

Apparently, Metallokuvira had been too shocked to react to her sword being dismantled, but was active again, Kuvira hearing the barking groan of the larger Varrick guns. At first, she was not concerned, knowing that the projectiles they were shooting couldn't penetrate her armor – they didn't even penetrate that steel shield properly, all the holes from spirit blasts! Hearing Conscience say as soon as the guns began groaning, "Get out of there! One of the tuber-vines you 'created' earlier told me she switched to depleted Korranium bullets!" Kuvira jetted away rapidly after the first command, watching in horror as she saw the pavement she had been standing on turned to a pulverized mess. Hearing the tracking of ball turrets, Kuvira flitted away, saying, "Still got the better of you, scumbag! Hah!"

Hearing Conscience yell, "Incoming, from behind! Go left, and long!" Kuvira obeyed, hearing a massive gust of wind, followed by many small explosions. Seeing how the mechasuit that followed was carrying a large guandao, she realized it must be Opal's mechasuit. Kuvira followed close behind, flaring her plasma weapons when she got close, firing a breastbeam shot at the Colossus' regenerated sensor suite. Opal's mechasuit landed near one of the Colossus' legs, Kuvira hearing Opal say over vaguely human screeching and cursing, "You sever the other knee, the right one – this blade's got plasma capability! I'm hitting something else – the cables!" Jetting to the right, Kuvira stuck her blades in next to one another, spreading her arms out as she made a lateral cut across the reinforced knees – the thinnest point of the legs. Hitting a large spiritwire, spirit vine and metal complex she recognized from earlier, Kuvira made sure to sever it completely, pleased to hear someone screech, "NO – the reformation wire!" Kuvira felt like laughing but was interrupted by a powerful blow from the crippled knee, hearing a reassuring "BONG!" after impact instead of what she had expected to hear – a crunch.

Disoriented by the kick, Kuvira felt the suit right itself and perform evasive maneuvers anyways, saying, "I'm glad you're a co-pilot, and not just a power source." After a slight sting on her neck, Kuvira said, "Ouch! What was that?" Kuvira laughed, beginning to feel empowered as Conscience said, "An 'amenity' Raava added – forced Jang Hui kelp tea dispension, in case of even slight pilot incapacitation. It is unknown what direct injection into the blood stream will do. There is also food and water aboard, though not in great quantity."

Feeling the rush, Kuvira moved closer to a wounded-looking Colossus, seeing that Bolin was using his lavabending - and now apparently plasma capable – sword to completely sever the knee Kuvira had attacked. Bolin filled the thigh with a stream of lava, laughing when she heard Bolin say, "Let's see you walk with NO leg and hot thigh, lady!" Looking at the left leg, she saw Opal had gone the more direct route, a large hole in the upper leg, cables dangling loosely. Knowing the Meesile launchers were likely still a threat, Kuvira went around back, cutting off every Varrick gun and spirit repeater she could see. Slicing into the Meesile containers, Kuvira wondered aloud, "This seems a lot easier than earlier – you're not cheating! What's the matter, somebody gum you up?" Kuvira laughed to hear a harsh yet childish metallic voice say, "SILENCE!" Taking a moment, Kuvira stared at the sliced cables and still-glowing metal, realizing they had managed to weaken Metallokuvira substantially somehow. Seeing a brief image of four toddlers holding hands, she knew what had damaged her enemy – friendship. Sighing bitterly, Kuvira said, "I only hope they're like that as adults, in the real world… Forget that. I only hope **I'm** like that."

Noticing that the Colossus was no longer moving, Kuvira sped around front, finally seeing Mako. Using two larger versions of his dual dao swords, the swords including the decoration that Kuvira loved, he was re-directing the power from the hole Opal had created in the leg into the ground, the sword's end sticking directly into the large cable- spirit vine hybrid. Kuvira smiled to see the energy entering his sword as red and black, leaving the other as blue and white. Getting closer to the cockpit, Kuvira said, "I've got friends. You don't. You treat your 'power sources' like garbage. And I know we weakened you now – as friends. Children. Just give up already." Hearing no response, Kuvira said over the comm, "Good job, everyone! Not just help me open this cockpit… gently. I remember what Asami did with her dark half – and I'd like to try the same with this thing. Something tells me it's the only way." Apparently, the pilot had been laying dormant, Kuvira hearing the creaking of metal as a "young" metallic voice said, "NEVER! I've still got arms and hands to fight with! And you didn't get rid of all the turrets! GYAAAAH!"

Hearing a familiar hum, Kuvira looked up, seeing the turret on top still functional – and targeting Mako somehow, despite the sensor array being in ruin. Jumping upwards, Kuvira used a weapon she thought increasingly practical, melting the barrels of the turret, smiling as she used the breastbeams she had once thought overkill. Looking down, she laughed, remembering how Mako had been exasperated when she was trying them out in the physical world, finding the new recessed ball turret setup she had designed particularly amusing up close. Moving on, she saw Bolin had disabled the left arm and was working on the right one, Opal currently bending air at a perforated gas reserve, dispersing the poison gas. Looking around again, Kuvira noticed they were no longer in the ruins of Republic City, instead sitting atop the ruined Colossus inside a familiar endless black expanse.

Knowing this must finally be the end of the road, Kuvira exited her mechasuit on top of the Colossus' cockpit, saying as she placed her hand over the outer door she had seen Metallokuvira exit before, "This is it. I'm out of your nightmare, having won as myself, with help. I refrained from 'killing' you – it would have been an illusion, and would likely have corrupted me, had I obsessed over trying to dispatch you 'for good.' You? You're all alone. Weak. I know I can never truly win, but I do know this – the spirit is the master, the brain a vessel and parchment for MY will." Kuvira grumbled when she heard a voice respond , sounding half defiant and half afraid, "I… I can still make it hard for you!"

Turning towards Mako, Kuvira said, "You give it a try. Cut this wretch out, then get out of that mechasuit. Just curious – what did you name your co-pilot?" The metal form resembling Mako shrugged, then the helmet opened up, Mako saying, "It was weird. Mine didn't have any sort of personality. My best guess it that's Raava's little touch – like how she wouldn't say who Asami's mother is now. Probably wants us to 'meet' our tuber-vines for real." Kuvira heard agreement from Opal and Bolin's mechasuits, Bolin saying, "I know what I'm naming mine, though – Nuktuk!" Kuvira laughed when Opal and Mako groaned deeply, Mako saying, "Please, for the love of everything good… no. Just no. That wasn't your finest hour, bro." Opal piled on, laughing as she said, "You better not do a Nuktuk impersonation the first time we have sex! I'd never let you live that down."

Finding herself laughing freely, Kuvira noticed the Colossus somehow seemed bigger, smiling broadly when she heard a light hiss and the sounds of hydraulics over the sounds of her laughter. Looking at who came out, Kuvira asked, smiling broadly, "I see you decided to come out. Want to come play with us?" The small figure nodded, seemingly at a loss for words, managing to struggle out, appearing as though it were resisting an external force, "Yes… I… promise to… play well with… others. Good luck… **Kuvira**." Taking the figure's hands, it vanished as Kuvira heard a loud groaning from beneath her, feeling a brief sense of complete peace. Making her way down the metal beneath her, she found it yielded to her touch, saying happily, "I did it! She came to me, and not the other way around! I don't think anybody else has done that!"

Hearing an odd screech, Kuvira looked up to the ruins of the Colossus, seeing a shining red and black crystal floating above where the cockpit had been. As soon as she looked at it, she saw it vibrate rapidly, hearing a disembodied voice say shrilly, "This isn't the end! You can tame your mind, your pile of mush – but you can't tame me!" Smirking, Kuvira said, "Why would I want to tame you when I can just ignore you? Meelo's got the right idea!" The crystal cracked, leaking a reddish metal "blood". A familiar, more friendly metallic figure walked over and up onto the metal heap, saying before flicking the crystal, "Go away! Leave Kuvira alone!" The crystal shattered when the flesh-colored metal finger made contact, Kuvira hearing a pitiful moan soon after.

Kuvira was disappointed at first to hear Conscience say, "I'm going to go now. Avatar Korra will require my attention shortly." Kuvira said, too late, "Just call her Korra!" the mechasuit and its co-pilot gone. Seeing that the remains of the Colossus were still there, Kuvira said, manipulating the metal, "Mako, cutie. Want something made from this?" Looking hesitant at first, Mako nodded, saying, "Yes" with a smile once Kuvira showed him what she had formed after much effort, having to imagine parts that she couldn't make.

A thin, flexible yet strong metallic scarf, red on one side, pure metal on the other, with heating coils and a little cutting from a specific tuber-vine as an internal power source - Conscience.

Handing it to him, he smiled, saying, "Thanks… cutie." Feeling an odd tug on her mind, Kuvira said, "Just a minute, Mako. Then we can go see Zaofu!" Kuvira felt horrible, awful, evil, and most of all ashamed when Opal cried, saying, "No thanks! I don't want to be reminded of what happened to my home! You ruined it, and that mean little monster you found finished the job, burying it and making everyone live in a cave like animals!" Kuvira joined Opal's sobs, crying out of the hurt Opal's words had caused and remorse over her actions, finally sniffing and then letting her arms lay limply at her sides as she moaned, "Now I feel even more horrible! It was my home too, until I ruined it, to make that awful weapon! I would have stopped him if I could! Don't think I don't feel bad about what I did! My mechasuit's named Kuvira's Remorse for a reason..." Opal stopped crying, saying as she gave Kuvira a big hug, "Sorry. I never thought of it that way. I guess I will never really know what it's like, to have been bad, trying to be good…" Smiling, her eyes glittering again, Opal said, "Oh, I know! Make me a new Zaofu! A new Zaofu for everyone! Please… sis? If you do, I'll really appreciate it!" Kuvira hugged Opal, feeling much better, saying as she ended up hugging the toddler in her arms, "That sounds like a great idea. New Zaofu… and I think I know who can live there. Why don't we tour the old Zaofu later? The intact one?" Opal nodded, saying, "Okay, big sister!" Still finding this awkward, Kuvira said, "I'm not your big sister." Putting Opal down and trying to think like a child, Kuvira looked Opal in the eyes without stooping as she said, "I'm just your adopted sister." Feeling the tugging get stronger, Kuvira said, "Gotta go for now!"

Running off, Kuvira smiled broadly when she heard a voice directly that she hadn't in what seemed like an eternity, Raava intoning, _I'll let you and Opal propose New Zaofu when the evacuation is complete. I don't want you or Opal bringing up the possibility of our operation aggravating a stagnant war. I just told Opal as much. Not in Korra's current state... _

_I** suppose **I can cheat a little bit, and get your scarf made. When Mako wakes up, he'll have it on. You'll have to show me what Conscience has more directly later. We are having… issues ourselves._

Kuvira was completely shocked to hear Raava intone, hearing sadness in her voice, _I have much left to learn. Korra can show you what I mean tomorrow. And, it appears, you have some things you can show me…_ Before returning to the group, Kuvira thought, "Everyone has something left to learn, Raava. Don't be sad. I've learned… that learning is fun!"

Closing her eyes briefly, Kuvira saw a small white-haired girl smiling, one tear dripping down her cheek. Kuvira nearly cried when she heard Raava intone, as the image made a hugging motion, _Korra saw something in you that I did not. And she was right – I never expected that representation of the evil within to come out of its cockpit of itself, apparently drawn to your laughter. Perhaps Korra is right about Jinshu Kuangmai… _

Not wanting to dwell on the battle tomorrow, Kuvira ran over to Mako, telling him "Forget Zaofu. Let's play! My head feels good now – we can do anything!" Seeing his skeptical look, Kuvira added, clarifying what she really wanted, "Play like kids, not adults! How could your brother and Opal join in otherwise? That'd be just wrong!" Mako smiled, saying before hugging her, "Good. Keep the fire steady and slow," Kuvira feeling a little bit of something she had only heard of before – oneness.

That little bit… she wanted to grow it, a lot! But how?

"**Just be your new self. I believe there's someone who'd love to help you…**"

As her conscience's increasingly strong voice faded, Kuvira looked around, starting to cry lightly when she saw where she was, looking at a very special person.

An intact Zaofu, looking at Mother Suyin, who looked extremely worried.

Realizing why her adoptive mother looked so worried, Kuvira broke the hug, yelling, "Mom, don't worry, it's okay! I won – again! And this time, I had some help, from my new friends!" Mother Suyin smiled warmly, looking like she might tear up as she asked, "Won what? All I know is I expected to see you when I fell asleep… but you weren't there." Beginning to cry lightly, she said, "And… neither was Baatar Jr. I never saw if he was okay, aside from that ambiguous vision Korra shared."

Kuvira began crying, not knowing herself, stopping when she heard an older voice she had last heard directly on… less than stellar terms say, "Oh, quit your crying, all of you. He's fine. Do you not remember him helping convince me to leave the Swamp?" Kuvira turned around, smiling broadly as she said, "Grandma Toph!" Toph frowned slightly, asking as Kuvira hugged her, trying to get Kuvira off, "The last I saw, you hadn't earned the right to call me that, much less hug me. Even Korra had to earn that right! I still think you give metalbenders a bad name – I don't buy this whole transformation, even if everyone else does. Even Lin, wherever she is. You did a lot more bad things than Zuko ever did, and he burned my feet!"

Feeling angry instead of hurt, Kuvira found herself rising upwards, eventually saying down to Grandma Toph, "Oh, like the son you abandoned is any better! No – he's worse, probably screwed up inside because of you, just like Aunt Lin said! And – "Kuvira was shocked to see Grandma Toph begin to shift slightly. Grandma Toph seemed as though she were receiving a lecture from someone, given how she continued changing long after Kuvira had stopped speaking. Eventually Grandma Toph looked much the same as she did in pictures of her when she was fighting alongside Aang, saying as she held up a small hand, "Stop! Some very irate plant thing just gave me a tongue lashing, apparently with Raava's help, given how I could 'see' everything so clearly." Grinning uneasily, Grandma Toph said, "I didn't buy that you have pulled a Zuko even after they showed me the first 'fight', remembering his double-cross in Ba Sing Se, but the second one… I just don't know what to make of it. Your strength of spirit… but also your mind being so resilient, and stubborn. Just like me, I guess. Regardless, now I'm just on the fence." Smiling slightly, she added, "Let's see if you can tip this old earthbender."

Kuvira nodded, starting to say something but was interrupted by Opal, Opal saying with a high-pitched voice, "Grandma Toph, I'll tell you what I told Kuvira earlier. Both of us will never know what it's like to have been bad, trying to be good. You need to be more understanding, even if you can't ever really know Kuvira's remorse…" Grandma Toph smiled slightly, saying after she shifted to her older but no less cranky form, "I _guess _you're right, Opal. Tell you what, kid – you can call me Grandma Toph if you prove you can kick as much butt as I did when I was your age, tomorrow. Sound like a deal?" Kuvira shook her head, saying as Opal ran off, "No. I'd rather help evacuate than fight – I don't want to kill anyone." Grandma Toph began laughing, saying, "Earthbenders don't kill! Or at least they aren't supposed to. Just knock the enemy down a peg or two, like I did to you when you were going to re-capture my family."

Feeling sick to her stomach, Kuvira said, "I guess you forget I was going to have my cannon zap Zhu Li, and haven't seen the new Earth Empire yet. Under Jinshu Kuangmai. Poison capsules to take in case of capture, taking a minor celebrity's family hostage to force him into work, some mystery project… not to mention the times Jinshu Kuangmai managed to _personally _get into people's inner world. Any fighting with them will involve death." Grandma Toph grumbled under her breath, saying, "I saw how good you were in that mechasuit. And, through the tree, I… I saw Jang dispatch Shiro's family directly by accident, earlier when the tree was constricting them. And he seemed to enjoy it…" Spitting on the ground, Grandma Toph said, "If that's the kind of person that rises through their ranks, then you're going to need to fight on the front, reservations or not. Make sure that any deaths are on their side, not ours."

Remembering that everyone except for six people didn't have very good protection, counting Meelo in his aircraft, Kuvira nodded, saying, "Okay, Toph. But the evacuation is the priority." Grandma Toph nodded, saying, "Good. Now why don't you see what my daughter Su has been talking about." Kuvira turned around, seeing Mother Suyin talking animatedly to a young Opal in the distance. Running over, she heard Mother Suyin say, " – shouldn't just stop at evacuating Omashu and the prison camp! I want to make a jailbreak at Zaofu itself – I'm sure people there are none too happy about living in a cave, like animals, like you said, Opal! They can live in this 'New Zaofu'!" Loving the idea, Kuvira smiled broadly, saying as she tugged on Mother Suyin's robes, "That sounds like a great idea! But we don't know where they are, exactly – and I don't think that little monster is going to let us just steal 'his' civilians!"

Mother Suyin looked down, saying, "I had forgotten how cute you were when I picked you up. You're even more adorable half that age. I seem to remember something about someone in Ba Sing Se knowing where the civilians are kept. But I suppose Korra can just infobend out their location if we capture an officer tomorrow." Kuvira nodded, saying, "Okay, mom!" Mother Suyin smiled, saying, "Just call me that, mom, instead of 'Mother Suyin.' It's sort of awkward, and it's not like your real parents cared about you anyways –you weren't impossible to handle, like Tonga."

Kuvira heard a surprised gasp next to her, hearing Opal ask, "Who are those people, Kuvira? Do you recognize them?" Kuvira turned around, feeling conflicted when she recognized who had butted in – two people she had seen earlier. Both very angry looking… Looking at her biological mother, Kuvira felt like crying when she was asked, "You hid a lot earlier, didn't you? You're still our daughter, even if we did have to abandon you. Your father and I decided to break our isolation inside the Si Wong Desert after we saw you with that firebender in that vision… asking about what happened to the daughter we couldn't support any longer, and had to abandon. And we… did not hear good things." Kuvira felt just like she had when Opal tore into her earlier all over again when her biological father said, acid in his voice, " 'The Great Uniter'. More like the 'Great Evil'. Remembering your headstrong nature even at the age of eight, I doubt you've changed. A façade." Kuvira feeling a sudden rush of unwelcome memories, she saw the anger in her father's eyes as he said, "If I had known what you would become…"

He never got the chance to finish, interrupted by a small blast of air, Opal screaming, "Leave my sister alone, you awful people! How can you say that – Grandma Toph didn't kill Tonga!" Kuvira heard an older voice shush Opal loudly, saying, "Opal, remember these people are still alive! Even if they do seem dead inside…" Kuvira winced when her biological father bent up a large earthen wave, saying as he fashioned its surface into many small, sharp cones, "You, Toph Beifong – you grew up rich, spoiled – you could possibly never understand what it's like, having to abandon your own daughter to survive! GRAAAH!"

Kuvira watched in horror as the wave of earth sped towards Grandma Toph, cheering when it stopped, Grandma Toph snickering, "Seriously? Even if I didn't have earthsense, I could have seen that coming. And I'm blind! Never announce an attack. Much less with that much blabbering. You remind me of Ozai, and his stupid dramatic speech. All I heard was 'WAAAAH I'm a terrible father'." The earthen wave still, Kuvira heard her real mother – not the one who abandoned her, and the father she remembered as abusive now – say, "You had your chance. A mother who would abandon her child to survive, and a father I'm glad didn't get to raise her… Kuvira is mine now. More than ever. Now, be gone! I want to play with _my _daughter." Kuvira was confused when they did not vanish, her father spitting, "Rich Beifong trash! Now come on, Kuvira, be a good girl, and come with us, so I can discipline you. Don't make me force you!"

Kuvira saw a shimmering behind her father, hearing a loud voice boom, "Do not make me _force you_ to leave. We don't know what happens to a human soul that is gravely wounded in the inner dream world. And I don't want to find out…" Her father turned around as her biological mother stared at Kuvira's Remorse in horror, Kuvira feeling something snap when the woman said, "You're still up to your 'old' tricks, I guess – look at this thing! Yet another machine of war! One that looks almost exactly like you! You have nothing but steel in your soul – I'm glad I left you behind now!"

Standing up tall and erect, Kuvira ordered Conscience, "Judge them, and tell me what you find." Both her biological parents made a weak effort to resist, Grandma Toph encasing them both in earth, saying, "Kuvira, you can call me whatever you want. After seeing these two monsters, it's a wonder you didn't end up as depraved as… well, you know." Kuvira heard a loud, angry voice she barely recognized as Conscience's say, holding both metallic hands to the pair's chests, "Judgment complete. Your biological mother – lazy, weak-willed, faithless and hopeless. Gave up on you. Your biological father – abusive, hot-tempered, devoid of sympathy and empathy. Draining of all light to be with. I believe you are lucky, that they abandoned you. What do you want me to do with them?"

Not wanting to harm her parents, Kuvira said, "You seem to have a primitive form of infobending. Show them my life, with edits of course. And don't show them any technological ANYTHING. Edit the last dream sequence to oblivion. Make me fight a big cardboard box instead." Kuvira growled when her father said, "What, you afraid we'll be out for revenge after this? Ridiculous!"

Kuvira's eyes widened, able to feel his heartbeat. His rapid, erratic heartbeat.

Her eyes now angry slits, Kuvira said as she pointed at her "father", "You're lying! Why did you approve of me and Mako earlier?" Kuvira felt her blood boil when her biological mother said, "That was before we knew what you had been up to!" Kuvira felt cut to the core when her father said, frowning, "You don't deserve anyone!" Shaking off the insult, she said, "Conscience, show them nothing but the door." Conscience responded, very human-sounding anger in her voice, "They have seen too much, and Raava's been screaming at me to just… take them somewhere. Plus, I feel something, an 'emotion'… some desire to punish. Justice."

Kuvira shook her head, saying, "No – don't do it!" Running towards Conscience, she watched as the tuber-vine attempted to remove her parents from the earth cones they were trapped in, hearing a slight crack - but the cones were intact. Bending her parents out, she admonished Conscience, "What are you doing? Remember, you can be corrupted, just like Asami's 'co-pilots' were!" Kuvira recoiled, seeing the spiritwire on the blade of her mechasuit begin to flash red and black as she heard a distorted voice say, "Corruption? To toss these souls who Raava has judged unworthy away? Hah!"

Forcefully opening the mechasuit, Kuvira took control, saying as she re-imprisoned her still bellicose parents, "I don't want to do that. At least given them a chance." Thinking strongly, Kuvira attempted to tell Raava, "I want you to show both these two a heavily edited version of my life – the edits being to remove technology details, should my father really seek revenge."

_Very well. I still do not understand mortals thinking they can judge worth better than I can, but then again, I may have tossed **you **into the Fog of Lost Souls after your initial escape attempt._

Feeling herself booted out of the mechasuit, Kuvira winced to hear her parent's screams, half wondering if she had made the wrong decision. She began smiling, seeing her mother shrink in size until the cone covered her entirely, hearing a young voice say, "I'm sorry! So, so sorry…" Kuvira looked to her father, horrified to see he was still full size, spitting out obscenities. Sighing, she said, "Let me guess – won't budge?" Only seeing an outsized nodding metal head as confirmation, Kuvira said, "See if you can find any other way. Let the universe take its course…"

Conscience withdrew the mechasuit's hands as Kuvira felt an odd sensation, as though someone had placed a sharp rock into her throat. Coughing and gagging, she stared at a familiar crystal hovering in front of her, hearing a hissing voice say, "I always hated your mother. Weak, and apparently, pliable. Your father…" The crystal grew in size, saying as a red and black chain appeared, sick hooks protruding along one side, "He wants nothing to do with her, or you. He'd rather begin again – so he might be more like the true you - me. He identified more with me than you. Even without seeing that wonderful, wonderful machine." With that, the chain whipped towards her father, her father smiling as the red and black chain wrapped around, not screaming when the hooks entered his flesh.

Beginning to cry, Kuvira made to interfere, saying, "What – NO! Don't!" Before she finished her movement, she stopped, saying, "Wait… your choice. It saddens me, but I'll respect it." Kuvira took no pleasure on the way her father's eyes widened in hatred, the last thing he ever said before vanishing along with the crystal and chain was, "I don't want you! I never did – an accident, a burden! I never admitted it openly, but I wanted CONTROL!"

Hearing a crying from within one of the cones, Kuvira peered in, seeing her biological mother a small, scared child. Bending away the cone, she stopped crying for long enough to say, "I don't deserve you. I'll start again – adopt a child of my own, and find someone with a heart. Some poor lonely kid…" With that, she vanished, Kuvira knowing that was likely the last she'd ever see her.

Remembering the whole reason they had come – to play and explore Zaofu, not be emotionally traumatized - Kuvira told Conscience she was no longer needed, smiling to hear, "No. I want to try this 'play' as well. Perhaps it will help me be more 'human-y', like Raava… And after everything tonight, I see you as more than just a 'co-pilot'. I feel… different. In a good way." Wishing that the rest of her family was there, she saw her true father, Baatar, appear, along with a surprised Aunt Lin, yawning Wing and Wei, bored-looking Huan and a slightly irate looking Kai. Kai was the first to speak, exclaiming, "Hey! What's the big idea? I want to go back to Jinora's family! Still can't believe what I've seen there so far…" Giving Kai a quizzical look, he laughed, saying, "I'll tell you tomorrow, and you can tell me whatever happened to you. Aang mentioned something about an inner nightmare world." Pausing for a moment, he added, shrugging, "Aang says I should call you big sister, for some reason to do with the nightmare. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Bye!"

With that, her youngest brother vanished, Wing and Wei giving her dirty looks, Kuvira feeling small all over again. Looking up, she said, "There's a lot you don't know about me – you haven't even seen the first struggle yet!" Giving her a withering glare, Wing said, "Still don't believe you've changed. All I've heard is that press conference." Turning his anger on his mother, Wing said, "So why were we not asked to come to Ember Island? You took HER, but not your own sons, and my father?" Her mom gave him a slight scowl, saying, "Just because you're family doesn't give you an automatic pass, you know – and someone had to stay behind in Republic City! Not like you've ever paid attention to truly international affairs much anyways. Kuvira, get your mechasuit and Conscience to bring everyone up to speed. Mom, see if you can find Mako and Bolin – your earthsense is a lot better than mine."

Kuvira nodded, telling Wing and Wei, seeing Huan experimenting with a rock, "Just promise me you won't go nuts like your big brother did when you see everything." Ignoring Wei's smirk, Kuvira called Conscience over, saying once she was inside the mechasuit, "Try and see if you can do this by yourself, with my help." Conscience whined, "But… I can't! I can barely strip your mind of information as is – real infobending is Raava and Avatar only!" Kuvira smiled slightly, saying as gently as she could, "We're in a dream world – the perfect testing ground. Anything is possible. Let's give it a try."

Pressing her own hand against the interior palm of Kuvira's Remorse, Kuvira noticed her hand felt covered by spiritwire, Conscience saying, "Hmmm. Looks like Raava added another feature - one that was blocked off until now, by your mind. Kuvira, do you feel comfortable being more directly linked to me?" Remembering what Conscience had said earlier, and what they had gone through earlier, Kuvira answered, "Of course. You… you're more than a co-pilot. I named you Conscience, after all!" Kuvira wasn't sure what to make of it when Conscience asked, "Are you sure? This may hurt." Her answer still the same, Kuvira let out a pained yelp when two thick wires pierced her underarms near where she knew her main chi lines to be. The pain immediately ceased, feeling directly connected to Conscience in a way she hadn't before. The small metal port of some sort form on her underarms reminded her of the original plan with Korra's mechasuit. The line between herself and Conscience blurring, she felt as though she were her mechasuit, and linked to something much larger and greater than herself. A small link to Raava, apparently through Conscience. Smiling broadly, she said, "This is great! Wait – this feeling… Is that… oneness?" She heard Conscience's voice say, "I have heard that humans form strong bonds with those they fight with. This new change should make forming and strengthening that bond easier. Not that it wasn't already fairly strong – I wouldn't have said anything about it unless it seemed right to me."

Feeling light, Kuvira placed her hand against the ground, feeling the ground as directly as if she had touched it with her own hand. Thinking of everything that had happened since her surrender in Republic City, she smiled broadly, seeing thin blue lines spreading from her hand. Able to feel Wing and Wei's reactions, she tried something Korra often did, thinking, "Opal can help you make sense of everything." She blushed when she heard Huan's voice say once she had finished everything up to the present, "Wow. All that struggle… mind if I use it in my artwork… sister?"

She never got the chance to respond, hearing an alarm blare, "Tuber-vine co-pilot overtaxed. Cease operation immediately!" Removing her hand from the pavement, somehow knowing Conscience would be fine for now, she saw Wing and Wei looking very guilty, Kuvira laughing when Wei said, "To be honest, I'd rather call you sister than Baatar Jr. my brother. I still can't believe he's so 'butthurt' over everything…" Not remembering trying to instill English, Kuvira asked, in the same language, "Can you understand what I'm saying, Wei?" Much to Kuvira's surprise, he nodded, saying, "I can't wait to kick Wing's 'ass' in power disc in New Zaofu!" Wondering when this transfer had taken place, she heard a weak voice she recognized say in her head, "Gave… them… English. Too… taxing."

Feeling concerned, Kuvira willed her direct connection to be severed, noticing once she was out of the mechasuit that she still had the strange metal ports on her underarms. Bending open the chest, she gingerly took Conscience out, looking over the tuber-vine as she said softly, "Don't push yourself too hard." Seeing that part of the tuber-vine looked ill, a single tear rolled down her cheek, watching as the tear hit the spot.

The tear was gradually absorbed, the spot looking more healthy than it had before, Kuvira smiling to hear Conscience say, moving a tendril to her face, "Thank you. I'll be a lot more… careful." After a slight pause, Kuvira heard Conscience make an odd request, saying, "Let's go do that port thing in the real world quickly. So nice…"

After she had finished explaining what had happened, Kuvira opened her eyes, feeling awake enough to do what she needed. Remembering that Varrick and Zhu Li were supposed to be testing their mechasuit and wondering how they would get their ports, along with Asami, being that none of them could bend, she was surprised to hear Raava intone, _I was able to produce a very small quantity of metal directly imbued with my energy while adding chemical resistance to the suits. There should be no problem with this new feature. I am sorry you didn't get a chance to use it in your fight – your brain blocked it out._

Eagerly climbing into her mechasuit, Kuvira didn't even mind when the two cables penetrated her, laughing as she said, feeling the ports form, "How appropriate – the first thing to penetrate me metal, and not Mako." She blushed when Conscience admonished, in the voice of Mako, "Keep the fire steady and slow," continuing in her own voice, Conscience sounding embarrassed herself, "Though, if that kind of penetration feels as good as the oneness right now, I can see why you're impatient."

Still inside the mechasuit, Kuvira walked over to Zhu Li's Thing and Iron Varrick, seeing they were also near their owners. Kuvira felt rather foolish when she heard Mr. Tuber-Vine say, in his dry, almost butler-like voice, "Thank you for the attention, Kuvira, but Raava has already informed us to bring up the new ports – but only when we feel a strong enough bond with our co-pilots, or if the need is urgent. The only ones who don't know are Korra and Asami. They are… wrapping up 'activites'." Figuring what they would be busy doing, Kuvira walked away after bowing, exiting the mechasuit with some reluctance, feeling the bond severed. Laying down next to Mako again, she said, "Hope it's worth the wait," drifting back to sleep.

When she came to, she noticed two figures she had only seen briefly before talking to Mako and Bolin, Opal at Bolin's side. Running over, she shook what must have been Mako's father's hand, saying, "Hi – I'm Kuvira! And you are… San?" He nodded, saying, "Yes. Bolin was just telling me all about the battle you just fought, and I have to say – Mako certainly has good luck with women." Getting a look from what must have been his wife, San said, "Just as good of luck as I had, honey." The warm-looking woman introducing herself as Naoki, she asked, "Can I meet your parents, Kuvira? I've already met your adoptive ones, and they won't talk about it."

Deeply disappointed with the way things had worked out with her father, Kuvira said, "I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say I'm glad they abandoned me now, seeing them as adults, as they truly are. Especially my father…" Naoki recoiled in horror, saying, "I thought I'd never hear someone say they were glad their parents left them! On second thought, if they're that horrible, I don't want to hear anything about it." Smiling, she said, "Mako told me about San's scarf, and the new one you want him to have." Looking as though someone else were talking to her, Naoki said, frowning, "One of Raava's spirit friends says we need to go. Something about 'past life dissonance'. I'm sure I'll see you soon." With a coy smile, she looked directly at Mako as she said, "Kuvira, I can't wait to see what your kids with Mako look like."

Vanishing after, the blush on Mako's cheek remained, Kuvira saying, "You heard the lady!" Rubbing his neck, Mako said, "Uh – we already know what one will look like. Remember the orphan you saw?" Remembering the orphan vividly, Kuvira said, "Yes." Looking at Mako, and remembering her biological mother's new quest, Kuvira had an idea – a way to say thank you to the one parent who ended up not deserving a "vacation" in the Fog of Lost Souls.

Looking at Mako, Kuvira said, seeing Grandma Toph tapping her foot, "If you, Grandma Toph and Bolin have been talking to your parents this entire time, I have something I need to show you two. Well, Grandma Toph saw the whole thing, but I'm guessing you didn't…" Looking slightly sick, Bolin asked, "Is this about why no one wanted to talk to my mom and dad about your parents?" Kuvira nodded, saying, "Yes. CONSCIENCE! I don't feel like talking about this. Just help me get it out…"

Letting herself be taken in by the mechasuit and enjoying the feeling of oneness she now noticed was different from the small one she felt with Mako, Kuvira placed her hand to the ground, doing her best to finish over the negative reactions from Mako and Bolin. Feeling drained, Kuvira exited the mechasuit, for once Mako was the one crying and Bolin looking steely. Bolin said, glancing at Toph, "I'm just glad abandonment worked out for you in the end, Kuvira, where it didn't with Tonga. Ouch! Toph – you know it's true!" The old earthbender grumbled, facing Bolin, "You don't know the whole story. None of you do – not even Korra. I won't go on and on – Korra can infobend it out after the evacuation." Bolin shook his head, saying, "I seem to remember Aang warning against too much infobending. And maybe if you talk, you'll feel better too…" For once, Toph just nodded, having no snappy comeback, eventually saying, "That sounds like a good idea. I imagine Lin would like hearing it directly from me in particular, given how concerned she is with family."

Mako finally spoke, saying, "So I guess you want Raava to help your biological mother find the orphan? Are you sure? I won't be ready to, you know… for a long time." Kuvira nodded, saying as Mako walked closer, "Yes, I'm sure. She seemed desperate, almost broken. And I still love both of them…" Sobbing slightly, Kuvira said, "Even if my father ended up being more like me than my mother."

_I have contacted your birth mother and told her your wish, as well as the orphan's location. That's very big of you – you're nothing like your father now._

Kuvira didn't expect Mako's very personal hug and then grab, Mako saying over an "Eww!" from his brother and laughter from Grandma Toph, "In the end, he was nothing like the _real_ you. You deserve something, after all this… Maybe we can heat things up a little." Laughing, he added, as Kuvira grabbed his rear, "My mom and dad wouldn't stop harping on Bolin to finally do something with Opal, and by the time we finished talking about what you went through… my dad said 'Don't be afraid to let life throw off your plans, son. I know I didn't plan on marrying your mother when I saw her…' And I know I didn't plan on alienating Korra. It just happened."

Earlier, Kuvira had wondered how to make the sense of oneness grow bigger, or build the sense of oneness. Like a house, a train track or a weapon. Now she realized there was no real way to grow or build it up on purpose – like life, it just… _happened_.

When you were being yourself with someone, being open, and caring for them, like Korra and Asami.


	47. Chapter 47: Living Dreams

Chapter 47: Living Dreams

When Asami came to, she looked around, smiling broadly when she saw who was talking to Korra's parents, yelling, "Mom! Dad!" By the time she got to her mom and dad, she was looking up, asking her mother, "Mom, you're not going to leave me, are you?" Her mother sighed, saying, "Tonraq was just talking to me about this very thing, my little daughter - he wanted me to remind you of what Sharktar and Korra told you about living in the present." Tussling Asami's hair, her mother smiled, saying, "Though, something tells me I will see more of you than you might think, especially if you're going to be six when I see you." Asami cried, saying, "But that's the age I was when you died, mom! I don't like six." Crossing her arms, she said, with authority, "Bad number."

Her father picked her up, asking, "You were 22 when I gave my life, Asami - you aren't going to think that an evil number too, are you?" Asami sniffed, saying, "I guess not, dad. Where's Korra?" Her father put Asami down, saying, "I'm not sure. Last I saw her, she was playing with her polar-bear dog puppy, Naga." Tonraq and Senna laughed when Asami ran off, yelling, "Puppy Naga!" finding Korra playing with Naga in the endless featureless expanse. Korra said, trying to get Naga to stop nuzzling her pronounced tummy, "This place is boring! I want snow!"

With that, Asami found herself in the middle of a howling gale, asking Korra as she shivered, not thinking to wish for a fur coat, "What are you, crazy? I still don't get why you love the cold so much!" Korra laughed, saying as she tried and failed to mount a too-small Naga, "It reminds me of home!" Still shivering, Asami asked, "Is there no way we could have, like, a cool mansion instead? I'm freezing!" Taking a deep breath, Asami suddenly felt much warmer as she released a small flame from her mouth, saying, "Bending is fun!" Korra nodded, saying, "Yeah - especially when you can do all four! Hmmm…" With that, Korra took a deep breath, staring off into the distance, Asami asking a now exasperated looking Korra, "What are you doing?" Korra sighed, saying, "Combustionbending. Or rather, trying to." Pointing to Korra's forehead, Asami said, giggling, "Don't have the tattoos any more! Not when you're four!"

Asami watched as Korra shifted, Asami pleading, "Play with me! Come on - and not like we're 22!" Korra sighed, saying in a much older voice, "Just a minute," trying without success to combustionbend again. Her face twisting slightly, Korra said, "Raava told me humans have to have a killer's instinct and be fairly amoral to successfully combustionbend, and there's no get-around like the one I found for blue fire…" Asami nodded, saying, "Good. I don't want you accidentally blowing your head up like that mean woman P'li did to herself." Korra began crying, saying as she shrunk, "I just wish I could help everybody be good - balance for everyone!" Asami ran over, hugging Korra as she said, feeling herself rise higher and higher, eventually cradling a small Korra in her arms, "Korra, as long as people are free to make their own choices, there will be evil. I think the fact that you can choose between good and evil makes life worth living. I know my choice to help you instead of my father meant a lot." Asami fell backwards, Korra now lying on top of her chest at full size, saying as she touched the diamond on her forehead, "I like to think of Raava as loving all of humanity - even those lost in the dark."

Remembering they were not alone, and that Atokara wanted to help someone who was very much still lost in the dark, Asami said, "Let's get on Naga and go back to our parents. Our daughter wants to help someone still lost in darkness - part of the whole reason we're playing, and not… _playing _playing." As she hugged Korra tightly from behind, she savored the warmth of Korra's body, not minding the cold anymore. Once they had approached both their parents, Asami hopped off, yelling as Naga whined for a treat, Korra indulging her, "Atokara! Where are you?" Looking around, she didn't see anything in the gale at first, finally spotting a suspicious mound of snow, about the size of a four-year old. About to lightly melt Atokara out, Asami stopped, something telling her that was _not _Atokara, and that whoever was in there wouldn't appreciate being melted out.

Her suspicion was confirmed when she felt a tug on her arm, Atokara saying, Asami seeing her covered in ice, "There's somebody in there, but I think he wants to be left alone for now! You ever try iceclothes, mommy Asami? They feel good - tingly!" Asami laughed at the same time Korra did, Asami saying, "Yes, I did. Remember your little suggestion to meditate on play?" Atokara nodded, saying as she started to move snow towards Asami, "Yeah - but that was when you were little! Why not now, when you're big?" Blushing slightly, Asami said, "Uh, because Korra's parents are right behind me?" Asami groaned when Atokara put her hands on her hips, asking, "So?", Asami knowing she would have her work cut out for her teaching Atokara appropriate sexual etiquette - and not the way her own father had tried.

As Asami explained why it would be inappropriate to Atokara, her daughter ran around in the cold, Asami hoping she was listening. Given the way she stopped, rolled her eyes, and said, "Got it, mooom," Asami knew she had been listening, but found herself grumbling all the same, asking a laughing Korra, "Were you like this when you were four, going on thirteen, apparently? That's the first time she's ever _not_ called me mommy Asami." Korra blushed slightly when Senna volunteered, "Yes, she was. There were times I heard the White Lotus guards wishing they had never found her. One even thought Korra would have been kicked out by the Red Lotus at some point." As though remembering a particularly hilarious incident, Senna asked Tonraq, Korra looking as though she were about to die, shrinking progressively as her mother spoke, "Remember the time Korra used 'peebending' on Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq's feet?" Tonraq laughed deeply, saying, "Yes, I believe she did that after her first training session, as revenge for being taken away from mom and dad." Korra moaned slightly as Tonraq continued, Korra cross as a four-year old could look, "Until recently, I sometimes wondered if Korra was supposed to be a boy, given her former… 'strong' personality, to put it charitably. Never struck me as the caring mother type until her sacrifice to protect the Air Nation," Senna's light laughter only making Korra bury herself in the snow. Remembering Atokara's special, less inappropriate waterbending form, Asami said to an almost invisible Korra, her childish brown face the only thing showing from the snow, "Forget peebending - Atokara's water jet. We better hope Atokara doesn't decide to be 'funny' with either of our mechasuits. Speaking of the bathroom… I get the feeling we're going to be in those metal things a lot tomorrow. You didn't happen to include 'amenities', did you? Or fresh food and water?"

Korra stood up, saying, still an embarrassed-looking child, "Raava, go fix the suits up! I'm tired. Just make the suits burn the yuck." Rolling her eyes, Korra said, apparently responding to Raava, "Yeah, yeah - I fail to see how gas could…" Korra suddenly began crying, saying as she projected Raava out, "What's 'NBC' protection, Raava? And what were those gas weapons you showed me? Those people on Earth are horrible!" Raava sighed, saying, "For all we know, Jinshu Kuangmai's special project could be anything, that special weaponized gas included. I suppose I should have told you they are now outlawed there, Korra, much like bloodbending was here. Though, there are still people willing to use both…" Raava backtracked, telling a Korra who was sobbing about bloodbending, "Korra - bloodbending can be used to heal, and used responsibly, like you did. That gas, on the other hand… If you'll excuse me, I have some creature comforts and more practical things to add to the mechasuits. Like being watertight and chemical resistant. Beef up the Tophinum shielding too – there's another kind of weapon I didn't show you that even Earth has never used. Don't know what Jinshu Kuangmai is willing to do, though…" With that, Raava vanished, Korra sighing deeply as she knelt in the snow.

Asami asked, curious, "Is the gas Raava was talking about anything like what the Equalists used?" Korra shook her head, crying lightly as Asami's father patted Asami on the back, Hiroshi saying mournfully, "I don't think so, Asami. When I was working in the secret base under our mansion one day on choking gas before Korra's arrival in Republic City, one of my workers accidentally mixed two chemicals he shouldn't have. Luckily, everyone else was far away, and he was the only casualty. Those chemical burns… they haunted my dreams for years, even in prison." Korra looked horrified, saying with a frown, "Burns? Hiroshi - what Raava showed me were boils. Please don't tell me there are multiple kinds of this chemical horribleness?" Apparently having gotten an answer from Raava, Korra began crying, saying as she sat in the snow, "I don't know what plane is worse - the one Earth is in, or this other one. The one with… Azeroth?"

Asami heard a low, muffled crying coming from the direction of the suspicious snow mound, asking Atokara as she looked at the mound quiver, "Why don't you go see if that's who I think it is, sweetie? Mom, dad, Tonraq, Senna - you might want to leave. This could get disturbing." Asami was surprised to see no one budge, Senna saying, "I'm sure our presence will help, Asami. I bet Kuvira would have had an easier time if more people were helping her. Plus, I'm not going anywhere while my daughter is a blubbering mess." Tonraq picked Korra up, saying as he hugged her small form, "Come on, Korra -I know you're sad, but it sounds like you need to help someone else soon, even if I don't know who they are." Korra smiled, saying excitedly before Tonraq put her down, "Okay!" much as Atokara might have, once again her normal size, standing upright. Smiling, she said, Atokara at her side and looking excited, "Come on out. No one here is going to judge you - even those who don't know your story. Yet. There is no shame in having a dark past."

Asami jumped backwards, seeing a small but violent snow flurry erupt around the suspicious mound, remembering that Arthas once held power over ice and snow, just like a waterbender. The familiar, dead-looking four year old boy with gray hair said strongly as he stood up from his former hiding place, "I do not know what you have seen, but I strongly disagree. My past… perhaps I do deserve to wander the endless void forever." Crying slightly, though no tears came out, he said, "Everyone I knew and loved - dead, or turned to his horrible will, or fighting against my reign as 'Lich King'! Ugh - I wish I could just forget everything."

It was Korra who first approached, frowning as she said, "I'm confused. I know what Raava showed me about your life, but what I just learned about free will earlier…" Arthas convulsed slightly, a disembodied voice saying, "**Free will is a lie, foolish woman. Those Forsaken - anomalies. Even now, their leader Sylvanas violates others in much the same way I did. We did, Arthas - there is no escape!**" Something snapping slightly, Arthas no longer looked as sickly as he said, "What about Darion Mograine, you monster? The power of love… It brought me here, to this weird place!" Asami heard her father say, yelling above an intensifying snowstorm, "Korra! Mind filling us in on what in the blazes is going on here? Yasuko and I can't help if we don't know anything - not to mention Korra's own parents!" Asami could barely hear Korra sigh, feeling a flow of familiar information after a pause.

As the flow began to ebb, Asami noticed a detail she hadn't before - that Arthas had acted as a sort of jailer for the Scourge until the end, much as the horribly scarred Bolvar was acting now. Supposedly… Ignoring the biting wind, she joined Korra's side, saying, "You were still there, even at your darkest hour, Arthas - holding back the tides of evil, right up until your failed invasion." The gale intensified, even as Arthas said, some sort of hope in his voice, "I guess you're right… but how do you know these details?" Asami let Korra speak, Korra explaining infobending to Arthas, Asami disquieted by his slightly negative reaction, the conflicted little boy practically pitching a fit when Korra explained its "offensive" uses - stripping information from someone or erasing memories, particularly Raava's little editing shenanigans with Korra.

Finally speaking, face now dead-looking again, Arthas said, "That's eerily similar to the psychic link I had with everything under my thumb, except I never wiped anyone's memory! And what's this 'bloodbending' I overheard you talking about? Blood… horrible blood…" Korra jumped back slightly, stumbling to speak, finally managing to say, "Why… why don't I tell you all the 'rules' here before getting to that." Perceptive, the little boy shot her a glare with his lifeless eyes, saying, "Bloodbending… people wouldn't outlaw something that lets you heal well, would they? Blood was, and still is, used on my plane for many horrible things, 'strangulation' being one of the worst. The way the person hovers above the ground, helpless…" Korra sighed, extending a hand as she said, "Why don't I just show you everything?" Acting as though he had just seen a ghost, Arthas responded, with slight hesitation, "I guess, if my dad thinks I should…"

Asami watched with baited breath as Korra pressed her hand to Arthas' forehead, realizing that this other plane was just as real as Earth when Korra said, with awe, "Wow. No pulse. I guess you really are undead… but not for long." Korra said, with effort, "Damn. This is going to take a while. Asami, why don't you go make sure our parents haven't gone crazy from what I showed them." Atokara tugged on Asami's clothes, Asami beginning to regret the earlier wardrobe change as she felt the chill of the gale permeate her being. Taking a deep breath, Asami warmed herself back up with firebending that she wished she had in the physical world as Atokara said, "I wanna help, mommy Asami! What should I do? Oh, I know - I can play with him! Maybe that will help!" Asami laughed, saying, "It just might, but let momma Korra finish with the infobending first. Take over for me - I want to see what my dad thought of all that."

When Asami finally came to her parents, they were talking with Senna and Tonraq, her father saying, much to Tonraq's chagrin, "He had some magical blade steal his soul to turn him evil. All I had was the loss of my wife and an irrational hatred of benders…" Her mother said, holding her father's hand, "Whatever that place is, it sounds like it's very different from the world I lived in. And, live in, though I don't know who I am right now. I don't know what you did that you think could possibly compare to what 'Arthas' did. Corrupting thousands, killing his own father…" Her mother grabbed him, making him look her in the eyes as she said, "Oh. I know what this is about. Asami forgave herself for repressing who she really was - and I think it's time you forgave yourself for your own actions. All of them. Being sorry can just be another form of feeling guilty, you know…" Asami joined her mother's side, smiling to see her father nodding, saying, "You're right. I don't want that shame and guilt hanging over my head on the occasions I see my daughter again, from beyond the grave."

After a big family hug, she felt a strong tap on her shoulder, Tonraq saying, "Very, very cold and slightly annoyed spirit here to see all of you." Asami said, not wanting the embrace to end, "Tell him to go somewhere else, warm - like the Fire Nation." Asami did a double-take when she heard a familiar raspy voice say, from behind, "I was just there. And I didn't butt in just to say hello, Asami. I never do." Slowly, Asami turned around, seeing a shivering Sharktar submerged in the snow, only his head poking out as he said, steam continuously coming from his blowhole, "I knew I needed to warn you about the dangers of spending too much time with the departed… and I am but a messenger. Just hear me out, all three of you - Raava just told me that this goes the other way as well." Asami thought over what Sharktar meant, realizing the horrifying implication, getting goosebumps all over when she heard Sharktar said, "Apparently, if the re-incarnated dead contact loved ones from their past lives too often, their current life can begin to have… issues. Major identity issues. Yasuko, your incarnation is fine - for now. She is strong, but has a tendency to obsess over the spiritual, so you need to be careful with how much you visit Asami, lest she piece together who she once was." Sharktar gave Asami a knowing look, saying, "No, I will not say who Yasuko is now, Asami. And not just because it's in that stupid 'rulebook'." Laughing, he continued, "Perhaps I should get Raava to make that book available to Korra. Save both their time." Frowning slightly, he continued, through shiny teeth, "Hiroshi, your current incarnation is barely a week old. It's a good thing young babies are not susceptible as older people to something I'll call 'past life dissonance', but I wouldn't push the envelope. Especially not considering the life lessons _she _is to learn…"

Asami's father sighed, saying, "I'll just trust this spirit isn't a trickster, Asami. And Sharktar - mind seeing if Raava can wipe all that garbage about that other horrible plane from my mind? I can't imagine that would be too good either, if what you're saying is true." Sharktar's eyes widened, from beads to small circles, saying, "Oh, my. I hadn't even thought about that. Just a moment." Asami heard a sudden loud ear-piercing screech, realizing in the middle it was Arthas' story in reverse somehow, still finding she remembered everything in detail once it was finished. Giving her mother and father a last hug, Asami asked, just to be sure, "Know who Arthas is?" Her father shook his head, saying, "No. What an odd name," Sharktar cursing wildly when her mother smiled, saying, "Yes, I do." Her father vanishing after a wave, Asami turned to her mother, nodding as Tonraq said, "Yasuko, don't hold on to that. Please. My daughter was screwed up enough knowing she was the Avatar at the age of four, and you were alive then. It sounds to me like your current life is a little bit like Jinora. Sticking her nose in things she shouldn't at a young age." Shivering slightly, Tonraq added, "Something tells me she's worse than Jinora – something about obsession…" Sharktar began laughing hysterically, saying, "From what Raava told me, you have no idea how true that is, Tonraq. I can't say anything else, of course." Her mother took a deep breath, releasing a sigh as she said, "There. What? You still don't look happy, Sharktar." Sharktar laughed, saying, "I'm almost never happy. Sort of like the young Zuko, I guess, seeing him in that 'inspired' Earth mover-toon. I can't wait until Zhu Li stumbles on the drug the show's 'creators' took when they saw everything." Before vanishing, Sharktar said an odd, very long name with ordered numbers and terminology that meant nothing to Asami, her mother vanishing shortly after.

Asami awkwardly looked around, not sure what to say to Korra's parents, finally offering to show them her betrothal necklace. Feeling as secure as she had with Kya, she asked if they wanted to see Korra's other handiwork on the back, suppressing the sense of irony she felt about what she had just told Atokara a short time ago. They both laughed, Senna saying, "She probably looks just the same as when she came to me, concerned over her changing body. She never did grow in height that much…" Asami blushed, saying, "The image isn't exactly… _accurate_," beginning to regret bringing up the subject. Turning away quickly, she snuck a peek at the image, realizing with a start that it didn't include Korra's new tattoos. Turning back around, she said, grinning nervously, "I – uh, need to have Korra update it with her tattoos!" Asami laughed deeply when Tonraq said, "Yet another thing that makes me think she was supposed to be a man."

She stopped laughing when she snuck another glance at the locket, seeing in normal text, "Get your sexy butt over here, Asami – Arthas problems!" Explaining what she had seen on the way over, Asami stopped in her tracks, pausing to watch with concern for a time, not feeling as much panic as she had initially felt.

* * *

As Asami went off to make sure both their parents weren't "crazy as a loon", whatever a loon was, Korra resisted some kind of block on her infobending of Arthas, thinking strongly, "Whatever you are, in there, interfering with my work, I know there's no redeeming _you_." Ignoring laughter that was only more bone-chilling than that of Jinshu Kuangmai due to supernatural assistance, Korra searched around, trying to find something that might make the process easier. When she saw an image of a woman in robes holding a staff that made Jinora's staff look like Frostmourne itself, she felt the information begin to flow freely, encountering no resistance. Keeping her hand on a noticeably warmer forehead, Korra thought, figuring she might be able to contact this Jaina much as she had Muhammad, "Hello, stranger."

Korra saw the figure seemingly age ten years in front of her eyes, the warm-looking woman replaced by a vengeful-looking husk with hair that reminded her entirely too much of the corrupt Arthas, feeling an information flow of more recent events than those Raava had shown her. Korra cried slightly when she heard a female voice say, "Goodbye, stranger," the image vanishing, replaced by a set of strange characters she could not read. Pulling back her hand, she asked a visibly distraught Arthas, glad to see emotion on his newly flesh-colored face, "Can… can you tell me what that text said?" After a pause, he said, smiling slightly, "Just kill that 'metal-bending' monster already, you idiot." Korra blushed, realizing the information flow must have been two way. Wanting to distract herself from the nagging voice in the back of her head that told her death was the only option for Toph's wayward son, she asked Arthas, "Does your… alive appearance mean what I think it means?" He shook his head, playing with odd golden hair as he said, "Not quite. This is just the first step, I think." Pointing to Korra's forehead, he said, "I think I need to decide what I want to bend in my next life before we can provoke the darkness within into fighting one last time." Korra frowned when he added casually, "If you can convince me to stay here, that is." For once, Atokara made herself scarce, saying, "I'll stay quiet, momma Korra. Only speak if I need to."

_Done with the suits. Something's going on right now, but I won't trouble you with who's having… issues._

Feeling Raava enter her being, Korra decided to demonstrate her native element first, figuring she may as well cut to the chase, saying, "Allow me to show you bloodbending healing. Perhaps you will change your mind about waterbending…" Imagining a profusely bleeding Jaina, seeing her imagination come true, an image of the woman said from a small distance, "Please… someone heal me." Korra ran over, cursing lightly in English when she saw a flash of light appear over the image, grumbling when she heard Arthas say nonchalantly, "Doofus, I was a paladin! The 'Holy Light' can be used to heal, and can't be abused like I saw this bloodbending being. And from what I saw of this 'Ming-Hua', regular waterbending isn't much better. And I saw that acidbending too. Yech." Confused, Korra stammered, not speaking until she heard Raava intone, _The inner dream world is half reality, half unreality. Hence why Arthas can use magic from another plane._ Korra laughed when Raava added, _You will find this most useful for "play" later, I imagine. Call me if you need me._

Knowing water to be a lost cause, Korra said, "Very well. I can understand your reservations about an element that deals with ice and, sometimes, blood. Now the next – earth." Mulling over her next choice, Korra chose to bend directly, saying as she demonstrated, "Earth is unyielding, stubborn, like a rock. You have to wait for the right moment, for the opponent to make a mistake… and strike!" Korra did just that, showing off earthbending in a mock fight with a metallic Jinshu Kuangmai, finishing by submerging an incapacitated form in a pool of lava, adding, "Oh, and if you're really lucky, you can make _lava_. Pretty cool, huh?" Arthas nodded, saying, "You didn't show me metalbending used to its… full potential. I have a history with blades, and I saw how that image fought. With bladed arms…" Korra frowned slightly when he continued, "And if I were really 'lucky', I could blood-iron bend, just like him. Which brings us right back to the bloodbending. And I don't like waiting to hit anything anyways – when I was righteous, I was a crusader, striking hard, without mercy, incinerating the unclean."

Figuring this a good transition, Korra said, "So I guess no earth. How about firebending?" Producing a blue flame, Korra said, seeing Arthas' eyes light up slightly, "If a firebender draws on the right powersource, their fire is intensified, burning hotter. It is much easier to master blue flame through love than hate – there are two people who have produced blue flame from love that I know of, and only one prodigy through hate." Korra jumped slightly, a series of zombies and ghouls appearing, frozen until Arthas finished saying, "I know of lightning, even from my own plane. Damn shamans. Anyways. I paid attention to your infobending, and am not quite sure why we're doing this, but whatever. I want you to try something. Something I've never done, and may be against the rules here, so to speak. Try making chain lightning." Korra tried and failed multiple times, the mindless horde returning to its starting position when they got too close. Trying a different tact, she created ball lightning, extending her fingers on the hand holding the ball outwards, as if she were flicking the pests away. Much to her surprise, the technique worked, though the electricity did not behave in an orderly manner.

Remembering that all her foes would likely be wearing metal armor, she told Arthas, "Give them appropriate armor, and I'll try again." Korra laughed when she saw the ghouls and zombies don Earth Empire equipment, one "Elite" babbling, examining its armor in apparent curiosity, "Jinshu Kuangmai new Lich King! Want control many spirits!" Given how Arthas was giggling, this speech was deliberate, Korra trying a different form, tossing the ball lightning much as she might have a Pro-bending earth disc, using both hand's fingers to spread the lightning instead of just one. The lightning arced back and forth between targets, some being hit multiple times, those that were hit more than twice reduced to ash. Grimacing slightly, Korra said, "I want to incapacitate, not kill. Just a minute." The unholy abominations were replaced by realistic Earth Empire Elites with conscripts thrown in, Korra aiming to avoid killing if at all possible, but still incapacitate. It took a few tries, and while she found that she could avoid killing conscripts, the elite's excessive metal armor made them particularly… vulnerable. Korra turned around to the source of a yawn, seeing Arthas tapping his foot as he said, "Quit delaying, just for the sake of misplaced mercy. I have some advice for you. You remember the Culling of Stratholme." Korra nodded, saying, "…. Yes. I'm not about to slaughter innocents, like you did. Your point?" Arthas matured slightly when he said, "Consider the conscripts innocent civilians, and the metal bending elites like the zombies and ghouls. After your ally's little trick over the radio, I doubt my assessment is far from the truth. Any elites with a conscience likely fled." Cutting Korra off, Arthas said, now nearly his adult size, still missing his distinctive armor, "Plus, you have an ability I would have died for, Korra – with Raava's help, you can read people. Judge them. Accurately."

Korra nodded, saying, "Thanks for the help and advice, but you still haven't decided. What do you think of fire?" After some time deep in thought, Arthas said, "Perhaps, but then again, the temptation to just incinerate my foes might prove too attractive. And recent history aside, the Fire Nation does not exactly have… exemplary behavior. The Air Nomad genocide… Which brings me to the element I found the most alien – airbending." Frowning, he said, "With all the enslavement, violation of free will, myriad of dark beings and dark pacts, kings and war chiefs of my plane, true freedom seems an almost alien concept, the ideals this Zaheer holds making my head hurt. Care to explain what air means?"

Korra shifted uncomfortably, knowing the best person to talk to on such matters was Jinora, not herself, given the Air Nation's changing nature. Trying her best, she said, "As you know, I assume, for most of their history, airbenders have been peaceful nomads, not even having a standing military. Their idealism almost cost them their very existence in the end, my predecessor, Avatar Aang, being the last airbender. As I showed you, the Air _Nation _has been re-born, my decision to leave the Spirit Portals open letting those with affinity for the element begin to airbend." Getting to the "new" quandary, Korra continued, "However, these new airbenders – they are not peaceful nomads. Before recent events, there was a rift between Tenzin and his daughter, Jinora, the de facto new leader of the Air Nation, and Opal, over what it meant to take away human life." Chuckling lightly as Arthas strummed his fingers, appearing as though he felt he was being talked down to, Korra said, "As I have shown you, Jinora is now more willing to take life than I am, her nine-year old brother Meelo designing weapons of war."

Korra was surprised when Arthas revealed he was still confused, saying, "I know all that. I want you to explain what being an airbender means, especially freedom. Remember – I come from a plane where breaking free of enslavement is a notable exception, and not the norm." Korra felt chills run through her being as she reminded Arthas of Long Yumao, breathing a sigh of relief when Arthas pointed out, "Not relevant. Even if he wins, humans can still fight back. The Forsaken and Knights of the Ebon Blade breaking free… of my will were historic events on my plane, along with something Raava probably deemed irrelevant." Coughing, he said, "Enough. Explain what it means to be free and live in a world where freedom is common, and to airbend. Even if you have to use infobending to do it."

At first, Korra was hesitant, remembering her own childhood, the former oppression of benders in Republic City, Vaatu's capability of plunging the world into darkness for ten thousand years, Kuvira and then Jinshu Kuangmai's reign of terror, what Long Yumao had in mind for humanity… not to mention what "freedom" wrought in the former Earth Kingdom. A solitary tear escaping her eye, she grabbed her betrothal necklace in desperation, words beginning to flow freely as she began to levitate, slowly looping up, down and around Arthas as she said, "Without infringing on the rights of others, freedom means being able to do what you want, and especially, with _who _you want, if you know what I mean. But on a more serious note. Freedom has to be fought for, just like on your plane, and the other I have had interaction with – 'Earth'. Not only freedom from tyrannical rule, but freedom from emotional tyranny, such as that suffered by Asami and my cousins, and to a much smaller extent, myself with the White Lotus. But unlike your dark, depressing plane, or Earth's plane, humans have two intertwined allies, one human, one spirit, both part of the same active whole. The Avatar, myself, and Raava, the increasingly active spirit of light. She does not just help humans or the righteous, like the… 'naaru' do from your plane. She is actively trying to become _more_ human, and she's breaking all sorts of rules in the process, freeing herself as well." Seeing a brief glimpse of what she wanted a restored Northern Air Temple to look like, Korra shared the image directly, smiling broadly as she said, looking at the image, "The Air Nation, as Jinora envisions it, will likely be the freest nation on our planet, no longer weighed down by outdated concepts about family and sufficient self-defense. They will even help ensure freedom endures, with their… undesigned military equipment." Remembering the contrast between Opal's new fighting style and the old style, as well as the airbender projectile gloves, Korra added, "You can even strike hard and fast like you used to, as untouchable as you would be inside a shielding bubble, with the agility provided by airbending. And something tells me new airbenders won't run from a fight. I might try and learn from Opal myself, that new aggressive airbending form."

Korra watched with awe as she saw golden armor materialize on Arthas' body, listening as he said, "After living a lifetime of trying to do right and falling to darkness, at first enslaved by another then turning into the master, I want to know what it means to be free. I choose air. Azeroth sucks!" Laughing, he added, swinging his distinctive mace effortlessly, Korra noticing the lion crest replaced with the symbol for Air, "I especially look forward to mastering the power of flight. Maybe I can find a new Jaina…"

Korra looked around, expecting the Lich King to pop up from the snow, yelling in his loud, icy voice, followed by ghouls and other minions. Seeing nothing but a subsiding snowstorm, she looked back to Arthas, jumping backwards slightly when she saw what had happened to his body. Watching beads of sweat roll over his closed, colored eye, the other eye open wide and dead-looking, Korra grabbed her betrothal necklace, trying to see if she could butt in to whatever internal struggle Arthas was having. Feeling herself physically pushed back, a bubble appearing around the uncorrupt half of Arthas' body and a bone shield around the other half, Korra called out for Asami's help. Trying again, Korra entered the Avatar State on a whim, managing to get close enough to the twin shields to see an image of the good, crusader Arthas fighting the Lich King Arthas using the skills of a paladin… and losing. Korra watched in horror as the undeath crept slowly over Arthas' body.

Korra began crying, finding herself now looking up at Arthas as she said, "No!" Korra felt herself lift off the ground, Asami asking, "What's the matter? And why aren't you helping?" Korra sobbed, saying, "I can't get through those barriers! It's like… he has to fight alone! But I wanna help!" Korra sighed when she felt an energy surge next to her, Raava saying, "You are correct. Now that Arthas' fate is entirely in his own hands, I feel free to tell you… he is not the only one in crisis. One of our own is having trouble right now." Korra began sobbing harder, barely able to manage to hear her mother say, sounding like she might cry as well, "… Kuvira. NO! It can't be… I thought she won already!" Asami put Korra down, saying, "I think I might just know what's happening. Korra, you aren't going to be of help to anyone sobbing like a, well, scared little girl." Korra stopped crying and began laughing lightly when Atokara said, "HEY! I'm not cryin', mommy Asami. And neither should you, _Korra_."

Realizing what Atokara meant by not calling her momma, Korra collected herself, still small as she said, "Sorry. I'm losing my self-control. My emotions are all crazy now, 'cause I love Asami, I guess. Everything's so confusing!" A different, less clothed vision of Asami flitting through her mind, Korra felt herself growing, saying as she hugged Asami and Atokara, "I'd rather have crazy emotions than not have either of you." Remembering Asami's previous comment, Korra asked, with a frown, knowing the answer was likely not good, "Asami, what do you think is happening with Kuvira?"

It was all Korra could to do avoid shrinking back in size out of terror as Asami said, "Her brain may be revolting, like your brain revolted with Dark Korra's help almost half a year ago." At first, Korra was confused, slowly going over those horrible events in her brain, realizing that the catalyst for Dark Korra's memory wipe was Korra reading and accepting the envelope's contents – love. Korra sighed, saying, "Gah! Why does it always have to be a struggle? Even if we can't get in to help Kuvira, I think I know what triggered this struggle. Love, like it did in me. Genuine love – not the unequal relationship Kuvira had with Baatar Jr., or the tumultuous one I had with Mako." Korra felt glum as Raava agreed, saying, "This sounds like an accurate assessment, given how I heard her mumbling Mako's name." Korra felt her spirits brighten when Raava added, "She's not alone, I don't think. Opal, Bolin and Mako were also distressed-looking but still asleep, and once I was done modifying Kuvira's Remorse, Kuvira's tuber-vine co-pilot, Conscience, went to her side as well."

Feeling much better about Kuvira, Korra took a look at Arthas, and was rather baffled, the male half paladin, half death-knight nowhere to be seen, only seeing a large icy gale where he should have been. Forcefully parting the gale, Korra saw a glimpse of Arthas' mouth, noticing with relief that he was smiling broadly, mouth no longer split down the middle, only a touch of gray remaining on one end. Before the vortex closed back up, Korra noticed an odd detail – the lips appeared feminine, as did the chin below them. The hole closing, Korra saw the gale intensify in force, all traces of ice gone from the vortex. Korra waited, laughing when Atokara said, "Hurry up already!"

The wind not looking like it would abate any time soon, Korra took Asami aside, asking, "Soooo… how are we going to manage to politely tell my parents, Raava and our unborn child they need to leave after this?" Asami blushed, saying, "Atokara's easy – just send her to my womb. Raava will likely want to go see Wan. But your parents…? That will be awkward." Korra breathed a deep sigh of relief when she heard her mother say, from the distance, "I want to see if Atokara can come to your father and I's shared inner world!" Korra turned around, saying, "Great idea – just take Naga with you too!" Korra grumbled slightly when she heard a low groan, saying, "No, Naga – bad dog! Go with my mom!"

One pounce, lick and bark later, Korra was puzzled, saying, "Get off me, silly beast! If you didn't groan, who did?" Digging out from underneath Naga, Korra looked around, not seeing Arthas anymore, or any vortex. Thinking the stranger had lost his battle after all, Korra began crying, rooting around in the snow with a small hand as she begged, "Please - don't be… gone!" Whipping snow around wildly, Korra stubbed her toe on something hard, yelling, "Ouch! Who left this hammer here?" Hearing a light cooing nearby, Korra uncovered a small female baby wrapped in cloth with a little auburn hair on top of her head. Korra felt oddly at peace as she saw the infant smile, laughing when it surprised her with a small blast of air. Finally putting her small, tattoo-free hand on the baby, she gushed, "You're cute. Who are you?"

The baby giggled, Korra getting nothing - no answer from Raava, no vision. Turning around, she saw the large hammer she had uncovered, grunting as she tried to move it unsuccessfully. Looking up, she saw Asami and her parents standing over her, Atokara saying as Korra stood up, at eye level, "Wanna play, momma Korra? While Asami and your parents look for Arthas?"

Hearing that name, Korra rubbed her head, feeling compelled to touch the infant again. Groaning slightly, she extended an adult hand, touching the baby's forehead, searching for any clue. Reading the baby's energy, Korra noticed it felt as though a massive amount of energy had coursed through the infant recently. As Korra picked up the hammer, idly swinging it around, she recognized it as having once belonged to Arthas. Looking at it closer, she was shocked to see that she couldn't find a single lion crest on it - they had all been replaced by symbols for Air!

Connecting the dots, Korra tried touching the giggling baby again, at first mortified with what she saw. A vision of Arthas' dark side obliterating him after a long, hard-fought battle appeared, Arthas' golden armor cast aside, cape in shreds, scored chest exposed. Korra heard the vision of the living Arthas say, seemingly with his last breath, "Begin anew… as air… free." Korra saw a brilliant flash of light appear around his body, in this vision of what must have happened earlier, seeing a strong-looking woman with auburn hair emerge holding a hammer, looking initially dazed and confused, asking, "What's this thing? I've never seen an airbender with one. But it feels… right, somehow." When she was first struck with Frostmourne, the woman recollected herself, saying, "I don't know who or what you are, or what that horrible weapon is, but I'm not going easily," proceeding to utterly wreck her foe with airbending, striking with the same hammer Korra had picked up earlier and steel airbending projectiles.

The Lich King Arthas refused to die, saying as he brandished his sick weapon, not bleeding, "Frostmourne hungers! Weak woman, stand aside so I can find that weak little boy, so I may reclaim what is mine - total dominion over our soul! He'll never be free! And, when I find him, neither will you!" Korra was slightly unnerved to hear the woman say, still suppressing a snort from the irony, "You remind me of Earth Queen Hou-Ting. You think freedom is something that you can forcefully take from another, apparently with that sickening mockery of Life's Gift. But freedom is just as slippery as air - you can't catch or contain either, and only one can be snatched from another. Freedom requires the permission of the oppressed to truly take away…" Korra watched as the woman began performing hand movements she recognized from another vision, the woman saying, "But not air. I may not be able to make you bleed, tyrant, to get rid of you, but I can steal your breath. Without air, there is only… darkness." If the corrupt Arthas could have screamed, he would have, Korra hearing a voice cry out all the same as something vile left his mouth, "NO - not the void, again! Wandering forever!"

Korra saw was a large vengeful-looking spirit leave the corrupt Arthas' body instead of air as she heard a familiar icy voice boom, "**You have forsaken your legacy, fool, embracing the feminine, and freedom. You cannot remember your true identity, as leader of the Scourge, or even as a man. Goodbye, pitiful female 'airbender'. Useless! You didn't even kill him with hatred or real malice in your heart, even if you were being rather _enthusiastic_ about it. Pity…" **After an image of the great angry spirit vanishing, Korra saw only snow and the small baby again, pausing for breath.

Korra felt the baby tug on her hair, laughing as the baby babbled, Korra saying, "Looks like we need to get you to your new home." Projecting Raava out, she told Raava, "Go ahead and see… Jaina? To her new home, if you do that kind of thing. And make everything as normal as possible. Arthas decided to begin anew for a reason… even if his new life sounds a bit much like his old one for my tastes." Raava laughed, saying, "I figured you might have that reaction, as I watched what happened to 'Arthas' with you. Being a 'lovergirl' and all." Korra gave Raava a disgusted look, glad to hear Asami say hotly, "That's a term of endearment, not an insult!" Raava laughed, saying with a shifty look, "Sheesh, sorry for trying to 'razz' you." After Raava spoke one unintelligible word, the baby Jaina vanished, only the hammer left behind, Raava saying, "The only reminder of her former life she will ever have is that hammer." Remembering a crisis closer to home and not sure how Kuvira was doing, Korra said, "Great. One soul helped, one to go. Raava, see if you can break us in." Raava shook her head, saying as she began to shimmer, apparently intending to vanish, "Kuvira's struggle is not a malady of the soul – it is a malady of the physical mind and brain. Just like you, she has many habits she will need to break."

Stopping the shimmering, Raava said drolly, "I really meant what I said about 'lovergirl' earlier. You have new habits you need to _adjust, _not break. You know what I mean." Korra blushed, saying, "Excuse me if finding true love has made me overly emotional! I _feel _like the only reason I haven't given up, surrendered to frustration and anger over the past week's bad events, are the good things that have happened. Love for Asami and Atokara, Kuvira's redemption - all decidedly emotional. And why are you complaining – shouldn't you be observing these new emotions, to learn to be more human-y?" Raava laughed, saying with a fierce grin after she stopped, growling, "You need to be more like this…" Raava shifted her expression, trying to appear thoughtful and composed as she said calmly, "And like this…" Raava made a sappy face, saccharine moan and mock tears, "And less like this. Come on, Korra – be strong, and don't let your emotions run rampant! I fear your judgment has been clouded by all these new feelings, and older ones you haven't felt in years." Korra knew that Raava was partly right, Korra remembering how easily she shifted between adult and child in this shared inner dream space, only willing to give her one point outwardly. Korra started by saying, "I guess I will need to better learn to manage my emotions. But I'm not repressing anything. I want to flow freely." Korra listened to Asami say, forgetting what she had wanted to add, "Looks like we're all alone now, Korra. Your parents, Atokara and Naga left, Senna not liking Raava's… tone."

Raava grumbled, "Oh, what do I know – it's not like I'm a supremely powerful spirit or something." Korra rolled her eyes, asking, "Just why are you harping on me anyways? Didn't someone more advanced than you say something along the lines of 'Perfection is a lie; you will never find perfect balance?' Don't give me that look, Raava." Raava sputtered, "But that's between light and dark, not between reason and emotion!" Getting angry enough to yell, Korra said, smiling to see Raava recoil, Korra knowing to be in the right, "You missed a part of your little lecture - on aggression. How you implied I need to be more merciless. Well, he talked about balance specifically concerning mercy versus wrath, and you know it! Well, it applies to emotions and logic, too, and emotions can help you make better decisions! So many of the good decisions I have made in my life have been driven by emotion."

Korra wasn't feeling truly furious until Raava said, "Yeah, like what good decisions? You've made plenty of BAD decisions based on emotional response, or otherwise let your emotions hinder you… How about your hotheaded and impetuous actions in Republic City - romantic, political and otherwise. What about all your ridiculous surliness to your father and rudeness to Tenzin before you discovered Unalaq's real agenda? And what about poor Mako? Your amoral interrogation of that judge? How you let fear and defeatism almost get you crushed between two sheets of ice, facing Unalaq, only a pep talk from me getting you back up?" Not needing to pause for breath, Raava continued, beginning to shift into her larger form, "And more recently. What of your naïve decision to turn yourself over to that liar Zaheer, who manipulated your desire to protect the Air Nation and new airbenders like a master, almost killing you? I wouldn't have died, but having to start over again isn't much better - the Avatar spirit, dead! And what of your decision to run away from the world, and those that loved you? The weakness of will you displayed outside of Zaofu, not crushing Dark Korra headed Kuvira with that rock? Only Zaheer's assistance helping you overcome your misplaced fear of what might have been?" Raava boomed, now towering over Korra, "And what of your most foolish, most recent decision - I don't see anything worth saving in Jinshu Kuangmai, and screw Tonga Beifong! He had his chance! Sob stories are no excuse! Forget what I said earlier, in the Swamp - I don't want to wait to see what his secret project is! KILL HIM! Even Tonga Beifong thinks it warrants death, and you're the one who made that deal in the first place!" Practically hissing, Raava finished, "Honestly, Vaazula disgusts me, the only reason I'm willing to go along with that idea of yours is out of courtesy, and not wanting the prison camp blown up before it can be evacuated!"

Korra felt herself slipping into a rage like none she had never felt before, beginning to shift, feeling more powerful than Raava herself. Finding herself looking down on Raava's spirit form, Korra ignored Asami's horrified reaction, staring at Raava, feeling wrathful, and hurt. Bending over, Korra picked up a comparatively small Raava with a blue hand, saying strongly, "You are blinded by arrogance, and forget that all humans make the best decisions they can based on limited information. You may never truly understand what it means to be human. I won't even bother giving a proper response - my mother and father would be disgusted and furious, if they knew what you had just said. Daring to call me a FAILURE, basically? After all I've endured? It's a wonder I'm not more 'broken', if that's how you see me now!" After Raava said, "Aang left a better legacy than you have," Korra lost it, throwing Raava against the snow with all her strength as she said hotly, "I have a better relationship with my unborn daughter than Aang had with two of his own living children. He had trouble right after defeating Ozai, with the fate of Yu Dao. Not to mention Old Iron, Yakone and Republic City, and honestly? Most of the trouble I'm facing now is because of YOU. Admit it - your decision to give Atokara to Asami and I was based on some small amount of emotion, wasn't it?" After a pause, Korra added, "Seems like you're venting your pent-up frustration and anger over emotions, especially over your own regrets, and starting the Spirit Civil War, on me. I am NOT a punching bag."

Raava's spirit form shrank, now as small as during the first Spirit World meeting, the little girl crying, "You're right. I'm the emotional failure - a horrible hypocrite. Berating you for being human, imperfect, basically, even while I'm trying to… I'm sorry. You've had a whole lifetime to get used to and try to master human emotions, but I've had a mere week, more directly. I have much left to learn, and I hope you will get over your justified anger, and let me come along for the ride. Let me help heal the hurt I know I just caused you…" Korra nodded, feeling her anger dissipate, feeling herself rapidly shrink down to normal size. She bent over to Raava, saying as she hugged the small forlorn spirit, "I'd be glad to. Don't feel bad - about anything, especially not your gift to Asami and I, or any bumps in the road to becoming more 'human-y'. Nothing has turned out the way we had hoped it would, but I honestly wouldn't change a thing. Here - grab my necklace for a minute, and see if that helps you feel better."

Korra extended the necklace to Raava, noticing that Raava's hand grew rapidly, Raava finally saying, "We'll see together tomorrow whether Jinshu Kuangmai has any honor or not, any hope of redemption. On the secret weapon - Jinshu Kuangmai is human too, and both he and Vaatu hate Long Yumao. A lot. For all we know, this weapon could inadvertently help us in the Spirit Civil War. I don't like how quiet things have been lately…" Korra felt a tap on her back, hearing Asami ask, "Look at this betrothal necklace - what the hell is going on with it?"

Korra took her present to Asami with curiosity, noticing that the image of herself on the back was much more accurate now, tattoos and all, the image shifting as she watched, the latest change eliminating the exaggerated proportions. Tracing her hand over the Raava diamond on the necklace, Korra could feel her own energy just as strongly as Raava's. Taking off her own necklace, she traced Asami's body, feeling as though she were actually touching Asami, even more so than usual. When her finger touched the art Asami's stomach, she smiled broadly, somehow feeling like she were talking to her daughter happily. Realizing that both needed an update, Korra recalled Raava, fixing the image of Raava on the back to account for her new "age", adding a picture of a clothed Atokara to the back of her own jade necklace as well as a representation of Atokara tugging on Asami's clothes on Asami's sapphire necklace.

At first, Korra felt proud of her work, saying, "Much better!" Remembering she wasn't in the real world, she grumbled, "Not that it will show up on anything… I'm so stupid. We're not in the real world right now." Looking around, she couldn't see Raava, puzzled - and vaguely relieved, she had to admit. The words still stung…

_I'm sure you'll get over it - I'm back inside you now. Why don't you go check on your body, just in case? Bumju's trilling in my ear about "zombie Korra"…_

Korra explained what Raava had said to Asami, saying, "I'll go see what's happening. Maybe check in on Kuvira while I'm at it." Asami nodded, saying, "Sounds like a good idea. I won't come - me waking up might boot Atokara out of wherever she is right now. I think I'll go visit the library." Korra took a deep breath, thinking about what had just happened between her and Raava, realizing her spirit felt tired, though not as badly after she had synthesized the Raging Shark Whale. But there was something else there… hurt.

Korra opened her eyes, initially feeling strong enough only to do what she needed to, still feeling sleepy. Looking at her necklace, she could make out Atokara's form on the back, seeing Atokara by Asami's side on the sapphire betrothal necklace. Popping Asami's latch open, Korra was surprised to see the tattoos had appeared as well, in full color.

_A little "I'm sorry I'm such an ass" gift. Your spirit did most of the work with the help of your body, while you were yelling at me. Standing up to me took a lot of courage, and strength on your part, Korra._

Korra smiled, standing up slowly as she thought, "Thank you," walking towards where she knew Kuvira was. Looking at Kuvira's face, Korra felt a huge relief, seeing how Kuvira was smiling - and not like she was about to kill something. She heard a voice say, "I am Conscience. Kuvira is more than fine, but I will not say anything beyond that. It is long and complicated. You can feel free to 'play' with Asami without guilt." Korra turned around, seeing Kuvira's Remorse standing at attention. Korra smiled, saying, "You and Kuvira are going to give Jang a fit tomorrow, when he sees the Beifong family crest _and _the Metal Clan guard uniform." The mechasuit moved at the same time Conscience laughed, the tuber-vine stated, "I will feel no remorse in causing that man any mental anguish he might find from seeing Kuvira in a guard's uniform. Suyin Beifong wears the same kind of armor, after all." Tossing Su a look, Korra saw that was the case, yawning as she said, "Thank you. Time to go back to sleep. Oh - see if you can tell Mr. and Mrs. Tuber-Vine to get Varrick and Zhu Li to practice in their suits in the inner dream world. Aside from Kuvira's metalbending projectiles, they're the only ones who will have to make every shot count tomorrow, even with the extra stores. They don't have unlimited ammunition. Don't bother Meelo though." Kuvira's Remorse nodded, walking towards a snoozing Varrick and Zhu Li, Korra wondering what they could be dreaming of.

Settling back down next to Asami, Korra closed her eyes, staring at the ceiling for a short time, trying to cease the nagging thoughts in her mind. What if she really was an idiot, gullible merciful fool? Could she really afford to be so… emotional, with so many lives possibly hanging on the line? Sighing, Korra said, "Maybe I just need to go back to being determined, not letting much true emotion through, like when I was facing Kuvira after recovery…" Closing her eyes, she saw an odd image - a greyscale version of herself, hunched over slightly, the image smiling in a disquieting manner, long hair obscuring the eyes…

_Oh, brother. Not again…_

When she finally fell asleep, swearing she heard the sounds of laughter, she found Asami practicing firebending forms in the middle of the vast snowscape she had left her in, Asami smiling, happy as blue fire came into being... Confused, Korra asked, "What about the library? What was there?" Asami turned around, saying, "Nothing, aside from Wan Shi Tong. He is currently in the prison camp, having flown in from the Swamp. He wanted you to know he spotted odd movements between Zaofu and the army outside Omashu, a highly-decorated and rapid-moving airship avoiding the firing range of the prison camp on multiple trips. Jasmine and the spirits in the prison camp think Jinshu Kuangmai is shuttling supplies to the front. Toph is safely in Omashu, slightly grumpy she wasn't taken to Republic City instead, refusing to do anything other than help evacuate. Alyssralove is currently shoring up the mesa that Omashu sits on, in case Jinshu Kuangmai or his military commander decide to go back on their word about not trying to topple the city through bending or spirit weapons. Much like Vaazula did, the Painted Lady and Alyssralove have empowered the spirit weapon's spirit vines in the prison camp and Omashu." Smiling, Asami added, laughing towards the end, "Alyssralove says that Yangchen gave birth a short time ago to a babbling baby girl she named Jaina. No word on Sura, and her fraternal twins. Ask Raava if she knows anything." Korra nodded, saying as Raava told her the answer, "Raava says Aye-zul saw them born a good time ago, both healthy. Sura named the girl Katara, and the boy Sokka. Bet you Noatak and Tarrlok would either find that hilarious, or themselves unworthy of the names. " Asami smiled, saying, "Enough about the fruits of other's love - let's go see what more _interesting _things the inner dream world has in store. You ready?"

Still feeling drained, Korra said, "No, but I think I know a place where I can get ready. Maybe even do a little bit more than that…" Grabbing an unorthodox body part to ensure that Asami would go where Korra went, Korra focused on the chakra gear pools at the same time she kept hold of Asami's chest, wishing that Asami's clothes weren't in the way. Opening her eyes, Korra saw that her wish had been granted, finding herself naked as well. Hugging Asami instead of groping her - for now - Korra stood still, eventually saying, looking at Asami's chakra gear pools, "How's a skinny dip in your biggest hot tub chakra sound, followed by another trip to the Spirit Library? And not for owls…" Korra wasn't sure if she felt annoyed or turned on when Asami said, "Oh, I don't know if another library visit will be necessary. The earlier talk of the envelope letter gave me an… idea, that I've been sitting on." Asami came over, whispering in Korra's ear what she had in mind, Korra quivering slightly afterwards, saying "Sounds great. But I still think we should go to the library. Something tells me what we'll find there will only enhance the experience you have in mind." Korra heard an internal whisper, as though a ghost were speaking, the thought, "Perverted…" drifting through her mind, Korra feeling uncomfortable. Looking briefly at her own chakra pools, she saw something amiss, but looked away, focusing on Asami, finding her unease vanish as she did so.

After another long, drawn out naked embrace, Korra moved into the seventh chakra gear's inner pool, at first disliking the intense heat, gradually growing accustomed to the heat, negative thoughts banished. Feeling playful, Korra put her head on Asami's chest, sighing contentedly, saying before finally grabbing Asami's bottom, "I could just rest on your chest forever…" Asami chuckled, saying, "Less talk, more spirit healing! And more grabbing…" Remembering that she could bend, Korra got a wonderful idea, asking Asami, moving her hand to Asami's back, "How'd you like a _personalized _healing session, Asami?"

A giggle sufficient response, Korra proceeded to give Asami a thorough healing, making sure to focus on "problem areas", pretending that Asami had some serious ailment of the breasts and buttocks, feeling herself grow stronger as she did so. Korra finished by "healing" Asami's inner thighs, saying, "I can tell you're not lying now, when you say 'I love this!' Maybe we'll have to try three sake sex some time." After Asami nodded, cheeks flushed, Korra pushed another area with a warmed waterbending form the White Lotus would have thought highly inappropriate, loving how Asami went "AaaAAAHuhh!" in surprise. Blushing, Asami said, pushing Korra away slightly, "That move deserves a night of its own, in the physical world. Maybe we don't need thingies with that… waterbending form, Korra." Pouting, Korra said, "What about me? You can't waterbend." After a slight pause, Asami said, as though confessing, "I have devices with similar… effects. Well, the warmth. Now come on – you feel better? You over what Raava said about you? Enough to go to the library?"

Korra nodded vigorously, saying, "Yeah! I'm not listening to my brain for advice on a good time with you. Other parts are better for that." After a last playful grab, Korra found herself staring straight at Wan Shi Tong in the library, hearing what she assumed to be Professor Zei yelp behind her. Wan Shi Tong looked side to side, saying, "Normally, I'd require clothing in my library, but given no one else is accessing the library right now, and the reason for your second visit, Asami, I suppose 'birthday suits' are allowed. Not to be condescending, but… Just don't try and use anything as a sex aide. Some of these artifacts are very delicate." Korra blushed, imaging herself in clothing as she said, "I might be horny, but I'm not a total degenerate! Sheesh!" Laughing, Korra teased, "Asami, on the other hand… Asami?"

Asami pointed off in the distance, asking, "What is that… thing, on the other side of the library, Korra?" Korra looked, pushing aside a curious Wan Shi Tong, disquieted when he said, "I don't see anything there, Asami." But Korra did. The same greyscale version of herself she had seen earlier was there, walking slowly towards her, eyes still obscured. Asami asked, clearly concerned, "Korra, is there something you haven't told me?" When Korra opened her mouth to explain what had happened earlier, the figure stopped, as though fearful of Korra sharing anything. As Korra told Asami of her little vision and negative thoughts, the figure advanced faster, now standing in the middle of the library's great midsection. The figure held up a palm, slowly, saying in a ghostly voice, "Emotion only leads you astray. Emotion lets you feel hurt." Korra jumped backwards when the vision's palm was finally extended, seeing a pulsing black hole in its center that seemingly spoke, Korra hearing, "You cannot afford to live freely, Avatar Korra. Your responsibility overrides selfish personal desires… such as using the inner dream world for anything but business."

Korra shook her head, glad to hear Asami respond, apparently able to hear the spectre as well, "LIAR! I repressed an emotion, a feeling, for most of my adult life - love - and I've never been stronger since I gave in!" Asami made to strike with bending, but the image laughed, saying, "Foolish non-bender. For you, firebending is only a dream." The image took on Asami's form, saying, "And you, Asami - emotion led you to deeply hurt Korra. Your strike in the middle of her back over a perceived slight hurt her more than anything Zaheer did to her." Getting angry, letting rage guide her fire blast, Korra said, "Piss off! All lies! Where are you from, anyways?" To Korra's surprise, the image did not vanish or turn to ash, instead pointing to its ashen forehead, the hair and skin reminding her all too much of the dead color that Arthas' once was, saying nothing.

With that, it vanished, Korra hearing a whisper, "Let's see you enjoy tonight…" Korra explained what had happened to Wan Shi Tong, the large owl saying, blinking blue eyes, "Given what Kuvira went through earlier, and what Raava said to you, it would appear what was once solved, has been unsolved, as well as old problems coming to the forefront. Raava's words must have struck home, even if she apologized. I recommend re-visiting _your _chakra pools before beginning the… 'festivities', Korra." Nodding, Korra grabbed Asami, saying, "I never really did get a good look at my chakra pools. Maybe I need to unblock them… again." Wan Shi Tong hooted loudly, saying with a slightly annoyed tone, "Did you not listen? I thought what I was implying was obvious. The vision pointed to its forebrain, not its heart. Oh. Sorry, I forgot you have not read about that yet." Sighing, Wan Shi Tong said, shortly before booting them out gently, "It appears that Raava struck a nerve earlier, talking about emotion. Some part of you doesn't want to die, but much like Kuvira, it's not in the soul - it's in the mind. Unlike Kuvira, however, your foe still struggles. The chakra pool is really only for help."

Korra cursed in English, finding herself looking at the chakra pool once more. She could spot no weeds or rocks blocking the flow of the water, but the final pool was still empty, as well as the sixth. When Korra saw the reason, she recoiled, seeing a small black hole sucking up the water at the junction between the fifth and sixth pools. After she recoiled, the same vision from earlier appeared, saying as it gradually raised its head while sitting in the fifth pool, "Emotions make you weak. Your decisions unsound. Make you soft. Unwilling to do what needs to be done." Korra screamed, stifling her yell when she finally saw the… the dead, void eyes, the figure cackling as it said, "Unwilling to do the logical. To purge the unclean. Unwilling to kill those beyond mercy. Unwilling to snuff out infidels. Distracted by frivolities, such as the depravities you want to commit with Asami. If only you worked harder…" Korra winced as she watched this ashen Korra produce a massive ball and chain, saying as she swung it back and forth with a mesmerizing rhythm, "As the Avatar, responsibility for the world's problems is yours. You have no time for life."

Korra was baffled - hadn't she already dealt with lies? Korra heard two odd sounds, feeling embarrassed to see Wan standing nearby, Raava saying as Korra covered herself, "It appears you are more like Kuvira than you thought, thinking dealing with a problem once solves it forever. Do not forget struggle being without true end. Even the chakra pools, and the chakras themselves, are an illusion, in the sense that they are never truly cleared forever." Laughing, Wan said, "I'm no peeping tom. The only female form I find even vaguely attractive is Raava's and she's a spirit. Raava told me what this logic monster wants, and I'll just ask you this. Doesn't 'purge the unclean… kill those beyond mercy,' sound eerily familiar? It certainly does to me!" The vision screeched as Wan finished, "That's what Arthas thought he was doing, purging the unclean, and if you listen to just cold logic, ignoring emotions… you will find it almost always leads to depravity, like what he committed. Far worse than some 'innocent' kinky sex in a dream, of all things." Raava walked over, Korra hugging her as she said, "See, Raava? This is why I need to pay attention to what I feel, and not just what I think." Laughing as she heard the sound of flowing water and a fading screech, Korra said, "And one of the emotional crimes you listed earlier, Raava, was really a fault in logic anyways, trusting Zaheer. It seemed perfectly logical - but dealing with evil in a logical way will get you, well… almost killed."

Feeling an unbearable pain in her forehead, as though the front of her brain was in revolt, Korra submerged her head in the now-filled final chakra pool. Feeling a light tap on her shoulder, she raised her head, finding herself staring at Sharktar, who said, "Normally, it would take a long time to fix mind issues like this. Oh, say, six months, like the time between running away from the world, and now. But I'll give you a hint, for an easier time - try drinking this water. It won't fix everything, but it will fortify you." Korra's head hurting too badly to do anything else, feeling like an electrical beast was staging a revolution under her forehead, she drank the water greedily, finding it so fresh, it seemed as though it had just been created. Out of curiosity, Korra made for Asami's chakra pools, wanting to drink from them as well, the hot water filling her with warmth. While the pain was only dulled, she felt strong enough to handle anything a mere mass of flesh inside her skull could throw at her, thinking with a broad smile, "Soul over mind!"

Feeling a surge of both sympathy and empathy, Korra asked, "What about poor Kuvira? Can she get help by drinking from these pools?" She heard Sharktar and Raava laugh hysterically as Asami said, "Right. The woman who refused a mechasuit because she doesn't feel worthy and wants to be as vulnerable as Mako would totally go for this." Korra began laughing as well when she heard Raava say, "Plus, given that Kuvira wasn't good until just recently, it might backfire. Even if she did end up winning spectacularly… tonight, at least. It might stick, it might not. Who knows. Not to mention these pools aren't hers or Mako's…" Korra turned around, seeing Wan gone, said, "I feel much better now." Raava nodded, crying as she said, "I'm so sorry my harsh words caused this little crisis, Korra." Bowing, Korra said, "Don't sweat it. It was something I needed to deal with sooner or later, and I'd rather have it stem from something you said, than whatever nightmare Kuvira had to deal with." Giving Asami a glance and wink, Korra said, "Come on - a 'little' bird friend is waiting for us, in his library." Asami walked over, saying, "Forget Wan Shi Tong - what about me and you? I've been waiting ever since we fell asleep to have 'festivities'."

Korra laughed, asking Raava, "Is there any way they could be made a surprise?" Raava nodded, walking over as she said, "Yes, but I'd have to do that myself. Just let me hold your hand for a bit, and I'll see what wacky dreams suit you both best. Korra's first, since she just went through verbal abuse from me, and an experience I'd rather not ever see again." Giving Raava her hand, Korra was vaguely surprised to hear Raava say, "Read complete. I can still sense some hurt over what I said. I feel bad…" Hearing Raava whimper slightly, Korra re-assured her with a hug, saying, "It's okay - there's a cost to anything, including finally feeling alive again. I hope you don't decide to become the serious spirit you once were, only vaguely human, over any mistake." Raava nodding weakly, Korra said, looking her directly in the eyes, "No matter how grave a mistake. I've never made a mistake that cost someone their life before, but I imagine holding that kind of hurt inside forever would destroy you…"

Korra heard a rustling from the nearby bushes, hurriedly imagining herself with clothes. Korra turned around, seeing Asami must have done the same, smiling to see who was paying them a visit. Uncle Iroh had a morose look, Korra knowing what this was likely about, saying, "It's okay, Uncle Iroh - your son, Lu Ten, and his love for you, never truly died." Crying lightly, he said, "You are right, Korra. The hurt of losing a loved one ever truly goes away. A bittersweet memory is still slightly sweet." Sighing, Uncle Iroh continued, "At first, the loss of my only son, soldier boy, left me confused, torn between grief and rage, devastated." Smiling weakly, he said, "Outside the breached outer walls of Ba Sing Se, getting that dispatch and thinking on it, something shifted, knowing at some level that his death was not the Earth Kingdom's fault. It was mine, and the Fire Nation's. For our stupid, STUPID war, and the suffering we had caused. He should never have been 'little soldier boy'…" Finally returning the hug, Uncle Iroh said, "Rather than letting grief consume me, I allowed it to be a catalyst for change," walking off towards Raava, saying, "I think you are doing just fine. Keep yourself open to change, Raava - even if you perceive it as weakening. To be human is to be both weak, and strong, but often because of that same weakness. You are too far down this road now to turn back - and I wouldn't want you to, either."

Sighing with slight disgust, Uncle Iroh continued, "As much as I hate to leave personal matters, I'm afraid I must. Raava, I need your advice on something. There has been much dissension between myself, Sokka, Iroh II, Raiko, Baatar Jr and a man who only calls himself the 'Lieutenant' on who… why are you laughing so hard, Korra?" Not bothering to compose herself, Korra chuckled, "Amon's second in command… He's still kicking around, after all these years, leading the Equalist holdouts, I suppose?" Uncle Iroh nodded, saying, "I know who he is, but I do not understand why you are laughing. You are non-bender's Avatar as well." Korra felt slightly sick, remembering very clearly the pleading of the nonbender woman in Republic City, Korra unable to do anything to stop Tarrlok's tyranny. With a deep sigh, Korra said, "I suppose it isn't funny. What are you all fighting about?"

Uncle Iroh laughed, pointing to himself as he said, "In a way, myself. Sokka, Iroh II and Raiko think _I _should be in command tomorrow, Baatar Jr. wants to prove himself redeemed and thinks an immortalized human spirit commanding a battle would be bad news in the oddly cool Spirit Civil War, and the Lieutenant fancies himself a neutral third party, even though he keeps slurring benders with every other word. Personally, I don't wish to lead. What do you think, Raava?" Raava walked over, saying, "I try to think on this logically, but I get nothing. Let me try something… different."

Raava took a deep breath, humming slightly with her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she smiled, saying, "Going with something humans call their 'gut'… I believe you are all right, in a way. Jinshu Kuangmai has a spirit second in command that is trying to mimic a dead human - your niece, Azula - so I don't see how an immortalized human spirit assisting could be any worse, in Long Yumao's point of view." Chuckling, Raava continued, "If anything, he and other like-minded spirits probably see that as worse - a spirit, mimicking the human. Just like Vaatu and myself… Before I give my advice, I just have one question, Uncle Iroh - how many Earth Empire defectors have been picked up, if any?" Stroking his distinctive beard, Uncle Iroh responded, "I've been too busy… discussing this inside a Republic City Police airship to get an exact count. I am not sure, exactly, but there are a fair number, all they can talk about Jasmine and her speech." With a slight smile, he added, "I've heard Baatar Jr. pestering them nearly as much about her speech as intelligence, when he's not arguing about wanting to lead. To restore, of all things, his _honor_. Shaming his family name not once, but twice, he says…" Raava smiled slightly, saying, "I'm sure you find that last bit either sad, or hilarious. Probably both, knowing you. My best advice: each command their own, you and Sokka staying out of it unless spirits are involved somehow, or someone is about to make a really big tactical or strategic mistake. And no offense, but make sure your namesake gets extra… _tutoring_, from both you and Sokka." Uncle Iroh nodded, saying, "That sounds like a lovely idea, Baatar Jr. leading the Earth Empire defectors, I assume. I want to talk to Iroh II - I have the feeling Sokka may be a little too harsh. I believe, perhaps, Sokka would be better off with the Lieutenant, Sokka never having been a bender, and to keep an eye on him." Turning to leave via the bush through which he came, Uncle Iroh stopped, saying, "Have fun, whatever you two decide to do."

With that, he vanished, Korra confused as to why Raava was blushing slightly. Raava stood up straight, saying, "Ahem! Now, to read Asami's inner desire… this should be pretty easy." Asami laughed as Raava took her hand, stopping when Raava said, "Read incomplete. I can see why your current strongest inner desire is to slap me across the face, for how I treated Korra earlier. Korra's already forgiven me, and accepted hurt as just a part of daily life. I can't find anything with you glowering like that." Asami said, softening her glare, "I guess you're right, but Korra's not the only one with wild emotions lately… What that ashen Asami told me hurt too." Rolling her eyes slightly, Raava said, "Aw, geez. Asami, remember, you're pregnant as well as in love - ignore those stupid lies." After a short awkward pause, Asami laughing again, Raava said, "Read complete. Much better." Korra snickered when Raava said, blushing, "Now go do your thing, so I can get to my own! And before you ask, no, I'm not going to screw Wan. My dream is a little… different." Raava sighed slightly, as though hearing Wan saying something, vanishing after saying, "If they don't like the supreme spirit of light dreaming she's fully human, then I don't care!"

Korra saw an image of Wan and a white-haired woman holding hands on the back of what she recognized as Wan's old home lion turtle, thinking, "Guess you're just as sentimental as I am, Raava, Miss 'Aggressive'," snickering when she saw the woman slump her shoulders slightly.

_You got me. Sort of. Now just go already!_

Feeling good, Korra thought, "Not just yet. You should probably share all the technological changes with those not in the know about that latest first," without any sort of smugness, glad to hear Raava intone, _Thanks for not being a pest, and good catch. Don't want Uncle Iroh's advice to be seventy years out of date, even if certain things never change in war._ Korra laughed when she heard Raava intone, _Including infighting. Maybe Ikki can calm everyone down. Let me use you for a second._

Korra's body moved without her command, feeling a sense of oneness with everything when her hand touched the seventh chakra pool. After a short time passed, she felt a tap on her shoulder, hearing Asami ask, "You ever going to quit working, and start, well… you know?" Korra shrugged, saying, "Pay me now, pay me later… but now I'm all yours," feeling anticipation rise higher and higher.

Taking a step to face Asami, Korra found her foot striking a familiar marble floor, and as she looked around, Korra found herself standing in the private home she shared with Asami. Taking off her boots, not seeing Asami, she noticed the floor felt pleasantly cold, seeing Asami appear in front of her before she could take off anything else other than her shirt. Realizing they were no longer in the Spirit World, Korra said, wondering why she hadn't simply appeared naked, "Hey. I don't know what's so interesting about this dream… aside from you, that is." Korra found herself agreeing with Asami when she said, "I don't need a dream's assistance to feel fascinated by you."

Korra felt an odd shift, seeing the room was now decorated with all sorts of new objects, hearing Raava intone, _You have many inner desires - and this one is the strongest, by far. And, the cleanest._ Confused, Korra looked around the room, taking in its new décor as she said, "Raava said this was my strongest inner desire. Wonder what the other one was? Whatever this one is, given I'm fully clothed again, it must not be about sex…"

Korra felt her eye drawn to two framed pieces of paper over the headboard, ignoring what appeared to be a hunting trophy above the bed. Rubbing her eyes, she noticed one was in English, the other in normal script. Climbing up on the bed to get a better look, seeing out of the corner of her eye Asami staring at a series of picture frames, Korra began reading the one in English, hardly able to believe her eyes, seeing a small portrait in the corner, denoting the letter's unlikely source.

Hoping this dream would become reality, Korra read out loud, "Dear Avatar Korra, I thank you for your visits to my prison, and your patience and empathy. When you first came, I thought you a fool, wasting your time, better spent defeating that monstrous spirit who locked me out of my one refuge - the Spirit World - in the first place. When you removed that mask the White Lotus had put on me, to stop me from hurting others, I knew something else was going on. You weren't there to belittle me, or even taunt me with your new way to fly - you wanted to help me." Korra continued, ignoring a little voice of doubt that said, "Get real! Zaheer would never do this, and you know it," feeling a hand on her shoulder, "At first, I ignored everything you said, still believing the natural order of the world to be chaos, and governments evil. That all changed when you began to grow frustrated and hurt, showing me images from another plane - the source of the language in which I am writing now, from the Northern Air Temple - of endless war and suffering, on the continent called… Africa?" Korra felt slightly confused, saying, "I don't remember any geographical place aside from that America place. Raava, mind showing me this Africa?"

_Yes, I do mind showing you that right now. Just… trust me on this._

Korra shrugged it off, continuing to read, "The first time I saw these things, I felt ready to break, seeing so many children forced into war, just like… my beloved P'li would have been, by that warlord?" Korra paused, having a hard time imagining Zaheer exiting the void, so to speak. Korra continued reading, "Seeing the endless procession of corrupt governments and warlords there over the many visits you made over the years made me think. Especially when I started contrasting them to what you labeled as the 'West' and their imperfect governments, similar to the United Earth Republic in ways. All this recently made me realize that there are governments for a reason. People want them. They can provide hardship, but they can provide things anarchy cannot actually give. Peace, and stability, and hopefully, freedom. This letter is to tell you I now feel whole enough to… do my best to help act as a counsel, having finally exited the void?" Korra hugged the paper, saying, "This stuff is great! Here - I want to see what this other one says. Redeeming Zaheer…"

Korra looked to the other paper, seeing it was written in two different hands, a smaller portion with crude characters, the letter opening in clear script, "Dear Avatar Korra, Thank you for the dual bending, _and _the humanity. I do not think Tonga Beifong would have ever come around without my eventual help. Without your intervention at the Great Banyan tree and the Painted Lady's healing, I imagine… he might have gone insane, caving to the depraved designs of his military commander 'Wuqing' out of grief?" Korra shivered slightly, remembering what that name meant, and what Jinshu Kuangmai had said about this half-decent commander named 'Chin', hearing Raava intone, _Now that's about the most likeliest thing you've read so far, Korra, given the feelings he had, seeing Vaazula bleed out._

Korra felt happy, saying, "One 'unlikely' event down, a whole lot more to go! Let me finish this… 'Unlike the person I named myself after, he has proven able to slowly, painfully, overcome his inner demons. Now that I have heard Zaheer has been rehabilitated, I hope to see you soon. Signed, … Raazula? Hello, Korra. Tonga here. You need to help me. I feel like I'm still… three years old?' Hah! Wow!" Korra turned around to Asami, saying happily, finding herself looking up, "I like helping people!" Asami smiled, saying, "I guess you really are a lover." Laughing, Asami added, "You should see the family portraits. But first - is that thing over the bed what I think it is?" Korra looked up, unable to read what the plaque behind a few large teeth said, saying, "Asami, lift me up!"

The plaque now at eye-level, Korra read, occasionally looking at a few large conical red and purple teeth embedded in a shiny black base, seemingly knocked from a great beast's terrible jaw, "The last remnant of Long Yumao the Opportunist, slain by Master Avatar Korra and her allies during the second, and likely final Battle for Republic City. The United Republic of Nations gives it as a gift to Master Avatar Korra as a recognition for all of her service. Presented by President Raiko." Korra laughed, saying, "Figures Raiko would be the only one to call me 'Master'! Stuffy old…" Korra giggled when Asami tickled her, saying from much closer, "Enough reading - let's play! Bending match!"

Wanting to keep things fair, Korra said, "Okay - I can only use water, and we'll fight down in the basement! Sound good?" Asami nodded, Korra eagerly attempting to open the secret door in the floor once she was on the floor, accomplishing nothing but frustration. Crossing her arms, Korra said, "I wanna see this wonderful, peaceful world! Damn it! Maybe even live in it!" Korra heard a loud sighing from behind her, seeing Raava towering over her, saying as she idly tossed Life's Gift back and forth, "I'm afraid you'll have to settle for this room, Korra. Going outside and seeing your true inner desire achieved _fully_ \- peace and balance, for both you and Asami, and the world - would be very bad." Korra started crying, saying, "Why, big meanie? Is it because you would prefer I tossed Zaheer in with Aiwei and killed Tonga? I wanna stay here!" Raava sighed, saying, "No, because I would prefer you stay as grounded in reality as possible. As of this moment, Kuvira seems better grounded than you, after her victory. If you don't _promise _me you won't be crushed if anything you have seen so far doesn't come to pass as you hope it will, I might even just take this memory away. I hadn't anticipated you wanting to live in unreality, before reality…" Seeing Korra not respond, Raava said, "Another name for living in unreality is being _insane_. You don't want that, now do you? You'd have your idyllic dream, but lose everything else - including Asami."

Korra felt sick to her stomach, like she had eaten some bad sea prunes. Oddly enough, deciding she only wanted to see what the future could hold, and not stay stuck in this dream, forever, the feeling only intensified. Looking over at Asami, Korra noticed she had a similar look, Asami saying, "Why do I… not feel good, Raava?" Asami blushed when Raava responded, "I can tell you want to directly see everyone in that family photo, the Raava Sato family photo, especially the obscured ones, and the one holding Atokara's hand. But that will have to wait - and you can't have kids if you're CRAZY!"

Korra nodded, feeling something vile-tasting leave her mouth after she said, "I'd much rather see how the future plays out for real, and not some overly idealistic dreamworld, Asami. And this is coming from someone who wants to see both Zaheer and Toph's wayward son as friends!" Korra watched in mute horror as Asami gopped up some odd multicolor globule of a fair size, growing to adult size after, Korra looking down and seeing a smaller one near her own body. Instinctively knowing it to be some kind of malignant tumor of the spirit, Korra created an acid ball, dissolving the form that vaguely resembled her own body as she said, "Reality at all costs! I'm not getting trapped in here! I want to LIVE live, not frolic in madness' mansion!" Korra looked over at Asami, noticing with a smile that there was now a burnt cinder in front of Asami. Spitting, Asami said, "Good riddance! I've had a lot more experience with that… thing, 'unreality' I guess, than you have, Korra. I don't know how often I wished my dreams were real, wanting to live there and not in the world, when I was younger, still repressing myself…"

Standing up, Asami said, Korra following her gaze, "Why don't we see what else is in here, before leaving. I'd love to see everything in here come true, Korra, but life is never perfect." Standing up, Korra saw what must have been the Raava Sato family portrait, noticing that only Asami, Korra and a teenage Atokara were visible. Looking closer, Atokara appeared to be holding someone's hand, but all Korra could make out about the figure was that it was there, the image's silhouette rapidly cycling between fat and thin, girl and boy, holding up a flame or water globule, piece of rock or ball of air… Korra felt her cheeks flush in anger when Raava said, "You think I'd let you see that? Seriously? I already told you - surprises are best left surprises!" Korra turned around, saying, "Tell me who it is, damn it - and how do you know who it is, anyways? How do you already know?"

Raava looked side to side, saying, "Uhhhhh… memory wipe time?" Korra laughed, saying, "No - more like Raava scram time! Don't you have some dream to get back to, anyways?" Raava nodded, saying with a surprising amount of nervousness, considering she was supposed to be the "boss", "Yeah, sure thing. Just wanted to add - with that… thing out of you, you should find any other dreams 'easier', and have little to no problems handling going from bizarre dream to regular reality. It will help, when you two decide it's time to partake of the… more interesting inner desires." Korra sighed, saying, "What, world peace isn't interesting to you?" Waving, as though goodbye, Raava said, "No, but after ten thousand years, I just find the idea very unlikely. Avatar Kuruk and Garkan were both lucky, living in a time of peace. Peace that didn't last, ultimately…" With that, Raava vanished, Korra mumbling, "I can still hope…" under her breath.

Korra found the family portrait in front of her face, Asami saying, "Cheer up! You must really want kids - this frame is almost as long as my forearm!" Korra smiled, blushing as she thought of exactly how those kids would come into being as she said, "We're both only children, and if every kid is as good as Atokara, I don't see why not." Asami raised an eyebrow, saying, "Easy for you to say. You haven't had to deal with the bizarre food cycles that come with Raava's energy being in the child you're carrying. Though, I guess you already have experience talking to voices in your head…" Korra laughed, saying, "Okay, enough with the family photo we can't even see most of. Though, I want to count. Let's see… One, two, three, four… that's not that big! Have you ever seen Mako and Bolin's extended family size? Or what about a Beifong family portrait - including adoptees and romantic interests!" Asami laughed, saying, "I guess you're right. Four - half makes me wonder if we'll somehow get all four bending types." Laughing at the absurdity, Korra said, "No - Aang didn't have a firebender, or an earthbender! That's just ridiculous." Deadpan, Asami said, "If you had told me as we walked into the Spirit Portal that my baby daughter would be talking to me significantly less than a week after having an 'immaculate conception', I'd have asked you where you got cactus juice from."

Getting an idea, Korra said, "Cactus juice…. That reminds me, of something else. We can try almost anything in here without risk." Asami's eyes lit up, her lips pursing slightly when Korra asked, "Three sake sex?" Asami shrugged, saying, "I don't know - you'd probably end up blacked out after two, given how well you handled that little drink the first night." Grinning widely, seeing the décor of the room shift back closer to reality, Korra said, "Let's find out!"

Originally, it had been Korra's intention to go slowly, both with the sake and stripping. Feeling a buzz after her first few drinks, much as she thought she would, Korra ended up taking everything else off faster than she had originally planned, finishing the first glass as quickly as she could after. After finishing and feeling woozy, Korra said multiple times, feeling sentimental as she hugged Asami, "I love youuu," accidentally spilling part of her second glass of sake on herself after a slight hiccup threw off her grab for the glass. She made to bend it off and into her mouth, but stopped, Asami holding up a hand, saying, "Uh-uh. Let me… help with that. I like where it is."

Feeling increasingly giddy, Korra leaned over, playing with Asami's jet black hair as she said, "Ssuuch pretty haiiir, Asssamii! Hic!" Ignoring Asami's attempt to re-direct her hands to other black hair, Korra said, "Not yet! I wanna hug first!" Asami groaned deeply, saying, "We already hugged. Damn it! If I had known you were a silly and sentimental drunk, I would have said no sake." Korra started crying slightly, saying mournfully, "I just wannnt to maake youu happee… Tell mee whaat to dooo!" She was confused as to why Asami was mad. Only knowing that a hug wouldn't fix anything, Korra let Asami direct her, Asami saying, "Sorry. You're like putty in my hands right now…" Remembering something as though it were a distant dream, Korra said, "If you saay, I'll do!" Korra felt the drinking catching up to her in a different way. Letting out a loud belch, making Asami recoil slightly then laugh, Korra pretended Asami was a bending instructor, following her every direction. The last thing Korra heard coherently after taking another half-glass of sake from Asami was, "Seems like you want me to… direct you. This is a lot better than my earlier role-playing idea… now let's see what I want you to do. Hmmm…" Time passed in a pleasant blur, Korra following without question, feeling like if she had any more sake, she'd pass out. Korra felt nothing but a wonderful blur of oneness, arousal and giddiness.

Slightly more lucid, Korra craned her neck up, and found herself looking towards the tops of Asami's feet, feeling a familiar, welcome sensation at the same time. After Korra asked, "What are we doing?" the sensation stopped, hearing Asami say, "_That_, with style. Why did you stop?" Stopping for a moment, Korra remembered Asami telling her to do something with Arabic numbers, asking, "What do two Arabic numbers have to do with anything? How do I do numbers?" She heard Asami laugh deeply, realizing that the sound was coming from behind her head somehow - near where the sensation had been… A particular position she had seen previously coming to mind, Korra blushed slightly, saying, "Oh. That kind of _that_, then. Well, I'm not your little puppet anymore, and - " Feeling the sensation return, Korra gasped lightly, "On second thought, this is more than fine." Her neck beginning to hurt, Korra returned her head to a more comfortable position, pressing against Asami with her chest as she hugged around Asami's back, among other things.

Even though she hadn't seen any glowing or felt any energy surge, Korra didn't feel tired, and apparently, Asami didn't either. All the same, she eventually found herself still, saying as she turned her head to the side, savoring the warmth of Asami's body, "Let's just stay like this, and be." After Asami said, "Sure thing, lovergirl," Korra closed her eyes, idly wondering aloud, "I wonder what those other inner desires are…" Korra found her head nodding in of itself, even with her position, when Asami said from behind, "Let's save those, for something special, or when we need to forget something…"

Remembering there was going to be a battle soon, tomorrow, Korra choked up slightly, a single tear streaming down her face, knowing they wouldn't likely be celebrating anything the first time. Asami's long, drawn out sigh did nothing but reinforce this notion, Korra saying, "I don't think we'll be celebrating, Asami… Don't say anything, about tomorrow. Or even think about it…"

Korra felt slightly better when Asami said, "I wasn't thinking about tomorrow - I was just enjoying the moment." But only slightly.

After some time, lying on top of the one she loved but feeling morose, Korra felt an odd tug on her mind. Letting whoever it was speak their peace, she was mortified, feeling embarrassed about her position for the first time. Thankfully, she didn't actually see Atokara – only heard her. Korra heard her say strongly, "That's no way to end – all sad, momma Korra! I didn't see what you did, or what you're doing, but I can tell you're not happy."

Knowing Atokara was right, Korra got up slowly, telling Asami what she had been feeling, and what Atokara had said. Asami smiled, saying, "I wouldn't trade Atokara for the world. Korra, we still have no idea what exactly happened to Kuvira. Why don't we see that? Raava's passing references are making me really curious." Still feeling slightly down, Korra agreed half-heartedly, hearing an odd whirring and click in the room. Turning towards the source of the sound, she saw a pedestal with two sets of hand print depressions, recognizing them from the library earlier. Taking Asami's hand, she walked over, looking forward to seeing what Kuvira triumphed over.

At first, Korra cried alongside Asami, finding the dreams that Kuvira had to endure worse than anything she had to deal with after the poisoning. When they reached the part where Kuvira fell asleep, and her inner nightmare, she could barely keep standing up, relieved to feel the pedestal sink lower, letting her kneel at Asami's side on the floor. Watching the portion, where Kuvira was fighting as Korra and not herself, Korra felt her spirits sink lower, only lifted slightly when she heard Asami say, "I… I don't regret my father's decision to sacrifice himself anymore. This is just sickening – and all too likely…"

Watching Asami's death made Korra wonder why she didn't just remove her hand… Trying, she found it was stuck, hearing Raava intone, _Just wait._ Korra found herself surprised to feel worse than she had watching Asami die, knowing what followed was more "real" as she watched Kuvira apparently almost lose her sanity, given the odd sucking feeling that was transmitted. She actually cried out "YES!" when Kuvira spoke back, turning her ashen tormentor into cracked garbage.

Having been distracted by more personal things she was seeing, the first good look Korra got at this "Kuvira Mind Colossus" chilled her to the bone. It had all the features the original had lacked. There was no way a hummingbird suit could have even hoped to penetrate its defenses. Hearing Raava intone, _You might want to get a better look – Kuvira's mind no longer has the blueprints on lockdown_, Korra saw the image of struggle replaced with a representation of this weapon Kuvira's subconscious had designed, either to use in battle against Kuvira herself… or against the world.

Examining the design, Korra was surprised to see features she had never thought of. Given Asami's horrified gasp, she must have felt the same, Korra hearing Asami say, "Jesus Christ… look at this thing!" Confused, Korra asked, "Why are you using his name as a curse, exactly?" Korra laughed for what felt like the first time in an eternity when Asami said, "I'm not going to say 'Wan, that's crazy!' or 'For Korra's sake!', am I? Or 'Raava damn it!' It seems… awkward. Not to mention you can actually talk to Wan or Raava. Anyways… I know you're just as horrified as I am by this thing, but… what if we actually made it? It looks capable, to say the least."

At first, Korra said, "NO!", re-considering her position when Asami said, "If Kuvira can think of this all by herself, apparently against her will, who's to say Jinshu Kuangmai and that bright-sounding officer Chin won't come up with something similar – or worse?"

_While I believe Asami is right, she might want to watch the rest before giving it such glowing praise._

The images resurfaced, Korra hearing Kuvira calling her name in horror, saying, "I wish I could have been there for her… like I was there for her, against Koh and Long Yumao." The image paused, hearing Raava intone, _This was mainly a malady of the mind – we should feel lucky that Mako, Bolin and Opal ended up getting in. Even Su couldn't get in – and she noticed Kuvira's call for her._ With that, the image resumed, Korra listening intently to what was said, and given how Asami was mumbling, she was paying attention to the technology mainly. When Korra said as much, Asami said, "Someone needs to. We have no idea what we're facing tomorrow, or possibly the day after that."

_There is something later that I have not told you about that will make a two or three day battle a possibility – Su, along with Kuvira and Opal, want to perform a jailbreak on Zaofu itself._

Korra liked the idea, thinking, "Hurry the rest of this up, and only show the most relevant parts. Asami, the tech and fight, and me, mainly the emotional stuff." By the time the infobending session was done, Korra vaguely wished she had asked for the tech, finding Kuvira's biological father and his final choice viler than what Tonga Beifong had become. Wondering what would have happened had he been given the control he "sold his soul" to try and get, Korra saw an image of a vaguely familiar man with a small mustache with an all too familiar symbol on his armbands, hearing Raava intone, _Some people are one promotion or elevation to leadership away from depravity worse than anything Kuvira committed. Seeing her father's nature, he may have been one of them._

As Asami told Korra about everything she had seen, Korra smiled slightly, saying, "Sounds like this Kuvira Mind Colossus isn't so great after all, if Kuvira almost beat it. Not to mention the royal whooping it suffered at the hands of the four mechasuits." Remembering one detail she had seen, Korra added, "Although, if she really was holding back until Mako, Bolin, Opal and especially Kuvira managed to cripple her with increased friendship with each other, a real person piloting that thing could do much more damage. Just remember what Kuvira did to Republic City with the inferior model…"

Korra saw an image in an oddly familiar art style, recognizing it as the style the Earth mover-toon "The Legend of Korra" used. Looking at the aerial shot, she saw the city appeared much less damaged than it really was in reality. Wondering how it was relevant, she cringed as the image shifted to reality, and then shifted again, showing the kind of devastation depicted in Kuvira's horrible nightmare. It shifted a third time, showing a burned-out husk of a city from father away, followed by a similar image of a city she had never heard of: "Hiroshima."

Given how Asami was crying, she must have seen it as well, Korra finding her hand able to move. Turning around, she saw an unexpected duo, Wan holding Raava's hand as she said, "I never thought that portion relevant until just now, and didn't want to trouble you with a direct image of what Korranium weapons can do. I do not know what Jinshu Kuangmai, or whoever it is, is planning, but… both Alyssralove and Hei Bai say they've detected disturbing energy outside Zaofu – and not spirit energy." Korra felt herself shrinking out of terror, Raava saying softly as she walked closer, "If they really have weaponized Korranium, we'll need everything we can get. Including **Kuvira's** new Colossus, eventually."

Raava paused, Korra saying, "I… I trust Kuvira, even when others don't. It will take a long time before anyone but myself is open to the possibility. You can see Asami's look… But why? Why make that thing?" Raava's lips turned up slightly, saying, "With all of its ball turrets and advanced Kuviracomputer, it's practically a walking fortress, probably able to shoot down the first attempts to use Korranium weaponry – a simple large bomb. You both saw those last few images. Life isn't a children's 'mover-toon', Korra." Korra looked to Wan, who simply said, "No matter how it's weaponized, and by who, I want you to promise me. That you won't let this… happen to any of our cities. Even if means building a Colossus. In fact… there is another kind of weaponization you need to see. It's a long shot, but… you never know."

Korra promised, both out of sincerity, and wanting to avoid seeing the image, but she saw it nonetheless. A familiar ball explosion appeared in the western part of a city that had streams of somewhat advanced-looking tanks and lighter vehicles punching through a thin line around the outside of half the city. Korra expected the whole scene to be vaporized, but it wasn't. Instead, the tanks stopped moving, men hopping out, screaming and crying in a foreign guttural tongue she had heard Raava speak in before. After a slight delay, she heard a translation of a distraught-looking man's speech. Given his dress and more advanced-looking tank, he must have been an officer, Korra hearing him say: "Those capitalist pigs! The French – a neutron bomb, on Berlin! Just to stop us and the Soviets from uniting Germany again! All that radiation… Gheck! I feel only sickness now… We're as good as dead, comrades. See you… on the… other… side…" Time passed, Korra watching as the few remaining men collapsed, some faces covered with nasty burns. The grass around them itself eventually turned a dead brown after a few sunrises and sunsets, as well as all the trees in the city, and for what seemed like miles beyond, Korra seeing some animals that closely resembled a skinny hippo cow keeled over. Nothing stirred - not even scavengers were moving anywhere nearby. But the city itself, and the surrounding countryside's terrain… was not destroyed, beyond the initial substantial blast site inside the walled-off section.

Seeing an image of Omashu and its own walls, Korra suddenly realized what relevance this had – Jinshu Kuangmai didn't want to destroy Omashu, but he could care less about the people in it! The image vanished, Korra saying as she bawled, "I thought this was supposed to be uplifting! What's wrong with you? I just want to have peace…" Seeing Raava start to cry and Wan sigh deeply, shaking his head as if to say "Good luck with that", Korra felt herself shrink smaller, all she could "say" was "Waaaah. Waaah!"

Raava picked her up, saying, "Shhhh – don't cry." After Raava rocked her back and forth for a while, Raava continued, "Any Asami particle or 'radiation' weapon would leave a lot of remaining bad stuff behind in the city, particularly in certain metals." Korra sniffed, feeling slightly better, saying, "Tonga wouldn't make metal bad! Seems like all he likes is metal." No longer feeling quite as small, Korra said, "Can we do something fun now? Please? Oh – show me something good from Earth!"

Raava smiled, saying, "I had hoped to save this for later, but it seems like you need it now. You remember the 'blue whale'? How would you like to see a dream of one, or another whale?" Korra nodded her head, saying, "Other whale! One that wasn't almost extincted." Raava laughed, saying, "That really narrows down the list. Here – just look in this guide book with Asami, and choose which one you want to see. Oh – and none of them will try to eat you, unlike shark whales. Even the 'killer whales' are relatively friendly, and 'dolphins' have been known to save drowning people."

A book appeared in front of Korra, lying down on the floor as she happily flipped through the pages with Asami. Asami stopped her hand on one page, pointing at a large creature that vaguely reminded Korra of a spirit she had seen, except black, and with a funny head and white flippers. Reading the text about this "humpback whale", Korra said, "Yeah, that one! I want to hear it sing!" Korra laughed when she saw Wan had joined them, saying in a high voice, "Me too!" Raava smiled, saying, "I guess we can do a double 'date'. I'll have to make it so you can breathe water – the necessary equipment for extended deeper diving hasn't been invented here just yet."

Korra found herself bobbing on the surface of seemingly endless water, seeing an island with what looked like an active volcano in the distance. Looking at her hands, she could see she must have grown in size, seeing how there were tattoos on the back. Looking around, she saw Raava next to Wan and Asami beside herself, Raava saying, "Hmmm. Looks like although we're not really _here_, I couldn't make it totally uninteractive. Just a minute…" Korra had noticed a speck in the distance earlier, but couldn't find it, Raava saying, "We want to 'interact' with whales, not people. Let's go."

Korra watched as Asami stuck her head underwater after Raava and Wan did, still taking in just how huge this world must be, for only one landmass to be seen in the distance. Feeling a tug on her mind, Korra dove underwater, finding that she could somehow breath the salty water and see perfectly. Korra spotted Raava and Wan, hearing Raava intone as they headed towards the deep, _You'll have to communicate with thought here – our kind of communication doesn't carry underwater._ _Wan wants to see a different kind of whale. He might know about them, but he's never seen a sperm whale up close, even if just in a dream. And neither have I. I'll see you later, Korra._ Korra scanned the endless expanse of water, wishing she could breathe underwater in the real world.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for, using bending to swim over to Asami, who looked lost in thought. Seeing her approach, Korra heard Asami's voice say internally as Asami's lips moved, "Just wondering if there's a way to do something close to this for real. It sounds like there is, given Raava said something about 'not having the technology yet'." Korra rolled her eyes, thinking, "Now you're the one who needs to quit working, and start relaxing!" Korra heard Asami laugh, Asami's voice coming in clear, "Guess I don't need to try and talk. Let's see if you can find a whale with your Avatar life thing."

Closing her eyes, Korra envisioned this "humpback whale" they were looking for, seeing an image that denoted direction and distance to the nearest whale, smiling to see what looked like a baby. Grabbing Asami, Korra bent her way over, making sure to slow down once they got closer, having read that whales could be spooky. About fifty feet away, Korra stopped, just watching as mother interacted with calf, vaguely reminded of airbison as she watched. Time passed rapidly, hearing Asami think, "This is much safer, and better than a Spirit World vacation." Korra heard Raava intone, _Nobody but you can take vacations to Earth locations, _able to tell Asami was happy when Korra told her this was special.

After a while, Korra saw more whales approaching from the distance, one stopping farther away.

That was when she began to hear the unearthly singing.

Korra felt shivers run up her spine, listening to the beautiful cries, some part of her brain telling her it was a love song, of all things. Swimming over to Asami, Korra playfully grabbed her butt, thinking, "That's a love song." Korra heard Asami think, "I want to check out the calves!" as she pointed to the younger whales. Cautiously approaching, Korra was surprised to see one peel away from its mother, staring at her with the single intelligent-looking visible eye. The calf clearly not feeling threatened, Korra touched its bumpy snout, feeling wonder as she did so.

Korra could tell some kind of information flow was trying to take place, and remembering what Raava had said about interactivity, she allowed it to happen, hearing Raava's warning of, _No, don't it's sad! _too late. Seeing the images, Korra somehow knew she was interacting with a real humpback whale's soul – but a dead one. Korra's heart broke as she saw an image of the mother whale nearby being taken by a whaling ship, seeing the calf's grim fate of starvation. When no more images came, she heard a sad voice ask, "You're not here to finish the job, are you, human? You don't have any ship. You don't seem bad, like those people…"

Thinking, "No, I just came here to watch you be, beautiful creature. Seeing that happen to you made me feel terrible," the calf rubbed it flipper against her, hearing a voice say, "You're a funny human. You can breathe underwater like a fish, and do funny things to the water I've never seen anyone do. Want to swim with me?" The answer an obvious yes, Korra climbed onto its back, thinking, "Asami, find a calf, and we'll go humpback-riding! Sounds a lot better than otter-penguins!" Korra laughed when she heard the same small voice say, "I still need to breathe, remember. But what's an otter-penguin?"

Re-surfacing intermittently and riding on the back of her temporary friend near Asami, both of them hugging their bodies against their calf, Korra finally began to feel what she had wanted out of this dream world in the first place. Given how she could see Asami smiling, she must have felt it as well.

Peace.


	48. Chapter 48: Inner Reunions

Chapter 48: Inner Reunions

Zhu Li watched Korra and Asami finally amble off towards Naga, afterwards admiring the ring Varrick had given to her on their wedding day. Hearing a trilling behind her, she turned around, frowning slightly when she realized she hadn't put Bumi and Meelo to bed yet. Not able to understand Bumju's speech, she pointed to him, then to Bumi and then to where the rest of the Tenzin family was, finally pointing to Meelo and herself. Seeming to understand, Bumju grew in size, picking up a snoozing Bumi. Picking up Meelo felt a lot more natural than watching the big rabbit spirit carry Bumi - Zhu Li still having a hard time getting her head around spirits being more than pretty things to look at, and moral support. Alyssralove particularly struck her – dual bending?

Pushing thoughts of spirits from her mind, Zhu Li refocused. Seeing Meelo peacefully sleep near Tenzin, Zhu Li couldn't help but wonder if Varrick had gotten her pregnant yet, wanting a child of her own. Noticing Katara was nearby and knowing her reputation as a good healer and child finder, Zhu Li was tempted to wake her up, but decided not to, seeing Katara had a warm smile on her weathered face. Sighing, Zhu Li said, "I hope I grow that old with Varrick," turning away and walking towards the stockpile of readily accessible sedative, wanting to see what this "inner dream world" she had heard mentioned in passing before was.

Taking out a teacup and pouring out enough sedative to put her to sleep, even while on Jang Hui kelp tea, Zhu Li frowned slightly, knowing she wouldn't be able to do the Thing with Varrick on this massive transport. Especially since he had already fallen asleep…

Making sure to not spill the "tea", Zhu Li smiled, saying, "Maybe we can do the Thing asleep," remembering the use Korra had in mind for this "inner dream world". She made her way over to Varrick, asleep in the arms of her mechasuit, finding she liked the changes now. At first, she had resisted making it look more feminine, but as she looked at it, part of her wished Korra or Raava had given it some flesh tones, having seen Korra's _very _accurate mechasuit on the way over. Shrugging, she said, "I'm just not that kind of girl," settling in next to a snoozing Varrick.

As she carefully sipped the sedative, glad it tasted the same as earlier even without proper storage, she heard Varrick mumble, "Mrs. Beaks…" Remembering that the inner dream world let you interact with the dead, Zhu Li smiled, knowing she might finally get to hear the rest of that story Varrick didn't finish. Starting to feel the effects of the sedative, the last thing she did was place the empty teacup on the ground and kick it away gently, falling on top of Varrick half-awake. Zhu Li realized she had overdone the dose, given that she couldn't move her body even when she tried. Slowly, she managed to mumble out before sleep took her, "Needs… more… refining."

Zhu Li found herself in a frigid environment, shivering as she said, "I could use a coat!" To her surprise, a high-quality one materialized around her whole body, noticing it was exactly the same as the ones Varrick used to make, Varrick Global Industries logo and all. Much warmer, she looked around, seeing a young boy playing with what appeared to be an ostrich-horse in the distance on a small farm, watching him make a snowman without ever touching it for the ostrich-horse to charge through. Unable to spot Varrick, she walked over, asking the oddly familiar looking boy, "Hello. Have you seen my husband Varrick around? And why are you smiling like that?"

Grinning widely, the boy said, "You're looking at him! Zhu Li, this is Mrs. Beaks. I haven't seen her in years! Want to play with me?" Zhu Li adjusted her glasses, saying, "You sure sound like Varrick, but Varrick's no bender." The boy laughed, saying with a conspiratory look in his eye that made Zhu Li realize it really _was_ Varrick, "I've heard head voices tell me rumors that Asami can _bend_ when she's dreaming now. Blue fire, nonetheless. And I haven't heard from head voices in a long time, so it must be true!" Zhu Li still couldn't believe Varrick, giving him a skeptical look. Laughing like the child he was, Varrick moved his hands around awkwardly, finally forming a slushy snowball, asking with a smirk as it levitated above his hand, "Now do you believe me?"

Zhu Li nodded, saying evenly, "I never figured you one to wish for bending." Varrick nodded, saying, "Me neither, and I never figured Asami one to pine for bending. I figure one it's just what we're in right now – a dream." Zhu Li nodded, saying as she pointed to Mrs. Beaks, who was looking lonely, "You never finished your story about Mrs. Beaks, on top of Future Industries Tower. Want to finish it?"

Zhu Li felt smaller somehow when Varrick frowned, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he said reluctantly, "Not really, unless you feel like watching me tearbending." Zhu Li shook her head, saying, "Tell me – I want to know!" Still feeling odd, Zhu Li looked around, noticing everything seemed bigger. Varrick tapped her shoulder, saying, "Hey – over here!" Looking at him, Zhu Li noticed she was no longer looking down. Trying to feel her chest, she noticed even through the heavy coat she no longer had breasts, laughing as she realized what had happened, falling over when Varrick said, "Wondered how long it would take you to notice!"

A mischievous look on his face, Varrick stood over her, saying, "This is too good a shot to pass up." Seeing he looked ready to finally pelt her with the snowball he had been holding, Zhu Li swung her arms up in front of her face, saying, "Forget it!"

At first, Zhu Li was baffled, only seeing earth instead of Varrick. Repeating the same movement, she saw the earth above her shift slightly, hardly able to believe her eyes. Mimicking a move she had seen Bolin use, she punched at the earth, reminding herself of her own persistent and tough nature, thinking, "Rock's got nothing on me!"

The earth gave way easily, Zhu Li's heart dropping when she heard a loud, "OUCH! My head!" Clearing away the rest of the earth, Zhu Li saw Varrick rubbing his forehead, saying, "I – I'm so sorry, honey! How can I make it up to you?" Finding Varrick was looking at Mrs. Beaks now, he said, "Why don't we just go for a nice ride on Mrs. Beaks, instead of accidentally beating each other up. I'll direct her, and you listen to her story." Zhu Li nodded, saying, "Okay!"

Varrick smiled, saying, "I haven't been this young in years. Maybe we need to take a look at Sharktar's water – see if we can reverse its effects." Zhu Li heard a disembodied gravelly voice that she had only heard indirectly before say, "You shall do no such thing, Varrick. Tell me – how does one go from vehemently being against spirit weaponry, to wanting to see if you can pervert my pool's waters?" Varrick blushed, sputtering, "B-b-but Mr. Tuber-Vine practically offered himself to me! Insisted I use him! You want me to just turn that down?" Zhu Li laughed internally when she heard what must have been Sharktar dryly respond, "I never said that was bad – immortality is. Now I have some other humans to go 'advise', so behave yourselves, and don't plot to mess with things you shouldn't."

By this time, Mrs. Beaks was begging for attention, squawking as she nuzzled a flustered-looking Varrick. Making to twiddle a non-existent mustache, he said, "It was just an idea, Sharktar. Sheesh. You're so… grumpy!" As Sharktar's disembodied voice hissed, "Would you just shut up already? Be more like Zhu Li – quiet!" Zhu Li tried getting up on Mrs. Beaks' back, stomping her feet in frustration when she couldn't reach. Getting an idea, she tried mimicking an earthbending form that made a raised platform under the user, smiling broadly when it worked. Seeing Varrick couldn't quite manage to bend himself up, she stomped her feet, successfully making steps for Varrick to use. Staring at the steps, he said, "Wow. You're a natural. Me? I can't even make a snowball right. Whatever – it's not like we'll ever get this anyways. Just a dream. Up I go!"

As Zhu Li sat behind Varrick on Mrs. Beaks' backs, she had her doubts it was _just _a dream, remembering there was a time when people thought the only airbenders that would ever exist would be direct descendants of Aang. Telling Varrick as much, he said while adjusting the reins, "Talk to Korra about it. And Kai and Opal, seeing how they were new airbenders. This could be something, it could be nothing." Laughing, he added, "We don't need stupid bending – not with these mechasuits! I bet yours could beat Kuvira's Colossus one on one!" Zhu Li blushed, saying, "Thank you. It was Raava and Korra who did all the hard work." Varrick scoffed, saying, "Without the idea, there'd be nothing. And considering how tight Raava is with stuff we don't know about, generally, that's saying something. Like the thing we're flying in – it sounds like Korra had to 'steal' the wing sweep design."

Coughing, he said, "Enough about tech – let's talk ostrich-horse! Or Mrs. Beaks, more like." Mrs. Beaks stopped walking momentarily, Zhu Li hearing a little emotion in Varrick's voice as he said, "When I lived on the farm, before the circus people took me, I had Mrs. Beaks. I treated her like I treated you, for a long time – a beast of burden. But she loved me right back." Varrick was interrupted by Mrs. Beaks squawking, making low contented noises as she craned her neck backwards and nuzzled Varrick gently with her yellow beak… a beak with an indent and some small cracks in it, Zhu Li noticed.

Varrick continued, cracking up slightly, "One day, I was working with her, and I got a little farther from the farm than I should have after, taking her to check out what I thought was a tame camel yak, figuring my parents would appreciate a free camel yak. But it wasn't tame… by the time I saw it strutting around, flaring its nostrils near some other camel yaks, it had spotted me and Mrs. Beaks." Pausing, apparently to collect himself, Varrick continued, "When what was definitely a he charged at me, Mrs. Beaks bucked me off, trying to kick and peck the bull as I lay beside her, helpless. He got some good blows in on her, but she hurt him bad enough to make him back off. She got that hoof mark and the little cracks on her beak from that." Varrick sighed deeply, turning around as he said, Mrs. Beaks still trying to nuzzle him, "After that day, she wasn't the same. At first, she seemed fine, though she did have a limp… but she started eating less and less. Whenever I tried to touch her beak, she recoiled, squawking loudly. Before the circus people came, she got so bad she couldn't eat by herself anymore. The last thing I did on that farm was make a machine to grind or slice up food for her."

Before he could start crying, Zhu Li said, "That's just awful! But don't be _just _sad – Mrs. Beaks defended you with her life, even if you had treated her poorly before that. And I just want you to know, I'd gladly do the same for you." Varrick nodded, saying as Mrs. Beaks looked at him, "You… you too, honey. Let's go do something, just the two of us." Zhu Li shook her head, saying, "No – let's ride around for a while. I like Mrs. Beaks. And she seems to really like you." Mrs. Beaks nuzzled Varrick again, Varrick running his hands through her black feathers, saying, "Sorry I didn't treat you right until the end, girl."

Eventually, Mrs. Beaks did get tired, apparently partially lame even in death. After Varrick said a tearful goodbye, Zhu Li cried a little as well, saying, "Let's… let's try a little sparring match. At the very least, you can see how to fight an earthbender. I'll try my best to act like an Earth Empire soldier." Zhu Li frowned slightly when Varrick said, "I can see you being good at that – you did betray me, after all," unable to tell if he was giving her a hard time or not. Winking, Varrick said, "Just messing with you – I know you went in as a mole, like Jasmine did from the start, apparently. I never saw her – wonder what she's like in person. Man, what I'd give, to be able to LIE like that!" Seeing the slight glare she was giving him, Varrick said after whistling innocently, "Not that I'd ever lie to you. Now let's see what we can do."

Walking around, Zhu Li noticed their surroundings had shifted, finding themselves in the middle of what looked like a re-built Republic City. Varrick tugged on her, seeing he now had a mustache as he said, "Let's see what Zhao's restaurant looks like!" Zhu Li took a second look around, seeing many of the buildings appeared as big obscured black masses. Pointing to one, Zhu Li said, "Probably not going to happen. I seem to remember Raava hiding something about the future from Korra. Speaking of which… why don't we practice in Avatar Korra Park? It looks refurbished." Varrick nodded, saying, "Seeing how you're no longer a kid, maybe we can do some THING else there after we're done." Feeling her chest again, Zhu Li was happy to find that was the case.

Once they were in the park, they both got distracted by the trees, Zhu Li giving Varrick a dirty look when he tried to draw water from some of the flowers. He shrugged, saying, "What? Imagine – taking water from flowers and getting the scent too – easy perfume! We'd still sell it at a high price, of course." Zhu Li liked the idea, saying, "I could even try and isolate whatever makes it smell good. All this talk of Korranium, Tophinum, chemicals, what I did to the Jang Hui kelp tea with 'saltpeter' and electricity… I think there are more than just the four 'elements'." Zhu Li continued, seeing Varrick's slightly confused look, "A lot of technology needs specific metals to work, in certain amounts in certain configurations. Almost like proper bending forms – you can't just jumble a bunch of copper and radio pieces together and expect to get a working radio. And as you know, you can't just wave your hands around wildly and make a perfect snowball. What if the Jang Hui kelp tea active ingredient's the same way – has a certain arrangement, of things we can't see, and doesn't work' properly if it's changed? Just like you can't see the chi benders use to manipulate matter?"

His eyes lighting up, Varrick said, "Remember when Korra was whining about Korranium being bad? She talked about little… 'Asami particles', we ended up calling them. Something about being able to tell as the particles were emitted, the metal shrank a tiny amount, only Korra able to tell using glowy power." Grabbing her by the shoulders, Varrick said, "Zhu Li, we've got to look into this! I've got to know – and you look like you want to know too." Zhu Li nodded, saying, "Yes. Perhaps with all the new technology, the Avatar interviews, and some good business moves, we can re-build your company to where it was before we got locked up. Varrick Global Industries." Varrick pulled on his hair, saying, "Great idea, but what to re-name it? If you're going to be an equal partner, in more ways than one, we need a new name!"

Zhu Li shook her head, saying, "I don't know. Let's see if I can give you a good workout. Hey! Not that kind of workout. Leave the Things alone… for now." Varrick smiled, saying, "Okay, hit me with whatever you can! I'll just… improvise."

Stepping back, Zhu Li tried out multiple forms, finally settling on a simple one – make Varrick dodge a rock. Pretending she was Varrick before his change of heart, she struck her hand against the ground, thinking, "Rock, do the Thing!" Zhu Li blushed when she saw the chunk take the order literally, forming a small sculpture of a winking Varrick in a speedo. Varrick laughed, beginning to laugh even harder when Zhu Li told him what she had thought while trying to earthbend. Sighing, he said, "Who are we kidding – we should really be training in our mechasuits. I just want to try a little more first – I can't get it right!"

Varrick tried and failed to move water in any sort of controlled manner, finally yelling, "Stupid stuff won't obey me! I can't even make a snowball now." After a slight pause, Varrick smiled, twiddling his mustache most people just found ridiculous as he said, "Wait a minute. Just like you, I can't order water around and expect good results– it needs to flow! Hmmm. Just like a business deal, or a well-crafted plot." Zhu Li laughed when Varrick talked to a water globule he formed in front of his face when he talked to it, saying, "Let's make a deal. I listen to you, and you listen to me. Got it?" Varrick frowned when it did not respond, saying, "I wish I had some waterbending scrolls, or pro-bending match footage! My parents never bothered showing me theirs, not being a bender, and I just watched pro-bending without paying real attention."

Zhu Li jumped slightly when she heard a rustling of paper, followed by a voice she recognized from earlier say, "Request accepted, Varrick. And do try to not rip them – they are very old. You might find the pro-bending 'forms' to be too advanced, as they apparently require a finer control over water that lets you ignore more time-tested techniques." After a pause, Zhu Li heard Wan Shi Tong's voice say with embarrassment, "I really should have paid more attention to humans before this. Goodbye."

Zhu Li watched Varrick struggle for a while, walking over to see what he was trying to do. Seeing the form he was trying to pull off, Zhu Li tapped his shoulder, saying, "Maybe you should start with the 'water whip', and leave that octopus for later." Varrick nodded, looking down at the ground as he said, "I guess you're right. I just remember you accidentally making a sculpture, and I feel embarrassed. To be honest, I feel a little nervous, you watching. Why don't you go find something else to practice on?"

Zhu Li frowned, saying, "Okay, I just don't want to be away from you," thinking of one form of earthbending it took years to master except in rare cases – metalbending. Walking over to a ragged-looking Satomobile on the nearest street, seeing as it wasn't the only one along the block that wasn't obscured, Zhu Li tried tapping the metal to see if you really could sense the earth within.

After what must have been at least two dozen "taps", sensing almost nothing, ending up full-fist slams towards the end, Zhu Li found her hands hurt badly, the metal not having given at all. Feeling frustrated in a way she hadn't since Varrick's ineptitude inside his mechasuit botched their escape attempt, she tried attacking the rear-view mirror's thick attachment point. Figuring it was the likeliest point to give way, Zhu Li growled angrily as she imagined punching the man who had threatened to crush Varrick's head – Baatar Jr.

A different kind of pain coursed through her, only able to see multiple shallow gashes errant pieces of glass had caused on her right arm, yelling a few times, "Varrick, help! I cut my arm – bad!" Remembering her ability to wish things into existence, she tried calling a medical kit to her side, dismayed to see nothing appeared. Trying again, she saw a single English word appear on the pavement: "Wait."

Gritting her teeth and trying to keep the shallow gashes closed, she did exactly that, relieved to hear Varrick's voice say, "I'm here! What's the matter – oh for the love of money! Did you try punching glass, or something?" Seeing a glob of water appear over her arm, she was surprised to see it start to glow as she heard a soothing sound, an oscillating wave of light traveling back and forth across its surface as she felt the pain dull and eventually cease. The water retreating, Zhu Li could see no trace of the gash, or feel any reminder of her failed metalbending attempts in her right hand.

Hearing Varrick, or rather, not hearing Varrick, Zhu Li looked to him, saying, "Thank you. Why aren't you saying anything?" Varrick managed to get out "The Satomobile…" as he pointed in disbelief at the vehicle Zhu Li had failed to make any progress on. Zhu Li turned around, doing a double-take when she saw the rear-view mirror was completely broken, lying on the ground… attached to a significant chunk of metal that had an imprint in it that neatly matched her own fist. Right where she had punched. Remembering Varrick's own feat, she turned back around, saying, "Forget that. There were a lot of cuts. How did you heal them so well?" Varrick looked around, smiling slightly as he said, "I just thought of the pain I would feel, if I never got to do the Thing with you again, if you bled out, forgetting this is a dream. How'd you do… that?"

Zhu Li wasn't sure herself at first, remembering how little earth she had been able to sense inside the metal, even towards the end. Seeing a flash of Baatar Jr. holding Varrick aloft, holding his fragile head in powerful metal fingers, Zhu Li said, "Before I punched the last time, I pretended I was punching Baatar Jr. in the face." Varrick nodded slightly, saying, "I'd like to do that myself, even if he did spill the beans on the Colossus' power source. He just looks so… punchable! Now why don't you try again, and I'll go change into more suitable clothing. You know, a dress, bra and panties." Zhu Li rolled her eyes, saying, "Look, I know you probably think healing is for women, but if you've got something, use it, even if it is just in a dream world."

Zhu Li did a double-take when she heard a familiar voice intone, _Perhaps it is not just a dream…_ and seeing Varrick's reaction, he must have as well. As if trying to prove something, Varrick moved his arms around, Zhu Li initially not seeing anything. Hearing an odd sound, she turned to its source, seeing a patch of dead-looking grass. Looking up slightly, Zhu Li watched as a globule of water shifted and began to freeze, laughing when she noticed it was a representation of herself, albeit a cruder one than the one she accidentally made of Varrick. Trying her hand at clothing it in metal, she found her attempts were just as crude. Shrugging, she said, "Looks like both our earlier huge successes will take a lot of learning to reproduce," Varrick nodding, finally saying, "Huh. A head voice wants something with me… and he sound suspiciously familiar. Wait… Mr. Tuber-Vine?"

Zhu Li saw two metallic forms appear behind Varrick, one significantly taller than the other. What she recognized as Mr. Tuber-Vine's flat voice said, "Hello, Master Varrick. Master Avatar Korra, through Kuvira's tuber-vine Conscience, has requested – why are you frowning?" Walking over, Varrick said, "Don't call me that. 'Master'. And definitely do not call Korra 'Master Avatar' again – she'd likely only get embarrassed. I'm surprised she didn't say anything earlier. And mind changing that butler voice, and attitude? It makes me feel… awkward." Responding in the same dry voice, Mr. Tuber-Vine said, "I cannot change who I am, but I will refrain from excessive title usage, if you wish, Varrick. And I believe Zhu Li likes my demeanor just fine. I remember her desire to give me orders." Smiling slightly, Zhu Li saw her mechasuit giving her an odd "look". Zhu Li ran over, hearing a familiar, friendlier voice say, "Hello, Zhu Li. Korra says you guys need to practice using us more – specifically ammunition management." Her mechasuit turned around, seeing a reinforced drum with a symbol for Fire on its back that Zhu Li hadn't noticed before, hearing Mrs. Tuber-Vine explain, "Raava just recently modified our housings to protect you against some really nasty weapons, something else I won't mention for now, and saw fit to also add this to Zhu Li's Thing's weaponry – a flamethrower, with more fuel than the original mechasuits Kuvira used, and Jinshu Kuangmai still uses. It's on the mechasuit's right arm – she figured you'd need a close-in weapon on that arm as well."

Liking the prospect of mastering something she knew she could use, Zhu Li said, "That sounds great, all of it. Let's start! Nobody has ever used Meesile weaponry or Lipowder weapons before." Zhu Li was surprised to hear Mr. Tuber-Vine say dryly, "Technically, if what Conscience told us is true, Kuvira had to face them long before we even arrived inside some sort of internal struggle with her brain. I can see the concern on your face – do not worry, she won. With assistance…" Looking at his mechasuit with an exasperated expression, Varrick demanded, "More explanation than that, come on!" With what sounded like a sigh, Mr. Tuber-Vine said, "Very well. But only the part that won't distract you, and is passingly relevant to myself. Kuvira ended up needing the assistance of her boyfriend, his brother, and his girlfriend, all eventually inside mechasuits such as my housing. Obviously, the synthesis or construction of their physical versions will have to wait. I can see you want to see them, but it will have to wait. They were rather basic anyways. Now let us test these _existing _mechasuits."

Zhu Li nodded, saying, "Enough talking – I want to hear that Varrick gun fire myself!" Climbing inside her monstrous mechasuit, Zhu Li felt tiny, much as she had inside her mechasuit earlier. Her arms weren't even long enough to reach the suit's elbows! Still able to control it, much as she had earlier, Zhu Li waited until she heard Varrick stop exclaiming over the radio, not sure if she felt glad or as if she had been partially replaced when Varrick said, "Thanks for the foot cleaning, Mr. Tuber-Vine – maybe you'll need to do it for real after this!" Zhu Li remembered that feature on the blueprints, but didn't think Raava would have actually included it.

Zhu Li felt a bit creeped out when she heard her own tuber-vine say, as though it could read her mind, "That's not the only amenity Raava put in these suits. Food, water, and a little bit of directly-injected Jang Hui kelp tea… as well as something a little dirtier." All Zhu Li could think of was what Korra innocently called a thingie, she said, "I've got Varrick for that!" Zhu Li relaxed a little when Mrs. Tuber-Vine responded, "What? No! Let's just say you won't have to get out of the suit to do your business, and leave it at that. Are we going to train now, or what?" Zhu Li nodded her head, plenty of space inside the cavernous mechasuit for her to move her head around, and see the large display in front of her.

Looking at the familiar display, she saw eight larger Meesiles in the upper left corner, half with a white yin yang symbol on their warhead. Looking below and seeing two circular unguided Meesile pods head-on and what appeared to be many grenades, she realized what she was looking at, not having realized it was an ammunition display until just now. As she expected, she saw a representation of the newer five-barreled Varrick gun's ammunition on the upper right corner, though this did not show individual bullets, instead a percentage, one she noticed was in Arabic numerals. Looking below, she saw a drum with a similar label, realizing it must be for the flamethrower.

Wanting to see if the flamethrower really had more endurance than existing ones on the mechasuit she had helped Varrick design for Kuvira, she pointed the right arm skyward, feeling satisfaction as she watched the flames billow from her mechasuit's right arm. Zhu Li heard Mrs. Tuber Vine say, sounding vaguely proud, "You could do that for hours and not run out of fuel. The old mechasuits? Not so much." Zhu Li smiled, liking how her tuber-vine thought as it said, "Now let's test something you haven't seen or used before? But on what?"

Thinking for a short while after asking Varrick what a good practice might be, he finally suggested, "What if we try disabling a railway gun, like the one you worked on? We know Jinshu Kuangmai's done something new with a similar weapon. Remember how he claimed he could vaporize the prison camp?" Zhu Li nodded, saying, "Good idea. Mrs. Tuber-Vine, see if you can get Raava to help make it as accurate as possible."

After a slight pause, she heard her tuber-vine respond, "Raava says she's just sent Alyssralove on a reconnaissance mission. Don't worry – she's quite fast, with her firebending." Zhu Li felt bad for Mrs. Tuber-Vine when she protested, "Wish I could earthbend – I can't, not even in this dream! It would make reloading the Varrick gun a lot easier tomorrow," Zhu Li re-assuring her "Maybe Raava can fix that." Zhu Li frowned slightly when she heard Mrs. Tuber-Vine respond, "That's a negative – we're not like the spirits that have been given bending so far. We're physical first and foremost, just like you and Varrick. Together with Korra, Raava can only strip physical being's bending, not give them bending." Zhu Li chuckled lightly when Mrs. Tuber-Vine finished after a short pause, "That would have made making new airbenders a little too easy. Enough talk – Alyssralove managed to see what we'll be up against tomorrow. At least, everything outside Zaofu – she turned away from the hidden city, Raava not liking what she saw even from a distance."

Before Zhu Li could ask what disturbed Raava, she found herself standing next to Varrick's mechasuit at what appeared to be high noon, looking out at a familiar facility – where Kuvira had tested her spirit cannon for the first time – almost on her. Shaking off the bad memory, Zhu Li said, "The past is done," seeing a substantial number of regular mechasuits of all colors begin to materialize, along with some tanks that had a rather alarming modification to their sloped, dome-shaped turrets.

Medium- sized cannons with rifling, and given the energy reading she could see, they were powered by spirit vines. Transformed spirit vines.

Hearing a loud voice say, "User Varrick and User Zhu Li combat simulation initialized fully in twenty seconds. Users advised this is a simulation. Bending deliberately not simulated," Zhu Li saw the mechasuits and soldiers begin to move closer to the large cannon, noticing the barrel looked… off somehow. Wanting to see what the cannon was and how it worked, she heard Mrs. Tuber-Vine say with obvious disappointment, "Alyssralove could not figure out how it worked, being too heavily guarded. All she could discern is what you see here; the elongated circular protrusions along its length and the rectangle beneath the barrel are unfortunately of unknown function. 'Luckily', she was futilely fired upon by some of the tanks guarding it - see how they work for yourself. Let's just give this a try." Zhu Li saw a red zero pop up on her screen off-center, asking, "What's that?" as she aimed the Varrick gun at a group of the mystery tanks.

"That's a kill counter – one I know you want to keep low."

After Mrs. Tuber-Vine said that, Zhu Li realized with a pit in her stomach for the first time she might actually kill people tomorrow, all her weapons aside from the enhanced directed lightning decidedly lethal. At first, she didn't move, but quickly began evasive maneuvers when a couple tanks opened fire on her with distinctive red and black beams. Trying to find Varrick, she saw he was still as inept in a mechasuit in combat as he had been before, though at least he moved with something approaching an acceptable level of skill. Watching one red and black spirit energy blast connect with his bumbling mechasuit, Zhu Li didn't care about the kill counter anymore, finally opening fire with her main weapon, depleting the first drum's ammunition on the tanks firing at Varrick, hearing a disquietingly empty "SSHHHWOOMMM" replace the strange whooshing roar punctuated by the sound of a ripping sheet the newer, smaller Varrick gun produced while firing.

Seeing everything but Varrick's mechasuit stop moving, she heard Mrs. Tuber-Vine admonish, "You can't use ammunition that wildly tomorrow, Zhu Li. As you can see on your screen, you only have five total drums – one on your arm, two in the chest, and two in the midsection. At that maximum rate of fire – 2,000 rounds per minute, 1,500 rounds per drum, you would exhaust your ammunition supply in… under five minutes, including manual re-loading time. While the Raging Shark Whale does have ammunition stores for all weapons, Meelo will likely be busy providing support for the main mission: the evacuation. You won't be able to rely on him for more ammunition necessarily, especially since currently no other Varrick guns use the bullets yours does. Korra won't be able to just synthesize more on the spot - she'll be too busy fighting herself. The continuous fire would also generate massive amounts of heat, ruining the weapon and probably heating your right hand to the point of agony. And if you hadn't made that inspired last-minute change to the Lipowder formulation using spirit vine cuttings treated with the acid you convinced Raava to make following the first … test you helped him conduct after Raava made the first batch, it would have been even worse. You would have gummed up your weapon with soot, and created an immense amount of smoke."

Remembering old grudges that far predated the first test, smoke visible even in the moonlight, the slow-burning nature of the first iteration of Lipowder and the soot left behind, Zhu Li said, "Thank you - the funny thing is, I got inspiration for the process from the film I helped Varrick make for movers. As I reminded Raava over and over, the acid creation process was old, predated movers, and all mine - Varrick insisted it be called VarriAcid at the time, of course… He even took credit for the process I came up with to make what was needed to make the most essential part for 'VarriAcid' in the first place - the gas! So glad he's different now. Anyways - there was an … explosive incident once while perfecting the film, an unfortunate mixing up between two chemicals. Varrick took a while to grow his mustache back - or for that matter, his eyebrows." Mrs. Tuber-vine laughing lightly, saying, "Sounds like someone's still a little bitter - maybe you should ask for him to give you what's yours," Zhu Li said, "Maybe some other time. And there's something else that is distinctly Varrick's I'd rather have than re-named products… Let me try again - see if I can do a better job." Seeing the first drum re-fill, Zhu Li tried again, the simulation now reset, finding she could both be more effective and humane with controlled short bursts, managing to fend off Varrick's attackers with a much lower kill count and higher ammunition reserve than before.

Hearing Varrick say, "Now it's my turn!" Zhu Li saw the simulation reset again, finding herself under heavy fire this time, eventually no longer able to evade fire. Landing, she tried a more direct approach, using the suit's bulk and boosters to crash into tanks and mechasuits, feeling powerful, yelling, "Zhu Li smash!" as another mechasuit fell to pieces after a direct punch, zapping the surprised soldier when he tried to get up from where he had landed.

Before anything else could happen, everything seemed to freeze, hearing Varrick curse over the comm as a computerized voice said loudly, "User Varrick was advised to not discharge flawed folding VarriMag gun design, and did not heed warning. The pain you feel now is minor compared to what would have happened outside of simulation - the magnetically propelled projectile carrier between rails has sufficient speed to rip your arm off if caught on the gap between the flawed discontinuous rail design." Zhu Li thought the voice was finished, but she smiled and snickered slightly when it added with a hint of annoyance, "User Varrick is advised to get busy with personal VarriMag gun re-design, and heed further warnings."

Seeing if she could help, Zhu Li boosted over, exiting her mechasuit as she said, "Need help with that?" Varrick exiting his mechasuit shortly after, he nodded, saying, "I'm damn glad I didn't test this thing out in the real world! I should have caught that - stupid!" Varrick stood quietly for a while, finally asking, "Mr. Tuber-Vine, please bring the mechasuit over here. I need a better look." Mr. Tuber-Vine did so, slightly irritating Varrick with his subservient manner. Zhu Li wasn't sure if she felt bad for Mr. Tuber-Vine or glad Varrick did not relish in treating anyone like a servant anymore - probably both.

Finally taking a look at Iron Varrick with its arm fully extended, Zhu Li noticed there were not one, but two metal fixings holding projectiles present on what she had assumed were individual VarriMag guns. Pointing to one, she asked, "You… did you put two on each arm? Two, for every four metal rods, on every single VarriMag gun?" Varrick threw his hands in the air, initially saying, "Well of course I did, Zhu - " stopping dead when he finally noticed her scowl. Initially, she felt like yelling at him, but relented when he put his hand to his forehead, saying, "Stupid, again! Sorry, honey. I just didn't like being sassed by… whatever that voice is." Zhu Li smirked when the unseen presence said flatly, "I heard that", wondering if whatever consciousness behind it was growing more human-y.

Idle wondering doing nothing to fix Varrick's problem, Zhu Li suggested, "Why don't you try just one projectile from each arm? Two seems like overkill. Here - Mrs. Tuber-Vine, come show the mechasuit's right arm to Varrick, so he can see what I'm going to say." Ignoring Varrick's mumble of "tree trunk arm", Zhu Li put her hand on her Thing's right arm as she explained, "Maybe it's just time to forget the idea of two VarriMag guns, honey - my suit would be even more ridiculous with two 'tree trunk arms'. There's nothing preventing you from holding your weapons like some of the benders do - Mako, Bolin, Opal, Jinora and Kai…"

Zhu Li felt a bit frustrated when Varrick shook his head, saying, "I've already got good close-in weapons!" Seeing if she could imagine something into existence now, Zhu Li tried calling up what she had in mind, smiling when she saw it appear near a startled Varrick's feet. Picking up the weapon, she handed it to Varrick, running her finger along its long barrel as she explained, "Remember how the Colossus held its weapon? I figured, why not go a step further, and make the weapon held directly in your mechasuit's hands, linked to Mr. Tuber-Vine for power through your gloves?" As Varrick nodded, Zhu Li admitted, "Though, reloading one round at a time with metal hands would be a pain - not to mention if you misplaced it, or lost it! Maybe this way to hold something would be a good idea for any army weapon for non-benders. But where does that leave you?" Varrick shrugged, saying, "I don't know - you were the one who brought this up in the first place, and I don't like the way Kuvira had her weapon set up, needing both hands to stabilize and fire one weapon. Then, that's not really different from holding the weapon, aside from losing it, is it?"

Looking at Iron Varrick, Zhu Li asked, "Is that mechasuit's form final to you? Kuvira changed hers once already." After he shook his head, Varrick said, "Just a minute - let me see if I can think of something." After a while, Iron Varrick's form shifted, Zhu Li seeing not one but two weapon mounts resembling the ones Kuvira had used on the Colossus on its upper arms, except sleeker and more compact. One held a rifled spirit weapon whose barrel couldn't have been bigger around than Zhu Li's wedding ring, and the other was a slightly modified VarriMag gun, appearing to have a removable ammunition store on its side. Before hopping in, Varrick explained, "I figure one physical weapon and one spirit energy weapon is best - Meelo has the right idea, complimenting the two with one another. Can only fire one at a time, though - the whole idea is to hit from far away, and accurately! Now let's see if I can actually use these things well!"

After numerous tests, the answer was just barely "No," Zhu Li finally saying as Varrick missed a distant target by a hair, "Why don't you do target practice by yourself, and I can continue training in my own 'simulation'." Varrick too distracted to respond, Zhu Li rolled her eyes, saying, "Come on, Mrs. Tuber-Vine, and let Varrick catch up on his own." As the tuber-vine laughed from nearby, Zhu Li found herself smiling, just as if she were listening to Asami laugh, or any other person.

After she was inside her Thing, Zhu Li heard the same computerized voice say, "Advanced private simulation initiated for User Zhu Li. Increased difficulty level by factor of three." Zhu Li idly wondered how long she would get to prepare before anything happened.

Given the horde of objects that appeared on her sensors, the answer was "None." Seeing an alert pop up in the center of her screen that said, "Spirit weapon beam impact imminent," she saw another bar pop up on her display. It began filling as she heard the distinctive "BWOONG!" of a spirit weapon repeat many times from multiple sources, noticing that they appeared to be firing in bursts. Remembering what had happened to the spirit vines, Zhu Li turned around towards the closest tanks, hearing Mrs. Tuber-Vine say with a hint of desperation, "I can't handle much more dark energy! Quick, fire your spirit weaponry, and discharge the stored energy!" Realizing her own biggest weapon would not need to pause, Zhu Li activated the largest spirit weapon on her mechasuit, raking the tanks with a thick light blue beam with two odd light blue and white helixes around it, noticing no mechasuits standing.

Wondering where the challenge was, Zhu Li saw an alert appear on her screen that she didn't expect: "Metal projectiles incoming." Confused, Zhu Li raised her arms inside the mechasuit as hard as she could, noticing that the earth still did not move. Relieved to hear a series of harmless metallic pinging noises, Zhu Li found herself glad to have armored the suit so much in her design. Wondering just where the apparent Lipowder weaponry had come from, Zhu Li yelled, "Computer, care to tell me where this Lipowder weaponry is coming from?" Zhu Li felt a chill when the response was a cold, "Condensed report from Omashu, User Alyssralove: An Earth Empire military commander named Chin has also figured out how to weaponize firework powder, and calls it 'fire-earth'. The projectiles that were just shot at you were of smaller caliber. These weapons were found on Earth Empire war balloons sent to Omashu for retrofitting - and after the rebellion, they stayed there." A relieved breath escaped her lungs when it finished, "The practical fire-earth weaponry found on these ships is not of sufficient quality to penetrate even non-mechasuit plate armor," feeling panic return in greater force when the voice added, "From notes found with the weaponry, these were intended as demonstration models only, and even then were constrained by a severe lack of resources. Heavy references to unknown terminologies if at all, and blueprints found on ship were scarce, and derivative."

Zhu Li sighed, saying, "Great. There goes one advantage - the one thing named after me! Figures…" Tapping her finger impatiently against the inside of her mechasuit's upper arm, Zhu Li realized there was one weapons system she had yet to test - the Lipowder launched grenades. Hoping the result would be better than Varrick's test of his folding VarriMag guns, she turned towards in immobile tank, hearing a sliding of metal. Clenching her fist, grenades successfully hit the target tank. Hearing a loud crack not followed by a re-assuring ping, Zhu Li watched in horror as an explosion erupted from her mechasuit's upper right arm, feeling the pain acutely in her own when the metal bent backward onto her skin.

Grumbling, Zhu Li beat the computerized voice to the punch, saying, "That's another weapon system to re-design. Don't want someone exploding everything in there when I'm in here!" Seeing the screen in front of her no longer indicate grievous damage to the suit, she heard Mrs. Tuber-Vine say, apparently trying to re-assure her, "It's fine - that was a really lucky shot, and a moving target is a lot harder to hit. Why don't we try again - and practice with the Meesiles too. The unguided ones may prove especially troublesome."

Trying to get her mind off the possibility of getting shot at with advanced "fire-earth" weapons tomorrow, Zhu Li dug into her training with gusto, finding the new control scheme far superior to anything she had ever used the more she got acquainted with it. As though her co-pilot could read her mind, Mrs. Tuber-Vine said, "Oh, it gets better. Raava added a way for us to directly link to each other." At first, Zhu Li felt weird, saying, "B-b-but only Varrick does that! And all too infrequently, given we're newlyweds!" After her co-pilot said, "Bet you the only way Varrick can be any good is to link - I know how terrible he is with these mechasuits," Zhu Li snickered, thinking, "Maybe that wouldn't be so weird after all… she does seem awfully human, for a plant." Zhu Li felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment when Mrs. Tuber-Vine said hotly, "I heard that - I am not a plant! That's hurtful."

After apologizing, Zhu Li wondered how Varrick was doing with Mr. Tuber-Vine. The simulation shifted around her, laughing along with Mrs. Tuber-Vine to hear the computerized voice say, "Difficulty level lowered by factor of four," Varrick apparently needing a curve of some sort. Looking at the wreckage around her and wondering what Varrick had been doing, she turned towards the direction her display showed Varrick at. She saw him idly standing at the front of the railcar, whistling as if he didn't have a care in the world, holding a metal rod in one hand with a coil of cable around it. Feeling vaguely annoyed, Zhu Li asked over the com, "What are you doing? You seem awfully confident, for needing a curve!" The blue mechasuit shrugged, hearing Varrick retort, "What curve? The voice told me everything was supposed to be stationary! I don't know what you were doing, but I eventually disabled the cannon with a couple shots! That's the whole point of this, right?"

Zhu Li boosted up, finding herself wishing she could move faster yet retain her armor. Looking at the railcar, she could see small but lengthy chunks taken out of the metal of the carriage, a cluster of holes letting her see into what must have been the power source for the weapon – it was in the exact same spot it had been on the original! Looking around more, Zhu Li spotted tanks with similar holes, the crews lying dazed in small piles outside. Seeing mechasuits keeled over all around, Zhu Li realized what the metal rod and cables were for, saying exasperatedly before landing near Varrick, "Varrick, really - did you make and set off an EMP device? If you had done that for real, our computers might have fried! Not to mention your signature weapon - it's powered by magnets, AND outside the suit!" Iron Varrick shrugged again as she heard Varrick say, "Don't blame me – it was Mr. Tuber-Vine's idea! Said something about thickened Tophinum shielding as part of 'NBC' protection, whatever that is, and I figured as long as it's _outside_ the mechasuit, it would be fine. And it was! I think. Let me test the re-modeled VarriMag gun out again."

Zhu Li burst into laughter when the weapon didn't fire, opening her suit's visor so she could see Varrick's reaction more directly. Taking a second look at the weapon, she shook her head side-to side, asking sheepishly, "S-sorry for laughing. What did you do to the VarriMag gun?" Varrick crossed his mechasuit's arms, saying, "I won't say exactly what until you tell me more about your own little equipment failure. Apparently, your tuber-vine doesn't think you're really sorry!" Forgetting she was still in her mechasuit, Zhu Li tried to cover her face, the hatch in the mechasuit's upper chest closing at the last minute before giant metal hands hit her head. Realizing Mrs. Tuber-Vine must have done this to protect her, she said, "Sorry. To both of you. Had I known plant was a slur, I wouldn't have said it." Zhu Li heard a relieved sigh that sounded very human, followed by a voice she was growing more and more comfortable with saying, "At least 'plant' acknowledges we're alive. Really want to piss me off? Call me a 'power source'."

Glad she hadn't, Zhu Li finally asked Varrick, "What did you do to your VarriMag gun?" Seeing the background shift and noticing Varrick was no longer holding the EMP device, Varrick demonstrated, turning to the side. As he aimed at a distant point much as the Colossus had targeted its weapon, back facing her, Zhu Li noticed four canisters on the mechasuit's back, snickering when she saw two had "Puncharound" and two had "Boomaround" inscribed on them in English. Given the loud explosion that followed a distinctive crack, Varrick must have used a Boomaround on his target. Turning to look, Zhu Li was surprised to see the target had been destroyed, saying, "Good job, and nice design! Show me the 'Puncharound' - let's see if you can hit the center!" The target re-appeared, Varrick managing to hit an inner ring, yelling proudly, "YES! My best so far." Zhu Li suppressed a snort when he added, "Quit bugging me about that, Mr. Tuber-Vine! I am not in mortal danger, and I don't want to be penetrated - even if it would make me a better shot!" After a slight pause, Varrick said with something vaguely resembling resignation, "Fine. If I'm _really_ in danger, we'll link, or if I show I can't fly and fight at the same time."

Zhu Li sighed, asking as she wondered what Varrick had been doing, "You mean in all that time, you never tried firing while flying yourself? Any weapon - not even the chest one? Varrick, maybe you need to link to Mr. Tuber-Vine for real, outside of this dream simulation… thing. Apparently, the Earth Empire is working on Lipowder weapons, or as they call them 'fire-earth', and I don't think it will be very long until everything in Jinshu Kuangmai's armory is spirit vine powered. Remember how Bumju saw tons of transformed spirit vines on the surface of Zaofu?" Zhu Li heard Varrick make a rather girlish-sounding "Gyeeh!" before saying, with slightly more dignity, "I don't like the sound of that. Man – I never should have worked on that spirit vine project in the first place! Period! Stupid friggin' Kuvira…"

Zhu Li was about to agree, still having some lingering reservations about Kuvira herself, but was interrupted by an odd noise from within her suit. Trying to get Mrs. Tuber-Vine's attention and failing, she saw Varrick moving his suit in an erratic manner, asking, "Varrick, is Mr. Tuber-Vine talking to you?" The mechasuit's head shook side to side, Zhu Li recoiling slightly out of surprise when she heard Mrs. Tuber-Vine finally speak, saying, "We're going to show you a very good reason to trust Kuvira, and after, you can get to fight what she defeated. It will be good practice… and instill a little more sympathy in you, hopefully."

Zhu Li felt confused, feeling an information flow start immediately, wondering how Kuvira talking to Opal had anything to do with, well, anything. By the time the flow stopped, Zhu Li was feeling almost as guilty as Kuvira did when Opal berated her about Zaofu. She noticed the mechasuit was somehow even roomier, finding herself staring at the two ammunition drums in the belly as she said, "I don't wanna fight that thing! Varrick, do you?" All she could hear was the sound of her own breathing, after yelling "Lemme out, Miss! Now!" she found the mechasuit opened. Staring at a familiar tower, Zhu Li felt safer to be back in Republic City.

Hearing Varrick tearbending nearby, she ran over, saying as she wiped the tears from her own face, "I guess we will never really know what it's like, to have been that bad, trying to be good." Zhu Li felt a stabbing emotional pain as Varrick shook his head, saying with shame, "Yeah, right. We've been plenty bad ourselves, remember. Trying to profit off a war, stealing Asami's stuff, the kidnap attempt on President Raiko, helping Kuvira in the first place?" Zhu Li covered her face in shame as she remembered how… convincing she had been in pledging her loyalty to Kuvira over Varrick, and Varrick's pleading, idly wondering if she too had some dark half she'd need to fight someday.

_No, Zhu Li, you do not, and neither does Varrick. You obviously still have bad inside you, just like everyone else, but as long as you stay on the right path, you shouldn't have any trouble._

Zhu Li shook her head, saying, "But what about what we just saw, Raava? You don't sound so confident… I don't want my brain doing that! Can't we just make sure?"

_Oh, great. I hope you're happy. Sorry – that was a little too harsh. Just check on Varrick, and I'll leave you alone. No Colossus practice tonight._

Looking up from the ground, Zhu Li saw Varrick looked distressed… and he was sweating. Running over, she grabbed his face, kissing him on the lips, saying, "Whatever it is, just ignore it, sweetie. Like Meelo did." Zhu Li was relieved to see the sweating stop, Varrick chuckling for a short time before looking slightly more serious as he said, "Heh – my doppler was small. Sort of like Kai's, except mine was made out of paper money. Enough yuans to buy the world, it looked like!" Laughing again, Varrick said, "He suddenly caught fire, running around like a madman. You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" Zhu Li giggled, saying, "Yeah, I did. Do you not remember the kiss?" Varrick shook his head, saying, "No. Why don't you refresh my memory, after we get more practice in. I don't want to bumble around like an idiot." Looking ashamed, he admitted to Zhu Li, "Mr. Tuber-Vine was doing the driving earlier in my one live fire, moving target simulation, just like a butler. I need to learn how to drive that thing! It took me a long time to learn how to aim well enough to even hit a stationary target in the right spot!"

Zhu Li heard a loud crashing sound, feeling a metal finger tap on her shoulder as a stern voice said, "Zhu Li, get inside me, now. Raava hadn't planned on this. At all."

Obeying dutifully, Zhu Li hopped in through the top after climbing up, feeling safe and secure inside her Thing. Glad to see Iron Varrick operational again, she boosted her way up… trying to get close enough to whatever the energy sensor said was brimming with unidentifiable energy.

Finally seeing the Colossus, Zhu Li attempted to initiate radio contact, saying, "This is my dream world – who do you think you are, butting in on me and Varrick?" Zhu Li heard a familiar voice respond, hardly able to believe it really _was_ her and not a dream trick, "Just your former boss, stopping by for a little fun. Raava told me you both needed some practice earlier, and Conscience keyed me in on what just happened with a little… inside help. I'll go easy on you. I'd rather be playing with Mako right now, but believe me, I know what can almost happen in the inner dream world, and I don't want Varrick learning to drive against a real hostile foe. Like the new weapon setup by the way, Varrick." Zhu Li laughed when the Colossus stomped its feet angrily like a massive metal brat, stopping her she heard Kuvira yell, "What do you MEAN I'll be practicing as well, Raava? Like hell I'm ever piloting this thing outside a simple training dream!"

Looking at the Colossus, one of Zhu Li's sensors detected a large energy surge – but from a tuber-vine. A while passed, Zhu Li finally hearing Kuvira say, sounding like she was a child, "No, I don't want to, even if they do make that boom or death energy weapon! All that stuff you showed me was horrible! I'm dismantling my toy and going home to my mom!"

After that, Zhu Li saw the Colossus sag temporarily and begin to shimmer slightly, but recoiled when she saw it stand upright again, seeing the energy sensors indicate the target was slowly turning truly hostile, now whole.

Zhu Li felt chills run down her spine, hearing a male voice say with malice, "If you won't, weak daughter, I will 'train' them - for their last time. Prepare to join Hiroshi, geeky non-bender scum!"

Jetting behind a skyscraper and making sure she could still read the Colossus, Zhu Li was relieved to hear Kuvira's voice say loudly, "Get out of here, you scumbag! OUT! FOREVER! I should have listened to Conscience – tossed you in the Fog of Lost Souls, where you belong! I never want to see you again!" At first, Zhu Li felt totally lost, glad to see the energy sensors indicate all power sources were fully tuber-vines again, and only one human presence inside the Colossus. After a light sobbing came through the radio, she heard Kuvira say, "Looks like we're stuck here, training. All of us. Not with my biological father's spirit still floating around, apparently able to possess untended dream equipment. Gah! Why didn't I listen to Conscience and Raava…"

Remembering from the vision that Conscience had wanted to throw both Kuvira's parents away like rotting food, Zhu Li said, "She wanted to throw your mom in there too, remember," hearing Kuvira respond, "Yeah – but that was before the little 'update' I gave her." Zhu Li felt like a fool, simply saying, "Well, if we're 'stuck' here, may as well make the best of it. Unless…"

Remembering the seal placed on Korra and Asami, Zhu Li suggested doing the same to Kuvira and everyone remotely linked to her. At first, it had seemed like a good idea, but found herself agreeing with Varrick when he said, "Can't just seal everybody against everything. For one, it'd take forever, and for two, if Kuvira had been sealed up, she would have never gotten to make 'amends' with her initially hostile biological mother. All I know is, Korra better toss Zaheer in that prison if she needs to – imagine him, hopping here and there! He'd be more dangerous dead than alive!" She heard Kuvira grumble over the radio, saying, "Probably should just keep him chained up, and not even touch him. Let him rot, for what he did. Both to the Earth Kingdom, and most of all, to Korra."

Hearing a cough, Zhu Li noticed the Colossus moving, barely avoiding slicing a building as it unsheathed its ridiculous sword from the back as she heard Kuvira say, "Now come on – we've all got training to do! I hate the idea of piloting this thing more than anyone, but after seeing what Raava showed me that sparked her decision to ask me in the first place… I don't want to talk about it. Just practice it away. Weaponization…"

For some reason, Zhu Li had no desire to know more, merely starting her attack on a rather reluctant-looking Colossus, making sure she could see Varrick. After the initial feeling of awkwardness wore off, fighting her former boss in a Colossus Kuvira's mind had designed without her input, Zhu Li started enjoying herself. Varrick still flew like a drunken airbison, unable to fire either main weapon unless still and a sitting turtleduck. Varrick eventually stopped for a few seconds while not trying feebly to fire, taking multiple larger Varrick gun rounds to the chest before Kuvira could adjust to his halt. Zhu Li heard a loud scream over the radio from Varrick, her heart sinking.

Thinking he had been wounded, Zhu Li jetted over, noticing another much more feminine figure racing towards him as well. The helmet opening once they were on the ground, Varrick said, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Relax. Mr. Tuber-Vine finally talked me into letting me put some weird ports on my underarms, reminding me that he was the first tuber-vine we found, period. And rightfully telling me that I am a horrible driver! But hey - enough with the old. Guess what?" Having no idea what to say, Zhu Li heard Kuvira venture, "You felt a feeling of oneness, more like a comrade than a lover? And like you are your suit?" Varrick played with his mustache, saying, "Yes, that is all true, but even better – he's not so serious anymore! Say hello!"

Zhu Li chuckled when she heard a lively male voice say, "Some of Varrick's wackiness rubbed off on me, and I don't sound or feel like I'm just here to serve drinks and food anymore," hoping that not too much wacky had rubbed off – one Varrick was enough for her. Taking a look at Kuvira, Zhu Li asked, "Why were you still in Kuvira's Remorse? How's that thing fit in the Colossus?" Kuvira scratched her head, saying, "I'm not sure. Why don't you come and look, then we can see if Varrick can actually fight now."

Once they were at the Colossus, Kuvira jetted closer, exclaiming, "Look – the cockpit has a hole for the smaller mechasuit. Kuvira's Remorse is like a life raft now! That's ingenious – an inner mechasuit for a getaway, or to continue fighting if the bigger one is taken out! But when…? Hmmm. I was trying to think earlier, when I was describing it to my mom and my incredulous aunt, what would I do if some fool asked me to make this thing and pilot it. I still wanted to be attached to Conscience. Guess this was my brain's answer." Looking at the Colossus's weaponry up close, Zhu Li quipped, "I'm glad your brain is answering now, and not just for your sake. For everybody's! That thing it designed is nasty!"

Seeing Kuvira laugh in the chest-centered cockpit next to her mechasuit, Conscience also laughing in a surprisingly "human-y" way, Zhu Li felt more at ease around her former boss than she ever had – not even a bit of fear. Zhu Li let her guard down further when Varrick admitted much the same thing, shaking Kuvira's hand, smiling as he said, "I'm glad you listened to the good head voices, Kuvira." Kuvira nodded, seemingly not paying full attention, finally saying, "It wasn't easy. Why don't we 'finish' training, then have a little brainstorm – I'd like to see if I can make a Colossus have any sort of redeeming value beyond war."

Zhu Li heard a distant electronic voice say, "Temporary Plane:Earth wing permission granted to User Kuvira. Unauthorized human spirit successfully locked from this dream world by Supreme User Raava." At first, Zhu Li felt vaguely jealous, letting slip, "WHAT? I'd love to see the chemistry stuff! What did she do to get let in?" Zhu Li covered her face to hide her small blush as she heard the same voice say, "Access granted to spiritual texts only, due to relevant Earth concept – technology is now on tighter lockdown, following unauthorized breach by High Level Clearance User Korra. User Zhu Li not allowed anywhere near chemistry section – Curator Wan Shi Tong wants user to discover things herself." Seeing Kuvira's excited look, Zhu Li said, "Why don't you just go see whatever you need to in there, and we'll wait on testing Varrick again." Before vanishing, Kuvira suggested, "Why don't you fight each other – it will probably be a lot more useful than practicing against a Colossus, especially if what Conscience told me about you bending in here is true." Before Zhu Li could react, Kuvira was gone, Zhu Li deciding to relent and see what earthbending was like in a mechasuit.

In her first round facing Varrick, he defeated her quite readily, taunting as Zhu Li frowned to see what the VarriMag gun had done to her earthen shield AND suit, "That all you got? This link to Mr. Tuber-Vine is great!" Not trusting this link thing just yet, Zhu Li tried a different tactic, imagining herself performing actions flawlessly during the second round with her eyes closed. Opening her eyes, she recoiled slightly, seeing that she had given something a serious beating, but it wasn't Varrick – everything hit the building behind where Varrick had been. Remembering that she would be fighting beside two people linked to their co-pilot tomorrow and not against them, Zhu Li said, "I think you're good now, Varrick, and so am I. We aren't going to be facing anything remotely like our mechasuits tomorrow – even those tanks didn't offer a real threat."

Zhu Li saw Varrick put a metal hand on one blue hip, saying as the mechasuit's head shook back and forth, "Don't get cocky, honey. Remember what Korra said about not underestimating the enemy – or what my assumptions cost Mrs. Beaks? And, you said something about 'fire-earth'…?" After Varrick said, "Worst-case scenario – they come up with tanks like the ones we haven't even built yet, and fit them with fire-earth weapons as well," Zhu Li saw a couple of the two types of ground vehicles they had designed appear – though with Earth Empire markings.

The two closest anti-aircraft vehicles beginning to track her and not Varrick, she asked, "What did you do, and why?" She felt indignant when Varrick said, "Just making the training better! Let's see how you do against pilots linked to their co-pilots…"

After numerous attempts, Zhu Li found the answer was "Not very good," still finding the whole exercise ridiculous, Varrick not taking very many hits at all. After the last time, she admitted, "Fine. Maybe I need to do the link thing – who knows what we're going to see tomorrow. Maybe it'll feel good too…" Apparently, Mrs. Tuber-Vine could still sense her apprehension, suggesting, "Zhu Li, I have an idea, if you're not comfortable with me just yet. You've felt a feeling of oneness with Varrick before – how would you like to feel a little bit of that any time you're in your mechasuit?" The answer an obvious "YES!" Zhu Li saw Varrick approaching, an odd white and blue tipped cable extending from his armor.

Figuring what this might be for, Zhu Li let her co-pilot create the ports the tuber-vine wanted to begrudgingly at first, apologizing, "Sorry that I was apprehensive – this feels good all in of itself. Makes me feel like I can fight better than a bender now…" Feeling the direct connection partially severed and hearing a panel open on her suit, Zhu Li took a sharp breath when what must have been Varrick's cable connected, managing to say in a wavering voice, "It… almost feels as good as doing the Thing! Hah – I know two people who'll be doing this a lot – Korra and Asami!" Disappointed to no longer feel the muted oneness when Varrick's cable withdrew, she heard Mrs. Tuber-Vine say, "Now let's see if this worked…"

Feeling pressure against both underarm ports once again, Zhu Li felt as though she were her mechasuit, as well as a different kind of love – one that a loyal, steadfast servant might feel for their master and friend. Remembering her devotion to Varrick as just that – a servant – over the years, Zhu Li said earnestly, "Sorry – if I had known you wanted to help me this badly, like I did Varrick before it turned into something more, I wouldn't have hesitated at all. I promise I won't treat you like he treated me. I'm just going to call you 'Miss'. Now let's see what we've got!"

What they had ended up being quite a lot, Zhu Li and Varrick eventually able to defend the Colossus against multiple waves of the more advanced tanks and anti-aircraft vehicles. Remembering one type of vehicle they hadn't touched yet – humming-bird suits - Zhu Li said, "Give us some hummingbird suits – let's see if we can hit a fast-moving target!"

The smaller targets proved much more difficult to hit, finally managing to down one by luck, an unguided rocket hitting one square in the chest. Trying out something she hadn't thought to use as a weapon by itself until just now, Zhu Li focused on one particular suit, using power diverted from the spirit weapons to form a strong Liser beam. Almost instantly, the empowered Liser broke through the metal, Zhu Li wincing when she saw the suit fall, the upper portion cut in half and the building behind sporting a hole.

Hearing a dry computerized voice announce, "High Level Clearance User Kuvira has returned," Zhu Li immediately asked, "Wha – when'd you get that?" Seeing an image of a leather-bound book appear on her screen, she heard Kuvira's voice say, with a little shock, "I'm just as surprised as you are. When I read something in an Earth book about 'turning swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks', I felt inspired. After I read more, I decided I wanted to try the same thing – try making a Colossus for peaceful purposes, like farming or construction. After that, Wan Shi Tong decided me worthy of higher clearance." The image of the book replaced by that of a vaguely displeased-looking Kuvira, Kuvira finished, "The first thing I did was go to the chemistry wing, trying to see if I could sneak a peek at what Raava had hinted at about chemicals and agriculture, but no such luck. All I got was a reminder about Korra's little stunt with the wings and piloting controls of the Raging Shark Whale after being denied access."

Curious to see what Kuvira had in mind, Zhu Li still finding the idea of a peace Colossus ridiculous, Zhu Li landed on the ground, missing the link to her co-pilot once the cables detached. Soon joined by Varrick and Kuvira, listening as Kuvira explained her ideas, Zhu Li found herself genuinely glad to be working with Kuvira. Looking back and forth between the war and peace Colossi, Zhu Li said, "I never thought I'd say this – but I feel honored to work with you. And I'm not lying either, like the first time." After a light hug, Kuvira said, "Thank you. Now let's look at the Construction Colossus again – if I'm going to help make my sister Opal this New Zaofu, we're going to need all the help we can get to complete it quickly."

Feeling an odd shift, Zhu Li found herself in what seemed to be the _old _Zaofu, though they were still looking at the same blueprints, and no Colossus was nearby. Standing up to look around, she could see Su and the rest of her family running over, doing a double-take when she spotted Toph was still around. As the "newcomers" looked at the blueprints, Toph not bothering for obvious reasons, she could hear Su say with pride in her voice as her sister gave Kuvira a light hug, "Now that's a Colossus. It almost looks… caring, somehow." Su sounded like she was going to continue, but stopped when Bolin exclaimed, "Now this is an inner circle! Actually helping people, no prison or re-education camps, using and not abusing spirit energy…" Zhu Li chuckled when she saw Opal tussle Bolin's hair, admitting with a smile, "I guess in the end you really were trying to help people, Bolin. A shame it took Kuvira three years to come back to the same point where she tried to start, but better late than never."

Zhu Li could see Kuvira crying lightly, but given how the former "Great Uniter" was smiling, these must have been tears of happiness – not regret or remorse. Kuvira's expression changed slightly, asking with concern, "Speaking of inner circle… Whatever happened to Baatar Jr.? Has he shown up here yet? Aunt Lin, know anything?" Kuvira's face softened when what must have been Conscience said, "He's fine – he fell asleep a while ago, badgered by Ikki into a different dream, for now."

Kuvira's expression soured again when Conscience added, "Though, he may need some help like you did eventually. There were things he did behind your back, inspired by some of the things you said and did, as well as his own ideas, that I won't spoil the moment by telling you now." Kuvira smiled slightly when Conscience finished, "Now why don't you put that design away, and actually get some rest and relaxation. Don't worry about your father's spirit coming around. After a little… incident, Raava solved the issue. Don't look so forlorn, Kuvira - let's just say he did his best to earn her ire for now. We have no idea what doing 'work' here, in a dream, does exactly… but Raava feels close."

Kuvira nodded, saying grimly, "I think I know what Raava did, and why. Just tell me, please – who did he harass?" The mechasuit that housed her slumping, Conscience admitted, "Raava herself didn't tell me, knowing I would likely tell. I just know no harm came to his target." Kuvira yawned, saying, "I'll find out tomorrow, I guess. I feel tired somehow, drained, but not physically. Let's just be, or play." Zhu Li heard a familiar loud squawk, giggling as she felt feathers against the side of her face, letting out a contented sigh when Varrick asked, "Want to go for another ride, Zhu Li?" Zhu Li nodded, hearing surprised gasps when she made a little earthen stair to let her climb up on Mrs. Beak's back, explaining to a skeptical looking Su, Lin and Toph what had happened earlier, noticing Opal had a pensive look on her face. Almost as if she were trying to remember something, years ago…

_Okay – something is going on here. This bending is popping up too frequently to be a fluke. But what? I'll try and figure it out, as well as why Kuvira feels "tired" – you need to just relax._

Still rather creeped out by Raava's little intrusions, Zhu Li let herself get lost as she and Varrick raced around Zaofu on the friendly ostrich-horse. They eventually stopped when they came to Mako, Bolin, Opal, Kuvira, Wing and Wei playing in one of the rivers that ran through Zaofu. An older Huan attempted to capture the moment in stone and metal as Toph, Su, Lin and Baatar watched, all smiles - though Toph was obviously not watching with her eyes.

Joining in the play, Zhu Li felt better and better, bending some silt over top of Varrick's head after he got a good hit in with a water whip. After making the earth around Varrick's head more solid, Zhu Li laughed when Kuvira punched the solid, shattering the earth. Given how energetic Kuvira was, she must have not felt tired anymore.

_Hmmm… it appears work or conflict in this dream world taxes the soul, and both childlike and adult play recharge it, along with other positive things. And when you wake up, Korra has something to show you – something that will… _**_bend _**_your mind. Heh._

Zhu Li noticed Raava hadn't said anything useful about the other question – the dreams of bending, the lame pun the only hint. Getting tired of the spiritual stuff, she took Varrick aside, quietly asking him a one word question: "Thing?" After he nodded his head with a slight grin on his face, she noticed they were no longer clothed children, and certainly not outside in Zaofu.

Smiling slightly, Zhu Li said as her eyes wandered, "It seems your systems are operational. I'd like to perform a test, however - a very thorough test," giggling when Varrick said, "Ohh, I love it when you talk techy with me," anticipation building when he continued with a smile and raised brows, "Test beginning in…"

* * *

Not having taken any Jang Hui kelp tea – not after hearing what his brother Bumi had said it did to his oldest son, Meelo – sleep took Tenzin rapidly, wondering what ancient history of the Air Nomads he might get to see, or who he could talk to. Remembering one Air Nomad Avatar that might help him come to terms with his oldest daughter Jinora's desire to have a standing _military_, of all things, he found himself hoping to see Avatar Yangchen when he came to, in this new place he remembered Korra mention in passing as a "shared inner dream world." Or maybe not - all this use of infobending was blurring the lines between unspoken and spoken communication…

Looking around when he finally began to dream, finding he could control his actions, he recognized his surroundings immediately – Air Temple Island. At first, he found himself alone, hearing a female voice he didn't recognize say after some time from behind him, "Hello, Tenzin, son of Avatar Aang." Turning towards its source, he felt elated, asking, "Avatar Yangchen? Is that really you?" The woman nodded, saying, "Yes, I am. I know you desire to talk to me directly about the new Air Nation, and especially your daughter's ideas, and other matters of business, but that is not what I am going to speak of." Smiling slightly, she continued, "I never said I did not desire to help you with your quandary. I believe there is one key, to both increasing your own happiness, and making you a better world leader and husband, father."

Staring Tenzin straight on in a slightly unnerving way, Avatar Yangchen stated in a warm voice, "Do not be afraid of change, Tenzin - accept what is happening, embrace change as a chance to better the world, so that you can shape the course of events better than if you remained stubborn. From what Raava has told me, you are doing fine, advising your oldest daughter well on matters of life and death. Relationships are two ways - do not be afraid to let her influence you. That is all." After a slight pause, Avatar Yangchen added, "If you end up not feeling comfortable with her ideas in the end, rest assured, she will not be alone. Just as your father, I am always here for advice - and not just for Avatar Korra."

After Yangchen vanished, Tenzin wasn't sure what was less appealing - accepting the idea of an Air Nation military himself, or one of the most bellicose Air Nomad Avatars he had ever heard of giving Jinora advice instead. Mulling it over, wishing there were a third option that didn't involve airbenders in uniform, Tenzin said, "Maybe I should ask my dad about this…"

Hearing a sudden rush of noise, Tenzin felt as if someone had lifted a curtain from around him. Taking a second look, he found himself in the middle of a family gathering – his family. Ignoring what he presumed was Jinora flying around freely, he made his way towards his father, noticing both his father and his mother looked as young as they had when he was Rohan's age. Approaching his father, Tenzin asked, "Did you hear what Avatar Yangchen talked to me about just now?" His father grinned, saying, "Yes, I did. Why don't you relax, see if that helps you unwind? Get some space to think? You've been running on fumes since well before I was freed." Tenzin nodded, admitting, "Even in here, I do feel rather tired. Have any suggestions?" Putting a tattooed hand to his forehead, Tenzin's father said after a poke from his better half, "Yes, and no. While Raava and the other Avatars have yet to figure out exactly how this new inner space works, Raava does remember Korra feeling rejuvenated after her more… innocent play with Asami, riding otter-penguins their shared dream world."

With a rather final air, he admitted, "That's all I have for right now, I'm afraid." Turning to his mother, Tenzin saw she looked annoyed with both husband and son, asking, "Not all of us have mystical links, honey - mind telling me what my son wouldn't?" Tenzin held up a hand, saying with a smile, "I'll explain. Basically, I was late, talking to Avatar Yangchen about change, after she refused to answer my… misgivings about an Air Nation military directly." Katara gave Tenzin a slightly disapproving look that made his face tic slightly, saying with a slightly forced smile, "You never were one for change," Tenzin's face flushing when his mother continued, much to his father's amusement, "I still remember how confused you were by puberty. I can see from your face I don't need to go into details." Pushing down his memory of his first inadvertent brush with masculinity and the embarrassment he had felt in front of his parents then, asking them what was wrong with his pants and getting laughs before guilty consolement, Tenzin sighed deeply enough that a wind buffeted his laughing mother's face. Seeing how his father had joined her, Tenzin said in a moment of candor, "Maybe Kya and Bumi are right about you two! You know how mortified I was when… that happened, and here you are laughing like it's a big joke!"

Both his parents looking ashen in a way Tenzin only had seen them when Bumi told his father he belonged to the "I disappoint dad" club, Tenzin suppressed a smirk to see them both shrink down to the age they had been acting. Looking especially guilty, his father said, "Sorry. I remember my own first… inadvertent expression, and it wasn't a laughing matter, how I felt after the rush faded. Especially since I was still a monk at the time. Katara, have anything to say?" His mother tugged absently at a hair loopy as she said, "I'm sorry, Tenzin. I didn't laugh at Kya when she came running to mommy about the weird bleeding, so… I want to say sorry, for my laughing just now, and how I reacted then." Tenzin frowned slightly when she added, pointing at his chest, "It was sort of funny though, my serious son, all terrified about feeling good. Not to mention, 'new waterbending form'..." Shaking his head, Tenzin couldn't help but wonder how Bumi and Kya felt growing up, saying as he gave his nervously grinning mother an intense glare, "I thought your brother was supposed to be the one to keep talking when he should just shut up instead!"

Looking back and forth, finally noticing her husband's glare, his mother said, "I think we need a family meeting later. Why don't you go talk to your own wife about change instead - she can't even bend outside here, and she's flying around, just like Jinora and Kai! Pema was talking to me about her idea for helping you learn to fly briefly before she flew off herself, high as a kite, in both senses of the phrase. I can see that look - no cactus juice involved. Hmmm… No, maybe some other night. Don't want to spook the grandchildren. " Rubbing his forehead, Tenzin asked calmly, not having caught the bit about cactus juice, "Care... care to run that by me again, mother? Pema… flying?" Young face beaming, his mother said, pointing up, "Yes, flying."

Tenzin sat down on the ground, cupping his face as he said, "This better not be another one of your practical jokes you or dad pulled on me when you were younger, mother. I never understood, the Universe seeing fit to let a lowlife like Zaheer get airbending, but not someone as pure and sweet as my dear Pema…"

Feeling a sudden blast of air, Tenzin sighed, saying as he looked at his father, "Not funny, dad. Uh, dad? Hello?" His father was too busy laughing to respond, Tenzin heard a familiar voice say from behind, "Turn around, honey. Maybe we can work on your block in here – it seems like a good place to me! And why are both your parents kids?" Tenzin stood up, seeing that Pema was indeed floating, grinning like a little child, saying, "Even if I can only do this in here, it's enough for me! Wheee - it's a wonder airbenders ever get anything done!" Figuring a re-telling of what had just happened would dampen Pema's spirits, Tenzin pushed aside the idea of a family meeting - for now. As Tenzin tried to grab Pema's hand, she got a mischievous glimmer in her eye, rapidly shifting from side to side, avoiding his hand as she giggled, "Can't catch me!" Sighing lightly, Tenzin said, "I can see Ikki's not here, but you're doing a fine job filling in, Pema," the sigh turning into a groan when he heard his dad say from behind, "Ikki's busy helping Baatar Jr. get things ready for tomorrow, after having helped him through his own troubles." Putting one hand to his forehead, Tenzin asked no one in particular, "Isn't two enough?" Pema cocked her head, asking, "Two what?" as she finally landed, snorting slightly when Tenzin said, "Militaristic airbender children."

Groaning slightly, his father said, "Don't 'worry' - she's no Meelo or Jinora. From what Raava is telling me, she's just tagging along, hoping to see you all tomorrow, though she is trying to act as a mediator of sorts. She's got her work cut out for her - thank goodness she doesn't know Kuvira got a mechasuit. Forget what we were talking about before Pema got here - That would be very… awkward, explaining to President Raiko. From handcuffs to war machine!" Tenzin hoped President Raiko never saw Kuvira with her personal-made mechasuit, mumbling, "Maybe we should have thought that one through a little more… but Kuvira herself tried to refuse the mechasuit, Korra and Mako overriding her for Kuvira's own safety." Tenzin gave his father a funny look after an abrupt change in topic, his father saying, "What I didn't say is Ikki has been trying, and so far just barely not failing, to keep relations between everyone somewhat civil. Uncle Iroh insists on overriding President Raiko's wishes that he command, supported by Sokka, and – hey, honey, I'm talking here! Just wait a second. Okay, keep it simple, since Katara seems to want to go somewhere. Okay, okay, sorry – the first thing that came to mind was, well, you know, you and me, as adults, and not you wanting to see your brother again!" Tenzin could see his father had completely lost his train of thought, reminding him, "President Raiko and Sokka both want Uncle Iroh to lead. Anything else?"

Ignoring Katara's infuriated look, his father said, "Basically, Iroh II, Sokka and President Raiko want Uncle Iroh to command, Baatar Jr. thinks an immortalized human spirit commanding a battle would be bad for the Spirit Civil War and wants to 'redeem' himself by leading, and the man we know only as the Lieutenant – yeah, I know, _that_ Lieutenant, the one who tried to abduct your family and failed miserably – insists he's the best man for the job, a neutral third party, when he's not slurring benders and making Sokka mad by doing so. So far, all Ikki's managed to do is keep them somewhat calm, Raava being taxed to her limit by other… issues right now." His father caved when Tenzin stared at him for a while, admitting, "Korra and Asami are dealing with some cross-plane stuff that was, and will remain, censored for almost everyone, while Raava's now trying to break into someone's inner dream world." His father looked nervous, insisting, "You don't need to know Ku, err, who, son," then slapped his hand over his mouth, Tenzin hearing a muffled English curse.

Only knowing one person whose name started with "Ku," Tenzin sighed, asking, "What's going on in her head, that not even Raava can get in?" Tenzin's heart dropped when his father said, with evident distress, "Not even Raava knows, at this point. It could be anything. Whatever happens, it's up to Kuvira – nobody else."

Wanting to distract himself from the possibility of waking up and finding Kuvira either insane or psychotic like Azula, Tenzin said, "Shouldn't have talked business at all. I haven't even seen who all is here yet!" His father nodded, saying, "While you wander around, I might pay Katara a little more personal visit. Love's a good distractor, after all." With that, he vanished, followed by Tenzin's mother, who was blushing slightly with a wistful look in her eyes.

"Kuvira's in trouble? Can I help? I bet nothing could beat the Raging Shark Whale!"

Tenzin turned around, seeing Meelo looking up at him, who was joined by Jinora, a confused looking Rohan and Kai as Tenzin said, "I'm afraid not, Meelo. Even Raava can't get in. Why don't we just have some fun?" Rohan nodded eagerly, saying, "Daddy, have fun! Fly! Like mommy!" Tenzin didn't feel like explaining how the new flight worked to a three-year old, simply saying, "Daddy's flyer is broken, Rohan. Why don't we see if we can go find Oogi and Pepper? I can't see them right now, but if we look real hard, we should be able to find them!"

Liking how Rohan nodded eagerly, Tenzin took his youngest son around Air Temple Island on foot, taking his sweet time, somehow able to feel the place's spiritual energy even in this dream, forgetting all about his earlier frustration with his mother and father. Feeling an odd spike as he went around the rear of the island, Rohan in tow, he looked to the sea, noticing that the addition Korra had made was present as well. Curiosity getting the better of him and knowing he couldn't possibly be interrupting anything, he tried the front door, telling Rohan to try practicing his airbending, knowing full well it was fine - it was Rohan's language that needed work. Thinking to himself idly, "If anything, he's a little _too _good at airbending," jiggling the lock, he could hear water splashing, suddenly realizing that Korra had never shared the details about their house, or what they did in it. Going around the side, he tried many combinations on the lock, practically jumping out of his skin when he heard a strong young female voice say, "Hey, stop that! You'll never get in like this!"

Turning around to see who'd caught him red-handed, he covered his eyes, saying, "Gah! Put some iceclothes on at least, Atokara – and how'd you get in here?" Tenzin was reminded a lot of a young Korra mixed with something he couldn't quite put his fingers on as Atokara whipped around gracefully, glad to see she was now covered in highly opaque iceclothes. Tenzin laughed when she said, "I know you airbenders are sort of prudes, so I made the clothes less see-through than normal. Now get out of my way, so I can open that door for you and go back to playing with grandma and grandpa, and Naga!" Wondering how Korra was doing, Tenzin asked, "How's momma Korra doing?" Tenzin didn't know what to make of Atokara's sad face, baffled when she said, "Raava was being mean to momma Korra a while back after we finished helping Arthas, so my grandparents and I left for a different dream world. It seemed too 'happy' to be anyone but Naga's." Tenzin had no idea who this "Arthas" was, and just ignored it, venturing, "Know anything about what's wrong with Kuvira?"

Tenzin saw Atokara's face light up, glad to hear her say, "Raava says she's fine now, and Raava made up with Korra." Atokara pointed at the combination lock, idly tugging on a white braid as she said, "I'm getting more than a little impatient. C'mon, move it, so I can go in, make sure there's nothing you shouldn't see, and go back to playing with grandma and grandpa!" Stepping aside, Tenzin watched as the young girl deftly opened the lock with a waterbending pick. Tenzin finally placed who else she reminded him of as Atokara smiled much as Asami might have, clearly proud of her apparent knack for mechanical devices. Seeing his look, she smiled with lips Tenzin just now noticed really _did _have "mommy Asami's" lipstick on them, giggling mischievously before saying, "I knew the combination, but that was more fun! I'll have to tell mommy Asami she needs a better lock." Running off, Tenzin found himself wondering what life would have been like had Raava given gifts earlier. Himself and his siblings infused with Raava's energy…

A short while later, Atokara came out, chirping, "Everything's fine. Bye!" Hearing a familiar babble behind him, Tenzin turned around, seeing his youngest son being nuzzled by two vaguely familiar-looking airbison calves. Before he could react, Atokara re-appeared, saying as she approached Rohan, "Well hi, Rohan! My name's Atokara. I'm Korra and Asami's daughter. Want to play?" Completely confused as to how Atokara could have possibly sensed something in this dream world not once, but twice, Tenzin began to say something, but stopped, finally recognizing the distinctive dotted pattern on one of the airbison's noses. Smiling, he told them both, "Why don't you two ride on Oogi and Pepper while I see what Korra's house looks like." Rohan nodded, saying, "Play with funny girl in ice! A-Atokara! Fun!"

As Tenzin turned around, going inside with curiosity, it finally struck him: why Korra had felt so much grief over lost time with Atokara, trying to deal with her remaining internal problems – apparently to help Raava more than anything else. The precociousness, high intelligence and emotional advancement for a "four-year old", a natural link to Raava that was only rivaled by "momma Korra's", what seemed like the ability to absorb knowledge not only from Asami's experiences, but a little from Raava herself… Korra would never have a normal family.

Thinking about his own childhood as he sat in what must have been someone's valued antique chair at a distinctly Water Tribe inscribed table, it dawned on Tenzin he had never thought about what it was like, to be the Avatar – and a PARENT! Thinking about his own parenting skills, Tenzin shook his head, saying, "Nobody's perfect…" Realizing with a sinking feeling in his heart that he hadn't seen two family members, or even thought of them yet, he felt terrible, crying lightly as he said, "Bumi and Kya… right all along. AND my dad. Nobody was wrong… we were just doing the best we could." Smiling slightly, he admitted, "I guess now that I look back on it, it was kind of funny. No wonder she laughed - me, asking if I was part waterbender, and what the new 'form' I discovered was…"

A short time later, he saw a strange slow shimmering in the other chairs at the table, seeing the room apparently grow in size slightly. Looking at his hands, he briefly panicked, asking, "Where are my arrows?!" Hearing his own voice, and remembering Korra's own experiences in the Spirit World and those of his parents earlier, Tenzin stood up and walked quickly to a bedroom mirror. A very young reflection stared back. Walking back out, he looked at the bed, knowing where it came from. For some reason, he didn't feel pride, or righteous in the least – he felt vaguely ashamed, having basically stolen from that "greedy" Air Acolyte…

"BUMJU! What are you doing here? Go on now – you've got a job to do, soldier! Pilot that big thing! What do you mean, Jinorahead and Patientstem learned how to fly the plane from you? Hogmonkeywash!"

Walking back out into the main room, Tenzin saw his brother and sister, both roughly the age they were when he was eight and the apple of his father's eye, Bumi arguing with a trilling Bumju, asking, "Why didn't you tell me tuber-vines learn from their pilots? Then I would've pitched a fit to get my tank!" His father sighed, saying, "Bumi, I didn't stop… talking with your mother just to have an argument about who did, and did not, receive equipment, and the details about tuber-vines." Smiling slightly, he looked at Tenzin, saying, "I 'heard' what you were thinking about, son. Atokara, which led to your childhood, which led to… this." Still feeling confused as to what "this" was, Tenzin sat down, finding out when his mother said, "Before we started talking, Aang mentioned. Oh shoot. Whatever, you're all adults, you know full well what we were doing. Don't give me that disgusted look – it actually ties in."

His father looking like he was trying to spit up mercury, he admitted, "When I tried replicating your daughter and her boyfriend's feat, with 'assistance'… it didn't work. Now I know this is awkward – Kya, get back here!" Tenzin saw his sister look at her father with disgust, asking over her shoulder, "What, you still haven't changed? The only reason we came in was for us! My brothers and myself - I don't care if you can fly in a dream! Not to mention you're DEAD!"

It wasn't often that Tenzin saw his mother angry, but she looked livid, saying, "Sit back down! I won't embarrass Tenzin by telling exactly why he said 'Maybe Kya and Bumi are right about you two!' earlier, when you were off wherever! You were always like this – I think you all have hurt left inside, and if you help Aang get over his, maybe it will help! Here, let me quote you something Korra told Raava during a heated argument of their own. Aang told me, barely able to speak he felt so bad, feeling such a failure: 'I have a better relationship with my unborn daughter than Aang had with two of his own living children'. If you'd stop being hostile and nursing old grudges, old regrets, bad habits, you'd be better off – all of you! Well, aside from Bumju – he's fine as is." Bumju trilled, taking his place at Bumi's side, Bumi saying, "Bumju says if we don't stop yelling, he's going to leave."

Once the tension in the air died down, his father said, "I believe there is a reason – a very big reason – that I wasn't the first to discover this new airbending form. It's just like Korra said – I don't have a very good relationship with either of you, Bumi and Kya. Before you were born, Kya, I wasn't even wholly comfortable with what I was doing, old Air Nomad habits dying hard. Never mind knowing what to do as a father… By the time you came around, Tenzin, I wanted to do my best as a father, to all of you - but came up short. And it wasn't just being the Avatar's fault, all the time it took – I should have brought everyone on those vacations, like Katara wanted. By the time I was willing to listen to her parenting advice and put aside the old ways, seeing how the exclusion and bumbling affected you, Bumi and Kya… it was too late, both of you rightfully not wanting much to do with me." After Bumi and Kya nodded solemnly, his father continued, "There's all kinds of love, and if one is off by enough, I guess you can't 'embrace your tether' properly." Seemingly at a loss for words, Tenzin filled the silence his father left, saying, "Bumi, Kya, I can see you still look suspicious. Probably asking 'Why am I still here?' or 'Why should I care if my dead dad can do this new flying in a dream?' It's not about the flying – it's about what's underneath."

Explaining how he had felt, walking by the bed he for all intents and purposes stole from the Air Acolyte, Tenzin finished, "Based on your expression, I can see that's not what you had in mind for the leader of the Air Nation, dad. I told you this, because I want to stress, we all do the best we can, limited given what we know and don't know. And we can't control emotional responses perfectly - I'm not bitter about you know what anymore." Pointing at his father, who nodded slightly after mention of "you know what", Tenzin continued, "I don't want you carrying regrets and remorse beyond the grave. The world's entering a new age – the line between the physical realm and spirit realm is blurring more every day." Remembering the sound advice his father had given Meelo, Tenzin pointed out, "You've already been there for Meelo, and before that, Jinora. Now, with… this, you can be there for all of us."

At first, his father was puzzlingly silent, finally saying, "Raava says that since Korra is the Avatar, and that everyone else in this room interacts with her and by proxy, me, on a regular basis, two things called 'past life dissonance' and 'death attachment' don't apply. Unlike other people who are dead and gone, I _can_ be there, if need be. Uh, vacant stares, yawning Kya - let me explain. 'Past life dissonance' is when someone like Asami's dead parents, Hiroshi or Yasuko, interact with loved ones from past lives too often, causing the current life to begin to lose its sense of self and identity. Korra obviously knows who I am, and interacts with me regularly now. A welcome change…. But anyways. 'Death attachment' is when someone who is living, like Grand Lotus Atin… the Grand Lotus interacts too often with his dead wife and son, and begins to lose touch with the living. As an Avatar Spirit, I never truly 'die' – well, except that one time I was encased in this EVIL man's ice tomb, about to die, and Korra - ! Sorry. Got carried away there for a minute. Anyways – as long as the Avatar Spirit is alive, and not entombed, the Avatars never truly lose touch with the world, some able to connect to things beyond our own world, just like Raava. Meaning contacting one is not going to derail you – more likely put you back on track."

Grinning nervously, he said, "I know that was a lot of 'spiritual mumbo jumbo', as Toph calls it, but basically it boils down to this – I can be there, and fix my mistakes after death! Why are you shaking your head, son?" Tenzin laughed as Bumi crossed his arms, saying, "It's not about fixing mistakes – it's about getting over them! What, did you gum up your chakra whatevers again, or not _listen_ to Tenzin, for like the only time ever? I know you 'got over' a lot of things when you were young, but it sure doesn't sound like they stayed 'over it'. And my brother basically said, 'In life, you screw up, even while trying to do good, forgive yourself you knucklehead!'"

Tenzin had expected something to happen, but he certainly didn't expect his father to shift, looking about as old as Atokara as he said, Tenzin seeing his father as he never had before in multiple senses of the phrase, "I… I haven't really even gotten over the mistakes that didn't have to do with you guys! There's a reason I pushed that… horrible vision on Jinora. I didn't want what almost happened to happen again…. except much more permanently." Tenzin's mother looked completely confused, saying, "What do you mean? And toughen up – maybe Toph was right about how to teach you! Wuss."

Relieved to see his father in a more familiar form – that of a twelve-year old, who he knew was wise beyond his appearance – Tenzin listened as his father said, "Sorry you had to see that. Guru Pathik talked about illusions… and in a way, I think the chakra pools, the chakras themselves, are a little like that – but only in the way that the idea of ever clearing them forever is an illusion. Every storm in your life will leave debris, clogging the water's flow, needing to be cleared…" After a slight pause, Tenzin was surprised to see an image appear in the middle of the table, a voice he recognized as Raava's saying, "Korra found out the exact same thing a while ago. I am… ashamed to admit, that I was the cause of this problem in the first place, basically berating Korra for being what Aang was, and is – human. I don't like doing this now, but I'm going to force you to watch this. I can sense one of these lies, even after death, makes its home in your heart, Aang…"

The image swelled, Tenzin watching as Korra dealt with another kind of doppler he hadn't seen before. Even knowing it was just an image, he recoiled in horror all the same, seeing the ashen Korra's deep, endless eyes, the void-palm hands, wondering if one could lose their sanity or soul to such a thing. The image paused, Raava saying from nowhere, "I suppose that one is relevant as well." The image shifted, expanding to the point it actually touched Tenzin's arrowless hand.

Feeling an odd tug on his mind, it felt as though he were directly in Kuvira's shoes as she faced a similar apparition, Tenzin wishing he could scream when he felt the tug. As though he was about to enter the void, against his will… It felt vaguely familiar, but worse than anything he had endured in the Fog of Lost Souls, and its temporary dominion over his mind. Tenzin also felt Kuvira's exhilaration at the specter's shattering, vaguely disappointed to hear Raava intone, _You can see everything tomorrow. You have your own issues to deal with first. She won, obviously. Let's just say I'm very glad Korra saved Kuvira a week ago…_

Looking up, Tenzin saw the original scene with Korra start over, the words, "If only you worked harder…" and "As the Avatar, responsibility for the world's problems is yours. You have no time for life," stressed especially hard. Feeling all kinds of sympathy for both Korra and his father, Tenzin himself identifying with the struggle against this lie as the leader of the Air Nation, Tenzin leapt up, hugging his father as he choked through tears, "I love you, dad. I've had the same lie, whispered, over and over, and… you remember the Fog of Lost Souls. I bought it. For a long time…"

Feeling a lot of bumping, Tenzin checked to see just who _else_ was trying to hug his father, smiling to see both his siblings hugging tightly, Kya saying strongly, "I'm so sorry, for the resentment, Tenzin, and for the attitude, dad. You didn't ask to be the Avatar… and the world never cared if you had a family. Demanding your time, when you obviously wanted to be a better father…" Tenzin heard his mother cry slightly after Kya said, "Part of the reason I never married, was because I thought family sucked…" Kya let out an audible shiver, as though she had just realized something disturbing. She said nothing, Bumi finally saying something: "Dad, I just want to retract all those cutting 'witty' comments about my membership in the 'I disappoint dad club' with my sister. Brother, you too… well, the other comments mainly. You know what I mean."

Tenzin groaned slightly when Bumi added, crossing his arms, "But I still want my tank, even if I feel a lot better!" Genuinely curious about this tank, Tenzin took him aside, noticing they were both older once again as he asked, "What tank?" Bumi grinned widely, saying, "Heck, we're in a dream world, after all – why don't I just show you! Meelo helped a little with it, but this thing's mine."

Before they could finish leaving, Tenzin heard a loud yell of "GET BACK HERE, and help me with your sister! I swear – men!" Turning around, Tenzin saw Kya was an adult as well, and not seized and sweating like someone in a bad vision might have been. She seemed troubled all the same, Tenzin's heart sinking when Kya said, "I know somebody else who thinks family sucks, and he's the whole reason there's still an Earth Empire!" Tenzin was baffled, unable to understand the leap in logic, saying, "That's ridiculous! You're a great aunt, Kya – where did you get that?" Kya shook her head, saying, "I… I don't know. And I don't really want to."

Remembering the reason for this whole family meeting, Tenzin asked, "Do you feel any better, dad?" His dad merely grinned, saying in his young voice, "Watch this!" With that, he hit the ceiling, Tenzin laughing along with everyone else when his goofball father first acted like he was walking on the ceiling, then imitated a spider, Tenzin puzzled as to why he couldn't understand what his father was saying. Given his expression, he wasn't pleased either, yelling as he shook his fist, "RAAVA, you humorless…! Come on – can't I sing that theme song? Seriously!"

The answer a resounding "NO" that actually hurt Tenzin's ears, his father returned to the floor, announcing, "Raava still isn't human-y enough for my tastes. Guess she needs more 'Wan on Wan' time. Heh… Come on – let's go. See what the others are doing."

Tenzin followed as best he could, ignoring the terrible pun and Bumi's protests of, "Tank! Tank! Tank! Come on – we might need it tomorrow!" Unable to keep up with the free-floating goofball who had once been the Avatar and would forever be his childish self, Tenzin stopped, saying, "Bumi, show… the tank. Then… I take a … rest. Man, he can really move! I wish I could do that…" Tenzin groaned when Bumi responded, raising an eyebrow, "Maybe if you weren't stick-in-the-mud you could! You should listen to Pema – she's got it, and she can't even bend in the real world! I won't think of the tank until you say… 'I'm a master stuckbender!' Stuck stuck stuck!"

Tenzin shook his head, saying, no longer totally out of breath, "You were the one who wanted to show it to me in the first place." Knowing someone who would likely love to see the tank, Tenzin suggested, "Bet you if you show Atokara the tank, she'll bug Asami in to making it. If I'm wrong, I'll say I'm a stuckbender as many times as you like." Bumi threw up his hand, laughing as he said, "That's not much of a bet, from what I know of Atokara – you're stuck, and risk-averse! It's a wonder all your kids aren't as boring as Jinora _was_." Getting a sudden unwelcome mental image of Ikki discovering how to fly, Tenzin found himself wondering where she was, and how well she was acting as mediator to the squabbles.

Hearing an odd rush of wind in the distance, Tenzin looked at what he assumed would be Oogi and Pepper at full size carrying Rohan and Atokara around, but saw only a large cyclone. Giving Bumi a glance, Tenzin saw him with his eyes closed, saying "Tank! Tank!" enthusiastically.

Apparently, his father had brought the party to Korra's little addition, smiling to see how happy Rohan looked riding on a baby Oogi. Vaguely remembering the Avatar's daughter's penchant for cursing, Tenzin asked Rohan, "Did Atokara teach you any funny words?" Tenzin was relieved to see Rohan shake his head, saying, "No, no funny word. We just flew on airbison! She left." Tenzin felt a pit in his stomach when Rohan asked, green eyes gleaming adorably, "Why? Does Atokara know funny word? Dad, you look like you know funny word – tell? Please?"

Thinking on his feet, Tenzin simply said a nonsense stream of English words, frowning what he thought imperceptibly when Rohan said, "Those not funny – those weird words! I want you to tell me a funny word, please! No frown!" Remembering how hard Pema had been working on his language and how glib Atokara was, Tenzin said, "One funny word, but only because you spoke in a complete sentence. The word is 'butt'." Glad to see Rohan giggle, clearly satisfied given how he kept repeating the word over and over, Tenzin tried pushing a little, saying in partial English, "Dad knows the weird language, and – Hey! Pay attention, please!"

Seeing Rohan start to cry, Tenzin realized he had something else he needed to work on – teaching. Comforting Rohan and apologizing for the yell, he remembered how Korra had blamed him for not learning airbending faster. Wondering how Rohan's airbending was going, not having seen him for what seemed like much longer than a week, Tenzin asked, "Rohan, did Ikki show you any new airbending moves, like she was supposed to? Any good ones?" Rohan nodded, saying with a glimmer in his green eyes, "Yes, I did a hard one! But won't show until another funny word!" Involuntarily supplying an English one over his distaste for Rohan's attempt at manipulation, Tenzin felt the color drain from his face, it being everything he could to refrain from saying it again out of frustration over his own slip.

"Honey – what are you doing? I'm trying hard enough to get him to learn one language – at least not many people will know what it means!"

Tenzin turned around, seeing a remarkably affable looking Pema, for her three-year old son having just learned an English curse word – one he was repeating much more often and enthusiastically than "butt". Pema began clapping, saying, "Look – an air scooter! Good job, sweetie! I didn't think he'd get that one for a good while. Maybe we should reward him like that more often." Tenzin reluctantly nodded his head, saying in English, "No curse words, though. And see if you can get him to stop saying that, once we're back in Republic City. Or, at night, I guess. Speaking of Republic City – have you seen Ikki yet? I don't even know what time it is out there, it's so late." Pema shrugged, saying, "No, I haven't seen her yet. Kai randomly vanished and re-appeared – something about Kuvira calling him to a different dream… Your father told him to call Kuvira 'big sister' right before he vanished, for some reason to do with an 'inner nightmare'. Can you please tell me what's going on?"

Not really knowing much himself, aside from the snippet he had seen, Tenzin just started with when he bumped into Atokara, even explaining why his parents had been children earlier, Pema smiling as tears streamed down her cheeks by the time he was finished. Tenzin listened intently as Pema said, "Honey, that's great! Maybe we should try seeing if you can fly now, and if you can't, let's see what we can do to 'fix' it." Looking around, seemingly checking to make sure nobody was around, she added in English, "Once you're flying, maybe we can try something interesting, in a more… private dream. It's been a while…"

Not able to pin a date on when he'd last done anything with Pema aside from the odd grab, Tenzin nodded, saying in English, "That sounds great. Before that, I want to see what this tank my brother came up with is." Pema nodded, Tenzin surprised to hear a young male voice say "Tank!" in perfect English with greater enthusiasm than he had said the… other English word Tenzin had inadvertently "taught" him.

Turning around, seeing Rohan run off towards a distant figure much longer than Zhu Li's mechasuit was high and about as tall, for a brief moment, Tenzin saw nothing wrong with what he saw, saying, "Let them be who they are… change cannot be stopped."

Feeling his heart begin to beat rapidly and beads of sweat form on his forehead, Tenzin managed to get out, "Pema! Honey – help!" before blacking out, hoping, "praying" that whatever he saw on the other side, it wasn't anything like the ashen doppler Korra and Kuvira had both seen…

Opening his eyes once again, he found himself in a setting he had never thought he would be – endless black, interrupted only by a sphere. Remembering the sphere's importance, Tenzin rushed over to it, noticing that it was almost pure white, except for a slight oily sheen over one half, the sheen thickening in one spot. Taking a second look, he laughed, asking, "Seriously? A stick, stuck in the… whatever that is? Oil? Tar? Hmmm… just yank this out, while accepting, no, embracing change, like what Avatar Yangchen said, and be done with it."

"No! It's my stick! I don't want it to move – it'll ruin the world!"

Looking at what others had called a "doppler" or "dark half", all Tenzin could see a scared-looking child, recognizing who it was from old family photos – himself. Dismissing a thought of, "Bumi will never let you live this down!" with a laugh, accepting it as true, Tenzin attempted to pry the stick loose before his childish self got closer. Just as he almost got it loose, he saw a greyscale vision of the Northern Air Temple rebuilt: armory, what looked like a military drill square, spirit weaponry fortifications protecting the whole Temple… and matching mechasuits?

Tenzin found the image disquieting, finding a loud jagged laugh even more disturbing as he removed his hand from the stick out of disgust over what he had seen. Looking at the doppler again, Tenzin shook his head, realizing just because the doppler looked cute didn't make it not dangerous. The eyes once again normal-looking, it said, "MY STICK! Don't touch the stick! Change bad!"

Wondering where Pema was, Tenzin gently told the childish self, "Change _can _be bad – but it can also be good. I certainly liked the change from Lin Beifong to Pema, given what Lin did to Air Temple Island after…" Tenzin smiled to see the childish self smile slightly, admitting, "Yes, that was a good change…" frowning when it continued, "But your daughter's change is bad! Very bad… not peaceful!"

About to try pulling on the stick again, Tenzin heard a warm voice say, "I'm here, honey… wherever this is." Glad to have Pema's help, he explained what had happened, Pema looking behind him as she said gently, "I don't think trying to force this is the right answer. Why don't you try talking to 'him'? Meelo wasn't happy when you took his drawings away forcefully when he was younger, after all." Agreeing, Tenzin told Pema, "You're right. When I grabbed the stick, trying to force it out… I told you what I saw, and _my _reaction to the idea of an Air Nation Army becoming more than an idea. Change is hard enough to deal with, without someone trying to force it on you."

Pema walked over to the stubborn child doppler, vaguely looking like she wanted to talk to Tenzin instead for a moment as she passed by. Speaking warmly, she asked the sad-looking little boy, "Why do you think change is bad?" Though the boy's mouth did not move, an answer came all the same: "Because it's confusing, hard - I can't do anything about it! To stop the bad change! Or even make sense of any change fully…" At first not detecting anything amiss about the answer, Tenzin listened as Pema asked, actually putting her hand on the doppler's chin, feeling more emotional as she spoke, "Why do you feel the need to do anything about _any_ change? The world's troubles aren't your responsibility… Even the Avatar needs help, as you've told her many, many times."

With these last words, Tenzin realized he could feel a hand on his chin, realized his mouth had been moving all along, that he was now looking directly up at Pema's eyes, no one standing behind her…

* * *

The little boy in front of her beginning to cry worse than Rohan ever had, Pema felt she needed a little help from Tenzin, remembering Aang talking about some family meeting, while Atokara had played with her youngest. Turning, she asked, "Tenzin, honey, do you think you could – "

The adult Tenzin wasn't there.

Rubbing her forehead lightly, Pema wondered what had happened. Looking back at the bawling inner child, she remembered something Aang had mentioned – how all three of his children had been young, during their heart-felt talk. Looking back, she saw the young Tenzin huddled up, asking, "Tenzin?"

The child nodded, Pema able to tell she wasn't talking to an adult in a child's body, or even a child who knew what was going on when he said, "Yes, I'm Tenzin, only airbending son of Avatar Aang. Who are you, and where's my mom and dad? I feel bad, scared, and I don't know why…" Treading with extreme caution, Pema asked, "Your mom and dad aren't here right now. Maybe I can help – I am an Air Acolyte. What's the problem?"

Pema saw the white yin yang sphere begin to shift, eventually splitting and darkening, both halves twisting into two familiar forms, the young Tenzin pointing at the representation of Zaheer as he said, "I saw that bad man use airbending to take someone's life. How could one of my brothers do that?" Just how out of touch the inner child was with the world hit Pema like a mischievous airbending child's best attempt to knock her off balance, feeling slightly dazed.

Choosing her order and words very carefully, Pema said, "I have seen visions of this man, and that of the life of the Avatar after your father. After a climactic battle between good and evil revolving around spirits, she decided to _change_ the world by keeping two portals opened that had not been opened in ten thousand years. Shortly after these portals were kept opened following a celestial event, about two weeks – "

_Waaaait a minute. Sorry. Pema, after this, I have a very important question for you to ask Kai, and Bumi. Good job so far. I'll… adjust that slightly, so he perceives no disconnect._

Not skipping a beat, knowing her husband's sanity likely depended on her, Pema continued, " – after this event, _new airbenders_ began popping up, and this man was one of them. Although he had studied Air Nomad culture even more than I have, he did not have the heart or soul of an airbender. No one could prevent him from taking the life of the Earth Queen, throwing the Earth Kingdom into chaos, and anarchy – just as he had desired." Pausing for a short time to see if Tenzin had a question, Pema listened as he asked, "Why didn't the Avatar do anything to stop him?"

Looking at the next figure- that of an amoral Kuvira - Pema said, "This man, Zaheer, attempted to end the Avatar's life _and _the Avatar Spirit forever by poisoning her with mercury. Through great suffering over three years, the next Avatar eventually overcame the lingering poison, having been saved by a daughter of Toph Beifong, unable to stop the woman you see before you – Kuvira." Now it was Pema's turn to ask a question, wondering internally as Tenzin appeared lost in thought, "Just how did that nasty stuff get into Korra in the first place? It was pure mercury – pure metal, but I still heard it was bent in, and out…"

Not sure what to expect, never having talked to Raava before now, Pema was surprised to hear a familiar voice intone, _I… do not know, nor how Su or Korra removed the metal either. The rest of the Red Lotus evaded capture, so there's only one way we can find out. Zaheer __**will **__part with the information… one way or another._

Not liking the idea of violating someone's mind by force, even if it had saved the life of Shiro Shinobi, Pema was relieved to hear Tenzin ask, "Why did this Kuvira need to be stopped? What did she do wrong?" Seeing this as another good place to mention change, Pema said gently, "In her quest to restore order and stability to the Earth Kingdom, she changed it into an Earth Empire and made war against Republic City, both of our homes. Not only that, in an act that changed this vision of the future forever, she began harnessing the power of the spirits themselves – that of 'spirit vines', such as cuttings she took from the Great Banyan tree – to construct a weapon the like of which had never been seen before. The Colossus, and its destructive spirit weapon. I am afraid the vision ended after its defeat." Seeing Tenzin nod, saying, "Sounds like an awful lot changed from now, in this vision you saw, and there was nothing even the Avatar could do about it," Pema pushed the envelope, asking, "Can you see anything past where the vision I described stopped? I am no airbender, but you are. Tenzin, son of Avatar Aang – see what you can see, beyond what I did."

As Tenzin sat, breathing in and out, he began to sweat slightly, saying in a voice that Pema realized sounded an awful lot like Rohan's, "I see life rising from the ashes, a new love blooming… a great spirit changing her very nature following a great rift… A former criminal and tyrant, desperate to change her ways… I see… what must be my future daughter flying?" Seeing the young Tenzin smile and cry lightly, Pema asked, "Do you see how change can be good now?" After a long pause, Tenzin continued, "I see two great evils threatening the world, and I see people changing their outlook on the world, all they can do to survive… is to change, not knowing where exactly they are, or where they go. But still, pressing on, learning from… the changes themselves."

Standing up, the young Tenzin smiled, saying, "Yes, beautiful – I accept change as part of life. Not just inevitable – welcome. I don't want to hold a stick in place, when I can hold _you_. Now let's go see if I've changed as much as I hope I have!"

With that, Pema found herself holding an adult Tenzin's hand, levitating slightly, hoping he could follow, seeing no one around her as she lifted alongside her husband, about to congratulate Tenzin on his achievement, but stopped. Pema let out a surprised gasp, blushing as she said, "Now that's my kind of change! I hope you grab my _breast_ more often, and maybe I'll grab –"

"Eww, mom! If you're going to be dirty with dad, can you do it in this 'English' Meelo and Jinora keep talking about me in? My little brother and Baatar Jr. are the only ones who can't understand them, and nobody else will talk to me! I know I wanted quiet after dealing with all those people, but…"

Pema laughed, saying, "Well, hello to you too, Ikki. I was just talking your father out of being such a stick in the mud." At first, seeing Ikki pout and not respond, Pema was tempted to tell Tenzin in English, "If she's going to be like this, let's go celebrate, with a different kind of stick," feeling a rush tempt her, but stopped, looking in the distance. All thoughts of sex exited her mind, watching her youngest son playing with someone very special, as the young girl's grandparents watched intently near a familiar white beast, and a much larger form she had never seen "in the flesh" before.

Wondering what Ikki had been up to, aside from teaching her little brother and helping Baatar Jr., Pema asked as they slowly walked over, Ikki no longer frustrated, "How have you been, Ikki? Do anything interesting lately?" Ikki nodded, saying with what sounded like slight resignation, "Just trying to keep people from fighting." Smiling slightly, Ikki continued, Pema feeling so touched she teared up slightly, "After all that mediating, I just wanted to tell you, mom, how much I appreciate your hard work, trying to keep our family together while my dad's busy," hugging Ikki after she said, Ikki a little teary herself, "Being away from my little brother and big sister for so long… it's been hard, even if they do annoy me. Not to mention you, mom and dad. I want a big family hug!"

Feeling many arms around her and Ikki, Pema began crying harder – but these were happy tears. Even though she wasn't thinking about sex at all, she felt lighter and lighter to the point where she could barely feel the ground, realizing there were likely many ways to "embrace your earthly tether" properly…

After what seemed like an eternity, Pema felt her feet touch the earth again firmly. Ikki no longer looking tired at all, Pema listened as she launched into a description of her efforts to keep the uneasy alliance between United Republic military forces, the Equalist holdouts led by a man who had once tried to kidnap her family, and the Earth Empire defectors the uneasy allies had picked up along the way as they left Republic City for the northern Swamp. Just listening was exhausting, and not for the usual reason – trying to act as mediator between people who until recently would have had nothing to do with one another sounded draining. Tenzin looked proud as well, whispering to Pema at one point, "I didn't totally believe her story about befriending those Earth Empire soldiers until now – she's got a talent, it looks like."

As Ikki finished, describing the final arrangement Raava herself had trouble coming to – Iroh and Sokka as advisors, and everyone else leading their own – Pema saw someone had joined them. With a weary look on his face, Baatar Jr. said, yawning towards the end, "Dealing with the Lieutenant, myself, not to mention a _President_, and helping me overcome my … sanity troubles, all in the same hectic night? Forget a new airbending form… If that's not tattoo-worthy, then I don't know what is…" before sitting down on white marble. Pema groaned internally, thinking, "Oh, great – here we go again…" To her surprise and relief, Ikki shook her head, saying, "Thanks for the compliment, Baatar Jr., but I haven't done anything worthy of that yet." Pema let out an actual groan when Ikki said, pointing at Kai's forehead, "Or maybe not, given someone thought Kai deserved tattoos, for whatever reason. Kai, mind explaining the tattoos? I… didn't exactly pay attention to my sister. Not after she and Meelo harassed me with 'English'. And what about your head? You look funny – like a toasted grandpa Aang!"

Looking very offended, Jinora told Ikki, "Like you said, I tried to tell you, but you were too busy sulking, whining about not knowing English. He merely helped convert not one, but _two_ spirits, and helped perfect a revolutionary new airbending form. By himself, he converted a spirit who has hated humans for many Avatar lifespans, the one that helped Unalaq KIDNAP me - Wan Shi Tong!" Sighing deeply, Kai pushed Jinora aside, saying over top of a grumbling Jinora, "Sorry about that. Jinora's… changed since you last saw her, as you can see. And so have I. To be honest, I'm still not sure why Tenzin thought I have earned the honor, but I did technically help your sister figure out a new airbending form. The one that lets you fly, without entering the void." Ikki's eyes widened, saying, "Wow! That's a lot, Kai – don't be so hard on yourself! I saw my mom and dad doing it, but don't know how the flying works. Can you explain it?"

Giving Tenzin a quick look, Pema could tell he was not behind Ikki learning much about this "earthy" airbending technique, so she told him quietly in English, "Your father was about her age when he fell in love with your mother, and I imagine she's going to find out one way or another." Pema laughed when he told Ikki, "Very well. I would rather Kai explain it than anyone else – yes, that includes you, Jinora, so you can quit your skulking now. I remember you were obsessed about grabbing Kai's… stick. And given how you're blushing, you do too." Ikki recoiled slightly, saying with disgust, "Wait. Jinora tried to do WHAT? Kai, you said she's changed, but I'd have to see that to believe it!" Crossing her arms and sticking out her tongue, Ikki told Jinora, "Not that I'd want to see that. It was bad enough, hearing and seeing my mom and dad – "

Coughing, Pema interrupted, saying, "Ikki, I just remembered I need to talk to Kai and Bumi really quick. Why don't we go over to see what your uncle made up close, then I'll talk to him?" Overriding Jinora, Meelo said enthusiastically, "YEAH! Let's go – I want to see the new stuff in action!" Baatar Jr. stood up slowly, saying, "Yes - I'd love to see what an airbender does with spirit power more directly." Getting a dirty look from Jinora, who was holding out her staff, Pema snickered when Baatar Jr. gave Jinora's staff a skeptical look, saying curtly, "Seems more blade than staff to me, Jinora. And there's no spirit vine in it." Jinora growling lowly, Pema found herself wondering what her daughter would do tomorrow. Apparently, her husband had similar concerns, saying much to Jinora's consternation, "Jinora - I'd prefer it if you helped evacuate the city tomorrow," Pema not knowing to say when Jinora retorted hotly, "I want to fight! You okay with change, or not, dad?"

Once they had all arrived at the tank, Kai having talked Jinora out of her anger on the way over and Tenzin silent in a way Pema knew meant he was lost in thought, Pema noticed a very unlikely figure looking at it, the little girl ignoring Naga's whining and nosing. Bumi's eyes were sparkling as he saw everyone approaching, saying, "You won't believe all the cool stuff Atokara helped me add! I guess she really does see and hear everything her 'mommy Asami' does. Thanks to her help, this thing is about as non-lethal as it is lethal now." Frowning slightly, Bumi looked at his brother as he said, "I know this military stuff isn't your cup of tea, brother, but maybe you'll change your mind about Jinora's military idea after seeing what Meelo and I did with Atokara's help before we had the two party crashers arrive."

"Don't worry about it, Bumi. I've come to terms with what my daughter wants, and realize the world has changed. She can do whatever she wants tomorrow. I look forward to making sure every kind of airbender gets what they need – more traditional pacifist, or not."

Feeling a little faint herself, not having realized just how much her husband really _had_ embraced change until just now, Pema managed to stay upright, though not everyone did. Bumi hit his head on the tank's hull when he fell over with a dull "KONG!", Meelo passed out onto an ecstatic-looking Jinora's feet, and even Atokara looked a little phased, eventually asking, "Pema, you sure that's Tenzin beside you? He hasn't even seen the changes yet…" Pema laughed, saying, "Yes, this is Tenzin, all right. I did a lot more than just hold his hand earlier, while he was passed out."

Before Pema began explaining, she noticed that both of Tenzin's parents were now present as well, Aang smiling as he said, "Let's do this the old fashioned way – talking. I already know what happened, so I'll take the 'job' Raava gave you earlier, Pema. Don't worry about it. Just give me a second with Bumi and Kai first. Tenzin can start when we're done – just sit, and listen. He can explain what happened in that house better than I can, and what happened in his little vision."

As Aang took both Bumi and Kai aside, for some reason taking Baatar Jr. with him as well, Pema idly looked at Rohan and Atokara playing under Senna and Tonraq's watchful gaze, feeling hope for the future well up inside her, thinking, "I wish Korra and Asami were here to see this…"

* * *

After he had taken his other son aside, along with a confused-looking Baatar Jr. and Kai – who really did look like a younger, toasted version of himself, without any hair – Aang addressed Baatar Jr. first, saying, "You probably wonder why I drug you over here, with two new airbenders." Baatar Jr. nodded, saying, "Yeah, I do. I'd rather be with my family right now, especially after everything I went through. I'm sure my mother is worried sick, and feeling very guilty." Holding up a hand, Aang said, "Don't worry about it – she's been preoccupied with something else. And I've already seen what you went through, and there was a particular detail Raava finds very relevant now…"

After a flick of the wrist, an image of the internal struggle that Baatar Jr. had persevered in earlier with a lot of encouragement from Aang's youngest granddaughter, Ikki, appeared. At Aang's behest, the image jumped to the section Raava found the most relevant, Aang saying as he pointed to metal cables, "Watch again, and see if you can figure out why I brought you over here." After giving him a skeptical look, Baatar Jr. watched as the cables bent and deformed when they grappled Baatar Jr.'s doppler's basic mechasuit, Aang waiting to see if the bright young man could figure out the significance. After a pause, Baatar Jr. asked, "Those cables… they were being bent by someone, weren't they? When it happened, I just chalked it up to spirit shenanigans, but if Raava's taking a special interest in this… maybe not."

Nodding, Aang said, "As people have fallen asleep, dreaming, there have been odd things happening. Your apparent metalbending during your fight with your dark half was the only one thus far to occur outside of a dream. Multiple times, Asami Sato has dreamed she could bend fire. Not just any fire – blue fire. Others have dreamed of being able to bend elements – Zhu Li, earth, Varrick, water, and as you have seen directly, Pema, air." Turning to his goofball son and Kai, Aang said, "This is very important, and may be hard. I need you to try and remember, back to right after Harmonic Convergence. Did you ever have any sort of consistent dreams at all of flying? Of being an airbender?"

By now, Kai's eyes were wide, Bumi grumbling, "Well, no more than usual! You should know the answer to that, dad. I dreamed of it since I was a little kid!" Sighing deeply, still feeling raw from earlier, Aang admonished, "Now's not the time for attitude. And I already tried to make amends. This is important. Son, did the dreams seem any more vivid than normal?" Bumi lost in thought, Kai finally spoke, looking embarrassed, "Yeah, I had plenty of vivid flying dreams during that time, when I had never really had them before. They usually involved using airbending to steal stuff. Which is exactly what I ended up doing…" Aang felt horrified when Kai asked, "There any way to get rid of tattoos? I still don't feel like I deserve them." Shaking his head and speaking frankly, Aang told him, "Then that's the best way to know you _do _deserve them. Humility is one of the greatest hallmarks of a Master Airbender, or Master anything." Figuring it might make Kai feel better, Aang told him about Korra's remarks on not wanting to be called a "Master Avatar" and stressed his own embarrassment at having Korra point out the obvious – that a truly advanced person wouldn't want to be called Master very much, if at all.

Liking the way Kai was smiling, Aang turned to Bumi, asking, "Got anything yet, you loveable goofball?" Bumi nodded, saying, "I think so – about a week after Korra finally kicked Unalaq's butt, I had a wonderful, detailed dream… being born an airbender, and growing up much like Tenzin did. The dream repeated, getting more and more 'alive' somehow, except the last one and its details were a lot closer to reality. Bumju's sweater and all…" Able to see there might be something else, Aang coughed, realizing how much he had been a terrible father when Bumi continued reluctantly, "At the time, I found the first, inaccurate dream's end just as exciting as being able to bend – Tenzin born the only non-bender, treated just like I was. Don't cry, dad – it wasn't all your fault, that our childhood wasn't ideal. Being the Avatar sounds like a sort of raw deal. Just ask Korra! Anyways… even Baatar Jr. got a better childhood than we did – he was in his dad's shadow, but his dad was there casting it on him consistently in the first place. I've realized being the Avatar isn't all it's cracked up to be, and maybe there's a reason traditionally Avatars didn't have families. As far as I know, Roku, yourself and Korra are sort of anomalies." Laughing, Bumi finished, "Yeah, Korra's definitely an anomaly. Her daughter might end up more balanced than any of us, your kids!"

Tearing up slightly, Aang gave Bumi a hug, saying, "Forget balance, or being normal – you're just fine the way you are." Breaking the hug and assuming his favorite age – twelve - Aang laughed, saying as he performed the marble trick many found annoying, "When your brother and sister are that serious, someone has to carry on the legacy of family goofball and free spirit!" Watching the marble spin round and round, Aang idly realized the airbending projectiles weren't really anything new - it had taken a new view of things to come up with the idea. One from a new airbender - Opal, made reality by Asami and a former war criminal…

After Bumi and Kai had finished laughing, Aang checked to see how Baatar Jr. was doing, noticing he was crying slightly but smiling, saying once Aang had his attention, "After we're done here, I need to go see my family myself. And Tenzin and Pema are waiting… What is it you want me to do, exactly?" Realizing he couldn't bend anything except Air himself, being the _past_ Avatar, Aang demonstrated some basic earthbending forms' movements, saying, "That," when he was done.

Looking at Baatar Jr. again, Aang watched as Baatar Jr. mimicked his movements, groaning when he saw they produced nothing other than some pebbles moving, though Baatar Jr. looked happy. Remembering his own difficulty with earthbending, Aang suggested after a quick re-telling of his own bitter work, "Why don't we go listen to Pema and Tenzin, then see if we can find you an appropriate opponent? In that vision, your sanity was clearly on the line, so it might need to be a little more dangerous than a rolling rock." Baatar Jr. nodded, saying, "That sounds like a good idea, and I might even have an idea for one. Before I went to sleep, someone came forward with disturbing information. One of the last defectors to join the convoy, a fairly high-ranking officer who had just been talked into leaving by his family, described a retrofitting program to gain our trust." Looking uneasy, Baatar Jr. continued, "They are hoping to make a complete transition to spirit vine energy, even eliminating the metalbending driven magnetic power sources and batteries from the regular mechasuits' backs. He couldn't manage to nab anything but the mechasuit schematic without arousing suspicion. Now let's go listen to something uplifting."

Remembering how his youngest son could now fly, Aang grinned widely, saying, "Literally," savoring the groans he got from Kai and Bumi… and the fact that no one had apparently put the pieces of the puzzle together just yet. But he had. Just like Raava wanted…

_I don't know, now that we're surer of what is going to happen. This doesn't feel right! I'm keeping an open mind on telling - just like Yangchen told Tenzin to. Maybe we can find confirmation of some sort, somewhere… And don't forget - you're a terrible liar, Aang!_

It was all Aang could do to suppress a snort, thinking "Got me."


	49. Chapter 49: Breaking

Chapter 49: Breaking

Jinora felt impatient, wondering what was taking Aang so long, and still a little furious, over Ikki's slight of Kai and her father's snub. Waiting on Aang's return, along with finding out whatever he wanted with Kai, Bumi, and of all people, Baatar Jr., she found solace in watching Meelo demonstrate the airbending tank's capabilities, avoiding Ikki as Pema and Tenzin talked to her about the new form of flying, given Kai was gone. Tiring of watching the tank display its airbending capabilities, she shouted, "Okay, Meelo, enough with the cyclones and air blasts! Let's see something that won't just tickle a tank." Jinora heard a smug voice say over a speaker, "Let's see if you think that after I show you this!"

Jinora watched incredulously as an Earth Empire tank appeared, looking much like the ones she had seen outside Zaofu, still having a hard time believing this other tank could harm it with just airbending. Her disbelief only increased when the enemy tank shifted, the turret now deformed into a slight dome shape and sporting what Jinora recognized as a larger, rifled version of the small-bore spirit cannons Shiro Shinobi had described. Wondering what was going on, Jinora heard a computerized voice say over the tank's loudspeaker, "User Alyssralove observed this tank model in the army outside Omashu. Direct experience by User Alyssralove and combat simulation by User Zhu Li indicates they are capable of fairly rapid fire, as well as sustained fire. User Meelo is advised to exercise caution." Finding this all the more justification to open up, Jinora yelled, "Just take it out, Meelo!" letting out a low growl when Meelo dismissed her.

Jinora was surprised to see the tank actually begin to move, albeit as though the person inside meant no harm. Not sure if it was a dream or "real", Jinora watched as the tank fired its main armament full blast, wondering why Meelo hadn't struck back yet, and why the beam wasn't some nasty, evil color. Once the odd blue beam with twin white helixes around it abated, a familiar form exited the tank, Bumju trilling happily, and fleeing the tank rapidly – as though something were about to happen. Hearing the same computerized voice say, "User Meelo is advised that energy store cannot be used to augment bending – only spirit weaponry," Jinora smiled to see a similar large blue beam attack the tank precisely, noticing that Meelo had left the crew compartment alone – only the sides, tracks and turret had been reduced to slag.

Ghostly figures that obviously represented the crew appearing, Jinora saw red dots appear on them, followed by small bolts of electricity. Seeing that Meelo was trying to demonstrate the tank's ability to be non-lethal, Jinora felt better about her brother piloting the Raging Shark Whale tomorrow. Jinora also felt more at ease with her decision to start an "Air Nation Self-Defense Force", one that her father sounded eager to make sure preserved life wherever possible. Jinora smiled to hear her youngest brother say, "People okay – zap like Asami glove! Good tank!" vaguely wondering if Korra could help with his language delay. Just a little infobending…

Remembering what Aang had said about infobending, Jinora decided to keep this to herself, instead saying, "Okay, re-form the tank, and let's see if you can do anything to it just using air – braggart!" Smiling to see the taunt had worked, Jinora watched, a sinking feeling in her stomach, knowing she would have to "eat crow" later. Using a feature that resembled her staff's V-shaped blade, except all along the tank's main gun barrel, Meelo somehow used the tank's main gun like a massive airbending staff, finally flipping the enemy tank onto its rear using help from the smaller hull-bound airbending turrets Bumi had shown off earlier and one final large blast of air that came from the barrel itself.

Sure enough, the first thing her brother said was taunting, Jinora saying, "Okay – but that still took a lot longer than just blasting it!" Some grumbling coming from the speakers, Jinora added, smiling, "Guess that means I'll be forced to help you design a standard-issue mechasuit. Something tells me you could flip a tank a lot quicker with one of those." Jinora heard a computerized voice say, "User Kuvira has already designed crude airbender mechasuit for User Opal. Mechasuit performed satisfactorily in inner nightmare, but enemy was incapacitated partially through unconventional means."

Growing bored of the tank, even if it did hover, and wanting to know more about what had happened in other people's dreams, Jinora wandered off with Rohan back to the main group, cursing slightly under her breath in English when she saw it appeared everyone else was waiting on her, Meelo and Rohan. Looking again at who was there, Jinora did a double-take, asking, "Korra? Asami? What are you doing here?" Pointing at a smiling Atokara, Asami said, "Even when I told her I was busy, she wouldn't stop bugging me about some airbending tank, and that she wanted us to play with her and Rohan, and listen to what happened with Tenzin and Pema… she is rather demanding." Jinora laughed when Atokara pulled some water from the air, soaking "mommy Asami", who promptly began chasing the little pest, saying, "I didn't quit riding a bottle-nosed dolphin for this! Stop that!" Korra just stood, laughing as she said, "Better get used to it, Asami. And you won't have firebending to dry yourself off when she does this for real…"

Jinora felt confused – she had heard of dolphin-tuna before, sure, even seen them outside Republic City on occasion, and eaten flying tuna, but had never heard of a "bottle-nosed dolphin". Trying to imagine it, she couldn't help but start laughing at the idea of a creature with a bottle for a nose. Sensing Korra might know what it was, Jinora approached, shooed away at the last minute by a serious-looking Aang who had taken Korra aside. Seeing no one else seemed to pay them any mind, Jinora snuck her way over, saying once she was close enough, "So, Aang – what's so secret? You can show me whole other planets being obliterated, but not whatever this is about?" At first, Aang looked furious, but after a nudge from Korra, his look softened, saying with a glimmer in his eye, "We think something wonderful is going to happen, and soon. But we don't know for sure, and don't want to get anyone's hopes up. Korra's especially adamant about keeping this hush-hush for now. If you have any suspicions, keep them to yourself, and if you really must know, take Korra aside – far aside, or even better, up – and ask her." Korra snickered, saying, "This seems like the appropriate time for infobending to me, doofus. And I imagine people might want to watch whatever happened to Tenzin, instead of just the words words words you love so much. Jinora, just promise me you won't tell anyone, and I'll show you what we think may happen. Silently."

Having a vague idea what might be going on, knowing two of the three people Aang had talked to were new benders, Jinora took her up on her offer eagerly, placing Korra's tan hand to her arrow. Immediately seeing an image of Varrick healing Zhu Li's right arm, Jinora heard Korra think, "Fire, Earth and Air are not the only elements people have 'bent' for the first time tonight – a little earlier in Asami's case." The image shifting to a very depressed-looking group, Jinora noticing her mother's sad face first, the next thought she heard from Korra was, "I want more confirmation that these dreams are not flukes before even bringing up the possibility to anyone – as you can see here, empty promises or hopes can be devastating. Just look at Asami's face." Doing so, Jinora could see this Asami looked utterly crushed – as though a promise that had been made to her by the Universe itself had been a lie.

After promising to not tell anyone, Jinora whispered into Korra's ear, "I just have one question – what's a bottle-nosed dolphin?" Korra shook her head, saying, "Really? That's your question? Fine. It's an intelligent animal from Earth that both Asami and I got to interact with – or rather, the soul of one who had been killed in a horrible way. I don't know how we did, either – but it was a lot of fun, and way better than the failed Spirit World vacation. There's no way anyone can break into our inner dream world. Now I'm dying to see why Tenzin can look at that airbending tank and not bat an eye, so let's go."

As they re-joined the group, Jinora noticed Baatar Jr. had stepped aside, practicing quite successfully on the new Earth Empire tank, actually deforming the metal with a final strike as he yelled, "WOW! This is great – all I had to do was be firm and unyielding, like Kuvira! I can't wait for the wedding now, that I'm over what she did. Again, thanks in large part to Ikki. I was bitter, closed-minded, but after suffering through my own crisis… I'm willing to let the past go." Baatar Jr. stopped smiling when he was met with nervous chuckling and agreement, looking distraught as he said, "Wait – no…. Please don't tell me I'll have to start all over again – not after going through that nightmare!" No one having the courage to answer, Baatar Jr. asked sullenly, "Is… is he – or she, I can see the look in your eyes, Asami – happy with Kuvira, and… Kuvira, with…? I guess… that's all that matters, in the end." Shaking his head, Baatar Jr. lightly cursed himself, shouting, "STUPID! So stupid! I could have at least listened!"

Again, no answer came, though Korra did get up and walk over towards Baatar Jr. slowly. Jinora knew that Mako was still rather reluctant, and Kuvira desperate, looking at things honestly. After saying something Jinora couldn't hear, Korra grabbed his hand, periodically reacting to the unseen. After saying, "I personally can't read people like Raava can, but from what I saw, you're fine - not to mention Raava already gave you some military secrets," Korra placed her tattooed hand on Baatar Jr.'s temple, watching Baatar Jr.'s expression shift with curiosity. After a time, Baatar Jr. was smiling, and Korra was the one looking conflicted, withdrawing her hand quickly as she said, "Ech - didn't see that on the first time. I'll show that… later, and you can go be with your family. I am glad you are okay with Mako and Kuvira, and I noticed how much attention you paid to Jasmine." Coughing, Korra added, "You're going to need luck there, even if I show her your struggle. She was never 'in it' fully to begin with," finishing in a low whisper that made Baatar Jr. look like he wanted to vanish forever, all Jinora could hear out of his mouth was, "Maybe I don't deserve anyone…" Korra turned around, leading Baatar Jr. back to the group as she said, "Oh, great – not that again, not deserving people. I've caught you up fully – well, at least what I know – and you saw that Jinshu Kuangmai, of all people, found 'someone'. Now quit moping!" After a pat on the back, Korra added before walking away again, "You wouldn't want the first time your mother sees you since your much more thorough change to be you all depressed, now, would you?"

After a loud "No ma'am!" Baatar Jr. laughed, saying, "Guess that's another habit I'll need to break. Kuvira was a little… kinky with me at times, even if we never did anything that would have made a Little Uniter." Jinora screwed up her face, saying, "Ew, gross!" finding a mix of military and anything related to attraction repulsive. Baatar Jr. smiled lightly as others laughed, sitting down next to Ikki, saying, "I know I already said this, but – thank you, Ikki. For everything. Especially not laughing."

Ikki looked ready to respond but was interrupted by a loud rumbling. Jinora saw a screen similar to the one on which Korra and Asami's woes had played out on rise from the marble, Korra smiling broadly at its side. Once it had completely risen, Korra said, "I hope you don't mind, Baatar Jr., but after this I'm showing what _you _went through on here. Calm down! People are going to see the fruits of your labors eventually, infobending or not." Sitting down in front of Baatar Jr. on the marble, Jinora had no clue why Korra smiled and said, "They will get their justice – I can't imagine Jinshu Kuangmai liking that program you're so mortified over having masterminded." Baatar Jr. let out an unstable laugh, saying with gusto that disturbed Jinora, "You're right. He always did loathe bandits. To see the looks on their faces, or their ironic end… but that's done." At first, Jinora felt disgusted, tempted to say something, but remembered her own reaction to something Korra had shown earlier, instead saying, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about, Baatar Jr., but something tells me they deserve whatever happens. Just like those horrible men I saw, when Korra shared her experience, on what to do with Zaheer."

Jinora heard a light cough, her mother saying, "Maybe… maybe what you'll see here will help you with Zaheer, Korra. How does this thing work exactly?" Jinora saw a console appear to the side, noticing it had two sets of hand prints – one larger, one smaller. Korra stood up, pointing at the console as she said, "Just put your hands there, Tenzin, Pema, and if it's anything like the Spirit Library console, we should be able to see everything you have easily."

Jinora watched her mother and father zip over to the console, Tenzin the first one to move his hand, Aang not protesting about infobending abuse. Watching the family interaction inside Korra's house unfold silently, Jinora watched closely, not only glad to see her father and the rest of his siblings and her grandparents work through major issues lovingly, but to see if she could gleam anything from it. Any gems, to help when she set about the arduous task, of trying to come up with new general guidelines for the Air Nation. She found one in an unlikely place, loving how Bumi put something so hard so succinctly: "In life, you screw up, even while trying to do good, forgive yourself you knucklehead!" Her father's part finished when the perspective shifted, showing her father looking up at her mother. Tenzin had apparently fused with his inner child somehow, her mother taking his place.

Watching how masterfully her mother had handled the situation and wishing it had continued past Tenzin's words of acceptance, Jinora realized she'd have lots of good help, trying to reform the Air Nation. Korra was the first to speak, Jinora listening in vague disbelief when she said, "Pema, that was… amazing! I know this sounds crazy, but… when I go to meet Zaheer, I want your help. Don't worry, Tenzin – I'll make sure no harm comes to your wife." Jinora felt just a little less nervous about the idea when Korra added, "Asami will be there along with me, and both our mechasuits, in case he tries to do anything funny to either of us, if it comes to going into the Spirit World. He acts like he's going to toss Pema into the Fog of Lost Souls for even a second, bam – our co-pilots end him, right then and there."

Korra got up, plainly intending to show Baatar Jr.'s story, but stopped cold, saying, "… or maybe not. Raava, get your butt out of that little vacation, and come here!" Two unexpected figures popped up in front of the giant screen, a soaked Wan protesting as he created a flame, apparently for warmth given how he was shivering slightly, "Aw, man! I was this close to a giant squid – what do you want, Korra?" Letting out an irritated sigh, Korra grabbed a sheepish-looking Raava, demanding, "RAAVA! Look at me. What do you mean, Kuvira's father's spirit is running around, hijacking equipment, even after 'death'? Don't you think you should have told me this before now?"

Raava shrugged, saying, "I don't know! All I know is he somehow managed to fill a void Kuvira left in a more… friendly dream Colossus, while training with Zhu Li and Varrick. She scared me half to death, showing up unannounced there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go back to what I was doing before you booted me out - or rather, in - here. Rude!"

A finally dry Wan turned around towards the screen, saying, "Raava, wait. Isn't there something we need to do?" After Wan touched the screen, a depiction of many notable new airbenders popped up, Jinora looking at Zaheer and scoffing at the absurdity of the thought that entered her mind: "Maybe he can help re-build and re-haul the Air Nation!" After a light tap on her shoulder, Jinora explained to her confused-looking mother what she had thought was ludicrous as Wan, Korra, Aang and Raava bickered in front of the screen. Pema merely raised an eyebrow, saying, "As much as I'd love it, it sounds ridiculous to me too, when I'm honest and realistic. Especially considering you want to make us more like the other nations."

Turning back to the screen, Jinora saw only Wan looking peeved, Raava saying, "Now that we've stopped squabbling, I want to try something with Korra - just on a hunch. Wan, quit skulking - I'm not going back there underwater with you until I'm sure the seal on Kuvira's father worked!" Jinora coughing lightly, asking, "Why does he need a seal?" Raava frowned, saying, "Long story short, someone decided he'd rather annoy people in their dreams than get re-incarnated right away. You can see all that later. We've got much bigger fish to fry right now."

All the Avatars stepping aside, Raava pointed at the screen full of new airbenders, saying, "Two of the individuals on here - Bumi and Kai - have told someone directly about strange dreams following Harmonic Convergence involving bending. From what I can gather from another dream world, Opal can remember strange dreams as well. Before I go any further, I need you to come back over here, Korra. And you know why…"

Jinora smiled slightly, thinking, "Hah - even someone who's been 'human-y' for less than a week is a better liar than Aang. He probably would have been half-way through saying why before stopping, from what I know."

* * *

Raava motioned for Korra to come closer, saying, "The lock was successful - let's see what happens now, after this," Korra nodding as she asked in a similar low voice, "What do you want me for again? Specifically, me - I had all four bending types when I defeated Unalaq!" Shrugging, Raava said, "Just a wild hope - baseless. You didn't happen to have any dreams after Harmonic Convergence that you thought odd, did you? Everything around there is sort of hazy for me, what with almost being defeated for ten thousand years and all."

Korra simply gave Raava a skeptical look, saying, "Guess you need some more human-y work - how am I supposed to remember a dream from over three years ago!" Korra grumbled when Raava pointed out Opal, Bumi and Kai had, Raava telling Korra, "Just… stay still for a minute."

Reaching up, Raava touched Korra's forehead in the center of the white inner diamond, trying something she hadn't since the days of Wan – directly interacting with the Avatar's human spirit. Raava laughed when she heard Korra mumble, "Just what do you think you're doing?" explaining through thought, "I'm trying to see if I can get your help – you were strong during Harmonic Convergence, while I was greatly weakened. Can't quite remember…" Finding nothing, Raava took her hand off, Korra smirking as she said, "Looks like I'm not the only one with memory 'problems'. I can't remember anything... Just what dream do you hope to find, anyways?"

Knowing she didn't want to risk anyone overhearing, Raava thought, "speaking" directly to Korra, "A dream – yours. One dealing with new airbenders, in a very concrete way. Now I'm going to try again, and this time, I want you to try and remember that two-week period – between Harmonic Convergence, and new airbenders popping up." Seeing Korra nod, Raava again touched her body, noticing something she hadn't before – slight unknown energy movement… Finding the same energy both within herself, and Korra!

Figuring who the culprit behind this energy was, her suspicion confirmed when she heard a low curse in a hateful universal tongue emanate from within herself, Raava pulled out Life's Gift. After re-assuring everyone who was watching, Raava explained through thought to Korra, "I'm going to try and remove some latent dark energy from you, and then see if you can remember any dreams. Looks like a certain ancient brat blocked something off earlier, or for all we know, just attempted to right now." Korra looking exasperated, though not with Raava, Raava used the tip of her sword to try and pinpoint the location of the dark energy, noticing it did seem fresh, and was in the area of the brain dealing with memory – the hippocampus. Not wanting to impart scientific knowledge, Raava thought deliberately, focusing all her effort on Korra, forgetting all about Kuvira's father, "Korra, try drawing on your spirit to clear your mind of any impurities you can find. The energy is partially blocking your memory – and maybe my energy can help refresh it, once the darkness has been illuminated."

Raava watched Korra take a deep breath, rubbing her eyes in disbelief after seeing what happened when Korra exhaled much as a combustionbender might have, saying, blissfully unaware that a ray had just come from her forehead, "That's odd – I feel better than I did before. Guess I cleared out more than just Vaatu's pathetic attempt to block us from seeing whatever he wants kept secret." Raava snickered when said spirit spoke from her chest, saying in a haughty tone, "Do whatever you want with that information – it won't help you in the least!" Raava expected Vaatu to shut his yap, but instead he continued, gloating, "That was just a distraction, really – one that worked!"

Raava had not a clue as to what Vaatu meant, dismissing the statement casually, "Sounds like idle taunting to me." Looking at everyone laughing around her, after a second glance at the screen, Raava observed that something was off – all the new airbenders' images were gathered in the four corners, even the image of Zaheer keeping its distance from the central portion.

As Raava realized what Vaatu's boast had meant, remembering her earlier slip in vigilance, she cursed at the same time thinking to Korra, explaining what – or rather, who – had likely managed to slip in, due to her mistake.

After an odd jolt, Raava found herself staring out and up at the interior of the transport aircraft Korra's body was in, it was all she could do to refrain from cursing Korra waking up, right now, of all times… Hearing Korra spit out, "That little blood-dripping brat, somehow waking me up like this!" Raava was glad she hadn't admonished Korra, wondering if Dark Korra had felt threatened by Korra's small purification earlier, and was acting out of desperation…

With Raava's help and a little cheating, Korra managed to go to sleep again within a few minutes, but given the scene Raava saw through Korra's eyes, they were already too late, unable to break into the screen turned prison.

Baatar Jr. watched in curiosity as Raava, Korra, Wan and Aang vanished from in front of the screen, wondering what they could possibly be doing, especially given what must have been Vaatu sounded rather pleased with himself. Turning to Ikki, he asked with a low sigh and slight irritation, "Tell me again why I came to your family's inner whatever instead of mine?" Ikki began to smile and looked like she wanted to say something, but her face quickly turned sour, pointing at the screen behind him as she asked, "Who's that, and what is he doing in there?" adding with panic, "He doesn't look like just an image to me!"

Baatar Jr. faced the screen, noticing with unease that all the images of new airbenders were shying away from a passingly familiar man in the center, even Zaheer's image looking at in disgust. Opal's image pointed at the man, knowing him somehow. Baatar Jr. had never seen him personally before in his life, but as a red and black chain with sick jagged hooks slowly joined this mystery man's side, one who was staring at Baatar Jr. in deep hatred, he could see this man clearly knew him.

The man's face twisting into an expression of pure hatred, he said, "When Raava's gone, that's when I'll have some fun. A tragedy, Korra waking up like that. Hah! This should be easy - I'll take the weakest first!" Baatar Jr. saw the chain begin to move, red pulsing in a way that reminded him all too much of his earlier ordeal and his foe. Ikki having been right that he wasn't just an image, the chain actually left the screen - headed for Pema.

Not knowing what else to do, he attempted to divert the chain to himself, saying, "Whoever you are, you can just leave!" The chain stopped, though not from his own efforts, making its way towards him rapidly as the man laughed, "You'll do just fine, non-bender egghead! And you're more closely related to my failure of a daughter anyways." Screaming loudly as the barbed hooks dug in, seemingly grasping his spirit, the last thing the man said was, "Baatar Jr., weakling former boyfriend - yes, you'll do nicely. No different from a woman, from what I saw. Mewling little…"

Baatar Jr. opened his eyes, finding himself staring up at the same strange man, saying, "Wait - you. I recognize you now. You must be Kuvira's father, aren't you?" The man nodded, saying, "Yes - and I'll also be your end. Kuvira will regret her mercy - and I might just get an adult body to wreak havoc with. A pity it can't bend… But I bet Jinshu Kuangmai would appreciate the technical help."

Baatar Jr. looked at this sad excuse for a man in disbelief, saying, "You don't really think you're going to kick me out of my own body, do you? I already 'fought' my dark half earlier - and it wasn't destroyed. You can't destroy someone's spirit, idiot!" Baatar Jr. felt the metal links around him tighten, Kuvira's father smirking as he said, "This is true - but you can break it." The pressure and tearing increasing further, Baatar Jr. felt like crying out but found he couldn't as the man gloated, "This is going to be easy!"

Trying the tactic he had resolved his own inner conflict with earlier, Baatar Jr. struggled to grasp a link, saying once he managed to grasp a free barb instead, ignoring the searing pain through his body, "I don't know who hurt you, or why you rejected your own daughter a _second _time, after she showed you great mercy, but I know someone who can help. Actually, two strong women - one the Avatar, and other the youngest granddaughter of her predecessor." The man laughed, saying, "I don't want help! Now shut up - you're ruining this for me, talking back! Why haven't I driven you nuts yet?"

Hearing an odd "THUNKUNK THUNK", Baatar Jr. turned to see Korra trying to break through what appeared to be a pane of glass, unable to make out what she was screaming. Remembering what Kuvira had gone through, others being locked out, Baatar Jr. felt a little queasy, realizing he was likely in a similar situation. Try as this moronic failure of a father might, he couldn't break Baatar Jr. Baatar Jr. found himself laughing, "I almost went insane, and someone so weak they thought they had to abandon their own daughter to survive thinks they can break me. How amusing… and pathetic."

Apparently, Kuvira's father really did have the legendary temper he had seen earlier, so incensed he retracted the chain without keeping the barbs in place. Seeing this rage as weakness, Baatar Jr. pointed this out to him as the pain faded, smirking as he finished, "Kuvira was right. It's a good thing you abandoned her – I thought being overshadowed by my father was bad. You're nothing but a big ball of rage!" Kuvira's father shifted slightly, appearing larger and slightly red and black as he howled, "This ends now! You're getting on my nerves, four-eyes!" Baatar Jr. saw slight cracks appear in the man's skin when he quipped, "You don't seem to have had any in the first place, given how quick to anger you are."

Kuvira's father grew in size again, but seeing the hatred in the man's eyes, Baatar Jr. found himself reminded of an unstable spirit vine reactor – hit or tormented in just the right way, and bam – explosion! Thinking of how much he wanted to see his family again, even including Kuvira in his thoughts as sister and not lover, Baatar Jr. managed to get a good sweeping kick in on the figure's shins. Even though Kuvira's father did not shatter as he hoped, Baatar Jr. heard the sounds of breaking and cracking glass all the same. Turning to the source of the sound, he saw a large white tendril come towards him - one that had once forced Kuvira's experiences onto him and his closed mind. Another entered into the strange space as he left, catching Kuvira's father before he could flee.

Glad to be outside wherever he had been, he looked at the howling man in pity, saying, "You're insane – you just don't know it." Baatar Jr. still felt a bit disturbed when he saw Raava tightening her grip on Kuvira's father, booming as her somehow re-assuring grip on himself loosened, "I've got a special fate in mind for you, scumbag. The Fog of Lost Souls is too good for you… and I don't want to take any chances." With that, both vanished, Baatar Jr. caught off-guard by the two simultaneous hugs he got. Seeing who was hugging him, he lowered his guard even further than he had inside that accursed wooden box, tearing up slightly when Korra admitted, "I saw what you went through, Baatar Jr. – and a lot of it was my fault, and your mother's. We got so caught up with Kuvira's transformation, and world events, we forgot that you… you were first. Helped us defeat Kuvira in the first place, after she used your love of her to try and kill me. Kill us both. Left you behind, like an animal. I would have said something earlier, but watching you in there, helpless to do anything… I'm sorry."

After Baatar Jr. broke the hug, Korra looked insulted, she began to smile as he explained, "I'm still hurt by everyone's irrational actions at some level, and I may never fully heal. Just like all the people I've hurt. But I'm ready to move forward – I was ready before you showed me anything, Korra, thanks to Ikki's help. I had wounds much older than the one Kuvira inflicted on me, using me as a target." Realizing he still sounded rather bitter, which he was, Baatar Jr. re-focused, trying to shift away from himself, "Ikki helped me see I didn't need anyone's approval to be happy, or to prove myself greater than my father. One-up him…" Looking at Ikki, who looked bashful, he continued anyways, "Ikki. She's had her own share of troubles, her older sister eclipsing her for most of her life, as she told me numerous times. On top of that, her little annoying brother turned weapons designer taken to a meeting of world leaders over her, left with an admittedly unpleasant task – helping me! If she hadn't been so persistent, so open, I would have gone crazy, my own mother... I was in a very bad place, inside that box… but it's getting through what happened made me stronger than any family talk with my parents and siblings ever could have." Realizing that no one else but Korra and Ikki knew of his earlier ordeal and that Raava was likely busy, he insisted, "I want to go see my family before anyone sees my story, besides Korra."

Looking around, Baatar Jr. suddenly couldn't find Korra, wanting to ask her to see what Raava had been doing, and if she would ever finish whatever happened before she left the first time. Though he had facilitated the abuse of spirit vine's power, he still didn't understand matters to deal with spirits themselves. Looking again, he noticed almost everyone looked very guilty, figuring it best to not contradict Tenzin when he said, "Forget the bending dreams – we want to hear how you not only won your personal struggle, but came out better for it," smiling slightly when Tenzin added, hearing Ikki squeal in delight, "Forget converting spirits, new airbending forms – helping people is what really matters, and it sounds like Ikki did a very good job there. I would have expected you to stay bitter for years, how everyone treated you, Baatar Jr.," laughing when Tenzin added as he raised an eyebrow, "Much less be comfortable with being called Junior."

Starting to get emotional again, Baatar Jr. said, "I just hope I can make amends for everything I've done, especially to my family," remembering how his darkest secret had affected a particular girl's family – and how she had a link to someone in front of him, from what Korra had shown him of recent events.

* * *

With her annoying yet potentially dangerous prisoner held tight, hoping Korra would not follow, Raava searched for a suitable location within the Spirit World. She wanted a safe place to perform this technique that mimicked a punishment that would normally happen automatically… for a crime Asami had once considered committing. Disturbed to find the only place not teeming with spirits fighting one another over her own actions, or Dark Spirits aligned with Long Yumao simply resting, apparently lying in wait until they could move into the physical world, Raava placed herself near the chakra pools Korra and Asami had created earlier.

Figuring in the sake of fairness she should give this wretch one last chance, Raava proclaimed, to the hissing human spirit in her grasp, "You do not deserve to even look on these pools, but I will give you one last chance for reformation, before final judgment is passed. I am going to submerge you in one of these special bodies of water, and see what your reaction is. Act with great care." Lowering the now humanoid form purple spirit into the water, Raava felt sadness permeate her being as Kuvira's father's spirit yelled slurs against Korra and Asami when he made contact with the water. A frothing rage beneath the water's surface, Raava wondered why she had bothered in the first place, holding him under longer just out of some desire she had not felt before: "spite".

This last chance at redemption having been a failure, Raava removed him from the water, hoping he had not corrupted the pool. Hearing him say, "That annoying water voice can go screw itself," Raava began the process with gusto, booming as tendrils shot into the figure's arms, legs, head and heart – if he had one: "He's one of the best there is! I am currently but a child before him, but no matter. You will soon know nothing. In your foolishness and hatred, you have done us all a great service – showing us that for some, death is not enough. I had no idea this new inner dream world could pose such… issues. I cannot ask Korra to stay asleep forever, letting me police this inner dream world, protecting people from reprobates such as yourself. The Fog of Lost Souls is not a permanent prison, as Jinora, Tenzin, Kya and Bumi can attest. I do not care to find out if souls can exit after conquering their fears, yet retain their evil nature. Until such time as a… Spirit World construction project is possible, I will deal with any particularly evil and bothersome pests such as yourself in this entirely different way. I've never done this before manually – this 'honor' is normally reserved for those who take their own life directly. And, in a way, you did take your own life – choosing to be re-born at darkness' side, rather than take my last offer of redemption. I will never understand why you did not learn from your own _daughter's _experiences, and go on living with your wife. Abandoned by you, just like Kuvira. To top it off, you foolishly attempted to steal someone else's life. Free will cannot be truly violated, and you chose your targets poorly – Pema and Baatar Jr. are not weak. Well, the last one isn't now." The man's spirit spoke with great effort, saying in a tone of voice Raava had once used with Wan while drunk, "I'd like to violate the first one in a diff – " Raava interrupting him by force, saying, "I don't know why Kuvira spared you in the first place, filthy beast!"

The man's spirit unable to move or speak, Raava began focusing all her energies into judging the man to initiate the process, saying as she moved on to attempt to bend his very energies, "You have been weighed, AGAIN, and found wanting of all redeeming values." Beginning the manipulation and shattering of the energies that kept the soul bound together, she met a surprising amount of resistance, eventually breaking through by yelling, "I've seen more goodness in Jinshu Kuangmai, and that's saying a lot! You never really loved your daughter, OR your wife!" The man's form still somewhat together, Raava made to finish after saying, "Now, unworthy, scatter to the winds, and return as grass, grubs, and worms. The soul, never to be re-united, until the lessons of life are learned, all over again." Before emitting the final scattering pulse of energy, she stopped, hearing a light crying from nearby. Holding together the human soul's energies taking as much energy as it had taken to break them apart, Raava struggled out, "What… do… you… want… crying… girl? Speak… quickly!"

"For you to stop, Raava!"

Remembering Kuvira's reluctance to have Conscience simply do away with her father, Raava allowed the man's soul to re-form, still grasping him tightly as her form twisted around, expecting to see a blubbering young Kuvira.

Seeing the crying figure, Raava felt horrified, booming with what she hoped Korra would sense was remorse, "Korra – I never wanted you to see this! I am sorry – I should have told you to not follow. What would you have me do with this man? Remember, those within the Fog of Lost Souls can always find their way back out, should they overcome their fears, among other things…" Looking up, Korra pointed at the purple "human" spirit in her grasp – if you could call Kuvira's father that – and said, "Just force him to reincarnate!" Letting out a sigh and speaking with a tone that Raava realized after the fact sounded exactly like the one she used with Wan when he broke her and Vaatu apart ten millennia ago, Raava said, "Remember, your love's father died very recently, yet Hiroshi has still interacted with Asami. There is nothing that makes me believe it won't work for bad people as well. Next suggestion…" Korra crossed her arms, Raava feeling like a bellicose idiot when Korra said, "Most likely, if Kuvira's father gets out of the Fog, that means he'll have changed! Just like 'Amon'! None of this… other thing. The breaking. I'd rather not ever see you do that again…" Korra covering her young face, Raava told her, "If he ever gets back out, unchanged, this shattering will be his fate. Am I clear?"

After Korra nodded, Raava turned her attention back to Kuvira's father, trying to see what his worst fears were, and amplify them with things he had not been allowed to see earlier. Seeing he had a massive fear of losing control, especially of others, his rage a way to ensure continuation of control, he was "allowed" to witness the full, true fight between Kuvira and her brain, saying once the vision had finished, "You think you are powerful and in control, but really, you have nothing. The man you thought 'weak' was able to shrug off your attack like it was nothing. No one, nothing, can maintain control forever over another. The spirit is indomitable. Control over another does not always end that well for the controller as it did with your 'reject' daughter and her mind…"

The last thing she imparted a vision of slaves enacting bloody vengeance on their former masters, Raava changed positions after warning Korra to stay put, tossing the man's screaming, pathetically pleading spirit into the Fog of Lost Souls. Spotting the reason she told Korra to stay, protected by the energy of the pools, Raava watched as Long Yumao's massive body raised from the fog, sounding pleased as he strummed his repulsive but admittedly impressive new claws together, "Ah, yes, another human soul, more human agony and suffering to feed off of. Delivered personally by the spirit traitor and human favoritist Raava, of all beings. I wouldn't have figured you hard enough to do what needed to be done – but don't think I didn't notice, choosing your little refuge over fighting." The colors on his hide beginning to pulse increasingly faster, Long Yumao gloated, "While I am fully capable of distinguishing humans fighting for the good of others – a most repulsive concept to myself, along with the rest of human love – from fighting for power, I am… 'afraid' most other spirits cannot make the distinction between the two. And some spirits did not take kindly to your earlier cowardice, hiding behind the repulsive influence of those pools. I anticipate further new converts tomorrow with glee… and knowing your soft, 'human-y' nature, there is no way you will stop the evacuation mission. Not when you have promised so much to so many, from what Koh can gather…"

Seeing the vile spirit sink back into the fog after sniffing the fog as though it were a misty delicacy, cackling, Raava found herself wishing she were by Korra's side, hating the confirmation of what Opal had feared – that their noble mission would not go unpunished…

Finding herself staring up at an adult Korra on Air Temple Island, Raava began weeping slightly, asking, "Why are we being punished, for trying to do good…?" Korra shook her head sadly, Raava watching as a concerned-looking Jinora came into view. Raava appreciating how gently Jinora spoke, the young airbender asked her, "What happened, that would make you so sad you're a little girl again? Wait – is it something to do with Kuvira's father?"

Raava nodded her head, saying, "Yes" as a tear streaked down her face. Sighing deeply, Raava decided to tell the truth about what she had wanted to do to Kuvira's father before Korra stopped her. Feeling better, Raava shifted into her larger human form and explained her "exchange" with Long Yumao, wondering just how many spirits her absence in the fight had cost. Apparently, she had said this last part out loud, looking away from Jinora as the young airbender tried to console her, eventually paying attention after a "love conk" from Jinora over the head with her staff. Surprised to not see Jinora smirking, Raava listened as she said, "What other spirits do isn't up to you anyways, and we both know Long Yumao is a filthy liar," smiling slightly when Jinora added, "Who knows – maybe your act of… _relative_ mercy had just the opposite effect."

Pointing at Baatar Jr. and Ikki, both standing side by side, Jinora said, "And there's something you or Korra didn't hear earlier, while you were gone. Ikki and my dad talked Baatar Jr. into telling everyone what Ikki helped him accomplish inside his wooden box, before going back to this dream bending crud." Raava suppressed a snort when Jinora whispered to her, "Aang's 'penchant' for lying isn't hereditary," bursting into laughter when she heard the terrible liar in question grumble from somewhere she couldn't see.

Figuring they had all the time in the world, Raava agreed, saying, "Okay – let me just fix this screen, and we'll get started. Might want to get ready – I'm bringing everyone in here." Fixing the screen, not noticing some of her own energy nearby, Raava cursed when she heard a young voice say, "Mommy Asami, I saw a little plasma in there, like what's on your blades, but inside tiny containers!" Groaning, Raava said, "Whatever, Atokara – it's not like you stole a look at something more advanced, given how spirit glass works better than anything Earth has," giving her gift to Asami and Korra an icy stare when the little girl taunted, "So? Still gotcha!"

Turning around, Raava saw an unexpected image displayed – that of the super Kuviracomputer onboard the Raging Shark Whale's display. The news was not welcome. Looking at a spirit energy reading overlay on top of the geographical map that denoted where they were, Raava saw a large and powerful unknown spirit hiding beneath the sea. It lurked deep below them in one of the many caves lining one of their planet's deepest underwater gorges, situated inside Fire Nation Waters slightly west of Roku's old home. Relatively pleased with their progress over the past two and a half hours, given how heavily laden the Raging Shark Whale was, Raava turned her attention back to the lurking spirit. Trying futilely to discern its shape, an unknown force obscuring its form, Raava was too busy to notice that Korra had walked forward in a sort of trance. Korra's hand touched the spirit's crude representation silently. Seeing Korra seize up and able to sense her fear, Raava yanked Korra away from the screen, noticing dark energy inside Korra yet again.

The energy behaving in much the same way that the lingering mercury had, impervious to outside attempts to remove it due to what Raava could only sense was an old outstanding issue, Raava thought strongly, "Draw on your spirit to cleanse this malady from your mind, Korra – and maybe you can tell us what, or who, that spirit is deep below us." Still in a slight trance, Korra moved such that her head was pointing towards the sky. After a deep breath, Korra exhaled forcefully, an energy beam larger than the original one that had shocked Raava came from Korra's forehead.

Able to speak again, Korra explained without fear in her voice, "I think… whatever that beam is, it's just a manifestation of me clearing my mind – soul over brain, just like what Kuvira accomplished earlier. It didn't damage the hull of the plane in the physical world." Pausing, Raava sensed Korra wanted to try and replicate the feat, Korra failing to do so, but smiling nonetheless as she said, "It looks like I have to be in genuine need of cleansing for this to do anything – it's not a weapon, like combustionbending." Korra frowning slightly, she continued, "I only vaguely recognized the spirit, but even that was enough to give me that panic attack. Raava, pull us up, stay in a holding position, and fast. I've got a bad feeling, even if the spirit is deep below us..."

The dream world itself shimmering slightly with the exception of Baatar Jr. and Ikki, Raava waited on Korra to tell everyone else what Raava already knew. Seeing how Korra did not speak, Raava placed a hand on the screen, thinking, "Divert power from spirit weapons to scanner. Show best representation of spirit in question," asking after gasps had died down, "Korra, does this jog your memory better?" Korra nodded, saying, "Yes – I could only recognize the energy before… touching that spirit's representation somehow partially clouded my mind again. Just like it did, more strongly, when he dragged me under the waves years ago…" Korra walked up to the screen, pointing at the massive sea spirit that had nearly severed Raava's connection to the Avatar's human spirit forever, studying the image.

Looking at the image herself, Raava wondered how a random spirit could have been powerful enough to nearly sever her connection with Korra forever – even if the spirit did look rather capable. As Raava examined the image, now barely able to recall what it had once looked like, she noticed a disturbing change – it appeared to have matured somehow. The head now sported a powerful set of pincers below its maw, a mass of hooked tentacles at the pincer's base. The original tendrils were now thicker and covered in many plates that reminded her of those on Koh the Face-Stealer's carapace, the other new body armor more closely resembling that of a particularly nasty lobster crab, slight protrusions of unknown function erupting from the back. The armored appendages ended in unprotected tentacles with suckers and sickening barbs, tentacles ending in green-yellow spikes –the same color as the spirit's eyes. Knowing what this coloration meant, Raava groaned, "Great – another spirit on Vaatu's side." Fishing the spirit in question out of her breastplate, she threatened in a language that only they understood, "I'll show you all the Avatar's 'sex tapes' if you don't tell me what happened!" Though Vaatu squirmed in a way that pleased Raava, he could only answer, "How should I know, you sexual pervert? I've been stuffed in your **breast**plate all this time, and I can't talk to Jinshu Kuangmai or see out of here!"

Hearing raucous laughter from behind her, Raava realized Vaatu must have spoken in a language everyone could understand, snarling, "Why you little – given the way you're laughing, you must have done that intentionally!" Anticipating her question, Vaatu bragged, "I came up with that idea myself. If I had known how much fun tormenting humans as humans do would be, I would have changed a lot sooner! The look on your face… priceless. More amusing than any angry yell from an unanimated spirit form." Tired of being humiliated by a "four year old" spirit who obviously didn't have any answers, Raava stuffed him back in, acting out of spite for a second time as she pressed him too close for comfort to what lay underneath her breastplate.

Turning back to everyone before her, Raava said in as serious a voice as she could, "Now that we know he doesn't know anything, we can – no, Bumi, I'm not telling anyone what I said to him!" thinking internally, "Thank goodness Wan or Aang didn't hear – they would have understood…" Re-composing herself and giving the person who had asked such a rude question in the first place a glare, she continued, keeping her eyes on Bumi as she walked back and forth, "We don't know exactly what this spirit wants – but we do know it's water-bound, and cannot get at us up higher in the atmosphere. It appears content to stay in the deeps anyways, inside its cave – it may have not even surfaced since taking Korra underwater farther to the east in the Mo Ce Sea years ago." Stopping for a minute, she gave the computer a direct silent instruction, turning around and looked at the result of the more detailed scan of the spirit again.

Through the more powerful scan, she could see this spirit hadn't quite made up its mind yet, noticing with dismay that allegiance to her wasn't considered an option. Not a single bit of her own energy was within the spirit, the unnamed spirit leaning more towards Vaatu than Long Yumao – but not by much. Remembering this spirit had a history with Vaatu, Raava knew why – possibly out of some kind of loyalty. Ordering the craft to begin moving again, Raava watched with relief as the spirit stayed in the same spot.

Still not having answered all her questions, in particular how a seemingly minor spirit had corrupted the Avatar in the first place, much less how it appeared to be maturing and metamorphosing, Raava ordered the aircraft to reverse course, and hover closer to the ocean, hoping to get a better answer. Raava cursed when she heard a computerized voice say, "Supreme User Raava command overridden by spirit of High Clearance User Korra," turning around and yelling at Korra, "What's more important than finding out more about that spirit, huh?"

* * *

Keeping her cool and knowing Raava would likely be thanking her later, Korra told the incensed spirit, "While I want to know more about that spirit as much as you do, especially given I was the one dragged under by him, I think this is more important. And we already know it's capable, and apparently dormant. While you were finding out more about him, I tried to see if I could remember anything about being dragged under, but found something else instead." Placing her hand to the screen's console, she transferred the dream that Vaatu had tried and failed to bury earlier with a little desperate inside help from her dark half.

Looking back at Raava, Korra could still see her scowling, telling the spirit flatly, "Even after remembering the dream, I can't make sense of it. See if you recognize this being here on the screen." Korra stepped back, letting Raava get a better look at what Korra still had a hard time believing was a spirit, let alone ancient and powerful, like the dream had implied heavily. It just looked like a cloud of gas to her. Raava stared at the screen, saying after a time, "I… have not seen this spirit in a long time. Over ten thousand Harmonic Convergences have come and gone since I last saw this spirit – one as old as our universe, time itself as I know it, and an intrinsic part of what makes our plane, ours. What makes us special… Korra, we're going somewhere else. Now."

Before Korra could speak, she found herself inside a familiar massive mansion, staring Raava in the face, the spirit still seeming reluctant at best to continue speaking, even in her own "house". Seeing Raava did not look like she was going to continue without some prompting, Korra asked, "He – or she, or it – have anything to do with new airbenders? In the dream, I saw this spirit condense and course through the two opened Spirit Portals in the Spirit World multiple times, sometimes stopping to linger around the Tree of Time - almost as if it was pining for something long gone. Unfortunately, I can't remember when I had the dream, aside from after Harmonic Convergence…" Raava whipped around, eyes wide as she said, "Yes – she has everything to do with airbending itself. I won't go into details, but this spirit is the incarnation of Air itself – the whole reason air can be manipulated directly on our plane. Tell me – what else did you see in this dream?" Finally calculating how much time ten thousand Harmonic Convergences was, Korra shook her head, saying, "Not until you tell me more about this 100 million years or more of history you've hidden." Raava mulling over her response far too long for Korra's tastes, Korra added in a whisper, "If you want me to be of any help in determining why this spirit apparently has an interest in returning again, I need to know everything." Raava sighed, this last comment having won her over, saying, "Fine. Let me get a display up and running again."

Knowing this would likely be long and involved, Korra stood by the new screen and watched Raava place a single hand on the console, her voice coming through the speakers as the image of this Spirit of Air vanished, "After history's greatest cataclysmic event - the breaking of the barrier between the spirit and physical world by Vaatu during a Harmonic Convergence somewhere around 100 million years ago – the world was shrouded by darkness for ten thousand years, myself having lost. I cannot remember details of this event beyond generalities, nor can I remember further back. In total, a sixty-thousand year gap of muddied, and in some cases, non-existent memory. All I can remember is Vaatu breaking through the barrier and laying waste to the physical world with the assistance of like-minded spirits and Harmonic Convergence, after winning Harmonic Convergence within the Spirit World. All traces of the physical world's past were erased, besides life itself. It was all I could do, preventing life from becoming extinct entirely..."

Raava appeared to want to continue, but Korra interrupted, saying, "While it sounds depressing, I want to know a little more than that about what happened back then, if at all possible. Knowing Vaatu, he probably wasn't tight-lipped around Wan when fighting him – so let's see what Wan has to say. That time seems awfully specific… and vaguely familiar. Plus, it's sort of lonely in this big house, with just you." Wan appeared next to Raava, shrugging as he said, "If she can't remember, what help do you think I'll be?" Pointing at herself, Korra said, "I got to see your lifetime directly, shortly before Harmonic Convergence… and something about 100 million years rings a bell." Wan tugged on his beard, saying, "Hmm… I think I might just know what seems familiar. During the fight of my life, Vaatu taunted me, thinking as a human that I was weak. Let me see if I can remember his exact words…"

Tossing Raava a look, Korra laughed to see the malevolent spirit in question out above Raava's chest, spluttering, "I don't try and drag you to my house – this place is so… cheery! Yuck! Even I can't remember that crap, just like Raava – though I definitely remember you, Wan, and our fight! I originally wanted to just lock you and your following lives away forever, miserable, as revenge – but Unalaq went a bit further than that." Trying to goad more information from Vaatu while Wan mulled over something that occurred over ten thousand years ago, Korra walked over, smirking as she said up close and personal, "Vaatu, I know you must know more than that, if a lowly _human_ knows just as much about the universe and other planes as you do," surprised to hear him respond, "I know more about other planes than I do about other planets on our own – ever since we got tied to this planet!"

Now it was Raava who was hostile to Korra, saying, "Ugh, great – more damn explaining to do, even if it is just to you, Korra! I'm glad we left - Tenzin's kids would never have let me hear the end of keeping this hidden history. Jinora's questions alone would have taken an eternity to answer. Get back in there, little brat, before you make my job even harder!" Before he was gone, Vaatu managed to spurt out, "It's been a billion years since I saw anywhere else!" Raava looked absolutely furious, saying, "I did NOT intend for a crash course history lesson tonight – you're only getting what is relevant to this possible bending pulse! I might even just erase the other irrelevant slipups!"

Having none of this memory wipe crap, Korra shook her head with her hands on her hips, saying, "NO. Out of courtesy, I won't ask any questions beyond Vaatu's comment about being tied to this planet somehow, and let everything else slide – for now." Given Raava's silent fuming, this was the question she wanted to answer the least, stamping her foot angrily in frustration as she mumbled, "No good little… he's more annoying while human-y than spirit-y! If that's even possible…" Taking a deep breath, Raava explained, "All I will tell you about that is once multicellular life appeared on this planet roughly a billion years ago, Vaatu tried everything in his power to destroy it, but I stopped him – at a price. In the past, the Avatar has been referred to as 'the spirit of our planet' – and they were only partly right. Both Vaatu and I are bound to this planet, unable to sense anything beyond this world on our own plane, even though we're technically supposed to be linked to everything else. So much for that part of the job…" Getting a sly grin, Raava mused, "Perhaps I could get some help around that limitation on what I can see… outside help. Just a moment."

Korra watched in curiosity as Raava closed her eyes, intermittently smiling and frowning, briefly breaking into tears. Stopping as suddenly as she had started, Raava said, "Be careful what you wish for. I'm just glad I don't remember anything nasty. Why the funny look, Korra?"

Figuring it wouldn't be a good idea to undo whatever memory wipe Raava had obviously asked for, Korra said, "Nothing. Let's see what Wan came up with." Once they were both near, Korra could see Wan had a mischievous look on his face, saying, "Bet that stupid kite will regret gloating during our fight after I tell you this, Korra, Raava – this sound familiar at all? 'I lived **ten thousand lifetimes** before the first of your kind crawled out of the mud. It was I who broke through the divide that separated the plane of Spirits from the material world.' That number is familiar – ten thousand 'lifetimes' times ten thousand years between Harmonic Convergences is 100 million years. And he mentioned humans first – not the breakthrough of the divide." Looking at Raava, he continued, "You said you had a sixty-thousand year memory gap and deterioration near where Vaatu broke through the barrier, not a ten-thousand one, or none at all. It sounds to me like you may have tied with Vaatu multiple times during Harmonic Convergence… while humans such as myself lived, likely only aware of your existence in a limited way. My best guess, no one glimpsed you directly except in rare cases. Just like on Earth's plane - spirit world and physical world, separate."

Raava let out a low groan, saying as she rubbed her forehead, "Something… let's not talk about this anymore. Even Vaatu's complaining about some kind of dull yet unbearable pain. So, back to what we can share. These Elemental Spirits are more than just the first true benders – they each represent specific concepts, and can bend or grant bending due to their nature, not the other way around. The very embodiment of important universal concepts – though I won't list them all here, just the most important. The Spirit of Air is the manifestation of freedom and respect of others' freedom, along with the Spirit of Fire, which is the manifestation of power and passion. The Spirit of Earth is the manifestation of substance and resilience, and the Spirit of Water is the manifestation of change and healing. All four crossed into the physical world temporarily for reasons I cannot remember, or even contemplate without feeling immense pain, following a barely remembered victory against Vaatu. The victory against Vaatu that forced me to restrain Vaatu manually forever, until Wan… lifted me of that burden 'recently'."

Raava laughing at the irony, Wan still looked conflicted, Wan finally saying, "I guess even horrible mistakes can work out. Keep going – for Korra's benefit." Raava nodded, continuing, "In secret, hidden from everyone but myself and Vaatu's sight, all four spirits bestowed the gift of bending onto the ancestors of what they thought the wisest of animals – airbison, dragons, and badgermoles being the most notable and still existent ones, the ancestors of some other minor living animals able to bend as well, such as the flying tuna you recently ate. As their last act before leaving, they bestowed the ability to grant bending to the wisest of all animals aside from enlightened humans, and the only other to stay much the same over time: the lion turtle. The lion turtles received minimal instruction on how to bestow bending, intended to help protect humans from spirits. All four worked together to bestow a few lion turtles with the gift of bestowing energybending, the sole living lion turtle their direct descendant. The lion-turtles were led to believe they had always possessed this ability. After finishing its work, the Spirit of Water chose to manifest more permanently in the physical realm, a good portion of the spirit crossing over from the Spirit World in an already existing form: Tui and La, tied to our planet's Moon and Ocean. I can see the surprise on your face, Korra – Tui and La existed before life itself did, though they only assumed the form of koi fish once the fish… uh, let's just say later." Giving Raava a knowing smile, Korra said, "Almost slipped up on something, didn't you?"

An image of the Spirit of Air coming into view, Raava continued after a small smile and dismissive wave, "From what I can gather, the Spirit of Air, just as in your dream, actually passed through the two open Spirit Portals multiple times – a direct consequence of your decision to leave them open. What I can't say for certain, though, is why. But I have a theory. The world was deeply out of balance with regard to bending, only five airbenders in existence until recently. But the Spirit of Air couldn't do anything. It was blocked from acting because the Spirit Portals were closed… until three years ago."

An image of the new Spirit Portal in Republic City appearing, Raava asked Korra directly, "Can you think of any reason these four Elemental Spirits would have to bestow bending on non-benders? Or why this particular portal might be important?" At first, the answer was not obvious, but as Korra racked her brain, she remembered a very vague prophecy Uncle Iroh had handed down… involving a "most important gas". Korra felt annoyed when Raava snickered, saying, "Not that kind of gas, Korra. One of his prophecies was a complete dud – the one about staying in the closet about your relationship with Asami. Try thinking about it from a different angle." Remembering the other part – on how the bending practices must endure and still be used, and benders remain equal to non-benders – Korra realized what had drawn the four Elemental Spirit's attention. What imbalance they had detected.

The use of spirit vine weaponry, and human technology creating a new Spirit Portal, with a little help from herself.

Remembering her own mechasuit and how much of its key parts were technology-driven, even if it did use a spirit power source for both brains and routine power, Korra felt the pit drop out of the bottom of her stomach, sobbing, "That day, benders without access to technology beginning to become irrelevant or relatively powerless… it's already here. And it may have been here for a while, and we just didn't know it. I think I know why those spirits might have an interest in returning – non-benders are already in possession of power greater than anything a bender can hope for. Maybe they think more benders will help re-balance the scales. I'm the Avatar, able to bend everything, and even I'm relying on technology now…"

Closing her eyes and seeing an unwelcome reminder of the weapon believed to be lurking outside Omashu, waiting for the right moment to eradicate the city's populace with a barrage of Asami particles, Korra began crying slightly. After an idle question passed through her mind, wondering if the spirits had accelerated or changed what they wanted to bestow upon humanity following the braintrust's own technological breakthroughs, Korra saw the image shimmer and vanish. As though the spirits themselves were answering "Yes", the image was replaced by waves of elite metalbenders mowed down like wheat before a scythe by a five-barreled Varrick gun firing from within the arm of a familiar form. Hearing the whooshing roar followed by a quick series of barely audible wet impacts drowned by a loud thrashing hum as the gun stopped firing, Korra felt sick. The sound was shortly followed by a large painted shell striking earth from the air at a slight angle, a huge white and blue fireball engulfing a buried city - what must have been Zaofu.

Korra realized they were just as much to "thank" for this new attention and imbalance as Jinshu Kuangmai or the Earth Empire were. And, that just like last time, the spirits would likely not show favoritism in who got what kind of bending – she remembered Zaheer's new gift all too well…

After being consoled by both Raava and Wan for what seemed like an eternity after she explained her sorrow, Raava said, "I am not sure of the new Spirit Portal's importance, besides the fact that it is apparently just as vital as the 100-million year old ones, given how Vaatu said we'd have to seal all THREE to lock him up properly in the tree of time again." At first, Korra didn't have any ideas either, listening intently as Wan suggested, "Maybe… Korra, this new portal was made by you, at great risk to yourself, protecting Kuvira. Even before Raava gave you and Asami Atokara, it was associated with a gift to humanity – the tuber-vines. And the Spirit of Air didn't 'complete' the job – new airbenders were only found in the Earth Kingdom. Maybe they need latent energy following a major spiritual event to give people bending – the first new airbenders, from Harmonic Convergence, and this new possible wave, from creation of this new Spirit Portal – one created by a human protecting someone the world thought deserving of death… risking the Avatar Spirit itself in the process."

Korra smiled slightly, saying, "It's beginning to make sense. We just entered another new spiritual age – one ultimately started, yet again, by me, saving Kuvira. One that's tied very strongly to this new portal, and how it was formed – risking my life, to please my conscience." After a nod from Raava, Raava said, "I'm going to take you somewhere in the Spirit World temporarily – this whole exchange has not taken any real-world time, being inside my home. But I need your help – I want to see just what this new portal is associated with, and is not associated with. And from what I saw in the Spirit World, the Tree of Time and the portals are the biggest area of contention." Korra felt hesitant, asking, "Why right now – can't this wait?"

Raava shook her head, saying, "No. For one, if you can touch the portal, you may be able to get confirmation for our theories from the spirits themselves, though I would be surprised if they answered. They secluded themselves after granting bending 100 million years ago… And, more importantly, I want to see exactly what is associated with this portal. Should the worst come to pass and the shield around its base in the physical world breaks, many Dark Spirits will pour forth directly into Republic City. The outcry over such an event would make people's whining about spirit vines seem like pleasantries in comparison – people would likely demand the portal be closed. But something tells me there would be severe consequences to closing this portal…"

With this last word, Korra found herself back on Air Temple Island, saying quickly, "Raava needs to check on something in the Spirit World with my help. I'll be right back," vanishing again before she got any response.

Finding herself at the foot of the Tree of Time, Korra looked up, awe-struck by the multitude of spirits fighting above her. Looking at one particular Dark Spirit, she watched as the whale-like spirit head-butted a vaguely familiar large blue and white humanoid frog spirit. Korra noticed with shock that the larger spirit had not a single red line on its body. As another much more familiar twin-headed frog spirit she had met in her own lifetime feebly tried to attack the whale spirit's shadowy arms, she rubbed her eyes, saying as she gawked at the enraged whale spirit, "Wait – that spirit doesn't look like he's following Long Yumao…"

_Shhh! Don't say his name out loud in here – do you forget what happened when Jinora spoke to the Painted Lady? Just get us over to the new Spirit Portal, and fast!_

Pinpointing the new Spirit Portal's location and focusing on it, Korra was confused to find herself closer to the Tree of Time itself than she had expected. The new portal lied closer to the Tree of Time than the older portals. Two green and yellow helixes jutted from the earth halfway between the blue Southern Spirit Portal and the massive, ancient tree itself. Knowing Raava was likely to start yammering if she didn't just hurry up and touch the portal, Korra placed her hand on the sphere at the portal's base, attempting to contact these four Elemental Spirits by thinking, "Ancient spirits, embodiments of bending itself – this is the Avatar, Avatar Korra, and Raava. We need an answer, to three simple questions – is there going to be another bending pulse, if so, why, and finally, would closing this Spirit Portal affect your ability to do anything?"

Korra's hand was repulsed off the sphere by an unseen force, at first feeling furious and hurt. Against her will, her body began moving, though given Raava's confused _What the actual f-,_ she was not responsible and had as much of a clue as Korra did as to what was going on. Once her body stopped moving, Korra's head moved all of itself down to look at the ground surrounding the Spirit Portal, surprised to see words etched into the rock itself, answering her questions in the same order that they had been asked: "Yes. For the exact same reasons Raava and yourself hypothesized dealing with technology. Closing the portal would prevent us from helping balance be proactively maintained between benders and non-benders."

_Okay, time to leave! We got our answers – forget the portal. We'll have to try again later. Incoming!_

Initially, Korra was tempted to ignore Raava, keen to try and find out what closing the portal might do, but saw a flash of a familiar spirit - the one that had dragged her under water. Hearing Raava intone, _Don't underestimate the enemy. I don't want to risk another severing of my connection with you, and Long Yumao is closing in, and far more powerful than that Dark Spirit_, Korra found Raava had a good point, yelling before she left, "Sorry I can't help fight right now - stay strong! I just want you to know how much I appreciate your sacrifices and help, and you won't go unrewarded!"

* * *

The annoying Avatar now gone from the Spirit World, a multitude of Dark Spirits in front of Long Yumao that had been intent on her ruin met nothing but air, most colliding with one another in a pile of red pulsing anger and hatred. Long Yumao himself had stopped when the Avatar made her insipid promise of reward, cackling, "Who needs reward right now, beyond serving me - and one day, subjugating humans and both Raava and Vaatu?" A few unlucky Dark Spirits tumbled through the portal, Long Yumao not expecting them to come back - few who tried to touch the Avatar's accursed barrier lived to tell the tale. The rest of such hapless servants were scattered into many small pieces, not remembering anything but their allegiance to their master. Which was all that mattered, in the end - some even grew back to normal size, multiplying his power with each shattering.

After a time, spirits did return from what their comrades had assumed was a one-way trip - but they were not as they had been before. Clenching one hand so hard claws dug into his own flesh, Long Yumao howled, "How DARE you defy me, insolent insects!" Staring at the spirit that angered him the most, Long Yumao hissed, "Raava - I can barely fathom. You might get bending from her, if that Avatar wretch Korra trusts you enough. But Vaatu, and Jinshu Kuangmai? What could they possibly have to offer you?"

Long Yumao was utterly baffled when the hulking fish-like spirit laughed, replying confidently, "I decide go easy. You and other fools go hard. Very hard. Vaazula tell me positions open, and early comer have EQUAL rank to human, if not above. Merit base, not favorite! Jinshu already demote stupid man. 'Jang'." Bubbling in what resembled human laughter mixed with the dying gasps of a fish, the insolent spirit added, "You, Long Yumao - can't even give Koh one face! Maybe he turn on you soon!" Furious, Long Yumao swiped at the spirit, cackling to see the spirit's form deform and tear as his large claws made contact… cursing when it re-formed, yelling, "Look how fool treat other spirit that also hate Avatar Korra! Try and 'kill'! He not even RIGHTFUL Grand Dark Spirit! Young fool pretender! I older than him, for the hate of Raava!"

Seeing the Raava-aligned spirits laugh along with their foes, Long Yumao, for only a fleeting moment, regretted not taking a certain metalbender's offer to conquer the world together. Snapping out of such blasphemer's thoughts in pure fury as he formed a large energy blast within his beak, the blast hit nothing but the base of the Spirit Portal. The same fish-man spirit taunted him from somewhere nearby, too far to have jumped, " 'You not only one can teleport in here!' Long Yumao said himself, week ago! Hah hah - I make joke! Look forward, be more human-y!" Another shrill spirit added from above, one Long Yumao could not see, "What have you given me, any of us? Empty promises… Raava has given bending, and even now, a spirit aligned with Vaatu wields more influence over humans than you do, so-called Leader of Spirits. Where's the enslavement?"

Long Yumao was not often glad to hear his supposed ally Koh approach, hearing the clacking of many insectoid legs in the distance, a familiar voice saying, "Patience, my 'friends'. Patience. That wall will not hold forever - and when it breaks, I will have my faces. Oh so many faces…The great cities of the world we have access to by portal lie unguarded - ripe for the taking. So many faces… The Avatar is busy helping others, before those that fight for her within the Spirit World, offering only reassurances, moving the stars and earth to assist her own kind on very short notice. Hypocritical - and predictable. Putting humans before spirits, just as Raava has done. She neglects her Spirit Bridge duties - just as Avatar Kuruk did. I would love to enact the same punishment Avatar Kuruk suffered upon her… Asami. Such a pretty face."

Long Yumao had half a mind to crush Koh for being so self-centered, but for some reason, the spirit's presence had a purifying effect on almost all the spirit that had switched allegiance to Vaatu, though none of those aligned with Raava changed. Only the fish-man spirit and a few others remained who had once been loyal but now refused to wear Long Yumao's colors. Hopping off into the distance, the insolent oversized toddler-guppy said proudly before vanishing, "You be sorry later, for go back! You go back to Vaatu and his human - whether like it or not! Hah!"

Asking one of the former turncoat spirits what the fish-man meant, it appeared to shrug before lying near the Tree of Time, Long Yumao roaring, "Don't shrug at me. I demand an actual, _acceptable_ answer. TELL ME, NOW!" The spirit was silent, Koh saying from nearby, "It appears to not know… a pity. No matter - what can an outnumbered human do to us? Us, and the human world, against him."

Always craving more power and knowing the tree of Time was connected to great cosmic energies, Long Yumao attempted to do something he had yet to do - interact with the Tree of Time itself. Before digging a single claw into its boughs, he cackled, "The Universe shall provide - whether it likes it, or not! That barrier will be dust!"

Hoping to connect with and harness great energies, Long Yumao found only an endlessly hungering void that tugged on his very being much as the Fog of Lost Souls would tug on a human wretch's mind, feeling this entity's unfathomable hatred. Lingering slightly too long out of curiosity, his arm immobilized, he retracted his claw after hearing an angry voice finish hissing directly into his skull as his arm writhed in fiery pain, "Do not linger - leave! I gave you what little you deserve from your actions thus far already - do not be greedy. You have to earn the right to tap into this universal energy without limit! Into me - one of the two ancient constants! Older than time itself - and you, younger than the mortals you despise so. Come back again later, when you are more than an insolent, entitled, pathetic and admittedly driven worm. I deal beyond small gifts only with the truly powerful."

Giving the Tree of Time a vacant stare, not about to try tapping into it again any time soon, Long Yumao wondered what the voice was - and if one of his spirit foes had ever connected to it, or even heard its speech.

Long Yumao idly examined his form, noticing something had changed - arms, longer with considerable reach, hands, larger and more powerful, sinews and muscles visible and moving. His black hide pulsed intermittently in purples and reds as he opened and closed newly dexterous hands. As Long Yumao slowly unclenched the much more tidy fist - claws no longer digging into flesh, one which still had respectable claws that now pulsed intermittently with a wave of dark, black-colored energy - Long Yumao began channeling his anger at the earlier snub by… whatever that voice was. His eyes widened, seeing a dark dancing orb of purple energy appear in the palm of his hand, much as a pathetic flame might for a firebending insect.

At first, he remained confused, eventually opening his terror-inspiring beak as he laughed, "It appears the Universe did provide after all. I look forward to taking more of what is mine for the taking - power. Even if I have to 'earn' it."

Out of the edges of his vision and newly heightened spiritual senses, Long Yumao noticed a small blue and white bean-shaped spirit hurriedly exit the Spirit World through the closest portal. Dismissing this as inconsequential, he decided to test out his new power on a hapless neutral dragonfly bunny spirit, watching it writhe and shift even as it tried to flee, a continuous blast of purple energy hitting it - from his hand. The spirit now his, its will easily broken by the new power, Long Yumao swore he heard a faint voice hiss with a hint of pleasure, "Perhaps you do have potential…"

* * *

Finding herself back at Air Temple Island, Korra projected Raava, Wan and Aang out, saying to those in front of her with a smile, "We've found the evidence we need, to feel comfortable making this announcement. We've even found out the why as well - you'll want to be sitting down for this, and not just because I'm infobending everything out."

After a slight pause, deciding what would and what would not be told, Korra settled on showing everything to do with the four Elemental Spirits and new benders, including the fact that they managed to get direct confirmation from the spirits themselves. Everything about humans possibly having a history before the breakdown of the barrier between Spirit world and the physical realm was obviously omitted, given how Raava said just thinking about it gave her a searing headache. Indirect confirmation of life on other planets was also kept secret, though Korra overrode Raava's wish to keep the tying of herself and Vaatu to the planet a secret.

Korra was surprised to hear Katara speak first, saying, "Forget the bending pulse - I just realized something. I had heard legends that the Avatar Spirit was the spirit of our planet, but nothing quite that… literal, and certainly not that Vaatu was just as tied to our world as Raava. Aang was talking to me earlier, before we made up for 22 years of lost time, and he mentioned something he learned about after death, that he never heard of in life. Apparently, he had to struggle even after I healed him physically from Azula's shot, and Avatar Yangchen mentioned - let me finish, Aang! Quit acting like a hopping llama! Your pants are not 'flameo, hotman'!" After a dejected sigh from Aang and laughter from Tenzin, Katara continued, "She told Aang directly that the Avatar Spirit's ultimate goal was to learn what it truly means to be human. And for every yin, there is a yang…"

Pausing for a few seconds, apparently to let what she had just said sink in, Katara looked directly at Raava with an expectant look, Korra knew full well what was in question.

Raava's increasingly human nature. Not only that - but that of Vaatu as well.

Pointing at herself, Katara said, "Being human isn't all being nice. Emotions are powerful things… I once almost killed a man, wanting revenge, the man who took my mother from me - only how pitiful he was stopping me, before I did something I'd regret for the rest of my life." Korra was baffled when Katara continued, "I just want you to promise us - all of us - if Korra ends up needing to take someone's life tomorrow, you both won't let yourselves get out of balance. The middle of a battle isn't the time to have a nervous breakdown…"

Korra expected herself to be the only one with any sort of reservations, but after a muffled voice laughed deeply, Korra looked at Raava - and saw she was crying. The laughter deepening as Raava steadily grew younger and younger, Vaatu's voice boomed proudly, "You're terrified, aren't you, Raava - the Avatar has not killed another human directly in over two centuries, and even Avatar Kyoshi's biggest kill brought her no pleasure. Chin the Fool fell to his own death, stubborn. Unalaq was fused to me - as much spirit as human. You are terrified. Terrified Korra will kill for truly the first tomorrow, and you might _like it_ \- just like I would. Perhaps, I can only hope beyond hope, the beginning of an endless hunger. I can feel the grip of terror upon you…"

Raava collapsed, moaning, "No wonder Kuvira just wanted to get it over with… kill her dark half." Vaatu's laughter became so loud the screen nearby shattered, everyone but Korra covering their ears and some whimpering as he howled, "HAH! You can't kill me! We are eternal! Human emotion… such powerful effects. Jinshu Kuangmai was right - toying directly with human emotions, with first-hand knowledge of them… Raava, at first I thought this change in you vile, but I haven't felt this good since Unalaq demolished you three years ago. What a marvelous weakening… look who's pulling puppet strings now!"

Remembering Vaatu had changed as well, Korra came up with a plan.

Trying something Raava would normally have had Korra's head for, she picked the morose spirit up, flipping her onto her back - attempting to reach in and remove Vaatu. The first attempt a failure and no one else having understood her intention, Korra took a deep breath, steeling her will as she tried again…

She could hardly believe her eyes. The spirit came out!

Keeping her composure, she looked at a slightly enlarged spirit form Vaatu directly as she said, "You've changed recently too, Vaatu. Until a certain metalbender you hoped could be your Dark Avatar gave you a tongue-lashing, all you cared about was chaos, darkness, destruction. Happy to see our planet a wasteland. This man, a kind of 'spirit' you once thought an insignificant insect changed your mind - convinced you that keeping life alive to cause it suffering is better than annihilation. Just as Raava has changed and learned over the ten thousand years of Avatar incarnations, a human has taught you, Vaatu - Jinshu Kuangmai. Unlike you, he has some light left within." Pressing closer, she asked the shifting spirit, noticing he looked smaller and more human-y as she spoke, "Aren't you terrified he'll fall in love with that spirit that calls herself Vaazula - terrified this might change him, as I hope, especially after she gets a heaping dose of Azula's sad, sad life? So he can see what hatred's true fruits are - what Azula's father and own actions did to her? You said you wanted him to be your Dark Avatar. Would you want his relationship with the spirit bearing your name to possibly soften _you_? Teach that even monsters can _love_?" Vaatu spluttered incoherently, "Blagh! Impossible! I would never adopt such views - the very antithesis to hatred! Put me down - or I'll try connecting with you! Dark Korra, do your job! Dark Avatar, now!"

Korra laughed hysterically, saying as she felt not a single stir within, "Look who's forgetting the rules now. It's not Harmonic Convergence, so you couldn't fuse with a roach even if you wanted to! Raava, Vaatu. Both of you, now more human - both 'cursed' with dealing with the lot of good humans, evil humans - neither really knowing for sure if they are slipping the other way. The only spirit I know who's strong who has no such uncertainty dogging him is Long Yumao. A spirit, I may add, that enjoys substantial support from other spirits, and covets your silly little title. He might just take it someday… He saw no need for Jinshu Kuangmai's help. But you did." Kneeling over, Korra placed Vaatu back on Raava's chest, which was heaving from the light spirit's deep laughter, the final thing Korra said to Vaatu was, speaking in condescending English, "The fear in your eyes… Look who's afraid now. Sleep tight, _little_ devil."

With that, the spirit vanished, clearly displeased at having received the short end of the stick in the surreal exchange. Standing up, Korra heard raucous applause, noticing unexpected figures in the audience - some of her past lives! Korra beamed when she heard Kyoshi say strongly, "I would have been proud to call that my own, Korra. I used worse tact with the 46th Earth King when I … persuaded him to change things. You've come a long way, from just trying to physically browbeat people into submission much as I often did, to cowing the supreme spirit of darkness himself with mind games all of your own." Korra laughed nervously when Baatar Jr. waved a hand, saying from the back, "Korra practiced on me first!"

Yangchen and Kyoshi coming towards Raava and herself, Yangchen re-assured Raava, "Your past human lives - we'll be here for you, if you need help," adding with a slight smirk, "Though, try not to have a nervous breakdown during battle? It might… hamper Korra." Raava laughed, saying, "I accept what I have done - the highly unorthodox nature of trying to become more human-y _directly_. I have a lot more sympathy for people who have gone through traumatic internal experiences after that… There are some things you cannot understand without first-hand experience."

Giving Korra an unexpected hug, Raava sighed, "Thank you." Looking slightly more serious, Raava announced, "Now, back to business! Old Avatars, you can go do whatever now, unless you wish to stay - I am sure you had friends or family you were interacting with." Korra was rather puzzled when Kyoshi said something about a daughter named Koko, vanishing along with all other past lives except Aang and Wan. Looking at Wan, Korra asked, "Don't you have anyone you want to see?" frowning when he said, "No. Remember - there was a reason I never married, and my allies were… more cowed of me, the first Avatar, than genuine friends. So lonely…"

Korra made a point to grab Raava and shove her at Wan, thinking in partial English, "I can handle whatever happens – you need a break. Why don't you go have some _fun _fun, Raava - go all the way, if Wan WANts to." Raava giggled, Korra hearing her intoning, _Good idea, bad pun. Still, I'll be available, if you need me…_ Blushing slightly as she and Wan vanished, Korra merely explained to everyone else, Aang snickering slightly with a knowing look in his eyes, "Raava has some unfinished business with Wan."

"Rrrruf! Arf arf… ARF!"

Korra groaned deeply, letting slip, "Interruptions - are they ever going to end?" Looking to the source of the barking, she saw a familiar small white dog - one that had light blue eyes and a collar on, a light blue and white yin yang medallion hanging from the strap. Recognizing this "dog" as a spirit in disguise, Korra bent over, saying before she touched the dog's forehead, "You can show me your other form, silly."

Her finger making contact with the white fur, Korra felt a reverse flow of information. At first, the news was welcome - her little small speech had some affect after all, the spirits that accidentally crossed through the portal choosing humans over Long Yumao. Even if some chose Jinshu Kuangmai over her and Raava… Curious as to what this shadowy fish-man spirit could be referring to, Korra removed her hand, asking the spirit, "Have any idea what he means about 'You go back to Vaatu and his human - whether like it or not'? The fish-man spirit?" The bean spirit shook its head, sounding sad as it said, "No, Avatar. Not even Long Yumao knows what he meant - all the spirits that reverted either didn't know in the first place, or… had the information stripped of them." Korra felt uneasy, shrinking backwards slightly when the spirit said, flying up with its two green and white leaves, "You need to see more, Avatar. I did not leave the Spirit World just to show you babbling fish-men and rebel spirits."

Not liking how the spirit left things unsaid, Korra replaced her hand to its forehead, seeing an image that disturbed her greatly. Long Yumao, digging into the Tree of Time with large red claws, apparently in great pain from a hostile force - but given how his arms were shifting, elongating as he writhed, this mystery force wasn't entirely against him and his cause. Korra felt chills run down her spine when she heard the Long Yumao in the vision say confidently, "It appears the Universe did provide after all. I look forward to taking more of what is mine for the taking - power. Even if I have to 'earn' it," shocked to have seen him energybending shortly before in a way she had never imagined possible – like a bender would control their element.

Quickly imparting the information to everyone else, Korra creating a possible future of her own by imagining Dark Spirits swarming over Republic City and the two Water Tribes, she thought, "While I know we haven't exactly gotten much sleep, it looks like we have some work to do, Raava and myself doing most of it. Republic City is unprotected right now, as are the Water Tribes - especially the South." Standing up and communicating normally, feeling slightly drained, Korra asked, "Baatar Jr., Ikki - about where were you and the other reinforcements when you both fell asleep?" Baatar Jr. still staring off into space, Korra guessing he was in shock at the prospect of becoming a bender, Ikki answered, "We 'left' Republic City multiple times, back and forth as people remembered they needed stuff, or more civilians volunteered, or modifying equipment while we had access to the good stuff inside the city. We only managed to get to some overgrown abandoned Fire Nation colony town by the time we both fell asleep, still inside the United Republic..."

Weighing over her options, Korra asked Baatar Jr. directly, "If we tried diverting the Earth Empire defectors to guard the Republic City Spirit Portal, do you think they'd go along with it? I can imagine the Equalists and everyone from Republic City would rather guard their home town against what I just showed you, should the barriers break." Baatar Jr. let out a long sigh, saying, "It took Ikki long enough to get everyone moving in one direction with one goal - helping evacuate civilians and providing combat support. And why are you assuming these barriers will break in the first place? You might be worried about nothing."

Korra was dismayed to see Aang was the only one who shared her reservations, everyone else sounding confident that the barriers would hold. Korra said, crossing her arms, "I still think we need to take precautions - 'never underestimate the enemy'. You saw Long Yumao manipulating pure energy like a bender would…"

Giving Aang one last look, Korra thought, "Try and distract them with talk of new benders, Aang - I have a President and Firelord to contact, as well as my cousins." Korra coughed, claiming, "I need to go think about this by myself for a while. Why don't you guys talk about something more positive while I'm gone - the new bending?" Seeing many nods, thankful no one in front of her could tell she was lying, Korra felt annoyed all the same when Atokara spoke up, saying as she tugged on Asami's hand, "I wanna come with you, momma Korra! Maybe I can help!"

Korra started to shake her head to say, "No," but stopped when she saw Asami come forward, smirking slightly as she said lowly once she was closer, "I don't need truthsense to see through that half-truth…" Seeing everyone else listening to Aang, Jinora's hand raised already, Korra took them both to their house, at first only admitting, "I want to see what the other world leaders think about this," then continuing after a icicle poke from Atokara, "I don't share everyone's confidence in these barriers, and before I ask Firelord Izumi to take ships through waters inhabited by a possibly hostile spirit to come and reinforce Republic City, I need to see what President Raiko thinks first. And alert my cousins, along with the people my parents left in charge of the Southern Water Tribe." Asami smiled slightly, saying, "Sounds like a good idea. I remember the last time we went around President Raiko, kidnapping Baatar Jr. and breaking the stand-down agreement with Kuvira - he was happy in the end. Things turned out fine there. But this seems different somehow – the totally unknown."

Now Korra was the one seeing someone else as naïve when Asami finished, "I still don't see how those barriers could break. Raava's energy, yours, all your past lives… why do you have reservations?" Not really knowing the answer herself, Korra insisted before turning to the combination lock, "I just have a bad feeling, and I don't know why. The closest I thing I can say that makes me uneasy is an English phrase: 'mission creep'. We start out, wanting to liberate the prison camp, then add Omashu to the mix, then the biggest addition - evacuating what may be uncooperative or terror-stricken civilians from Zaofu itself. How are spirits going to view this mission if it morphs into an all-out conflict without end in sight? Goodness forbid, what if the Great Banyan tree gets hurt again?" Remembering that the reinforcements had yet to reach Earth Empire territory, Korra realized mission creep was already happening - especially since territory between Omashu and Republic City along the best evacuation route was not actually controlled by the URN…

Pushing such thoughts from her mind by relaying them to both Asami and her daughter, Korra laughed lightly when Atokara said, "Well, those stupid spirits will just have to deal with it! It's about time we fought them anyways - Long Yumao's an awful lot of talk! Or, in his case, squawk!" Not noticing that the lock had been picked until just now, Korra pointed to it, Atokara casually explaining, "Oh, just some fun I had with the lock and an ice pick. Mommy Asami, you need a better lock!"

Asami oddly silent, Korra turned to her, seeing the reason why - Asami was busy staring at a blue flame in her hand, saying, "So beautiful…" Korra coughed, Asami looking up and apologizing, "Oh, sorry. What were you saying, Atokara, sweetie?" Atokara grumbled lowly, tugging on Korra's pants as she said, "Come on - don't you have something to do, momma Korra?"

All now inside the house, Korra could see Asami was still staring at a small blue flame in her palm, wondering what she was thinking about. Slipping a hand to hold Asami's, Korra was in disbelief to catch the tail end of a clearly much longer thought: " - be right. Even if the portals need to be closed, I am okay with it - even if I don't get bending before it is shut." Knowing how much Asami wanted to bend, Korra hugged her deeply, saying, "I… snuck a peak into what you were thinking. I just hope everyone else feels the same way - ready to give up a great gift, for the greater good."

With a weak smile, Asami pointed to Atokara, saying, "She's the only gift I need, aside from you. Now let's figure out how we're going to break this news to President Raiko… and the others."

* * *

What with the frenetic pace of world events lately, Raiko had not even had a chance to properly begin re-construction and expansion of Republic City - especially since one of his best architects and minds was busy designing weapons of war! Ones he had wanted designed in the first place… Dismissing thoughts of an alternate scenario - Kuvira's Colossus lying cut in two with a spirit weapon powered by the Avatar Spirit and Raava herself - Raiko thought, "As Tenzin might tell me - accept what is, and not what might have been."

Having been running on fumes for a long time and grown used to it, Raiko did not find an immediate need to catch up on sleep lost the night before - just like the other two people standing next to him. Giving the most unlikely of the two a sideways glance, Raiko said, "Sokka, you _sure_ you can keep the Lieutenant under control? I found it rather… unnerving, that he had two airships of his own four years after Amon's defeat, a handful of mechatanks, and that solitary heavily armored 'truck'. I never saw that when they attacked Republic City…" Raiko grumbled under his breath when Sokka said nonchalantly, "Relax. From what I've heard, unless he was committed to helping us, he'd be trying to do something in Republic City, right now!"

Remembering who else was in the convoy, Raiko ignored the bafflingly immortalized human spirit and asked one he had much more respect for, "Iroh, do you believe these defectors from the Earth Empire can be trusted? We don't have Korra here, to do her… reading thing on them all, and I'm concerned about moles," adding, "I remember what your more infamous relation did at Ba Sing Se, and I'm hoping to avoid a repeat." Iroh turned to him, frowning as he asked in the early morning light filtering into the airship, "Which one? You would do well to remember both my niece and nephew betrayed me there." Iroh merely gestured to the Equalist war balloon in which the Lieutenant was sleeping inside, having been exhausted like almost everyone else in the frantic scramble starting in the dead of night. Iroh pointed out, making Raiko grumble and wish he had talked to Sokka instead, "Do not forget that the Lieutenant was also betrayed by someone he was close to - his leader, Amon," Iroh adding after a slight pause, chuckling, "Wouldn't it be funny - him?"

Completely baffled, Raiko asked Iroh what he meant, getting nothing but a slightly panicked reaction followed by an "innocent" whistling that Raiko knew meant Iroh was hiding something. Finding himself sighing just as deeply as Tenzin did, and very frequently, Raiko asked Sokka, knowing him to be looser-lipped, "Care to explain that, Sokka?" Sokka shook his head, saying, "Nnnnope!" in a way that made Raiko wish Ikki were still awake - make these two stop hiding whatever secret they had!

Looking out the window in the morning light, Raiko spotted an ancient ruin, asking Iroh, "That ruin. Did it not use to be an Earth Kingdom city? Pakku, was it?" Walking towards the window of the war balloon, Iroh said, "Yes, it was once a great center of commerce, destroyed by the Fire Nation for its strategic value. Its name was 'Taku' - 'Pakku' was a White Lotus waterbending Master. Did Katara ever tell you about her duel with him? He was quite impressed with her skills, considering she was 14, though he did best her in the end." Raiko shook his head, saying, "No," thinking, "I don't care about waterbending duels. Why didn't you tell me more about the city, pedantic old fart? Just like Tenzin…"

Pointing at the city, Raiko said, "While it looks completely ruined, there's nothing to say it couldn't become a center for trade again - one linked to the sea using spirit energy for a peaceful purpose. I have heard of Jinshu Kuangmai using spirit weapons for construction projects... I imagine you would like seeing Fire Nation trade ships in its inland docks just as much as Varrick would like using spirit weapons for peace." Raiko regarded Iroh with great skepticism when he said, "A good idea, and you might be happy to know Kuvira has already thought of something like it - a peace Colossus." Realizing both immortalized human spirits really did have a link to Raava, he yelled, "Raava, tell me what's going on - now!" Iroh and Sokka laughed as Raiko grumbled, Sokka performing an imitation of the old Raava, saying, "Request denied, President Raiko. And how dare you suggest using my energy for war!" Unable to resist, Raiko laughed when Sokka added with fake shock, "But wait - I already help Korra, and she fights in wars! I cannot possibly fathom this contradiction, or explain why the good guys shouldn't use spirit vines when they already have the freaking Avatar, the biggest, glowing-est spirit weapon there is!" Without missing a beat, Sokka continued, "Man - imagine it. One small spirit cannon, Appa's back, Aang touches the vine so it's got infinite juice. All we'd have needed - the Drill's bit turned to useless slag, the Day of Black Sun being a success, all those Fire Nation war balloons downed in one shot to their gas chamber…" Raiko chuckled lightly when Sokka added after a slightly hostile look from Iroh, "Yeah - wouldn't have killed anybody, and the war would have been over real quick! Totally why I was so enthused, Iroh. Definitely not just because spirit beams are awesome."

Turning to face Raiko, Sokka asked a question Raiko didn't have the answer to: "Speaking of which, when is anyone else but Korra and her friends getting any of that stuff? The changes Baatar Jr. helped make to our equipment seem… lacking." Coughing lightly, Raiko said, "The last I heard at the conference after the nonsense with the spy was done, any tuber-vine equipment would be a long time in coming. And while Baatar Jr. did talk about some kind of weird 'synthesis', he never said exactly what was synthesized, only speaking in generalities about four 'advanced' mechasuits that had been created, and some monstrous transport that had yet to be made. Though, given how nervous he sounded when I looked him in the eye and asked if there were more than just four mechasuits, he must have been hiding something. Care to fill me in better, Sokka?" Sokka's face turned beet red, cursing in a language that Raiko couldn't understand, finally saying, "Why… why don't you ask Korra yourself." Looking around and not spotting the Avatar anywhere, he heard Sokka add belatedly, "Oh, that's right! She needs you to go to sleep first."

Wondering if this was one of Sokka's infamous jokes, Raiko let out a loud frustrated groan, saying, "Uh, why? That sounds ridiculous! I can't just fall asleep on command, you know. It's almost seven in the morning anyways! I'm getting tired - of this. Since you can obviously communicate with her somehow, why don't you just tell me what she wants." Sokka shook his head, saying, "No - she wants to talk to you in some funky new place. Wish I could be 'asleep' right now - I never did get to see Suki…"

Bitterly remembering what he had in common with Sokka - problems having children - Raiko said, "Sokka, tell Iroh II to take over for me, and why don't you try 'sleeping' – I know how it feels, to not have any children. I'll go see what happens if I lie down next to Buttercup. She's not a night owl like I am… I hope she's finally asleep, and not lying there, worrying about how Republic City will fare with both me and her gone for who knows how long. At my insistence, she came along for security reasons… Nothing like a whole army for a bodyguard." Raiko laughed, saying, "If that mustache-twiddling genius weren't working for Korra and Asami Sato, and his help with Republic City's defense, I'd have half a mind to bring up charges against Varrick again. I still have the odd nightmare about the kidnapping…"

As he left the main control room, Raiko heard Iroh say, "Perhaps you should get some assistance from Korra - you sound like you still have old wounds." Turning around, Raiko asked honestly, "What kind of help, exactly?" feeling perplexed when Iroh answered, "Chakra clearing. Even if you aren't a bender, it is very helpful - perhaps you can ask Asami once you go to sleep." Feeling in over his head with spirit matters, just knowing Korra as the bridge between the two realms - that were increasingly linked - Raiko said "Sure," trying his best to keep the annoyance inaudible.

Given how Iroh sighed slightly, the irritation must have come through, Raiko apologizing, "Sorry, Iroh. I'm just mentally exhausted after all this," getting very curious when Iroh said, "After you are done talking to Korra, and bring your decision to everyone else, might I suggest a vacation for you and Buttercup?" Raiko smiled weakly when Iroh said with a final air, "You'll have to talk to Korra first to find out more."

After shuttering the blinds and retiring to his small quarters in his personal airship – a room that Baatar Jr. had insisted be reinforced with metal plating, for reasons Raiko would rather not think about - Raiko laid down next to Buttercup, noticing with a smile that she was fast asleep. Hearing her mumble "children", Raiko felt grief return to his heart, remembering all the quacks who had tried to help them have a family…

Grief turning to resignation, Raiko closed his eyes, thinking, "I guess I do have a child, of a sort - the United Republic of Nations…"

Opening his eyes, he saw a much younger Buttercup playing with some children that bore an uncanny resemblance to himself and his wife. Grief returned, this time turning to anger, feeling taunted instead of consoled by what he saw. Without warning, a small white-haired girl appeared, smiling as she said in a much older voice, "Quell your rage, Raiko. I do not taunt people with impossibilities. Love finds a way." Still feeling flustered, he responded, "How? I don't know which of us is the problem, or both, but we can't have kids!" Seeing the children vanish and Buttercup begin to cry bitterly and grow older, Raiko's stomach churned. What must have been Raava said, frowning slightly, "I will only say this: someday, I hope there will be more than one 'miracle child'. Now go talk to Korra, so that this day might be closer."

The small girl vanishing, Raiko found himself inside an unfamiliar house, looking at some unexpected figures sitting across from him at a massive Water Tribe wooden table. Wondering where in the South or North Pole one would get wood, Raiko asked two of the figures seated across from him who might know, "Chief Eska, Chief Desna - where does one get wood, in the South or North Pole? And where's your cousin, Avatar Korra?" Both surprised him by saying at the exact same time, "Just call us our names, please," Desna grumbling something about need to work on breaking bad habits as Eska said, "My cousin went to go get her parents, Tenzin and Jinora. Asami and her daughter are trying to get Wu," smiling as she added, "Forget a conference - this dream world will be great for communicating discreetly! Like a more secure Spirit World. Oh - anyone tell you about the Kuvarrinet yet?"

Raiko shook his head, saying, "No, I know nothing. Baatar Jr. was not exactly liberal with the information he gave me, especially about the 'four' mechasuits. He wouldn't even answer my question about who got them straightly, only naming Korra and Asami as having one. " Not liking the way Firelord Izumi, her aged father and what must have been the Firelord's reclusive daughter, Princess Ursa II, all avoided his gaze at the same time, Raiko grew suspicious. He actually let out an exasperated sigh when Eska tried to change the subject, saying as she tapped the table, "About the wood - Korra didn't notice at the time she got it, but this is actually one cross section from a fallen tree in the Spirit Forest in the South! It says so, underneath the table - though, I wonder if it really was from a fallen tree…" The question about wood having only been an idle comment in the first place, Raiko listened more closely when her brother continued, "Speaking of the Water Tribes - given the protection Yue and La provide the Northern Water Tribe, we are both prepared to send in many troops to Republic City to guard the earthen Spirit Portal barrier, though, for reasons Korra will tell you, not through the portal itself."

Feeling very confused, Raiko asked, "Aren't those barriers around the Spirit Portals supposed to be impregnable - one step below actually sealing the portals again, something I know Korra is vehemently against?" It was Zuko who spoke this time, saying, "Korra wouldn't have asked me to come here and leave my mother if she didn't think there was a threat," Raiko more curious about Zuko seeing his long-dead mother than anything else. Pointing out as much, Zuko smiled, saying, "Love never truly dies, and from what Korra and Asami showed me about this 'inner dream world', being able to see my mother is intentional. In my youth, I once had a shared dream with Aang before the fate of Yu Dao was settled –this is far superior. She was so glad to see me - and I was so glad to see her…" Getting a mischievous grin, Zuko added, "Let's see what you think of this," Raiko looking on, baffled as Zuko's body shifted.

Finding himself staring directly at a teenage Zuko, Raiko was speechless, Firelord Izumi saying, "I guess what Avatar Korra 'said' about Katara and Aang really was true. Dad, mind going back? I feel a little… uncomfortable," Princess Ursa II nodding silently in agreement. Zuko shook his head, saying, "Not before I try a few things," moving young hands in a familiar way. Raiko watched as Zuko successfully generated lightning, the stream hitting an empty chandelier fixing that still had some wire exposed. The lights blinked momentarily before shutting off completely, Raiko saying, "Oh, great, Zuko. Look what you did - can't you do that outside?"

Hearing a disembodied female voice laugh, the lights came back on, the familiar voice admonishing, "Zuko, do that on your own time. Raiko - calm down. You're going to need to stay collected - Asami and Atokara finally got Wu to stop his endless, and admittedly hilarious, cycle, and two other important guests are falling asleep right now… so the meeting is about to start. Just waiting on Korra. Hopefully none of your bodies decide to wake up…"

With that, two women Raiko did not recognize appeared in the room, noticing with a wince that one sported a scar on her face that looked fresh. Shortly after, a sour-looking Wu appeared in one of the wooden chairs around the massive table, wearing something rather unexpected - a traditional Earth King's cap. Taking it off, Wu spat at it, crumpling it up as he said, "I still won't be a King though! Earth King Kuei couldn't get it through his head I want to retire for real, even after I told him all about what his horrible daughter did as Earth Queen, and my decision!" Giving the cap a quick glance and noticing the metal square on its front appeared to have a small indent in it, Raiko asked Wu, "What happened, exactly?"

Aside from the two mystery women, Raiko was the only one in the room not staring at the cap like it was possessed by a Dark Spirit as Wu explained, "Whenever I fell asleep, even coming back when I got on board that massive transport and went to bed again, Earth King Kuei would appear, trying to foist that stupid thing on my head, not even stopping once I explained everything that's happened to the Earth Kingdom since his days. I thought he was supposed to be a wuss, like me, but I guess not. He was so persistent, saying things like, 'If the people want you, you have to!' or 'You can sing and help rule at the same time!' Finally, I just let him put it on my head and accepted the fact that, as unlikely as it is, I might just get elected, and I would need to serve. All with the help of these two kind - why are you looking at that cap like it's going to eat you, Asami? It's just some crumpled cloth!"

Raiko saw that Asami's jade green eyes were wide, stammering out, "Th… the metal. Wu, I want you to try something crazy - punch the metal square, pretending it's your great aunt." Wu did so with gusto, saying, "I think I know why I saw Earth King Kuei, and didn't see her - she's too busy being tormented by her fear of animals in the Fog of Lost Souls, most likely!" The metal square warped, Wu moved on to the cap's upper metal spire, the golden metal deforming into a lewd word's character, Wu yelling "This is from Bosco, you abominable bear-eater!" loud enough to make even Firelord Izumi recoil slightly.

Raiko snickered slightly to see the scarred woman begin to clap dryly, saying, "Brilliant, Wu. So you can metalbend in a dream. Big deal." Taking a second look, Raiko noticed that she was wearing something quite unexpected – an Earth Empire uniform, and given the metal bands on her shoulders and a breastplate he had never seen before, she must have been quite high-ranking. Finally putting the pieces together, Raiko said over another conversation, "A pleasure to meet you, Jasmine – and I assume your friend must be Yangchen, the Omashu rebels' airbending leader?" The scarred woman nodded, saying loudly, "Yes, I am Jasmine, and this is Yangchen," continuing, "I am still not certain why Aye-zul told me to go get some rest on such short notice, especially considering we might be under attack soon, so there must be some reason we're both here." Glad to see other people in the room who knew just as much as he did, Raiko said, "I am not entirely sure why I am here either – let's see if people can stop talking about this earthbending Wu nonsense long enough to get some answers."

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Raiko noticed a young girl he assumed had to be the Avatar's daughter, given her white hair braids and blend of other unique features. Politely saying, "Hello, Atokara," Raiko still wondered how she was in here, technically less than a week old. Raiko planned on asking for a lengthy infobending session from Korra when he got the chance. Atokara waved back, saying, "Hello, President Raiko," snapping after two unwelcome hands began playing with Atokara's unique hair, "Hey! I'm talking to someone - Eska, quit playing with my hair!" in a way that reminded Raiko of the best and worst of both Korra and Asami. Eska ignored the request, saying, "But it's so much like what I've heard Princess Yue's looked like!", Atokara crossing her arms and muttering something under her breath that Raiko couldn't understand.

Apparently, her mother could, Asami scolding Atokara as Eska looked deeply offended, "Hey – don't curse at momma Korra's cousin like that! So what if she wants to play with your hair? You know what she's been through lately – she's learning to be 'human-y' again!" Asami sighed deeply after Atokara gave another terse response Raiko couldn't understand, saying, "You're this close to having to go to your womb!" Raiko suppressed a snort to see Atokara straighten up immediately, shaking her head as she said, "No – I'll be good, I promise! Maybe I should go play with Rohan instead – I still don't like Eska playing with my hair."

After a cough, Eska stopped, apologizing, "My brother is right. If you do not wish for me to play with your hair, Atokara, daughter of cousin Avatar Korra, I will stop immediately." Eska removed her hands, saying as she placed a hand against her black bangs, "Let me try that again. Sorry I didn't listen to you, Atokara – even if you were very rude about it."

Rapping his fingers on the hardwood table, noticing it had seemingly endless number of rings, Raiko said, seeing Zuko firebending out of the corner of his eye, "Excuse me, but I don't think we're here to teach unborn children manners, try to bend blue fire while in a body that was last around the better part of a century ago, mess with people's hair, or babble about how Wu is going to become an earthbender soon just because he deformed some cap in a dream. It's getting light out for various people here - we've got a time limit. Not everyone is exhausted. Now let's get down to – "

Seeing a black mass coming at him, Raiko narrowly dodged said cap, asking a laughing Wu, "Just what was the meaning of that? And can we PLEASE get this meeting started already – this is ridiculous!" Hearing Wu say, "Not until I see what you're getting," Raiko rolled his eyes, saying as he slammed the table, "Enough! If we don't start within the next five minutes, I'm going somewhere else! And given the looks Jasmine and Yangchen are giving you, I'm not the only one! They have positions to defend"

Coughing loudly, Yangchen said, gleaming green eyes accentuating her anger, "Exactly. I did not go back to sleep while a madman is encamped outside my city and my newborn daughter hungry to exchange pleasantries and goof around! It's a wonder Jaina didn't cry when I stopped feeding her. There are people's lives at stake, and you can all do whatever you like when we're both gone." Once Yangchen finished, she sat back down, crossing her arms as Jasmine said hotly, "If this is how you normally operate, all of you, it's a miracle Kuvira didn't crush you." Raiko sighed, admitting, "Normally, it is part way between this, and what I'd imagine Kuvira ran her operation like – though not as close to streamlined as I would like. I guess that's the price of democracy."

Tapping his foot impatiently, wondering just where Korra, her parents, Jinora and Tenzin were, Raiko could hear people yawning. Desna giving Princess Ursa II a quick look, he said, smiling slightly at first, "If I knew my cousin was going to take this long, I would have started 'goofing around' myself. This is boring – and I hate boring. Boring's the whole reason I don't look and feel like a black icicle anymore." Remembering Eska and Desna's ordeal and transformation, Raiko said reluctantly, "Fine. Do whatever you like – just as long as it's not throwing things at me."

"We're here! I had some… technical difficulties with convincing some other people to come along. It's a good thing I made this house big – maybe it needs to be bigger…"

Relieved to hear Korra's voice, Raiko asked her, seeing her parents, Tenzin and Jinora close behind her, "Where are these troublemakers?" Korra gestured over her shoulder, saying, "You'll see in a minute," pausing for a moment before continuing, "Raava will be with us shortly. In the meantime – Wu, why are you waving that in my face?" Not wanting Korra to get distracted by Wu's antics, Raiko said tersely, "From what I hear, he thinks just because he deformed the metal on that, that he's going to become a bender," groaning when Korra took more interest in the cap than himself, only saying, "Wu's right" for what had to be the most infuriatingly short explanation he had ever heard from the Avatar.

Taking in a deep breath, Raiko tried counting to calm himself down. Still feeling angry, he was about to try again, but once he saw one of the "troublemakers" enter the room, all the frustration he had felt tonight reached a boiling point, yelling as he pointed, "What's the Lieutenant doing here? And… didn't I leave Iroh II in charge before going to sleep?" Seeing the last latecomers, Raiko added, "Baatar Jr., Ikki – I could have just talked to them! And the rest – what's going on here? What is this, a second conference?" Korra nodded, saying after a vaguely familiar teenager holding an intimidating-looking sword appeared next to her side, "Of a sorts. Raava, can you artificially make this room bigger, and - ? Thanks."

Seeing how the mystery teenager was moving a massive two-handed sword, it must have been Raava. Before he could ask anything, she said, "I will answer all your questions shortly, but first, I need to read someone." Sheathing the odd sword, Raava beckoned the Lieutenant over, saying, "This isn't what you think, mainly – and I will use your preferred name instead of your birth name, Lieutenant." Still looking suspicious, he stepped forward, Raava taking ahold of his gloved hand, saying shortly after, "Korra, come over here – I need your help."

After Korra and Raava made a short exchange in a language that Raiko was starting to be annoyed by, Korra asked the Lieutenant, "Do I have your permission to wipe your memory, in case you don't like a particular… bit of news?" Sighing, the Lieutenant asked, "I suppose so – I've already blown my cover, after years of hiding. But do I really have a choice? And why was Raava so… meticulous exactly?" Frowning slightly, Korra said, "I guess not – better to have warning, and a chance to get used to the idea, than have none at all…"

Rather than place her hand on a skeptical-looking Lieutenants' forehead, Korra apparently recalled Raava, given how her eyes began glowing before saying, "Everyone, off the chairs – I think I still need 'contact', even in here." Raiko noticed with a suppressed laugh that Korra's eyes weren't the only things glowing – two tattoos on her… "liberated" chest were glowing as well!

Getting a small dirty look from the Avatar, Raiko obliged, taking in the updates eagerly. The last thing he saw Long Yumao bending energy after some sort of sick gift from the Tree of Time, Raiko said, "Korra, are you sure we shouldn't just close the portals permanently? Lock them all up for eternity, and forget about this Spirit Civil War?" Giving him a nasty glare, Korra barked, "NO! The Spirit World isn't a prison for miscreants, and there are spirits fighting for us still in there! I want the spirits to be able to be a part of our world - even if some of them choose to be part of it in the same way Jinshu Kuangmai does! The only portal I would even vaguely consider closing is the Republic City Spirit Portal, given it's so close to millions of people, even if it would mean Asami and others never got bending. Asami's already said as much – 'Atokara is the only gift I need, aside from you,' and she wants bending quite badly. The other two Portals are farther away from any cities, and I really don't want to find out what closing any portal would do. I never did get a chance to 'read' the Republic City Spirit Portal properly…"

Moving on to another topic he was passionate about, Raiko asked, "I am glad to know you are willing to close that portal if necessary. However, there's something else I want to talk about. I know you showed me what Kuvira has gone through – but I also saw how tuber-vines are not as inert as we once thought. Even her own tuber-vine seemed to go bad for a spell, wanting to wreak vengeance on Kuvira's father. Can you assure me that Kuvira won't run away?" Before Korra could speak, Raava said, "I could 'cheat' and program a lockdown into her on-board personal Kuviracomputer, but there's no guarantees. It would also prevent her from exiting the mechasuit, period, unless Korra lets her out." After a slight pause, Raava said, "I can never see that working out properly – not to mention, Kuvira could just exit with Korra's help, and run away later. I know what she did to your city, President Raiko. I can see from your face you still have reservations – perhaps you should talk to her privately, while we deal with the logistics of Firelord Izumi and Eska and Desna getting to Republic City, and hash out technological exchange. They are all insistent on providing aid, and Asami is insistent on returning it as best she can with the braintrust's help."

Nodding to indicate he was as agreeable as he could be to these terms, Raiko found himself on a large expanse of marble, staring straight at Kuvira and her mechasuit – one he reminded himself was named "Kuvira's Remorse". Vaguely remembering that tuber-vines did not like to be addressed incorrectly, he said, "Conscience, I want you to promise me, no matter what happens, you won't let Kuvira run away." The mechasuit's large head nodding in a disconcerting way, Kuvira tapped her foot, saying once she had Raiko's attention, "I owe my sanity to Conscience, and I would rather die than displease her. If you have seen everything, you also saw how disgusted I was with myself – that my brain even had those thoughts, much less that fight. I have every reason in the world to not run away. I can see you're still suspicious – and, admittedly, for good reason. Old wounds do not just vanish overnight. Baatar Jr. can attest to that, as I am sure you know – from what I heard from him before you appeared out here, he almost went insane, Ikki tirelessly working to help rehabilitate him. As you saw, I tried to refuse this mechasuit, telling Korra I didn't deserve it yet, but she and Mako convinced me that if I'm going to help 'rehabilitate' the prison camp, Omashu and Zaofu tomorrow, I would need all the protection I can get. I am sure I will be just as big a target for Jinshu Kuangmai as Korra herself will." After studying him briefly, Kuvira added, "President Raiko, you might want to stay out of harm's way in that balloon Baatar Jr. had reinforced for you – you saw how useless even skilled benders like Mako, Opal and Bolin were against that nightmare Colossus without technology." Kuvira added with a nervous grin that made Raiko feel a little more at ease around Kuvira, the "Great Uniter" actually blushing slightly, "Or against my original Colossus, for that matter."

Raiko nodded, saying, "That is very true, and I'm glad to see you ill at ease, talking about your past crimes. I am not one for fighting myself anyways. Perhaps I can bring myself to truly forgive and forget what you did to my city someday – but I eagerly await to see more of this 'peace Colossus,' and how you use technology to fulfill your sentence. A sentence, it sounds to me, you see as an opportunity to do what you originally tried, and failed, to do – actually help your people. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to return to, so I can help mine." Expecting to be teleported again, but finding himself standing still, Raiko turned around after a polite bow from Kuvira, seeing a larger version of the Avatar's private residence. Mumbling under his breath, he asked, "What's that little twerp driving at?" surprised to hear a voice respond, "Raava won't teleport you until you see if you got bending! Try making some fire - it seems to suit you! That, or moving earth - you can be stubborn, from what I hear. The door's locked, so don't bother trying to walk in."

Turning to its source, Raiko found himself staring at the mechasuit. Shaking his head, he said with conviction, "I refuse. I don't want, or need bending. I imagine the Lieutenant and the other holdout Equalists feel much the same, and I'm surprised Zhu Li and Varrick didn't react more strongly to news of this new wave of benders – brought on by their inventions almost entirely." Seeing Kuvira give him a quizzical look, Raiko asked, "Wait – don't tell me I now know something you don't?" Kuvira nodded her head, insisting, "I haven't heard anything about a bending pulse – Baatar Jr. was too busy talking about his own transformative event to let me ask any questions about how he bent a cable."

Walking up to Kuvira's mechasuit, Raiko tapped on the stomach, saying, "Conscience, tell your 'human-y' master she's an immature, bumbling idiot, and to get everyone out here, on the same page! We're on a time limit here! This is ridiculous, and – " Raiko never got the chance to finish berating Raava, finding himself no longer alone with Kuvira. Before anyone got the chance to speak, both Pema and Raava looking a little under the weather, a loud flat voice said, "Additional Users brought in. User Pema inner dream world taxed to limit. Further users inside inner dream world will have unknown and likely negative effects."

Without bothering to speak, Raava shifted forms, booming "Korra, going to need a little help here!" a while before Raiko felt a wave of familiar information pass through his mind. What had changed coming first, Raiko approved of the plan that had been drafted – as she was able, Korra was to not only create spirit vine powered equipment for the other nations, but also try and figure out how the synthesis worked, and see if she could teach others to replicate it, working in teams of all four bender types. At first, Raiko felt annoyed to find out that Firelord Izumi would be the first to receive anything, synthesized spirit weaponry left on the home island of Avatar Roku, but dismissed his irritation, knowing simple geography made her the most sensible first recipient of anything. Represented by a first-day Earth Empire defector who Jasmine had vouched for who was currently overseeing the city, Minister Wong not available, Ba Sing Se had been ordered to not make any troop movements and make preparations for the first elections, to be held a week after the evacuation was completed so that as many people as possible would be represented.

Thinking the new information was done with, Raiko was surprised to find part of the "review" new – there was some sort of powerful spirit lurking within the Fire Nation's waters near the current physical location of Korra and her closer allies. One that Korra wanted to try and convert, and one Raava wanted to just kill outright, using some shattering technique Raiko remembered vaguely. Seeing its form and finding out that it was the spirit responsible for wiping Kortra's memory before Harmonic Convergence, as well as a little annoying ability of another spirit, Raiko thought, intending to interrupt, "If this 'Vaazula' spirit really can see anything a Vaatu-aligned Dark Spirit can, shouldn't you tread carefully? You don't want Jinshu Kuangmai stealing ideas, after all…"

At first, nothing happened. Thinking he had been ignored, Raiko let out a surprised yelp when he heard what must have been Raava intone, _You make a good point, President Raiko. Allow us to finish, and by that time, Korra and I will have come to an… agreement on this spirit's fate._ The flow of information eventually stopping, Raiko stood up slowly, laughing to see Meelo pounding against some kind of invisible plane, barely audible, "Let me in! What's the big idea, holding me out – I designed the plane most of us are on! Come on!" A short time later, Meelo crossed his arms, and given how he blew a long raspberry at Raava, she must have given him a response he didn't like.

As Meelo walked away, Raiko heard Raava boom, "The only matter of business we have not covered is the evacuation itself. Unless you are directly involved in the evacuation, technology, or the reinforcements, please leave now – I do not wish to find out what happens to the dreamer when a shared inner dream space is taxed to its limit, and especially not on Pema. And some of you would rather be awake anyways…" With that, many people vanished, though Raiko noticed that Desna and Princess Ursa II did not immediately go. Both blushed slightly when Raava said, "Very well – you two can stay, and not just because you'll be dealing with non-theoretical spirit energy equipment soon, Princess Ursa II." Raiko was the first human to speak, announcing, "I know no one has asked me about this yet, but I'm going with my gut on this – whether to send back the reinforcements. I will not support withdrawing the reinforcements back into Republic City. No offense, Lieutenant, but the Equalists would likely be… ineffective against spirits, and I can imagine the Earth Empire defectors want to bring the fight to Jinshu Kuangmai - not a foe they've barely heard about, and hopefully will never see. I will let the civilian volunteers decide if they want to return home, and the same for the United Republic military forces. Firelord Izumi and the twin Chiefs of the Northern Water Tribe are more than willing to preventatively reinforce Republic City, and I have great confidence that they will be able to hold off whatever comes out, should the worst come to pass. From what I saw, Jinshu Kuangmai is not to be underestimated either, and I don't want Korra and her allies to be alone, should this special project turn out to be a Colossus worse than the one I saw Kuvira fight. Or, this dreaded 'weaponization' of Korranium."

Frowning slightly, Raiko added, looking at Asami and Korra alternatively, "I saw the fate of 'Hiroshima' and 'Berlin' from this other Earth place, and I must admit, when I first saw the power unleashed, I was not nearly horrified enough. Some part of me wondered whether that technology would be worth pursuing, but as I saw more, horror was all I felt. Those weapons leave behind some kind of lingering death - one that knows no allegiance, one that could eradicate life as we know it." Seeing both looked disgusted, he finished, "I was initially hostile to Varrick and Asami for not pursuing spirit vine technology, and to Korra for not harvesting vines, but rest assured, Korranium weaponry is one technology I will outlaw immediately – even if we don't know how it works."

Receiving applause, Raiko was perplexed to hear Korra counter, "There is military use for one form of Korranium that I am okay with – the one that doesn't emit the death particles, what we called Asami particles. Maybe should change that name… In any case, we haven't produced anything with it yet, but the non-dangerous form is really hard – likely good for armor, or penetrating it. 'Depleted Korranium' – that was what the bullets that almost shredded Kuvira in her nightmare were made of." Raiko nodded, saying, "Thank you for the reminder. What with all these new technologies and discoveries, and apparently, bloodbending, the world's law-making bodies will be very busy, trying to keep up with what is created."

Dusting himself off lightly, Raiko finished, "Now I have a very difficult speech to give to Republic City, after I see who does and does not wish to return there. I will be leaving now – I am sure everything to do with Zaofu, Omashu, technology and the prison camp will be better handled by others."

Korra coughed, saying, "Very well, I won't stop you from leaving. Before you go, along with the Lieutenant and Buttercup, let me rehash, just so there is no misunderstanding: the civilians will be allowed to make their own decision, as will the URN military men and women, the Earth Empire defectors are staying, and given what the Lieutenant said to me earlier, he wishes to stay with the reinforcements as well – maybe even make random strikes to liberate nonbenders under Jinshu Kuangmai's thumb." The Lieutenant nodded, walking over to Korra quickly and whispering something in her ear that made her very angry. After taking a deep breath, Korra said, "No, I will not," continuing, "For everyone else: After this, we will revamp our equipment for what will likely be the last time before battle tomorrow, and take out that large, unknown Dark Spirit within Fire Nation waters just to be safe after blinding it. Princess Ursa II- there are five tuber-vines and the large tree on Ember Factory Island, as you know, and we will make and leave behind some spirit weaponry on Roku's old home island for you to pick up and bring to Republic City. Desna - the Northern Water Tribe reinforcements will need to get there quickly. For all I know, that barrier could shatter the minute I kill someone, or it could take days to crumble completely, if at all. One last thing for you, Raiko - the civilians of Republic City need to be drilled on how to combat the spirits, just like I did in the Fire Nation capital - in particular, showing no emotion around Koh, and drawing on human emotions and love when striking. They will also need to be our eyes and ears - no report of activity around the Spirit Portal is too small, from too unlikely a source, to dismiss."

Slapping her strangely marked forehead, Korra said, "I forgot about the South. Long Yumao may very well target it heavily should he get the chance, given it is my home. I can only think of one option - telling our spirit allies within the Spirit World to defend that portal at all costs. Raava, you may end up very busy, granting spirits bending…"

Raiko yawning, even though technically he was asleep, said, "Good. Now I'm exhausted, and - what do you want, Jinora?" Jinora said, idly twirling her staff, one which Raiko thought was more firebender or metalbender than airbender, "I'm no military expert, but from what I heard about the Great Divide during my youth, it seems the ideal location for an earthbending army to stage a defense against an invasion. Which, when we're honest, is basically what this is. An invasion. Given Jinshu Kuangmai managed to sneak a spy into that world leaders conference in the first place - even if the spy was terrible - I imagine he likely knows of the reinforcements by now." Raiko felt slightly disturbed when Jinora smiled slightly, adding, "Though, given how he saw the spy as disposable, that's likely just what you will face there - the disposable," wondering to himself, "That smile… Is this really who I want to work with, as a leader of the Air Nation?"

Seeing Tenzin agree, Raiko realized in a way, he had no choice, knowing his initial fascination with Korranium weaponry was worse than any smile. Looking directly at Raiko, Jinora said, "The disposable will likely not fight as hard, and will be easier to take out without loss of life," Raiko said out loud, "That's more my idea of a 'militaristic airbender.' Now, if you excuse me, I have a _very_ carefully worded speech to make to Republic City, after I deal with the forces we have right now." Unsure how to wake himself up, Raiko delayed for long enough to see an unlikely figure approaching him – the Lieutenant. Still suspicious, Raiko was relieved to hear him simply say, "If you wish my assistance in your speech, I will help you, Raiko. Republic City is my home too," surprised to not hear any slurs against benders. Giving the Lieutenant a funny look, Raiko let the slip of respect for his position pass, not wanting to annoy his tenuous ally, saying, "Yes – I imagine you may have more pull than I do among non-benders," noticing the Lieutenant looked slightly uneasy. There was another reason Raiko didn't complain about the lack of use of his title, one Raiko downplayed… when the Lieutenant didn't call him President, he vaguely remembered a paraphrase from the huge volume of information he had received: "the truly advanced don't want to be called Master."

Waking up, Raiko could have sworn he heard a familiar voice say, _Good men know their shortcomings, foibles and limits – and given your thoughts, I would say you are becoming one._

Eventually able to get the convoy to a halt, Raiko went through the motions, explaining over loudspeakers what could potentially happen to Republic City, daylight strengthening. Initially many people wanted to return home – given the Lieutenant's grumbling over the radio, a lot of Equalists felt the same way, suitability to fighting spirits or not. Over the radio, an URN military officer who identified himself as Hideki asked, Raiko impressed with the prescient nature of his question, "If humans behaving badly makes Long Yumao stronger, isn't the best thing we can do to help make sure Republic City stays safe is to continue on our humanitarian mission?" Raiko heard Baatar Jr. add sleepily, apparently woken by the noise, "We're already starting to get some refugee followers, if what this new defector here tells me about the others who came with him is true. We could end up helping a lot of people, pressing forward."

Raiko asked again who wanted to come, saying, "For all we know, our actions could help keep that barrier in place, where otherwise it might break, letting Dark Spirits pour into our beloved city. And I know no one here wants that. Firelord Izumi is likely on her way to Republic City right now, along with the Northern Water Tribe – the world has our backs. Jinshu Kuangmai enjoys more support as a whole than that oversized lizard does – some of that spirit's own have turned against him. I say Jinshu Kuangmai's the real threat. Let's do the most good possible, and help make sure the evacuation is a success!"

Hearing the cheering come in over the radio, Raiko felt better than if he had just been elected President for life. Hearing a loud whoop from behind him, he turned around, growling as he hugged Buttercup, "Hey, beautiful. I know something that would make me feel even better than that. I do still feel rather tired… Let's go see if we can figure out this new 'dream world' stuff," adding after a peck to her cheek, "Maybe see those kids again, even if we can't have them."

Buttercup smiling broadly, Raiko was so ready to go back to bed he almost missed a call over the radio: "President Raiko, sir! We are approaching the Great Divide, and a few of the earthbenders say they can sense more than a few platoons of troops there, up and down the canyon, including many mechasuits. President, sir - mechasuit visual contact confirmed. What should we do?"

Sighing deeply, Raiko said in English, "Just when I thought I'd get a chance to relax, this happens," surprised to hear Buttercup say in the same tongue, "Maybe they really will be walkovers, like Jinora hoped. Don't worry – I'm sure you'll think of something."

Jinora still bringing to mind books and not militarism, Raiko asked over the radio, "Do we have any guides on this area of the world? Terrain maps, bestiaries – anything!" After a short pause, a voice Raiko recognized as Ikki's said with audible exhaustion, "I know a thing or two about this place – my dad talked about it once in a while, telling me and my siblings how it was the site of the greatest lie ever told by my father."

"Got any food you don't want? Like, all of it?"

Raiko was baffled by the request, saying, "Ikki, are you suggesting we throw food at the enemy? Because I am pretty sure that's not going to work, and we won't have any left…" Raiko laughed lightly to hear a low growling over the radio, a knock on his airship's main door coming shortly after. Seeing it was Ikki, he let her in, saying, "This better be a good idea, Ikki – I want to go back to sleep just as much as you do. Probably less, given the rings under your eyes. What's your plan?"

After producing the map Ikki asked for and sending two lightly loaded defector Earth Empire airships to scout out troop positions, for some reason taking bags of food with them to drop overboard, Ikki sleepily drew a crude drawing on the map's corner. Never having seen this animal before, much less one… rendered so "expertly", finding himself wishing for Meelo instead, Raiko asked, "What is that thing, and how is it our ticket out of this mess?" Making a creeping motion with one hand as she pointed at the drawing with the other, Ikki said, "A canyon crawler! They were around in grandpa Aang's time, and if they smell food, they come running really fast! We can either use them to get to the other side of the canyon quickly like he did, or sic them on the Earth Empire soldiers by throwing food at them. They'll be too distracted fighting them off to do anything about us crossing!"

Raiko was about to say he liked the idea, but another radio call interrupted him – one from a defector's Earth Empire airship, broadcasting on multiple channels at once, given how the display lit up. The caller sounded disturbed, saying, "We threw one bag of food overboard near the inside of the canyon wall as you ordered, but nothing came for it. One of our sharpest eyes onboard the ship says he spotted people gathered around a dying fire through his spyglass further up the canyon, eating something disgusting, a few large insectoid bodies scattered around the flames."

Raiko was surprised to hear Ikki begin to cry, hearing an unfamiliar voice over the radio say, "Oh, those things. Kuvira considered them pests, but was too busy with other things to get rid of them. Jinshu Kuangmai just told us to eat them, refusing to provide us with rations besides 'bait', threatening to use _us_ as bait if we didn't stop complaining. We've been down here for a week, told to prevent any intrusions, while given only mechasuits! And not that many… Everything went south after Kuvira fell… We don't even have long range radios! Was that food for us?"

Realizing these must be the "disposables" Jinora had guessed might be guarding the Great Divide, Raiko said, "Yes," shutting off the public feed and whispering to Ikki, "Do we have enough food to bribe them all?" Ikki smiled, saying, "No, but we can bribe them with freedom!" Figuring they could get food on the way to the northern Swamp anyways, Raiko opened the feed again, saying, "This is a straggler from Republic City – we barely managed to get these airships up and running again. Those were some of our supplies. I want you to – "

Interrupted mid-sentence, Raiko heard an angry voice yell over the radio, "What are you doing, fool! I'm the commanding officer here, and you're talking to that pompous idiot Raiko! Their 'President'! Can't you recognize his voice? And look in the distance - Republic City Police airships! Of all the dead-end assignments, I had to get this one! Jinshu Kuangmai could have at least given us one of his precious spirit cannons – you all are completely useless! Beyond useless – can't even recognize someone's voice, or look beyond the canyon rim! I guess I shouldn't have expected anything better from a conscripted peasant 'Private' like yourself. Now shut that off, or I'm breaking your bones like we broke those stupid bugs – I know they're tougher than you are! Can't even bend, half of you!"

Something in this mystery officer's voice told Raiko there wasn't much time – not even enough time to get to the camp on foot or by ground vehicle. Still crying, Ikki said before flying out the door, "I'm going to go get the other airbenders and the airbison, and see if we can stop this guy from killing anyone! Close in with the other air ships!" Wondering what he could do, Raiko remembered he still had a speech to make, and was no fighter – he was a speaker, politician - President. Taking the microphone, a stray thought passed through his mind: "What if those Elemental Spirits give me some kind of bending after all? Would it make me a better or worse President? Does anyone else have these reservations?"

Re-focusing his energies, Raiko focused on giving the best speech he could after having given the order to record it in its entirety for later. Realizing the full implications of this new massive bending pulse, he made a personal request of the acting no-longer retired Chief of Police in secret, making another secret request of the Grand Lotus afterwards. His thoughts began wandering seemingly aimlessly after he had done all he could, going over his orders once more, sitting next to Buttercup in solemn silence.

Temporary Chief Saikhan was to ensure all Triple Threat Triad and other criminals locked up had extra security - Zaheer had been given airbending by this Spirit of Air, and he didn't want a jailbreak on his hands, should the Elemental Spirit be able to restore bending to those stripped of it. The request for Grand Lotus Ataninnuaq was in a similar vein, except all Raiko told him was to be alert for Red Lotus activity, and route all White Lotus forces to bolster guarding of Zaheer immediately. Republic City was very weak right now, and he remembered something about a wise woman wondering just how that pure mercury got into the Avatar in the first place…

And how another man with just as much zeal as Zaheer had managed to change the very nature of the dark being who, with another member of the Red Lotus' help, had once threatened the world. More importantly to him, threatened Raiko's only child: Republic City.

Thinking back to other, much more recent dark days, and the woman who had forced him to surrender without a fight, and the soul-taxing struggles she had endured, striving to make amends, Raiko realized Kuvira _did_ share traits in common with the Avatar. Especially the new Kuvira - one had had only briefly seen "directly".

Both wanted to help people - one just had not known how far she had strayed, and Kuvira probably had her abominable father to thank for that. Both she and the Avatar had even had less than ideal childhoods, Kuvira again coming out on bottom. Raiko had heard wise people say it was hard to overcome difficult formative years…

Raiko said to himself, "Perhaps the day I forget is closer than I thought…" Seeing Buttercup give him a quizzical look, Raiko apologized, "Sorry, honey - I was just lost in thought, and… I don't like secrets. I have two pieces of official business to get off my chest - and something far more personal. To deal with Kuvira…"

Buttercup giving him her full attention, Raiko began speaking, explaining - words flowing as water.

End Part 6


	50. Chapter 50: Spirit of the Deeps

Part 7: Battle of Omashu

Chapter 50: Spirit of the Deeps

Seeing President Raiko and others not immediately involved with the evacuation vanish, Korra noticed that Pema no longer looked as if she had been beaten, now herself again. Smiling, Pema said with a re-assuring light in her eye, "I'm all right! Forget what I heard Chief Eska saying about using this place for meetings – I felt like I was going crazy! So many people…" Raava sighed, saying, "Sorry. The next time, if there is one, we'll try using Korra's inner dream space - another… incident tonight leads me to believe that it is exceptionally resilient." Korra heard Raava intone something no one else could hear: _Cross-planar dealings are taxing even for me at times, and your inner dream world handled magic from another plane like it was nothing, not to mention the much funner part. I didn't expect you to be interacting with real creature's souls_. After a slight pause, Raava said out loud, "Though, after all the trouble getting people together, I think a real meeting would be easier to arrange, and conduct. There's a certain… nicety and proper behavior enforced by being at an official event, and not something that can devolve into… that. Zuko was acting like a buffoon - just as bad as Wu tossing that cap at Raiko!" Korra chuckled, saying, "Maybe Zuko will get it out of his system tomorrow night. Whether they like it or not, there's going to be a 'little' Gaang reunion – I could use a break from my goofball predecessor. An ALL NIGHT BREAK, 'Goofballatar' Aang."

Hearing an odd swishing from behind her, Korra turned around, shaking her head disdainfully as she said with disgust, "Aang, you never know when to just… not, do you? Put that stupid marble away!" Remembering a promise she had made Toph and adding a little embellishment of her own, Korra discreetly pulled some water from the air behind her back, shooting it at Aang's feet in the form small icicles as she said, "Let's see you do that stupid trick now! This is from Toph, Twinkletoes! Dance!" Aang laughed "Yeah - more! Make it harder!" in a way that only made her more frustrated with him! Korra said, as he maintained the spinning marble's movement despite her continued barrage, "Alright, if you're going to bug me, at least be useful!" Freezing him in a block of ice, Korra snickered as she said, "Let's see you goof around inside that. Hey! Quit sticking your tongue at me – I have a question for you. I have heard, and even said, that Avatar Kuruk could have killed a spirit if he wanted to – Koh the Face-Stealer. Do you think I can really do the same to that kraken-arthropod spirit near us, if I need to?"

Getting no initial response other than a slight straining noise as Aang struggled against the ice, Aang apparently trying to shrug, he admitted, "I don't know. That was inside the Spirit World – and this would be in the physical one. And I thought you wanted to try cleansing that spirit anyways?" Korra nodded, saying grimly, "Yes, but remembering how that went the last time, and knowing this spirit has grown in size since then, I am not optimistic that he will go easily, if at all." Whistling loudly, Korra said, "Raava , over here, please – fix the screen that Vaatu broke with his laughing, and see if we can get a better view of that spirit!"

Screen now intact, everyone who _should_ be there was there, with the exception of Princess Ursa II and Desna still lingering off near her house. A slightly annoyed-looking Yangchen and Jasmine were talking to one another off to the side of the screen about battle strategy and how best to command and possibly share their spirit allies, Yangchen complaining about having only one firebender - period, and no waterbenders to heal any wounded. Letting them hash out details themselves, Korra looked at the spirit on the screen again – specifically, the head. Counting what she assumed were extra crablike eyes on the end of stiff armored stalks coming from its head, Korra cursed lowly in English, saying, "Four clusters of four eyes, scattered over the head, far apart – great. Just what we needed - more eyes to knock out. He changed some more – and, looks like he's decided to honor his past with Vaatu as well. Not a trace of red lines anywhere. Raava, where are we, and at what altitude? If we're still low, pull us up, yesterday – I don't want this thing spotting the Raging Shark Whale and Vaazula seeing what's coming their way."

Feeling a lurch and slight breaking of the "controlled" dream, Korra saw what she could only assume was an actual dream image for a brief moment - one that disturbed her. She saw herself in Republic City at her home, crying as if she had made some huge mistake. Her despondent-looking figure was backed by a darkened sky, even though the sun was visible.

_Mmmm… perhaps after this, you need some actual dreaming. I can't put my "finger" on it, but that image seems important. Maybe just as important as the dream with the Spirit of Air…_

Returning to the present, Korra pointed to a group of four eyes, asking, "Raava, those are obviously eyes – but can spirits see without them? When I fought this thing originally, the eyes, face and edges of its mouth were almost as one, 'eyes' and face unfolding to show its terrible maw…" Raava approached, tapping the glass a few times as she said, "Obviously, I could see without eyes, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see and scold Wan for breaking me from Vaatu. Speaking of which… just how did you do that earlier?" Korra shrugged, saying, "I just steeled my will the second time around, and Vaatu came out. Whatever – is that relevant?" Raava shook her head, though Korra could tell from her smirking she didn't really care if it was relevant or not. Korra sighed, saying, "You're just as bad as Aang, and I have to deal with you, whether I like it or not. Quit grinning and focus! Let's get this over with. My question for you - do you think we can take this thing down without it seeing the mechasuits, or even the Raging Shark Whale?"

A red X appearing on the screen, Raava said, "No – but in the sense you couldn't hit it in the first place with the technology we want to keep hidden as long as possible. You couldn't even get its attention properly, it's so deep, now that I think about it. I guess our best option is for me to go down there in my bigger form and try to fight, and shatter it, like I wanted to do to Kuvira's father before you stopped me. That is, if I can shatter outside the Spirit World…" Looking at the spirit's form again, Korra tried interacting with its image like a piece of technology she had almost forgotten about: a tablet. As her finger made contact with the screen near the spirit's armored sides, Korra tried dragging the form much as she might have manipulated water. After a flick of the wrist, the image rotated around, revealing six staggered pronounced protrusions on its back, and a slight depressed line down its middle – almost like the beginnings of a metamorphosis…

Knowing this was taking real time, Korra yelled, "Jasmine, Yangchen, Princess Ursa II, Desna - get over here! You're the only people left not currently with me in the physical world, and we might be very busy soon!" Noticing that Baatar Jr. and Ikki had come as well, Korra made to apologize, but hearing a low beeping from the screen's speaker that accompanied a slight growth in the line's thickness down the changing spirit's back, she knew she might not have much time.

Getting the most important part out of the way first, she called Jasmine and Yangchen closer, noticing that Jasmine wasn't ignoring Baatar Jr. as Korra thought she might have. Yangchen was first, Korra saying as she imparted technical details to her about weapon systems with Raava's assistance, "You need to see if you can get those captured weapons updated - from what I've heard, the simpler 'fire-earth' formula has quite a few drawbacks. Smoke, lack of rapid fire…" Korra felt glad to hear Yangchen say, "Of course! We have plenty of metalbenders, some Earth Empire defector's equipment, and even have the industrial equipment to make more acid to use on the spirit vines. The new spirit vines can be split, we have spare explosives - even other industrial equipment and supplies. That overhaul will be one of the first things I do after this - we may even be able to fashion crude Meesiles," disappointed to hear her admit, "Without you, I doubt we can manufacture any rapid-fire weapons, Lisers or more advanced Meesiles on such short notice, though. Especially since we 'just' have spirit vines for power." Noticing Yangchen was starting to shimmer slightly, as though she were about to wake up, Korra said, "See if Alyssralove can help with that - she can both bend and heat metal at the same time, and get you more free nitrate! Good luck - and tell Toph she might be needed, especially for destroying evidence and tech if you have to pull out! Don't forget to make the NON-lethal weapons!" As Yangchen vanished, Korra made excuses for the airbender, pushing thoughts from her mind. For her tastes, even if the lethal options would likely be easier to make, the airbender had paid entirely too much attention to the newer Lipowder and shell-making techniques, and not enough to Lisers and their ability to direct incapacitating lightning…

Yangchen gone, Jasmine said, Korra wishing she had spoken earlier, "Using 'fire-earth' early on will only make Jinshu Kuangmai realize its importance," Jasmine continuing, "You could always project to her and tell her to not - but something tells me she'll need all the help she can get, defending Omashu. Which brings me to the prison camp… we're worse off. We do not have explosives, or even basic 'fire-earth'. Let alone the kind of industrial machinery needed to create a Varrick gun or even the newer Lipowder without synthesis... There may not even be deposits of the ingredients for the basic version of Lipowder near the camp. Sulfur is usually found in volcanic regions, and there's nothing near Omashu like that. We certainly won't be making any Varrick guns anytime soon, and I don't want to risk people's lives, getting equipment from Omashu. Any war balloons we send would get torn to shreds by their spirit weaponry." Jasmine sighed deeply, finishing as Korra inspected Jasmine's prominent scar, "We certainly don't have the resources Yangchen does, controlling Omashu, even if we do have the human benders she doesn't - water and fire." Trying to think of something, Korra wondered if there were any cruder Lipowder weapons that could be readily fashioned - steal old technology from Earth.

Hearing a hoot from the screen, Korra turned to see Wan Shi Tong moving his head around in front of the depiction of the hostile spirit below, multiple blueprints of outdated-looking weapons labeled as "firearms" and "gunpowder weapons" appearing as he vanished. Korra was surprised to see a weapon not unlike a Varrick gun in form included in the antiques, but was not quite sure what to make of two different versions of what Korra mistook for a cart of sake bottles. It didn't help that the notes to the one with many barrels was written in a language she did not know… Jasmine inspecting the blueprints, she said, "There - those two, on the carts. They look crude but effective, and the one with many barrels and gibberish notes would actually work quite well with metalbending, clearing the soot with earthbending and dissipating heat with firebending. I don't know if we can make what looks like rockets on such short notice, on the one labeled in normal characters, and the 'Gatling gun' looks even more doubtful."

Korra regarded Jasmine skeptically, saying, "For former 'Chief Containment Officer,' you sure know a lot about 'fire-earth'. Were you and Chin ever a thing?" Jasmine laughed, saying, "No, of course not. I'm a year older than you - 22! He's roughly 30 years my senior - he was a good friend of mine, though. I don't understand why he didn't defect - he was one of those relative few within Kuvira's army that stayed after her defeat who seemed like decent people." As though trying to remember something, Jasmine paused, finally saying, "Oh, yes - he holds a personal grudge for the death of his wife following destabilization of the Earth Kingdom, and holds you and the rest of the world responsible for not helping. The other biggest reason is his men - two battalions of conscripts he loves just like his own three children, ones who fight better than the elites if he's around, if he's to be believed. And they are whole reason he made fire-earth in the first place - he wanted the non-benders under him to be better able to handle themselves, unable to manipulate metal or even earth. Just like his kids…" Shifting uncomfortably, Jasmine finished, pointing to her scar, "But not all people are attached to something so relatively noble, much less willing to work hard to protect it. Some, like the man who gave me this, are hungry for power. Others… A lot of people simply blame you for what happened to the Earth Kingdom, and want 'justice.'" In spite of all the chakra work, Korra felt slightly guilty again over her three year hiatus, thinking, "I guess some things never really go away…" Accepting guilt as part of life just as Asami had, Korra listened without letting sadness distract her as Jasmine added, "You will find many men like Chin - good people misguided and blinded by anger and vengeance," Korra suppressing a snort of surprise when Jasmine said, "I am glad to see Baatar Jr. was not one of them - in the end, that is," finishing with an interested tone, "Though, I don't know the details just yet…"

Baatar Jr. looking very relieved, Jasmine finished, "Should we even find the sulfur and other ingredients… I do not need blueprints to reproduce the two that interest me the most, though the rockets will not explode as much as I might like, given we will likely bear the brunt of the attack at first. Along with how to make any kind of explosives at all, give me this 'Gatling gun' blueprint - one that looks like the inferior predecessor to a Varrick gun, a joke, but I'll have to make do." Doing exactly this and throwing in some others on a whim, Korra was surprised to hear Jasmine think during the process, "- proves himself, maybe I can forget about that special program," not having remembered showing Jasmine such things. Hearing Raava intone, _I threw in a "little" extra too just now_, Korra removed her hand, thinking, "Not cool - you aren't a good enough judge on that kind of thing yet. Baatar Jr.'s own mother hasn't seen his ordeal, and you're sharing it with a complete stranger! One he seems to like - but still!"

_Oops. Uh - she did sound like she wanted to know!_

Hearing Aang from behind her, Korra turned around, taking out her anger with Raava by saying tersely, "Maybe I should have left you in that ice prison. What do you want?" Shifting to his older self, he said with a slight frown, "I helped you get your bending back, you helped me escape. And what Raava does is her own business - don't take it out on me. I'm just as annoyed by her little… gift as you are, and her lousy excuse." After giving Raava a withering glare, Aang said, "Enough of that. I wanted to show you something that would easily be reproducible that I saw in my youth - specifically in the hands of then Princess Azula." Princess Ursa II speaking for the first time, she asked awkwardly, "Avatar Aang, is - is it the derivative cannon on her airship? The one she used to lob bombs at you at… the Western Air temple, right?" Aang nodded, smiling as he said, "You are right. Looks like someone paid attention in school. I faced it directly - let me show you what I mean."

Korra watched Aang walk over to the screen's console, laughing when she saw a stylized mover-toon version of said cannon appear, telling Aang as Raava fussed and fumed about Aang's little sneak, "She can dish it out, but can't take it. Maybe I should keep you around after all - always trying to slip in a little something." Aang grinned, looking intrigued when Princess Ursa II said, "Huh - the smoke looks all wrong. The edges - too well-defined. No matter. As soon as the Fire Nation joined the Four Elements Task Force a few days ago, I started working on a better version of it for land use. I only had a small test model made, and that version was not very good. Here - let me show you the current idea. I got more than a little inspiration from what my mom told me about the new technology." Princess Ursa II touching the console, Korra shook her head briefly, saying, "Don't be modest!" As she tried to look the Princess in the eye, thoroughly impressed from what she saw, Korra told the reluctant Princess, "That - that looks a lot better than any shell we came up with for big physical-based guns, and the gun itself! Are those… cylinders full of liquid? Care to explain?" The Princess blushed, saying, "Th-thank you, Avatar Korra - but can you stop trying to look me in the eye? I know you're trying to be nice, but… I don't know why, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Always has."

Korra obliging readily, she yelled, "Asami, Varrick, Zhu Li, Meelo - come look at this thing that Princess Ursa II came up with!" Hazarding Raava a glance, Korra asked, seeing she looked shocked, "Would it be cheating to tell me what it looks like?" Raava nodded, saying, "Yes. All I will say is this - looks like you have a new braintrust member." Korra repressed the urge to give Princess Ursa II a funny look when she insisted strongly, "No, no - not me." Asami, Varrick, Meelo and Zhu Li finally arriving, Korra asked them what they thought of the gun. Getting an unsolicited opinion, Jasmine said, "I think it looks wonderful - and completely irrelevant to my predicament. Give Yangchen only the blueprints, a week and Omashu to make one undisturbed, and she couldn't - that thing's complicated looking. Korra, why don't you give me what I need, so I can be on my way." Princess Ursa II blushed, saying, "S-sorry. I tend to get carried off on tangents, or forget I'm not alone."

Listening to the way the Princess spoke and her occasional stutter, Korra found herself vaguely reminded of Rohan. Remembering how Rohan had been fascinated by Bumi's airbender tank, she wondered if they shared something in common. Apparently, she had done so out loud, hearing Ikki say, "Maybe. But Jasmine's not the only one with a schedule! Hurry up!" Finding herself blushing as everyone but Jasmine, Ikki and Baatar Jr. laughed, Korra quickly gave a stone-faced Jasmine what she needed, getting a polite, "Thank you, Korra" and bow before Jasmine vanished.

Princess Ursa II had a puzzled look on her face, asking innocently over top of an antsy-looking Ikki, "Why didn't she call you Avatar Korra, Avatar Korra?" Korra laughed, saying, "Because I told her to drop the formalities. There's only one of me -'Korra' - and unless you want to, you don't have to even call me 'Avatar'," adding, "Technically, it's 'Master' Avatar Korra, but that _really_ gets on my nerves. Wonder if Mr. Tuber-Vine is going to call me that again…" Korra rolled her eyes as Raava said, "You're the first one - Master Avatar. Forget what you told Aang about using it. Come on - 'Master Avatar' Korra!"

Not wanting to deal with Raava's behavior, Korra simply thought strongly, "Don't call me that. The gentle voice doesn't often call himself 'God' or 'supreme being of light' - maybe you could take a page from his book yourself." Korra told Princess Ursa II as both she and Raava blushed, though for very different reasons, "I'm impressed with your work, and look forward to working with you, Princess Ursa II." Varrick, Zhu Li and Asami agreed heartily, Meelo asking, "Princess, how come we never saw you or heard from you before this?" Princess Ursa II hugged herself as if to calm herself. She said, seeming more a misplaced shy schoolgirl than heir to the Fire Nation throne, "I was busy helping my mother modernize the Fire Nation - and I remember very clearly from what my mother told me about Mako's reaction to the new Fire Nation was that not everyone was a fan of her final architecture. Something I share with Mako… though not purely for love of heritage. I tried dissuading her from the final, truly Fire Nation style I wanted - the familiar…" Something about the Princess' mannerisms and aversion to change told Korra she wouldn't take kindly to simply being called Ursa II - not out of pride, like President Raiko might, just from a deviation from the normal, or as she said, "the familiar".

Sighing, Princess Ursa II continued, nervously pulling on black hair in the style of her namesake, "I'd rather design a building or piece of industrial equipment than a weapon, but I remember very clearly what my grandfather Lord Zuko told me after the speech: 'If nobody helps make weapons to defend ourselves, you might have an unwanted opportunity to design new buildings … given all the old ones were destroyed by the enemy. You remember what my father wanted to do to the Earth Kingdom…'" Trailing off, Princess Ursa II sobbed slightly as she said, golden eyes filled with sadness, "He was right - I don't want my home being as helpless as the South was against, well, the old Fire Nation or the Northern Water Tribe!"

Realizing she was upsetting Princess Ursa II, Korra suggested, "Why don't you, Asami, Varrick, Meelo and Zhu Li go talk about technology - peaceful technology," seeing the Princess live up to her namesake's determination and protective nature by saying strongly, "If my people need me to work on war, I will - I want to protect my home. As much as I wish everyone could get along, I'm not going to live in a fantasy land," finishing, "I hope your plan to turn Jinshu Kuangmai works, Avatar Korra. Looks like someone else wants your attention."

Figuring technology could wait until later, Korra told an exasperated-looking Ikki, "Tell me what you want, and Baatar Jr. - aside from more sleep." Korra growled lowly herself when Ikki looked at Korra with fake innocence, eyes sparkling as she said, "Attention." Baatar Jr. shared Korra's displeasure, saying, "Well, then, get, Ikki! I have something I need to ask Korra - in private." Ikki no longer looked innocent, saying seriously, "I need something too."

Taking them both aside, hearing the newest member of the braintrust explaining something about "recoil-dampening hydraulics" from near the screen, Korra said quietly, "Before I answer anything - if it's about Equalists becoming benders, I want to let that play itself out." Both looked annoyed, Baatar Jr. saying, "They're fine right now, and I overheard you telling the Lieutenant 'no' about something passionately. My best guess is he asked you to remove any Equalists' bending if they get it, and you said never."

Knowing Baatar Jr. was only partially right, Korra felt conflicted - tell them both what the Lieutenant wanted for himself, something she refused to do, or deflect? Tossing a look at Asami, noticing Zhu Li was attempting to bend a mockup of this new cannon with Asami's help to heat metal, Varrick bending water idly to the side, Korra realized that she had two choices.

Honor the Lieutenant's whispered request, or do her best to help him with the reality of the situation.

Korra remembered how big a change it had been for many non-benders to become airbenders - in particular, one named Daw, who had been terrified of his new ability, having had no prior warning…

But now there was.

Choosing a different path, Korra told Ikki and Baatar Jr., "When you deal with the Lieutenant or the Equalists, fighting beside them, I want you to try and chat up their rank and file. See how many had dreams, and what their reaction was to bending. We'll go from there," thankful to see both nod. Baatar Jr. appeared to react to the unseen, vanishing without a trace. Ikki, still present, asked, Korra dreading the curious look she had, relieved to hear the actual question, "What's a bottle-nosed dolphin feel like, and can I ever ride one?"

At first, Korra was going to say no, but remembered that technically, Ikki shared a link to an Avatar - Avatar Aang. Needing Raava's input, Korra tried something she hadn't before - placing Raava in a particular spot. Saying, "Just a minute, Ikki," Korra closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling as she imagined Raava appearing next to Ikki.

Opening her eyes, Korra saw that it had worked, but now it was Raava's turn to admonish a faux paus, saying hotly, "You're lucky Wan and I weren't doing anything just right now - you should ask before doing… that!" Wondering aloud if Wan and Raava had ever actually done anything past the most basics, Raava blushed as Ikki said, "Bottle-nosed dolphins, not sex! Jeez." Raava answered both their questions, saying, "I _suppose _it could be possible for second-generation Avatar descendants to take out of this plane dream trips - but that's something for another time, just like true 'Wan on Wan' time," crying as she added, "If my gifts to humanity were enough to start a Spirit Civil War, spirits seeing me as more human than spirit, I hate to imagine what would happen if they saw me truly 'sleeping' with the first Avatar - even in a dream!"

A wave of sympathy washing over her, Korra said, "I remember Uncle Iroh giving me some bad advice - to keep my love for Asami a secret, over concerns that people wouldn't support me. All I can say is this - if it feels right, do it," feeling depressed when Raava shook her head, insisting, "No - the risks are too great… a spirit, with human." Korra sighed, saying, "That's what the Avatar is already," adding with a sour note, "Something perhaps even more 'abhorrent' in many spirit's eyes - a living human, trying to sleep with a spirit - is beyond our control, if we act honorably. Jinshu Kuangmai and Vaazula…"

Seeing both Ikki and Raava act repulsed, Korra finished, "For all we know, what might win us one war might lose us the other. Both ways - you remember my little pact with Tonga Beifong, and what Long Yumao said, about spirits being unable to see any deaths that happen as part of an act of helping thousands. Breaking that agreement with Tonga might prove catastrophic in our other war. Speaking of which - let's go check on that spirit."

The trio walked over to the screen in silence, Korra noticing that many small mockups were strewn around its base, including modified versions of older equipment, some guns life-sized, a few of these ruined-looking. Wondering aloud why they didn't just imagine all of them into existence, Korra felt foolish when Varrick replied, "Practice bending - duh! Plus, as Ursa II - ouch, honey! Sorry, Princess Ursa II reminded us, sometimes it's best to make something to get a feel for it. She tested her cannon, and got a lot of good stuff from the test," looking vaguely ashamed as he admitted, "The 'folding VarriMag guns' weren't our only half-baked ideas - let's just say she spotted a lot of flaws." Pointing at Princess Ursa II, Varrick said, "Desna was making himself a bit of a pest earlier, and I think those two have something they want to talk about. Don't keep the lady waiting - pick her brains!"

Princess Ursa II giggled slightly, blushing as she insisted, "I was, uh, talking to Desna about trade agreements," getting slightly angry when Meelo said, "Yeah, right - you're just as bad a liar as my grandpa!" Before Meelo could say anything else, Korra heard a low beeping from the screen's speakers, saying, "Meelo, whatever you were going to say can wait," giving him a withering look for good measure - she could have sworn he mouthed the word "Azula". Still looking at Meelo, Korra said, "Sorry. I'll let you two go after this - if you don't mind, Princess Ursa II, I'd like to infobend you. I don't want to leave anything about your designs to chance."

Princess Ursa II complying eagerly, Korra noticed that she did have the tuber-vine Firelord Izumi picked up in Republic City in her possession, and had been experimenting with it as a source of peaceful power. Approving internally, Korra finished the transfer, including directions on how to use the equipment left behind at Ember Factory Island, using tuber-vines for war and many other things. Remembering Princess Ursa II's penchant for shells and guns, Korra included something she had only just recently learned herself - the mechanisms of an autoloader like the one Baatar Jr. designed for the Colossus' weapon. Before withdrawing her hand, she heard the Princess think, "Forget shells… what I'd really like to work on, instead of war - peace!"

Peace. Her own deepest desire - one that went back many years, to the day Republic City had proved to not be the paradise her predecessor had hoped it would be. It hadn't really struck her when Princess Ursa II said it earlier… Korra hugged Princess Ursa II before she could think, saying as emotion welled up within her, "That's what I want too - to work on peace, instead of war. I'm sure you'll make a fine Firelord someday - do your namesake proud." Having expected the Princess to be awkward in a hug, Korra found her just as warm as she had heard the first Ursa was, eventually saying after Korra heard another, louder beep, "You should probably let me go now. Asami's giving you a dirty look."

Seeing Asami wasn't the only one, though Korra smiled nervously to see Asami's was the scowliest, Korra broke the hug. Knowing time was short, she simply told Desna, "Cousin, try to see if you can talk to Yue - I may need her help shortly here, and tell her all about what might happen." Desna nodded, saying, "Very well - now, to unpleasant matters… deciding who stays behind in the Northern Water Tribe. My sister and I still find it boring." Cocking his head slightly, he asked Princess Ursa II, "Do you plan to go to Republic City?" Hearing a muffled protest from behind her, someone managed to restrain Meelo from saying anything for long enough for Princess Ursa II to respond, "Yes, I do - I hear there's a lot of… opportunity for reconstruction."

The Princess looking like she wanted to say something, Korra told Meelo to be quiet, Korra relieved when she tentatively asked, "Do you think it would be a good idea to fortify the crater with spirit weapons?" Korra nodded, saying, "Yes - that stupid serpent persuaded the other spirits to not help protect Republic City - our shared home. And I'm not letting him more directly hurt Republic City. Ikki, when you get the chance, I want you to run this idea by President Raiko, and if he approves, yes," adding, "I have something else for you - the tuber-vine locations. You should probably get trusted bender's help to dig them up."

After imparting the information, Desna declared he would go to Republic City, grumbling when taunted by Ikki and Meelo, wondering aloud, "I don't know if I'm glad to be going to Republic City or annoyed I might bump into one of you, you little hooligans." Korra laughed bitterly when she heard Raava proclaim, "Even if I do think it's a good idea, if you're going to fortify the Spirit Portal with spirit weapons, then I may as well do whatever I want with Wan!" snickering when Raava admitted, "Probably just more hugging and innocent stuff anyways…"

"WARNING: Spirit energy surges reaching level beyond concern. High Clearance User Korra is advised caution."

Realizing she might be broken from sleep before anyone not on the gunship was, Korra turned around, looking at the screen as she said, "Ikki, Desna, Ursa II - go, quickly!" hearing Varrick complain while Korra studied the display, "Oh, so when I call her that, I get thwacked by Zhu Li, but when you call her that, nothing? Bah!" The image of the spirit changing before her, the protrusions grew further out from the back, a deepened crack running down the middle of the half dozen protrusions and the spirit's rear. Raava grabbed her hand tightly, saying, "Forget trying to be merciful, Korra, or talking to anyone – it looks like it's almost finished changing! And I don't like the look of those protrusions…" Something in her gut telling Korra that Raava was right, she said, "Very well. Everyone, sit tight inside the plane – I don't want this thing relaying anything to Vaazula before Raava and I… deal with it. I certainly can't withstand the pressure that deep, and my mechasuit would likely share a similar fate – crushed. Raava, get us out of its sight, then take all bending from me in the physical world – you might need it. Something about this spirit…"

A short time later, Korra found herself awake, staring at the ceiling of the Raging Shark Whale. Before letting Raava take over, Korra tried one last thing – walking over to the plane's super Kuviracomputer, and placing her now glowing hand on its palm console.

The display looked ready to overload at first, a few errant sparks visible out of the corners of her eyes. The screen stabilized rapidly after a low humming noise, displaying something curious: "Avatar State enhancement active. Capabilities increased. Dark Spirit below plane identity: Akiak, Spirit of the Deeps. Accessing Spirit Library Water Tribe Legends: Scroll Fifty Seven." Wondering why Raava could not have identified the spirit earlier, Korra got her answer, seeing a scroll tell the legend of this Spirit – how a squid-crab had once "Been touched and shrouded in darkness long, long ago by a great evil" and had itself afterwards "eaten of the discarded scales of Tui and La," puzzled to see the legend mention in passing "As the great evil once again approaches, a vision depicts this spirit attempting to make a great change. Should it fail in its dark mission, it has been foreseen the Deeps will rise as does Air, hoping to find a new dark purpose."

Obviously, the great evil was Vaatu, and this Akiak, Spirit of the Deeps had failed his mission – Korra was here, and most definitively knew she was the Avatar, and who Raava was. Given its allegiance, its new dark purpose was also obvious – servitude under Vaatu, in the form of Jinshu Kuangmai. But the part about "rise as does Air"…

"BNEEEE! BNEEEE! BNEEEE! IMMENSE HOSTILE SPIRIT ENERGY SURGE DETECTED - AWAKING ALL OCCUPANTS! BNEEEE! BNEEEE! BNEEEE!"

_I know what that part means, and we don't have time to talk about it! We've got to switch! We have to – even your mechasuit can't withstand the pressure beneath the sea, just like you said!_

Korra quickly telling the squawking computer to shut up and tell everyone to stay calm and out of sight, no matter what, she ran as fast as she could to the cargo bay doors, not wanting to accidentally set off any ordinance with firebending jets, or even risk blowing something just the wrong way with airbending-produced air currents.

The last thing she felt directly was moist sea air buffeting her face and morning rays on her skin, hoping and praying this wetness didn't mean Akiak had already surfaced…

* * *

Finding herself fully in control of a physical body, Raava thought, "Korra, don't go anywhere – I want you to see if you can learn how to perform this breaking, should the need ever arise," plummeting down towards the sea below. Moist sea air buffeted her as she adjusted her trajectory with the odd fire jet or air blast, waiting on a response from Korra's spirit.

_Here's your response: fine. And I think I know on who, too – Zaheer._

Shortly before hitting the water, Raava turned incorporeal, thinking, "No – not necessarily. Now just pay attention, and watch – no talking, except questions! I have no idea how powerful 'Akiak' is."

_Powerful enough to wipe my memory and almost sever my connection to you… speaking of which, try not to get eaten, please? Otherwise, you might lose your memory as anything but human, and I'd possibly become the supreme being of light. Given how much of a hassle being the Avatar is – not for me._

The possibility never having occurred to Raava, she found herself wishing Korra hadn't brought it up, testing out something else instead – if her body could withstand the water pressure. Turning physical again and using Life's Gift to enhance her waterbending, Raava found she was able to go down deep without great issue, barely feeling any pressure at all, eventually re-sheathing the sword.

Making her final approach to the area where the cavern where this Akiak wretch had been found, Raava could see nothing in the pitch blackness. Striking her foot against the sea "floor", she cursed internally, inadvertently trying again on the mouth of the cave itself after she hit her foot on a rock trying to get the disgusting sea-bottom silt and slime off. Still not able to sense much, Raava resorted to something much cruder. Wanting to see if she could awaken Akiak, Raava began pulling water closer to her, then pushed it outwards with great force, hoping to wake the spirit. Initially getting nothing, Raava tried taking a shot in the dark with combustionbending. Surprised to see the shot actually propagate underwater, Raava watched as the light faded, faded…

Deep within the cavern, Raava saw a small explosion, temporarily illuminating a figure as massive as her spirit form. Many phosphorescent lights appeared, Raava glad to see there was still a faint glowing down what must have been the spirit's back – it had not yet metamorphosed into its winged form.

_Its WHAT form?! Raava, hurry up and kill it already – forget redemption! We can't afford that thing interfering with the evacuation if it can fly! Go into your bigger form – it's the only way you can keep it from surfacing, given how big it is!_

Knowing Korra was right, Raava shifted forms, hoping she could still bend – a kite didn't have chi paths! But then again, she had held Water for Wan, ten thousand years ago…

Able to see spirit energy much more clearly, Raava saw the massive spirit begin to half crawl, half swim its way out. The first opportunity she got, she wrapped a tentacle around one of its sixteen eyestalks, trying to snap it off. Apparently, this spirit was not stupid – as soon as she made contact, it shifted into an incorporeal form. The large vaguely triangular maw opening and revealing sickly green-yellow energies within, Raava heard a hostile clacking voice groan, "Your attempt amuses me. It will require more than that pathetic attempt to do anything to me – I am in my element, and soon to be reborn!"

Hoping the tuber-vines aboard the Raging Shark Whale could receive message despite dark energy interference and distance, Raava thought, "Everyone, get far, far away – seek land! I need better visuals. This spirit can see me – I can't see it properly!" To underscore this point, Raava felt the pressure of a hostile tentacle around her own before she noticed the movement. As a hook dug into her, she felt a twinge of dark energy, Raava hearing Vaatu's voice laugh, "You should have just left him alone." Trying a different tactic, Raava shifted, the other spirit's tentacle no longer grasping her, moving it free and becoming physical once more.

Summoning all of her power, Raava made to shoot the now physical tentacles into the other spirit, just as she had with Kuvira's father. The first attempt a failure, tentacles harmlessly bouncing off what felt like thick armor plates, she tried again, getting a similar result.

_Tentacles aren't exactly penetrating, you know._

Grumbling internally and knowing Korra was right, Raava tried taunting the spirit to the surface, booming, "You hide in this cave, away from danger, waiting on something which may never come – Vaatu's return," pleased to see the taunt had the desired effect – Akiak was now fully outside the cave, yellow-green lights pulsing intensely. The same clacking voice from before groaned, "I failed three years ago – and I will not fail again!"

_Now that I think about it, he actually sort of did us a favor. I would have never found out about Wan without his premature attempt on my identity as Avatar. Try pointing that out, and going up in the water column._

Beginning to move upwards, slowly at first, Raava taunted, "Your mission was worse than a failure – without you, the Avatar would have never connected with myself and Wan, clueless about your master's plans!" As the spirit drew closer and increasingly flustered, clicking and groaning incoherently, letting out the occasional muffled roar, Raava ascended in the water column by spinning rapidly, finding herself unable to bend in her spirit form after all.

Now at a depth that actually afforded some daylight from above, Raava shifted to her human form without saying a word, holding her sword with both hands. Akiak was so incensed at being called a failure he continued rising right into her little trap. As the spirit passed, she imagined Wan having been the one to be swallowed by Akiak, swinging Life's Gift at the nearest cluster of eyestalks.

Dancing plasma cut into the eyestalk's base, severing all four from Akiak's body, steam appearing in the water as liquid contacted superheated matter -plasma - continuously. A dark, bluish blood began spilling out from a crack near the eyestalk's former base, visible in the daylight as Raava moved onto the next set of stalks while the spirit writhed. Wanting to see if Dark Spirits could be incapacitated much like Kuvira's foe in her nightmare could, Raava thought of her unique friendship with Korra and deepening relationship with Wan as she sliced off the next set of stalks, finally plunging her sword into the top of the spirit's armored head.

As more dark blue blood came from cracks around the new wound, the wound itself cauterized by the plasma, Raava tried getting a glimpse into the spirit's mind and feelings. Finding nothing but pain, disgust and rage, she heard the Dark Spirit's clacking groan quicken and begin to include curses in a foul, universal language. Deliberately not removing the sword, she moved Life's Gift in an arc through the spirit's form towards the two final sets of eyestalks after propelling herself forward with a waterbending kick, trying to sense any weakness at the same time.

As the final two sets of stalks were severed by dancing plasma, the water around the blade superheated by the great energies, Raava heard an earthshatteringly loud cracking noise. Looking at the spirit's back, she could see the metamorphosis was almost completed, six pairs of staggered brightly phosphorescent crumpled wings protruding slightly from the creature's carapace.

_Damn - we shouldn't have talked so long!_

As the slightly translucent, dark purple and yellow wings burst forth from their thick bases and began to unfurl rapidly, they displaced a great amount of water, Raava heard a hint of splashing with terror. They were closer to the surface than she had thought! The wings assumed a final form similar to that of a Dark Spirit dragonfly bunny spirit's, except broad and gargantuan, one pair of wings per protrusion. The twelve massive wings looking more than powerful enough to lift the spirit into the air, Raava knew that unless she wanted the evacuation to get very interesting, very fast, she needed to act quickly. After a second of indecision, Raava plunged her sword further into the being's head, incapacitating it with a combination of direct energybending and heating her sword to unbearably hot levels. Twisting the sword while it was still within the spirit's head, Raava noticed that the plasma cut a circular cauterized hole. Continuing to twist the sword with both hands, Raava kicked and bent her way towards the mouth, cutting a deep channel around the clamped-shut maw.

Even though she could sense Akiak was beginning to break, and not just in the physical sense, Raava finished the job, the Dark Spirit no longer possessing a mouth, or for that matter, a face at all - only a cauterized swathe of yellow-green flesh. Readying to begin breaking the spirit apart, Raava heard Korra's voice say _Wait – perhaps it will be willing to talk, just like Kuvira's "brain" had to be brought down to size before being reasonable._

Bending away disgusting dark blue blood from herself, Raava asked, sword still embedded in that spirit's form near motionless pincers, "Is there any reason I should not break apart your spirit?" Raava cursed, wondering if the spirit was bluffing when it clacked, though it now had no mouth, "Is there any reason I should deal with you, when I am about to fly free? You haven't even touched my wings! I too can see without eyes…" Dismissing any concerns Korra might have had, Raava began the same process she had on Kuvira's father, making sure to keep the spirit immobilized.

The judgment producing much the same result as she had figured it would, Raava moved on, able to sense the spirit getting more and more desperate. Managing to partially decompose the bonds that held Akiak together as one, Raava felt an odd energy snapping like an overtaxed string on a cello within Akiak through her sword. This snapping was followed by a weak angry groaning click, "You – temporarily severed my connection to Vaatu! What gives you the right, to… break me down, just for not choosing _your_ brand of human?"

Raava not immediately knowing the answer to that question, she simply responded, "We didn't want you causing us any problems, and we didn't want to wait and find out what kind of trouble you would make!" Beginning the end for this spirit before her, dismissing a small doubt in the back of her head, a familiar voice gloated from her chest, "Perhaps we are not so different after all, Raava, supposed counterpart, foil to me – dispersing another spirit into shards of the soul, just for opposing you, based on something it _might _do. Just like you wanted to do to Kuvira's father when he proved bothersome!" Raava hoped that little pest was finished, doubt intensifying…

"Perhaps the first crack in those barriers will be caused by you, Raava, and not an allied human or our shared spirit foe…"

_Maybe this isn't the right answer, Raava. Try to find another way…_

Trying something she knew she probably shouldn't be even considering, Raava shared a little bit of information about the evacuation with this Akiak spirit, knowing she could just retract it as she asked, "If I spare you, do you promise to not interfere with this operation?" Getting a low clicking response of, "Perhaps if you bestow onto me the gifts you have given that larger spirit, but of Air and Water," Raava found herself not caring if the shield did crack completely right now, saying before sending out another disrupting energy pulse, "What? No! Never! Forget it, you little greedy idiot!"

_What a "gimme gimme" moron! Raava, part of me is tempted to take his deal, to see if this spirit's "transformative experience" would turn him to our side – but taking it strikes me mainly as naïve, and I know multiple people – and even another supreme being of light - have told me I'm too naïve. Not to mention the longer-term view – Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't need two dual bending spirits, all four elements, one big enough physically to be a menace without bending! We can't guarantee this Spirit of the Deeps would keep his word. Make one last offer, then… Just end this._

Making to do exactly that, Raava held the final disrupting energy pulse back within her sword, telling the spirit, "This is your last chance. You can feel the energy in this blade - your very end. The Avatar herself, a very merciful individual, one who you personally did great harm to, wants to see you scattered to the edges of the Universe, mainly out of mistrust and suspicion over your 'promise'. Choose – change sides, permanently, and receive the gift of dual bending and exist, or stay stubborn and thick-headed like the squid-crab you once were, and become nothing." Energy within her sword eager to finish its course, to break apart the spirit in front of her, Raava waited on a response.

On a whim, not knowing exactly how much Akiak knew, having been dormant for over three years, she let a little more information slip, choosing her thoughts carefully: "One Nation, aside from the United Republic, is particularly threatened by the possibility of Long Yumao's forces pouring forth from the spirit portals. The only one that as a whole kept records of your existence, one Tribe housing the two fish whose scales you once dined on. Yue and La have chosen our side," adding with a grin, "The Moon and Ocean spirits are very powerful. They might not be too keen on you downing a bunch of innocent civilians in airships over the open ocean, and have the power to encase you in ice until I can come and start this whole process over again, should I let you go without converting or receiving bending first, or you betray me."

Raava heard a low, deep groaning, ecstatic to actually sense her own energy beyond her body, albeit at a very low level within Akiak. Still not withdrawing the sword, she listened in disbelief as a weak clacking voice said, "Put this way, the choice is obvious – the two spirits from which I draw some of my power would likely obliterate me even if I duped you successfully and received dual bending. You will many need to split my spirit nonetheless – there is but a spark of yourself within. The rest is much as before..."

Changing the energy stored within her sword, Raava let it flow, seeing the love grow slowly, and begin to have physical effects as well. The spirit's face shifted, an empty-looking shell re-formed the shape of lost eyestalks and the spirit's face itself. Raava noticed with alarm these shells still appeared much as they had before – dark purples and yellow-greens instead of white or blue. Wondering if she had been duped after all, a clacking voice said, "The old… left behind… in the shell… alive. Split from… the new… within. Keep… pumping… or old… overwhelming."

_Agh, damn it! Sounds to me like Jinshu Kuangmai might get a new spirit ally after all – admittedly, an empty husk! Let's hope it can't bend…_

Not about to obliterate and scatter a spirit that had just switched side as much as it could, even if Korra was right and the husk would remain animated and "house" a new –or would it be old? - Dark Spirit, Raava tried to think of the two best candidates to hurry along the transformation process. Korra was obviously not an option, given she was currently nowhere and everywhere, all at once, within. Tonraq and even Senna would likely not be pleased to see this spirit, given it once tried to end their daughter, and the light within the spirit was… still unimpressive or wholly convincing. For Water, this only left Katara and her daughter Kya as possibilities. Given Katara was likely less than a decade from pushing up lilies, almost 90, even though she was the better choice from the spiritual point of view, Kya would have to do. The obvious choice for the airbender Jinora or Tenzin, Raava found herself needing help on deciding who.

Simultaneously keeping up the energy flow, Raava thought, relaying her wishes to the tuber-vines connected to the Raging Shark Whale's super Kuviracomputer, "Patientstem, Jinorahead, I want you to bring the transport close enough for Kya, Tenzin and Jinora to bend their way over here, then pull back," relaying what had happened to a curious Jinorahead and asking for the plane's computer to relay what ended up occurring.

After what seemed like an eternity, Raava feeding her energy into the spirit and noticing that it really did appear to be splitting into two diametrically opposed beings, one housed within the shell and a thin layer of flesh, the other within the core. Raava began raising it to the surface once she was informed by Patientstem that the wait for help was over. Akiak's form still immobilized, she turned to face the source of whipping wind and water, surprised to see that much more than Tenzin, Jinora and Kya had come. Katara the only one absent that had anything to do with Air or Water, she asked, "I thought I said just three of you – what did that tuber-vine say exactly?" One of the more unlikely figures shook its head, Senna saying, "Nothing. This spirit wants to change, just like Kuvira did – and it needs help. We all decided to come, and it was everything Tenzin could do to get his mother to stay behind," laughing as she added, "Katara's acting more like she's still my age, as best as her body will let her…"

As Raava heard Senna's laughter, she noticed the process of half purification, half splitting accelerated. Raava heard a low clacking groan struggle out, "Vaatu… never… happy…" Realizing that even Pema could help, despite not yet having actually become an airbender, Raava ordered, "Everyone, try and grab ahold of something on me, or even on this spirit, 'Akiak' – going to need a new name, if everything goes as planned. But be careful of the husk!"

Doing something Raava hadn't thought of, she saw Korra's parents and Kya encase most of the spirit in ice, Tonraq yelling, "That should buy us some time if it does try to attack– now let's hurry!" Raava feeling multiple people's hands on her body, she saw that Senna and Jinora went straight for the spirit's exposed carapace. As soon as the young airbender's hand made contact, Raava felt herself acting as a conduit for something much greater than herself. As the non-judgmental and re-assuring energy flowed, Raava heard a titanic cracking sound drown out the sounds of whooshing air and splashing water.

The spirit shuddered, Raava able to feel that the transformation was nearing completion. After a low sigh, Raava sensed a vulnerable form taking shape within the confines of the husk at the same time the husk itself coursed with dark energies. The two opposing energies seemingly at a standstill, nothing occurring, the only sound she heard was that of waves and straining, Raava asked, "If I don't split you, this will never end - I can sense your agony. Do I have your permission to possibly obliterate you? I've never done this to completion before!"

"End… this… stalemate. Pain… indescribable. And… 'Jinora'… says… human-y? 'Kuvira'… pain?"

After warning everyone to be on alert, Raava changed the energy within her sword - to split, to sunder, not to mend. Focusing on the remaining link between light and dark, Raava attempted to make a clean cut, but found that she could not - every time she directed the energy to cut perfectly between light and dark, a force more powerful than any other supreme being she had ever interacted with interfered.

Growing tired of this, Raava made a messy cut, moving her sword at the same time severing the link, such that dark remained within the new, and light infected the old. Wondering why she had been unable to cut the way she wanted as she moved on to crippling the husk spirit's ability to fight as best she could, Raava felt a concept without words pass through her mind. At first, she was unable to put it into words, feeling embarrassed when Korra beat her to the punch: _Light cannot exist without darkness, and darkness cannot exist without light._

_Now let me out of here after you finish whatever you're doing! Wherever I "am" is just… weird._

Laughing, Raava thought, "Welcome to my world," trying to finish the job on the husk - to sever the odd link between all Dark Spirits and this one.

_Maybe it's pointless - this spirit will likely not die, and flee to Jinshu Kuangmai eventually, and tell all then. Then again, any delay could mean the difference…_

Finally finding her mark, Raava thrust her sword into the husks' chest after swimming down, sweeping the sword upwards as she said, "Let's see you squeal to anyone now!"

Raava heard a weak splashing sound. Looking up, she saw two small globules of water in the early morning light. Following an immense cracking sound, ice splinters visible in the edges of her vision, a much larger sphere of water rose above the two spirits - and split in two, one half steaming lightly.

Raava's eyes widened, yelling, "Everyone, out of here, now - something is acidbending, and it doesn't look friendly! Go, run, n - "

Raava found herself interrupted, and once again, on the inside, looking out through another's eyes. Confused - and furious!

* * *

Having seen how vulnerable the new spirit appeared, not even having a well-defined form yet, more mist and wind than anything physical, Korra wasn't about to let Raava ask people to cut and run. Making sure her most prized physical possession had been swapped for Raava's massive two-handed sword, she felt her hand touch her betrothal necklace, smiling, taking a deep breath as she thought, "For you..." Fully herself again, Korra bellowed, keeping a close eye on the slowly stirring husk, "I helped Kuvira when two spirits threatened her, and this new spirit is no less deserving of our help! I'm not abandoning that new spirit to Akiak!" Looking away for a moment, Korra was glad to see no one tried to run, continuing, "Jinora, Kai, Opal - defend the new spirit as best you can. Mom, dad, Kya, try to keep the acid away from everyone. Tenzin, help Pema and Meelo back to his gunship - it needs a pilot. I'm calling for help!"

_You damned idiot! What do you think you're doing - do you not remember what your own acid did to solid rock?! I don't know if even metal will stand up to that - let alone flesh! This is the new spirit's fight now - not ours!_

Ignoring Raava, Korra tried her best to contact Asami, anyone left behind on the ship. Connecting with someone unlikely, Korra told a confused-looking Wu, "Wu, I need you to tell everyone with a mechasuit to get ready for a big fight, and tell Sharktooth to bring me mine." Getting a dirty look from Wu, the former Prince asked, "What, now it's discriminating against benders?" Korra said, "What? No, it's just that - I don't have time for this! Earthbenders aren't exactly useful right now… We're in the middle of an ocean! Bolin, Lin and Su need to stay behind and reload the gunship's ammunition with Bumju's help, and tell Katara to get ready - we might have some nasty acid burns incoming!" Wu looked panicked, asking as he twitched slightly, "B-but I thought only you and your mother could do that?"

_Wait… your mother was touching Akiak directly. Crap. _

_My best guess is if a bender has a special skill, and they are involved in the bending granting process… it is bestowed on the spirit. Great - if we go through with our deal, Vaazula will be a blood-iron bender for sure - though I have no idea where Fire will come from…_

The image of someone resembling Azula wielding control over another's body disturbed Korra so much she accidentally broke the connection without explaining what Raava had said to Wu. Looking up, it was obvious as the large hostile spirit overhead that she wouldn't get a chance to reconnect - she'd be too busy fighting.

Seeing the husk, and what Korra assumed the new light spirit would look like, dread rose slowly from within her. The husk now pulsing with dark energy, Korra saw that one final abrupt transformation had taken place – the dark energies actually left the husk occasionally! The beating of purple-hued wings nearly drowned out a roaring boast: "Your mercy will cost you dearly – but I appreciate your foolishness nonetheless! Now, to destroy this new soft-hearted impostor – I am older than even Wan, and the true Spirit of the Deeps!"

Entering into the Avatar State, Korra yelled, "Protect the new spirit – I'm going to see what I can do to occupy the old – "

Korra's eyes widened, two lengthy purple tentacles shooting towards her almost imperceptibly. Rising in the air, clutching her betrothal necklace with her left hand, Korra splayed her right hand outwards. A large blue fire stream with a brightly burning tip shooting from her palm, right arm moving in a circle, a large blue incinerating disc appeared in front of her. Realizing she'd need both hands to finish the half-shell, Korra released her grip on the betrothal necklace, thinking, "If he mars me with acid, let alone takes me from…" The idea of leaving Asami alone, or even herself sporting a scar that would make Zuko's look like child's play, leaving Asami with less to look at…

Drawing on the rage she felt, Korra saw the flames intensify, their crackling now equal to the roar coming from the other side. Behind her thickened airborne half-sphere firewall, Korra advanced slightly towards the hostile spirit. Barely able to see anything on the other side, Korra frowned when she heard a clacking roar boast, "I remember everything… the can't delay me forever. I have nothing better to do, but you…"

Not having any idea what time it was, Korra began moving her hands closer together as the spirit continued taunting her, concentrating solely on her firebending. The blue firewall in front of her condensed and shrank as she did so, eventually forming a cone. The first time both of her hands were aligned, she pushed forward, yelling, "Eat this, arrogant overgrown lobster-crab!" The spirit finally shut up, though its movements were far too late… A massive concentrated fire jet connected with Akiak, swearing she could see white flame in the center of the superheated core.

Seeing that her target was smoking and reeling from the assault, many of its wing's tips engulfed in blue fire. Breathing heavily and beginning to feel the effects of her exertions on such little sleep, Korra looked around, seeing something that made her heart drop. Mako was nearby, defending himself against the onslaught of multiple untouched tentacles, dual dao swords sheathed in flame as they severed tentacles as one weapon.

Korra immediately rushed to his aid, yelling, "I'm coming - be careful!" One tentacle coming far too close for comfort and seeing that Mako was bleeding from multiple shallow puncture wounds, one near a gap and puncture in his plate armor at the groin bleeding particularly badly, Korra knew she would have her work cut out for her.

Hearing the roar of spirit engines behind her, a re-assuring tinny voice announced, "I'm here, Korra - I'll try to defend you while you patch Mako up!" Hearing another familiar voice yell, "I'm gonna carve you up into sushi for what you did to my boyfriend!" Korra yelled, grabbing Mako's hand, "Come on - Asami and Kuvira have us covered!" Seeing Mako wincing in pain, she asked, still staring at the intermittently bleeding wound near Mako's crotch, "How long were you defending me?"

Without a hint of anger, Mako gasped, "As long as… you were making that… amazing… attack." Feeling horrified that she had inadvertently caused his injuries, Korra knew that a lot of his armor would have to come off to get at his multiple wounds properly. Korra only had time to "explain" through infobending at first through the odd skin contact as she removed the armor. More pieces than she would have liked required manual removal due to partial penetration by barbs she was amazed had been able to puncture metal. Seeing Mako blushing slightly and noticing she herself was blushing, Korra said as she focused on the worst wound first, "It's just as awkward for me to have to try and heal down there as it is for you." Gritting his teeth as Korra tried to remove some latent dark energy in the wounds, he said, getting a wild look in his eyes halfway through, "You've got that right. I'm so glad you're - screw Asami, and Kuvira. You, me, later?"

Korra gave him a disgusted look, saying, "WHAT? What's wrong with you?" Forgetting the blood loss, Korra focused on the dark energy in the groin wound, finding it was nothing like she had ever felt before. The dark energy began to yield to removal after Mako shook his head, saying, "GAAH! I lost my head… What… what is that garbage in there?" Taking a deep breath, saying, "I don't know - but I'm going to get it out," Korra thought after, "Raava - this energy feels like Vaatu's, but… different. 'Human-y'…corruption?"

Oh my - another _unanticipated _side effect of becoming more human-y.

Korra shook her head, hardly able to believe the voice had been Vaatu's. Still unable to completely get the dark energy out completely, Korra told Mako, "There's something off about the energy - I want you to close your eyes, grab something important to you - other than me." Looking baffled, Mako held one dao sword by the yin yang metal and gem inlay, Korra seeing the spiritwire glow white momentarily. The dark energy now much easier to remove, Korra cleansed Mako completely of it. Internally hearing Vaatu's voice hiss and say Damn!, Korra couldn't help but wonder what Raava was doing, explaining to Mako as she finished healing the wounds with glowing hands, "Remember how Vaatu could turn spirits dark? I hope I'm wrong, but… if what just happened isn't just a fluke, spirits aren't the only thing strongly influenced…"

Korra felt sick when Mako nodded, saying, "That… sounds about right. One minute, I felt fine, the next, wanting to cheat, bitter, full of hatred - but only for a little bit, when you tried removing the energy by force." Mako reassured her, patting her on the back as they both hovered above the water on flame jets, "Don't worry - I felt a lot of energy enter into me when that barb first made contact near my goods, and just shrugged it off." Trying to see if he was lying, Korra placed a hand on his arm, not wanting to try and feel for an erratic heartbeat near Mako's crotch, of all places. His heartbeat was completely normal - as was hers.

"You should be glad I'm the first one to see you two - without context, I am sure both of your girlfriends would have many… questions."

Bending all the armor back onto Mako in a panic, Korra spluttered, grinning nervously, "Uh, hi, Sharktooth! Glad… you're the one who came over! Heh…" Mako laughed, saying with slight nervousness, "Me too - I remember what Kuvira did to her last breakup," Sharktooth laughing dryly just as the spirit he had a link to might have. Finally feeling comfortable enough to exit the Avatar State, Korra heard Raava's voice intone, _Sorry about that - I was busy helping you, and talking to the new spirit in the meantime._

Hearing a loud clacking groan in the background, Korra knew she didn't have time for catchup, telling Mako before entering her mechasuit, "Go back to Katara, and tell her what happened to you. She needs to know about the dark energy if anyone else gets snagged." Mako nodded, reminding Korra before jetting off, "You might want to take it easy, Korra - you have to synthesize stuff after this."

Korra laughed, saying as she began moving Korra's Spirit, "Yeah, right - not use this new suit fully? I'm not holding back in this thing!?" Korra heard dry laughter, what must have been Sharktooth saying, "Why am I not surprised… I suppose I could dispense some Jang Hui stimulant - it appears Akiak does not wish to give you a break." Hearing a loud roar from outside the mechasuit and a metallic scraping, Korra looked to her spiritglass display, seeing her mechasuit was under attack.

Entering the Avatar State once again, Korra smiled to see every single spiritwire on her mechasuit and twin Avatar's Bites glowed a brilliant white with a hint of light blue – just like her eyes. Apparently, some of Raava's energy transferred directly through exposed spiritwire, Korra hearing Akiak let out a jagged roar of pain and pure fury as tentacles peeled off. Hearing Zhu Li say over the comm system, "We're going to start bombardment soon - don't get yourself in the way!" Korra told her co-pilot, "Sharktooth, link to me and give me some stimulant right now," figuring a direct link would make friendly fire almost impossible.

Korra winced, feeling a stab in the back of her neck at the same time metal cables penetrated her armpits. The pain subsided rapidly, Korra unsure if it was the Jang Hui kelp tea's work. Feeling her senses heighten, Korra flew in for her first attack ever inside Korra's Spirit. Dodging and weaving, Korra noticed a different kind of tentacle - ones made from pure dark energy! Looking to the source, she could see Kuvira and Asami must have been busy, many circular holes in the husk letting these new thick tentacles spill out, some looking substantial enough to support the spirit on land. Realizing that any cuts she made in the main carapace would likely have the same affect, Korra rose upwards, her mechasuit disobeying her command at the last second.

After a large volume of fire tore into Akiak, Korra heard staggered barking groans after many respectable-sized holes appeared in Akiak's wing membranes, Korra wondering if the Varrick gun's projectiles were actually somehow faster than sound itself. Realizing Meelo must be trying to knock out the spirit's ability to fly, Korra tried out a weapon she hadn't before, pointing her left arm at the base of one of the twelve massive wings, a mist rising around the spirit before she did so. Firing the medium-sized Liser at her barely visible target, Korra cursed at the result, saying, "Man, what? Why isn't it working - don't tell me this thing can't penetrate a bit of fog!" Keeping her hand steady and thinking, "Increase power to the Liser!" Korra saw the red dot on the outside of the shielding mist seemingly begin to boil the fog screen away. Somehow knowing she had been joined by Asami and Kuvira, Korra saw the fog screen begin to give way entirely at that one point, Korra hearing Asami say, "Guess these Lisers aren't perfect after all!" Korra sighed, realizing her dream of preventing any Korranium weapon use with Lisers just got more complicated if a bit of fog could make them not hit. Saying as much, she heard Kuvira chide, "Focus more on this, less on the future! The fog's almost all boiled away!" Korra heard an odd clacking laugh as the fog came back in force, Akiak boasting, "I'm wasting all kinds of time with this! Keep it up, fools!" Looking up from her mark, Korra saw the entire spirit was shrouded by mist, groaning in frustration when she heard Zhu Li say over the comm, "I can't see much in there - get that fog off him!"

Realizing she was the only waterbender with a mechasuit, Korra did exactly that, fighting an elemental tug-of-war with Akiak. Winning the tug-of-war, she yelled, "Hit him hard, now!" Seeing the wings begin to move, Korra swearing she saw small patches of shimmering water near slowly shrinking bullet holes, she tore the mist under her control in two, splashing the highly concentrated acid and base against different wing's attachment points. Repeating this once more, hearing a loud roaring as she did so, Korra saw the first Meesiles made contact after another round of Varrick gun fire, both physical and spirit warheads causing great damage to Akiak's wing membranes and back. The spirit appeared to list, yelling as tentacles flailed blindly at Korra's mechasuit, "NO - not my lift! Just what is your game?"

Seeing an opportunity to sever many tentacles at once, Korra detached her thighblades, glad to see their wire glowing with Avatar State energy and plasma dancing around their frontal edges. Trying to cut off the tentacles at their source as Varrick gun rounds continued, Korra let out a frustrated yell when the plasma vanished shortly before impact, listening with irritation as Sharktooth said dryly, "It appears that feature has a minimum range of roughly 40 feet." Remembering Mako managed to sever tentacles without plasma, Korra set out to sever every tentacle she could with pure steel, hearing metallic scraping on her mechasuit periodically. Even though one large barb had managed to penetrate Mako's armor partially earlier, Korra wasn't concerned - her mechasuit's armor was much thicker, and apparently protected more directly by the spirit wire than anyone had hoped.

Noticing too late on her display that one tentacle seemed to be aiming for something, Korra felt her mechasuit wobble, frowning and feeling some fear when she heard an alarm wail and "SPIRITWIRE CONNECTION TO LEFT FOOT COMPROMISED" pop up on her screen. Hearing an ominous weak splutter and Akiak roar, "Let's see how you like it the other way around, Avatar b-", her mechasuit leaned left after another scraping noise, the spiritwire connection severed completely. Knowing she was vital to keeping Akiak open to fire, Korra persisted in her attack and keeping the fog off, trying to see if she could fully support her mechasuit's mass with Avatar State flight or not. Thinking of Asami and Atokara, Korra shut off power to the other foot's spirit engine. Korra was genuinely surprised to hear Sharktooth hiss, "Test successful - though I wish you hadn't done that in the middle of a battle! Re-directing power to spirit weaponry…"

Shortly after, Korra tried something different. Unable to touch the display in front of her, she envisioned crosshairs around key points of Akiak's body, smiling to see them appear on her display. Not sure if everyone else could see, Korra asked over the radio, assigning names to every target by thought at the same time, "Can everyone see that, and your names?" Even Meelo answering "Yeah!", Korra yelled, "Then let's cripple this stupid thing so we can get to Omashu already! Hit your marks hard!" Hearing some cheering over the radio, her spirit weaponry fired all of its own, noticing many other beams of varying strength hitting Akiak at the same time in the key places she had designated. Most had a light blue core with twin white and blue helixes around the center, while some were a striking solid blue beam with twin bright white helixes. Akiak beginning to buckle under the bombardment, Korra noticed with a smile that both of Kuvira's breastbeams were in this latter, apparently more powerful category - though they weren't very thick.

Remembering her own mechasuit's damage and Kuvira's desire for more spirit weaponry on her own, not to mention Varrick's new replacement weapons, Korra said over the radio, "If anyone gets ideas on changes to equipment, don't be shy!" Akiak still resisted, incompletely incapacitated, Korra listened as Meelo asked, "What are we doing again, trying to pummel this spirit more? He looks pretty beat up to me!" Korra explained the small amount of self-healing the spirit seemed capable of, Varrick interrupting, "Just give him a few VarriMag rounds, Meelo – my guns are useless! Never got the chance to fix 'em."

Hearing four loud cracks shortly after, only a few seconds in between each, Korra looked in amazement at the continuous chunks taken out of Akiak's wings, what must have been a Varrick round's path continuing through the main husk like it was tissue paper. Remember even Raava's tentacles had not penetrated Akiak's armor, Korra said as the spirit roared when four more staggered cracks rang out, "Varrick, those things should be mandatory - wow!" Clearly proud, Varrick said, "Darn tootin' they should be. Maybe on everything!" After another four cracks rang out, Korra could see all of Akiak's wings were in tatters, the projections they all attached to looking worse for the wear as well. Korra heard Varrick whooping over the radio, an annoyed voice she didn't recognize saying, "I thought I told you… be patient! MEELO, cease fire immediately - there's something wrong with the VarriMag guns!" Figuring Akiak wasn't going anywhere soon, Korra looked towards the Raging Shark Whale, her heart dropped when she saw the weapons - the metal was almost white-hot in places!

Korra made her way towards the aircraft's nose as best she could, using heat re-direction to continue cooling the now orange VarriMag gun barrels, returning them to their proper shape using metalbending. Hearing radio chatter, Korra could hear something bad had happened, asking, "Where did Akiak go?"

Korra's stomach dropped when she heard Kuvira grumble over the radio, "DOWN, and towards Omashu, according to Conscience! I tried holding him back with metalbending cables, but… they snapped! He's still too strong! Can't fly, but given how quickly the metal broke, he can still swim well!" Knowing Akiak might still be a threat to the evacuation, even with his power of flight crippled, Korra thought, "Sharktooth, re-direct weapon power to spirit energy sensors!"

Seeing a large Dark Spirit quickly fleeing the scene underwater, Korra began to despair, thinking all their efforts had been in vain – even with weak flight, Akiak could ruin the evacuation, especially during the day when Yue couldn't help any. It wasn't until Sharktooth highlighted another massive spirit for her that Korra felt hope return, thinking, "Come on, new spirit - catch him!"

_Her__name is Imiqanuri, and she has something that darkened spirit could never hope to have. It's her fight for now, possibly a while - why don't you fix your mechasuit and work on the Firelord's spirit weapons?_

* * *

Imiqanuri, as she now called herself, had barely felt her shell finish hardening before she heard a voice "she" might have groaned to hear only a short time ago command, _You need to catch Akiak - prevent him from getting away! See if you can bring him back to the surface - you're the only one who can get him right now!_

Plunging beneath the waves, her elongated segmented body undulated rapidly as she propelled and bent herself towards the spirit she had only a short time ago been part of. Akiak beginning to disappear into the gloom, she followed, her eyes just as adept as his in the low light, bright white phosphorescence from her own body helping light the waters. Sweeping her right immense blue, white phosphorescence speckled claw in an arc, she manipulated the water around Akiak, spinning him to face away from his goal - Omashu. Feeling little resistance as she dragged the other spirit closer, she could tell the other spirit still wanted to fight, though not apparently with the human who gave her a second chance. Imiqanuri used some of her countless swimmerets to adjust her position, easily avoiding Akiak's tentacles, taunting Akiak, "Sure aren't very _brave_, running away from a fight with a 'lowly' human?"

Hearing a clacking groan propagate through the water, Imiqanuri wish she had the mouth parts necessary to laugh in a "human-y" way when Akiak retorted, "I know when I'm outnumbered - I wasn't outclassed! Now, at this depth, I just have you to contend with!" Some bubbles escaped her mouthparts when she heard Raava intone, _Looks like he's just as thick and prideful as Vaatu_, idly wondering if Raava would see fit to give her a "human-y" form. A huge, multi-segmented elongated crab wasn't exactly comforting, much less the large spike and its acid-based weapon that rested underneath her final section's lobstercrab-like tail.

_Of course - but later! I'm afraid you'll be going to the Southern Spirit Portal right after this - Korra's first home is not well defended right now._

Akiak finally closing the distance between them, Imiqanuri kicked like a gargantuan shrimp to avoid his many outstretched tentacles, grabbing hold of a good portion of them at the same time with her elongated left claw. Wondering if a water spirit could be "drowned", she switched, holding the squirming tentacles with her larger blue claw while using the spindly "air claw" to make a small bubble of air around Akiak's head, drawing from gas in the water.

Given how his body shuddered slightly, she must have done something right, maneuvering her tail into position near Akiak's squid-like rear, vaguely disappointed to hear him laugh, clacking rapidly, "You can't drown me - but I find the energy in that other claw weak, yet incapacitating! Just how 'human-y' did you go, softy?" More bubbles escaped Imiqanuri's mandibles as she said, realizing the bubbles must have been some form of laughter, "Enough to want a 'human-y' form of my own - trying to rescue sailors or airmen in this form would likely just make them all run away!"

Hearing Akiak roar, "SAVE them? Why?" Imiqanuri clamped down harder with her right claw, clacking hotly, "I wouldn't expect you to understand - the Avatar and Raava wanted to save me, not you! And I want to pay back the favor!" The other spirit groaned lowly, "You're a fool - the only reason… they didn't scatter us to the… sea's currents was… self interest!" Knowing Akiak was partly right, Imiqanuri took out her anger and frustration by tearing on the other spirit's tentacles at the same time forming a bit of acid inside a cavity near her tail. Akiak distracted by the tug, which actually snapped off some tentacles, she plunged her tail's stowed spike into the spirit's fleshy rear, the hard tip easily penetrating the hollow, soft flesh.

Injecting her load of acid into the other spirit's vital end, she barely noticed Akiak making a move of his own, a single large hooked tentacle managing to land directly between her eyes. Many large hooks penetrated her still-weak carapace…

Feeling dark, hateful energies enter her being, Imiqanuri heard Akiak boast, "You know what I said about convenience to be true - they wanted to destroy forever, not convert." Hearing another much greater spirit's voice say Yes - give up, give in to me once again, she could feel darkness within grow…

Vision from her multiple eyes dimming, Imiqanuri saw shifting images of two human women appear, recognizing both second hand. The most powerful spoke first, saying, "When I was 'just' Princess Yue, I thought all hope was lost after that despicable man Admiral Zhao killed Tui, the Moon spirit. After fighting off his own nation's soldiers, a former enemy, Iroh, convinced me to give the gift of life back to Tui. In doing so, giving hope back to the world, I became the Moon spirit myself - and I can sense some of my energy within you." Smiling, Yue continued, "Light cannot be extinguished by dark - not without a fight, and certainly not with allies like these."

The human turned moon spirit vanished, Imiqanuri hearing what must have been Kuvira speak, as though from an odd recording, "I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself." Puzzled as to what this had to do with the energies entering her, she saw images of Raava fighting Akiak - once "her" - directly, and many other images of the current Avatar, Avatar Korra, who had come up with the idea of making one last offer, fighting past battles personally… and almost losing, many times.

Remembering the struggles Kuvira went through, what Avatar Korra endured, seeing a condensed and edited version of ten thousand years of Avatars, Imiqanuri turned Akiak's attempted corruption back against him, feeling a being much more powerful than herself assisting as images and information flowed through a now frozen-in-place tentacle. A voice not her own rang out clear.

_We are about equality - even the strongest among us cannot win by ourselves. We all pull our share, and would rather see a new ally than a new corpse or… husk. You will find nothing but lies and "untimely" weakness in the dark - alone, when you need your so called "friends" the most._

Hearing a clacking screech, she asked, "You heard Raava, given your pathetic cursing and screaming. Tell me – what do you owe Vaatu?" Akiak letting out a low groan, "He created us – elevated us above a lowly animal, a 'father'," she responded hotly, beginning to wrap herself around a weakly struggling Akiak, "He is no more my father than Kuvira's birth father is hers – I choose my own fate," adding, "I'm afraid the Avatar and Raava will decide yours."

Moving her tail in a slashing motion, Imiqanuri successfully severed most of Akiak's remaining rear tentacles, knowing the spirit would take a long time to get anywhere after that. The tentacle between her main eyestalks retracted, Akiak howled as she began to bring him to the surface, "They can scatter me for all I care – but it would do them more damage than I can do in this state anyways!"

Feeling one of her crabshell segments break the water's surface, Imiqanuri tried out something she hadn't gotten a chance to use yet – weightless flight. Her body clearing the water, she would have smiled if she could to hear a tinny version of Kuvira's voice yell, "She's got him! Man – you really did a number on him, didn't you?" Imiqanuri let out a bubbling, "Yes, I did," wondering why only Kuvira and Avatar Korra greeted her.

_Everyone else is in the transport up above, designing changes or going back to sleep. We've got a schedule to make – Korra can handle it from here._

* * *

Korra had to admit, she wasn't sure entirely at first which spirit was Akiak and which was "Imiqanuri" at first glance, helpful labels appearing on her repaired mechasuit's display as Sharktooth nonchalantly stated, "Now you can see why she wants a 'human-y' form so badly." The new spirit really did have the power of weightless flight, given her wings were only partially formed yet she was holding Akiak aloft.

Jetting her way over to the two spirit's heads, Korra placed her mechasuit's palm onto Imiqanuri's beautiful blue primary shell, realizing the small white glowing dots formed the shape of a Master airbender's tattoo. Knowing she wasn't there for pleasantries, Korra moved on after a brief information exchange with the spirit, glad to see the spirit loosen her hold as she had been told. Speaking directly to Akiak, Korra brandished her dual armblades, saying before flaring plasma onto them for the first time, spiritwire glowing brilliantly, "I'm not going to kill you or scatter you to the edges of the Universe, Akiak – but when I'm done with you, you'll wish I had."

Sticking her right armblade into Akiak's "forehead", she attempted to energybend the spirit and remove his bending abilities. Seeing dark energy begin to creep into her right Avatar's Bite, the spiritwire beginning to glow black and red, Korra thought, "The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed," seeing the brilliant blue-white energy begin to creep the opposite direction, beginning to envelop Akiak's form.

Hearing a screaming roar of, "YOU CANNOT GIVE, THEN TAKE AWAY!" Korra found Akiak "cleansed" of her own energy, cursing him heartily before saying, "What the hell – even Ozai didn't react that strongly to being stripped!" Akiak let out a loud clacking laugh, calmly stating, "You may be able to take a human's bending away, but theirs was granted by the Universe – not Raava. The Universe and Raava are not one in the same – and it doesn't take kindly to retracting gifts."

_Akiak doesn't strike me as being particularly… knowledgeable. Quick, retract your blade, cripple him, and leave him be! He just might be getting information from Vaatu with your blade stuck in like that!_

Her armblade out of the spirit's head by the time Raava had finished intoning "blade", Korra looked at what was exposed of Akiak, seeing only one thing left to cripple – the head and eyes. Waving Imiqanuri off the front and asking for support from Kuvira, Korra tried out another weapon for the first time, using her chain and "mercury" tip to slice off the husks's eyes in two clean sweeps, not even having to move her body at all. Detaching the thighblades for the second time, Korra bent the glowing plasma-edged weapons to sever Akiak's "face", noticing towards the end that both elongated shield-shaped weapons did not require manual control – she need only think of where they were to go.

Getting an explanation when she heard Sharktooth say, "As you use equipment, I learn to use it myself, remember," Korra attempted creating cauterizing blue fire as the two thighblades lingered over where Akiak's face had once been, hearing the spirit scream, "GAH – the fire stings, all its repulsive… mercy!" even though he was down one "head". Remembering the spirit had slight healing abilities, Korra yelled over the radio, "Kuvira, shoot him full of holes, blow the whole lot of your explosive grenades, and we're outta here!"

Jetting backwards as her thighblades returned, Korra found herself wishing for physical weapons once again, seeing the sizeable pockmarks Kuvira's grenades left in Akiak's husk. Three wings to the front falling off entirely, their connections blown to bits by many small explosions, Imiqanuri severed another one with her dagger-like tail weapon.

Lopping off another with her chain and "mercury" scythe combination, before Korra could unsheathe her thighblades once again to finish the job, Akiak surprised her by dropping suddenly. Hearing his pitiful low groan, Korra exited the Avatar State, almost feeling sorry for him, the feeling vanishing when she heard him groan lowly before retreating, "Southern… Water… Tribe… destroy… too… weak… to…" Korra recoiled slightly, seeing Imiqanuri strike the fleeing foe with her tail viciously, the spirit severing another wing with her blow as she hissed, "Not in a hundred Harmonic Convergences, vile thing! Get out of my sight, before I kill you!" Akiak obliging rapidly, Korra had the feeling she wouldn't be seeing him again anytime soon – and realized the new Jinora had given Imiqanuri more than the power to fly without effort.

The spirit in question dropped into the sea below suddenly, dark blue waterbound mouthparts frothing in apparent confusion and frustration. Recalling Jinora's misadventures with weightless flight, Korra jetted down, imparting more about the new technique to the spirit as she said, "It appears that trying to grab someone's penis isn't the only thing that can break flight – I could see the malice in that final blow." Hearing the spirit think, "I… I'm sorry, but hearing what he said, something… took over…" Korra re-assured the spirit, "That sounded awfully human – maybe we can get you a 'human-y' form right now."

_Gah – even if you finished Izumi's weapons, you have a lot of stuff to synthesize, if half of what the braintrust wants is to be made or modified! Later!_

Rationalizing that people of her Tribe might glimpse the spirit as she made her way to the Southern Spirit Portal to protect it, Korra decided to try and override Raava, asking Imiqanuri, whose eyestalks Korra just now noticed were looking directly at her in about as an endearing manner as they could, "What do you want your human-y form to look like, or more importantly what do you want to do, exactly?" Suppressing a snort when Raava intoned _Fine!_ Korra listened as Imiqanuri attempted to describe what exactly she wanted to be the spirit of, finally settling on a protector and healer of those who lived and served off and around the sea as well as rescuer of stranded sailors and aircraft pilots.

Seeing as the spirit already had partial Master airbender tattoos in the form on white dots that created an outline, Korra placed her mechasuit's hand to the spirit's carapace, showing her idea. Imiqanuri's human-y form was intended to instill trust as well as give off a sense of power, an ample motherly and soft figure with skin tone the same as Korra's possessing Master airbender tattoos. Realizing with a laugh the white-haired figure had no clothes, Korra imagined a traditional Air Nomad garb with slightly short-cut sleeves to better show the tattoos. Korra was surprised to see the image shift, the still blue-eyed figure wearing what Korra somehow recognized as a younger Katara's clothing instead. The figure was now confidently holding and twirling an airbending staff that ended in a blade closely resembling Jinora's, with the exception of a symbol for Water on the staff's blade.

_Very well – she's made her choices. To be honest, the blade makes more sense on her than Jinora, given Imiqanuri actually has something like that on her bigger form. Let's see what happens._

Korra removed her hand, awaiting Raava's next command. Not liking the one she got, she told Kuvira over the radio, "I'll be just a little bit – why don't you go back to the transport?" Seeing Kuvira jet off on her display, Korra grimaced, thinking, "Did you tell Imiqanuri what you want me to do? Is it really necessary to… stick the blade in her head? Are you sure I can do this?" Korra listened as Raava said internally, at great length, _I'm not totally sure, but there's only one alternative. It's either you do it, or you hop out of the mechasuit and let me do it after a "switch". Remember what happened to Mako… You really want to exit your mechasuit and risk getting snagged, with Akiak still in the area? You don't even have armor plating on over your clothes like Mako did! Want to find out what Akiak can do to exposed flesh up close and personal? _The answer an obvious no, Korra closed her eyes, letting Sharktooth guide the armblade into the spirit's carapace. After nothing happened, Imiqanuri not even groaning slightly, Korra herself put the other armblade into position, entering the Avatar State as the other glowing blades went beneath the surface.

Hearing an odd sucking sound, Korra turned her head, the spiritglass camera display showing a massive amount of water streaming in towards the spirit's form, seemingly being absorbed by Imiqanuri. Segments growing larger and the armor her armblades were stuck into actually beginning to creep outwards, Korra quietly wondered if thinking of a more than husky human-y form for the spirit was the cause of the, well… weight gain. Laughing when Raava intoned, _Both yes and no_, Korra saw the limp wings on the spirit's back begin to straighten up and out, eventually seeing six pairs of massive blue and white dragonfly wings. Noticing another change closer to her, Korra watched as white airbender arrows formed, idly wondering if the spirit was getting help to be an airbending "Master", even though it was less than thirty minutes old. Seeing a flash of Avatar Yangchen nodding as if to tell her the answer was yes, Korra saw one final change take place. The tail's end now much larger, Korra could see the similarly larger spike sticking out from underneath as the tail lifted into the air slightly.

Withdrawing her armblades, the small void left was quickly filled in, Korra waited eagerly to see Imiqanuri's human-y form. Getting her wish, the massive spirit shifted, eventually taking on the motherly figure the spirit had chosen. Korra looked at the form and its comforting curves and wide hips, feeling like ejecting from her mechasuit and giving Sharktooth a little firepunch when he said, "Yeah – take a good look, Korra. Bet you'll look like that after your second or third pregnancy – maybe even the first, if Asami dotes on you too much." Korra wasn't going to get fat – if anything, she wanted to get fitter! Though Korra did not find the remark funny, apparently Imiqanuri had heard and found it amusing, saying with a smile, "Neither of us have to worry about weight, being able to fly freely. At first, I thought this 'form' wasn't right, but… I guess you could say it _grew_ on me." Korra groaned, asking, "Raava, did you just give this spirit Katara's clothes and Sokka's sense of humor? Because that will be really awkward explaining – to both of them."

Not hearing any response, Korra felt like she had been cut out of the loop when both Sharktooth and Imiqanuri began snickering. The fact that her mechasuit was now heading towards the Raging Shark Whale without her input alongside a flying Imiqanuri only made her feel more like Raava had cut her out of some joke.

* * *

Jinshu Kuangmai was in the middle of working on yet _another_ re-design of one of their new tanks with Chin when Vaazula tapped him on the shoulder. Seeing she was smiling, he asked, "Is it news about the special project?" Vaazula laughed, temporarily shifting forms for some reason, continuing in the same voice that he loved so much, "I do not know much, but from what little I can see at the moment, we have a new, very powerful spirit ally."

Jinshu Kuangmai sighed, saying, "What, did the 'fish-man' you converted manage to get out of the Spirit World or something? No offense, but that last time only got on my nerves, getting my hopes up." After being woken at one in the morning, he had been hours without sleep, having downed cup after cup of tea in an effort to stave off sleep and stay fully awake, so he had a hard time believing his ears when Vaazula said, now back in his preferred form given how he felt a long fingernail on his neck, "No – a Dark Spirit that somehow got dual bending before I did." Vaazula continued, "I'll need to draw something for you," frustrating Chin slightly when she plucked the pencil from Chin's hand and pushed aside Chin's latest attempt to marry spiritsteel, a new formulation of fire-earth Chin was pushing that married spirit vines and some process involved in making _mover film_, of all things, and spirit weaponry.

Vaazula stopped, lingering over the tank's blueprints, saying confidently as she pointed to a fire-earth weapon, "Unfortunately, he is currently very weak. I can only tell a few things from this spirit – he was greatly weakened by the Avatar and her allies, leaving him of no use until he is healed – or augmented. One of the other things I can tell is that it was certainly not bending that did the most damage – technology did. The only other thing I know aside from his current and former physical state is that it was not spirit weaponry that did most of the damage, given his spirit is supposedly strong…" Vaazula rapidly drew out the spirit's form in its original state on one blueprint paper, saying, "This is what the spirit looked like before devastation by the Avatar and her allies…"

Watching Vaazula re-draw the spirit's current form, Jinshu Kuangmai felt terror begin to creep into his heart, eyes wide as he said, "Just what in the name of the Earth Empire do they have?" Looking at long gouges taken out of the spirit – labeled "Akiak" – and in particular many holes in the half-dozen surviving wings, some quite large, Jinshu Kuangmai found himself deferring to an underling he thought entirely too soft for his own good for once, asking Chin, "What… what could possibly cause that kind of damage, Chin?"

Seeing the vestiges of a small smile appear and quickly vanish from Chin's face, Jinshu Kuangmai almost vented his frustration on Chin, but stopped, staring Chin in the eyes as he said, "You may be the technological golden boy right now, but _do not get on my nerves_. Am I clear?" Chin merely looked at him, saying nonchalantly, "I only have two things to tell you. One, that if I were on the front right now with my two battalions of 'conscripts' that follow me out of loyalty and not fear, they would have broken into that prison camp you want so badly by now. And, most importantly, two – "

_Just who do you think you are?!_

Furious, Jinshu Kuangmai made sure Chin was having _sudden_ difficulty breathing, bellowing, "I CONDUCT MY AFFAIRS AS I SEE FIT, AND I DO NOT SEE HOW THOSE PEASANTS ARE FIT!"

Jinshu Kuangmai heard a feminine, "Ahem," followed by Vaazula speaking in a condescending way that made him wish he could choke her as well without her shifting: "Fool! Control yourself. Perhaps you need some sleep – this man may be annoying, but he is too valuable to kill, and partially right. You have an extensive collection of stories and details about my human namesake's life, and the people lucky enough to be around her. Surely, you remember how Zuko got his scar? THAT is the conscript's use – fodder." Seeing Chin still looked furious, Jinshu Kuangmai maintained his hold.

On some whim, he deigned to let Chin's blood flow again, Chin still insubordinate at first, saying, "I have seen you treating the civilians of Zaofu with more civility. And though I completely despise him, I have treated your Chief Military Officer Wuqing with more respect than I did you just now." Jinshu Kuangmai sighed, too tired to bother making a choke on Chin as he was insubordinate again, daring to retract part of his apology, saying, "Though, if trying to win affections is periodically good enough for the civilians of Zaofu, I fail to see how it is not good enough for our _soldiers_. All of them." Knowing half of Chin's _precious_ peasants weren't even benders, lucky to have received so many mechasuits given even the spirit vine powered ones were about to be obsolete –

_Because of Chin's breakthrough._

Jinshu Kuangmai shook his head, unsure if that thought "sounded" like his own… or if it was in the voice of a young boy.

Recollecting himself, he asked, "What is number two? The second thing you wanted to say?" Seeing Chin grin in a way he had never before, almost properly, like a predator, the man Jinshu Kuangmai thought was a hopelessly soft genius said, "The second thing is that there is something that will make even the weakest of my men safe _and _powerful, and if used from within these new tanks, safe to kill with impunity. I believe, based on the type and shape of injuries this 'Akiak' spirit sustained, and my own theories about the effects of various types of fire-earth weaponry, that this right here…"

Chin paused, fishing out one of his precious fire-earth weapon blueprints.

Tapping his finger, Chin said, "This is what is the future – what we need, to close this war down." Jinshu Kuangmai gave Chin the benefit of the doubt, seeing as he had just displayed proper behavior for the first time, saying, "Your savage grin was your savior. Now, explain to me, how this drawing of a spirit proves your _new _fire-earth and other weapon systems are deserving of _more_ resources than spirit weapons." At first, Chin looked lost in thought, about to speak when Vaazula interjected, "I just got something else – it was very hazy, and… could only barely make out what happened, and where."

Jinshu Kuangmai could feel the cumulative stress of the past week and low sleep starting to get to him, most recently having been up ever since that traitorous Jasmine interrupted what was an admittedly interesting night's sleep completely. Remembering one part of his night, he watched as Vaazula drew a rough sketch and a crude map, recalling the image the Avatar had showed him of an airbending projectile somehow able to…

_Puncture steel! GAH – what a fool I've been!_

Seeing Vaazula was done drawing, Jinshu Kuangmai was about to tell Chin he'd have all the resources he'd need, to perfect fire-earth and _especially_ defenses against it, seeing how the holes in the spirit's large wings perfectly resembled the smaller ones…

_In the heads and hearts of my poor soldiers. Maybe we are outclassed…_

Jinshu Kuangmai could tell he was slipping now – all these deviant thoughts. Returning to the present, Jinshu Kuangmai caught Vaazula mid-sentence, asking her to start again. Not caring about the annoyed huff she made, stating, "I was merely informing you of their abysmal progress towards Omashu– still near that failure of a Fire Nation Avatar's old island home – Roku…," he listened as she explained, "I do not know how exactly it works, but… you remember the two advanced mechasuits I saw through that Dark Spirit at some early hour in the morning?" He nodded, Vaazula continuing, "Apparently, when Akiak made physical contact with these strange wires on the Avatar's mechasuit, particularly the back, the energy actually repulsed him, burning – direct contact with Raava's energy." As though receiving another bit of information, Vaazula drew outwards from the wire, eventually forming an entire familiar mechasuit.

While it closely resembled the one Vaazula had seen earlier based on her drawings, and a very large influence on the newest line of Earth Empire mechasuits, it appeared much more massive. Jinshu Kuangmai's green eyes widened as Vaazula scribbled the note "Much larger than Avatar" on the side, drawing in a representation of Avatar Korra to the side.

_What – her head doesn't even come to that thing's chest! Why is the chest so large – surely, there aren't weapons in there? And how can they afford such frivolities like making the mechasuit large, but still resemble themselves?! And… four modified spirit weapons? What are the ridges for?_

"Just give up now!"

Jinshu Kuangmai cursed internally, idly wondering if the Universe might enact petty revenge on him for Vaazula's "stealing" of secrets, and let the Avatar in on his special project through the little brat who had just spoken…

Looking again at the figure on the page, Vaazula said, "Now that I have your attention again… If the Avatar's energy can flow directly into these wires and contact with them transfers energy… there is no reason to believe it couldn't work the other way around. Chin, what could this mean?" Chin scratched his chin, saying, "I believe spirit energy can be converted from one form into another, just as electricity can be converted to heat… and we believe these mechasuits are powered by some extremely potent power source and borderline sentient, no, sentient, given the Dark Spirit's intelligent behavior …" Tracing his finger along some wire on the Avatar's mechasuit, Chin said, frowning, "Energy can flow two directions, just like water – waterbenders love to turn any attack made against their opponent. Given the Avatar hails from the Southern Water Tribe… It is likely any energy that hits these wires would be absorbed, given the fact that they can directly give off energy. Perhaps any metal on the suit – we do not know the make of the metal. Waterbending… The energy could even be turned around, unleashed through those modified spirit cannons on the shoulders…"

Jinshu Kuangmai cursed, saying, "GYAAAH!" Fishing out Chin's fire-earth designs, Jinshu Kuangmai said, now seeing the need for fire-earth, "These projects are to be given highest priority. In a vivid dream, the Avatar taunted me with an image of an airbender using some kind of steel projectile that, once it hits, despite being propelled by a puny airbender, punches right through metal. Given the damage to this 'Akiak' spirit, something tells me they attacked him with some of a much higher… caliber, was your term, Chin?" Chin nodded, saying, "I will work as hard as I can to make these projects spiritsteel compatible – perhaps the process could be modified to work on anything involving earth or metal…"

Closing his eyes, Jinshu Kuangmai saw a legion of these new tanks, other vehicles and aircraft Chin had suggested sweeping from Zaofu towards the prison camp, towards Omashu, outwards and onwards…

Feeling like himself again, the image vanished, Jinshu Kuangmai opening his eyes and saying, "I need some sleep," not explaining why – to recover what he felt like was slipping sanity, finding thoughts that had formed in his mind in the past few hours… undesirable. More undesirable than the sexual criminals he feared he'd never get to execute. Chin nodded, looking tired as well, yet still he said, "I do as well – but I will work anyways. The sooner these new weapons go to the front, the better my soldiers can handle themselves… maybe I can even go there myself." Chin having a strange expression on his face, Jinshu Kuangmai realized Chin really did miss those sorry lot he called his soldiers – ones who had not defected after Jasmine's backstabbing, ones he had heard fought like tiger armadillos when Chin was around…

_Perhaps I do need to make things more merit-based, and less "class"._

Looking at the blueprints in front of him, realizing these vehicles and fire-earth weapons would let even nonbenders be a force to be reckoned with, Jinshu Kuangmai felt himself quelling a nagging doubt in the back of his mind – one about whether he was slipping or not. He said, "Perhaps I do not need sleep after all – if you are willing to work, Chin, so am I – and we both know how much faster the processes are when I'm bending, for whatever reason. I may hate Kuvira and her betrayal, but she was right to say this, before taking the city where we're now sitting above, hidden…"

He said, "I believe she said 'I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself.' Hiding in Zaofu is not what I had in mind while my soldiers are working…" Vaazula interrupted, saying, "Your work with Chin is more important than being at the front – the Earth Empire was the first to enter a new age of technology, and it cannot fall behind!" Jinshu Kuangmai nodded, saying, "Yes – but that is not why I quoted the 'Great Uniter'."

As much as it pained him to say it at first, he continued, "If we are to have any hope of stopping further defections or holding our ground, I cannot rely on 'the stick' alone – even… Privates need a reason to fight, beyond 'I'll choke you if you don't!' or for their fellow soldiers." Seeing Chin beaming, Jinshu Kuangmai added, looking at Vaazula, "If a spirit such as yourself is judged on merit and contribution, I fail to see how humans are any different. Especially since we will be adding a powerful spirit to our ranks soon – when he gets here..."

Jinshu Kuangmai had never expected to see both Vaazula and Chin smiling at the same time, much less quelling yet another internal doubt about becoming soft. Remembering how some of Zaofu's civilians had warmed to him and worked harder when offered the chance to earn better living quarters through service, he knew this new approach was practical.

"Maybe there's hope left for us yet."

Jinshu Kuangmai groaned internally, thinking, "It is only to better kill and conquer with – not out of true concern for the soldiers," doing a physical double-take when he heard Tonga taunt, "Yeah, right – I remember your reaction to seeing your soldiers die earlier tonight at the hands of a 'pathetic' airbender!"

Jinshu Kuangmai distracted himself from the pest by looking at blueprints for two special seemingly contradictory projects for this Dark Spirit Akiak - supposedly capable of bending water and air. Pointing at one, he said, tracing his finger over a portion that closely resembled the special project he hoped to keep secret until the last moment, "This, but after the other one is attempted –perhaps even both, the other first. If what Vaazlua has seen is true, Akiak's first encounter with 'fire-earth' did not go very well, and it appears he has an original 'wound' in his husk from where the carapace split to let out what I must assume is yet _another _spirit ally for the Avatar."

He didn't like how grim Vaazula looked after hearing his wild guess, baffled to see her close her eyes temporarily, saying finally, "_She _won't be bothering us anytime soon – apparently, the Avatar sees reason to guard the Spirit Portals beyond her little barriers." Taking another deep breath, Vaazula let out a sigh, admitting, "I could only get this from Akiak; with all the latent energy of Raava and the Avatar infecting him and sullying my link to him, his mind is not healthy, just like my namesake's in the end: the Avatar fears walking too close to the 'dark' side to get what she wants – Omashu and the prison camp evacuated – may shatter the barriers."

_Looks like I'm not the only one trying to walk a knife's edge to get what I want…_

_Good. Maybe if those barriers shatter, we can… no, far too early. I remember very clearly the Avatar's little warning – and there are spirits on the other side that already side with me._

Seeing Vaazula looked cross at the delayed response, he said, "I was just thinking of the aligned spirits trapped inside like the fish-man you talked up," finding Vaazula's smile more attractive than usual. As he got up, making to head for the new fabrication room with Chin to begin working with Jang once more, he found himself not bothered or phased in the least when he heard Tonga say, swearing the boy sounded older, "Love grows…"

_Hah! No, it doesn't – not your kind of love. Survival, building of strength, prudence and effectiveness first – brutality and pursuit of pure power second, when I'm in the position to do so. If I'm dead or disarmed, I can't do anything to truly enjoy myself, now, can I?_

_I changed Vaatu – I see no reason to not change myself in small ways to better ensure ultimate victory. Reward for service is just another form of control… even Raava and the Avatar understand this truth, even if they think of it in the wrong way._


	51. Chapter 51: Shame, Service and Secrets

Chapter 51: Shame, Service and Secrets

Heeding Raava's request to leave what was apparently Pema's "inner dream world", Izumi focused on where she had "been" before Avatar Korra indirectly interrupted, to tell Izumi things she was still having some trouble making complete sense of…

Finding herself with her deceased husband Kuzon once again, noticing that her daughter was not present. Just like earlier, for reasons Izumi didn't understand, especially considering how hard her little Princess had taken her father's tragic death. Looking at Kuzon, part of her wanted to do much as they had done before, making up together for the decade of lost time since his heart attack, and not just in the physical way. Not leave him again…

A piece of wisdom that Avatar Korra had seen crossed "planes" crossed through Izumi's mind: "The living need to busy themselves with the living." Realizing she'd likely not get the chance to ask her better half for any advice for quite some time, she gave her husband a hug, laughing a little when he said before she could speak, "You were 'gone' for an awfully long time – you've already told me a lot about what happened after my passing, in passing. And I get the sense there's more 'now'. Just give me the quick and dirty version," blushing when he said, "Then maybe we can do one last something quick and dirty ourselves."

The temptation to stay again returned, but Izumi simply sighed, saying as she admired his face, strong features and shimmering ember eyes, "No, honey – I'm afraid I won't have time for that, as much as I'd love to. But I do want any other advice you have for me." Remembering a certain crotchety water spirit's habit of reminding people to busy themselves with the living, half wondering why she hadn't gotten a visit from Sharktar earlier tonight given how much she had already talked with Kuzon, Izumi explained to Kuzon what she had learned since they were last "together", finishing after explaining what the Avatar thought was going to happen with these mysterious Elemental Spirits. Kuzon smiled, saying, "Who knows. Maybe with these weird spirit's help, there will be a 'reverse colonization' of the Fire Nation – I know even from the time I was courting you, 'just' Princess Izumi, there were plenty of people of Earth Kingdom descent that came to the Fire Nation from colonies that fell outside the United Republic's borders. And not all of them were benders." Izumi's expression soured when he continued, "From what you've told me about the Earth Queen's continued tyranny, they made the right call back then… much less if they had stayed until now, and still did anything other than hate the Fire Nation. This 'Kuvira' and her successor… What you just told me about now. The prison camp. And, under her successor, plans for a reverse genocide…"

Looking serious, ember eyes watering, her departed husband said, "And given what you said about these new weapons - spirit weapons- and their power, that crater in the middle of Republic City… Honey, I know you've been a non-interventionist for a long time - you certainly mentioned your aunt Azula's and grandfather Ozai's depravations enough while we were dating, even if our little accident cut 'just' dating short – and I'm proud of you for taking that leap of faith – committing to this new, complicated war. But at some point, this war could go from…" Kuzon gulped, continuing, "Could go from helping others, keeping the peace, to a war of survival, a war to subdue at all costs. No - given the power both sides possess – maybe even wiping out this 'Earth Empire' before they try to wipe out the Fire Nation, as evil as it sounds, a lethal preemptive strike. Hatred runs deep – and this Jinshu Kuangmai fellow sound like he has plenty of it, even if he admires your accursed aunt. Someone definitely Fire Nation – but the _old_ Fire Nation." Izumi recoiled, finding this concept of… preemptive annihilation the path to madness, saying, "Avatar Korra saw something in him – and she was right about Kuvira! He doesn't want to see the world destroyed!" Izumi thought, hoping she was right, "That's what I got from his yelling at Vaatu…"

For a brief moment, she remembered something the man in question had told the Avatar himself, and wept slightly: "The Fire Nation could be a source for volcanic glass for all I care!"

Kuzon sighed, reinforcing the unpleasant, even though she had never told him that exact quote, sending chills down Izumi's spine when he said, "For now. Your grandfather didn't think to raze the Earth Kingdom to the ground until your aunt Azula suggested it – and even if this spirit you told me about isn't actually Azula, the very fact that it thought assuming Azula's form would please Toph's wayward brat disturbs me greatly. Not to mention they don't need a comet to destroy on a grand scale. The 'Spirit Civil War' you told me about earlier doesn't help any either." Izumi sighed, saying, "No, it doesn't," not having included the gory details of Avatar Korra's… promise to "Tonga Beifong", and how breaking that promise might affect the other conflict.

Putting her hand to Kuzon's shoulder, she noticed it was shimmering slightly – from what she had heard, she probably didn't have much time before waking up. Asking, "It looks like I'm about to wake up – do you have any last advice for me, my undying flame?" Kuzon smiled, saying, "Hatred isn't the only thing that runs deep. I know I sound like your granduncle Iroh saying this, but so does love – and sometimes, love can manifest itself in unexpected ways. I wouldn't be surprised if…" Izumi could see his lips moving, but no words came out, finding her hand dissolving into thin air rapidly.

Never having caught the last part of her deceased husband's advice, she opened her eyes, seeing her aged father standing over her. Suppressing a frown, failing slightly when Zuko said, "Wake up, sleepyhead," as if she were still a little girl, Izumi sat up in her bed immediately. She didn't need to worry about modesty - she had slept in clothes for weeks in case of emergency. All she had to do was put on the Firelord's more… unwieldy vestments. Izumi rubbed her back, a dull random pain in her back reminding her she wasn't exactly a spring komodo chicken herself. Her father laughed, saying, "I got up as soon as I could to wake you up, but old bodies don't always play nice. Had to get rid of a bad cramp with a little self-heating, and the Royal Palace isn't exactly small…" Agreeing, she then adjusted herself and stood up, a random bone in her 55-year old body cracking as if to underscore the point. Remembering Mai and Ty Lee's impressively intact bodies, she stretched, wondering aloud, "Well, if I'm going to be leading my nation to war, maybe I should get in better shape. I'm good for my age – but nothing compared to Lin Beifong. Just in case I ever need to fight… I never expected your old flame Mai to look so good." Judging by her father's blush and exasperated look, he hadn't either, Zuko simply saying, "Yeah – me neither… Heh," averting her gaze. Asking him about the blush as she reached for her golden crown, he blushed again, saying, "You probably don't want to know. I want to talk to Uncle first about that. Some other time." Prying a little further, he admitted, "I already told you I saw your mother before seeing mine, and… Let's just say your mother Attakari told me something I'm having a little trouble dealing with – and it's not what you think."

Not sure what was so serious about Mai that her father wanted to talk to her granduncle Iroh about it, or why her father would have a problem with something her deceased mother had said, Izumi wondered if she'd ever figure out men. She had understood Kuzon…

Now fully dressed in the regalia of a Firelord, Izumi protested indignantly, "All right, dad, I'm not your little girl anymore!" when Zuko made to adjust the crown, even if it did need fixing - she didn't have a mirror, after all. Zuko sniffed, averting his eyes as he said, "Sorry – you mentioning Mai made me remember happier days, and… your own childhood, and your mother." Memory of her own mother's passing brought tears to her eyes – though not mainly for her mother's passing. Ten years ago, Attakai had passed away peacefully in her sleep at the ripe old age of 82, but it was her husband's freak heart attack only a few months later that had really devastated Izumi – and her daughter, who was only 12 at the time! Apparently, she had been talking out loud on her grief, given the big hug Zuko gave her, starting to sob when he said, "It's about Kuzon, isn't it, and not your mother. It was her time – it wasn't his. But, like my Uncle might say… It's okay – love never truly dies, even if he did pass too early. Far too early – I still remember your poor little girl's tears…" Izumi forgot all about being a world leader, returning her father's hug as she said emotionally, "Daddy's girl… just like your sister, but in a good way. I… I've always wondered if her double loss knocked her out of balance slightly, or something else. She's recovered… but slower than Korra did. My daughter wasn't terribly disturbed by her grandmother's death. But she still has a hard time talking about her father's passing."

Remember what her young, wise daughter had said at the time Izumi's mother had passed on to the next life, Izumi said out loud as much a part of the conversation as to comfort herself, " 'Death is a natural part of life – you can't delay it forever. If people lived forever, it wouldn't make life precious.' I tried telling her the same thing when her father died, but half-heartedly. She knew I was just as upset, bitter and angry as she was…" Thoughts of death bringing to mind what Kuzon _had_ told her earlier, she made to change the subject abruptly, not liking the uncertainty her little Princess brought to mind. She never would know – was she just naturally shy and reclusive, was it her father's death that "broke" her, or a little bit of both? Her father must have seen her steeling her face, given how Zuko said, "Getting to Republic City in force will take days. Thirty minutes 'late' to something that will hopefully never happen won't matter. If you need to talk, let's talk."

Izumi sighed, asking her father the biggest question on her mind – one she had been asking for years: "You have 'experience' with Mai, with someone who's hurt. Reserved. I love my Princess with all my heart, but sometimes, I find myself worrying myself sick – wondering if she's 'supposed to' be so reclusive, or… if it's all trauma from her father's death? If I did something wrong, or –"

Her father's deep hug and authoritive yet tender "No" took Izumi by surprise, her father saying with a slight smile, "It's no one's fault, and certainly not yours. I traveled a lot in my youth, even if it wasn't always for the… best of reasons, or willingly. Do you remember the archer named 'Longshot' who seemed to have a thing with the androgynous girl 'Smellerbee'? I can see from your nodding that you do. I helped those two and Jet on the way to Ba Sing Se on that ferry, a lifetime ago, before they turned up again. Much less friendly..." Izumi could tell what her father was referring to – Yu Dao. The battle outside Yu Dao, where her father had almost fallen to his death, the hatred the Earth Kingdom commoners held for the Fire Nation… Vowing to bring the subject up later, Izumi noticed her father had stopped, saying before she could apologize for drifting off, "No reason to say sorry – you looked like you were remembering something else important. Back to Longshot… From what I saw of him, Longshot never struck me as different in a bad way – he was just himself. A very… quiet self. Just because someone's different doesn't mean they need to be 'cured'." Recalling tales of her father's childhood, Izumi remembered how often, or rather, how infrequently the archer had spoken, finally smiling and saying, "You're right – Asami Sato was never 'cured' of being who she was. Given how much 'trouble' my little Princess was growing up, getting her to speak, I'm glad she talks as much as she does – when she feels comfortable…"

Now feeling comfortable herself, Izumi gave her father a succinct version of her conversation with Kuzon, glad to see the prospect of "having" to wipe out the enemy before they did the same to you disturbed Zuko as well. Finally realizing no one but Azula or Ozai could ever truly be behind such a thing, she was surprised to hear Zuko say, "Your husband always struck me as a level-headed, wise man. He may have a point. No, he does - we both 'heard' what Jinshu Kuangmai thinks our home is good for. Volcanic glass…" Izumi wasn't used to seeing her father looking genuinely disturbed or angry - she had figured he got all that out in his youth. Scowling, he said, "I hate sounding like my father, but maybe Korra's wrong, deciding to not hit Zaofu with everything we've got while they are still weak. I once counseled her predecessor to not be an idiot and just kill my father, after all. There is something to striking first and hard before any real harm can be done… Though after seeing what Korra showed us of 'Hiroshima' and 'Berlin', those weapons are not an option. We still need to be more humane than the enemy…" Coughing, he continued, Izumi seeing he looked uncomfortable having even mentioned those horrible weapons, ones that kept killing for years after, "After all, if Avatar Roku had killed my great grandf- I mean, my good great grandfather killed my bad great grandfather, Aang would have never been the last airbender. In some ways, people and nations aren't that different – though I doubt even Raava has a clue how to take out just the Earth Empire's military equipment and take no lives. Disarming a nation without loss of life is a lot harder than just disarming one person."

Sighing as she realized even Varrick's infamous electromagnetic pulses wouldn't stop the modernized Earth Empire army, Izumi said, "There was something I wanted you to tell me more about – something that happened during your reign as Firelord. Remembering how you met my mother, probably the same time. Whatever happened to the colonies outside the United Republic of Nations? I know only what my husband told me – and that's about as much as you've ever told me." Izumi listened as her father said, "As you mentioned, I met your mother Attakari when I was helping resolve the 'issue' of the remaining outlier self-governing former colonies when I was about Korra's age, when provisional government proved ineffective with the possibility of becoming part of a new nation. She was from the largest former colony after Yu Dao – Garzai, one of the southernmost colonies. North of Omashu on a peninsula, now that I think about it - hope that won't be a problem for the evacuation. Anyways, Garzai… a colony that ultimately didn't get included in the new nation Aang and I helped found due to political reasons." Zuko sighed, continuing, "As much as I would have loved to, for the citizen's sake more than anything else, Earth King Kuei wouldn't budge on certain areas becoming part of the United Republic of Nations, claiming he might have a popular revolt on his hands if he gave away another inch of ground to our experiment. In retrospect, he was probably right, given what both his daughter and Kuvira claimed about the whole Republic and what happened outside Yu Dao."

Getting a furtive look Izumi wasn't quite sure what to make of, when her father admitted in English, as though afraid some Royal Guard outside her room might hear, "Aside from nasty rumors, we never really managed to find out _exactly_ what happened in Garzai or the other colonies outside the United Republic. Given some of them lie inside the Earth Empire, just like Garzai, we may never know for sure. I do know after the announcement of the new nation's borders were made, a LOT of people left the colonies that weren't included in the new nation. Not just people of Fire Nation descent either. As everyone at home knows, a good portion of them preferred the familiar, coming to the Fire Nation instead of the new untried nation – one where they might run into bitter waterbenders." Sighing, he continued normally, "I wish more people remembered this, or were willing to talk about it, but… The first years for the new United Republic of Nations were _rough_. Korra thought Amon and his Equalists were bad, but at least they didn't kill anyone. Well before their time, some waterbenders and out-of-town earthbenders decided to take 'justice' into their own hands, for wrongs committed to their mother, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers… so sad, and stupid. It took over twenty years for the 'hate crimes' to go away completely, and quite a lot of effort on Aang's part… though no one dared call them what they were," adding bitterly, "They were still an issue when Tenzin was born… The last official _recorded_ one occurred only one year before Yakone's trial, and by then, they weren't publicized at all. The hatred affected Aang more deeply than any of Yakone's antics… Might have been part of the reason he wasn't there for his kids as much as Katara wanted, and relished his vacations with Tenzin so much. He rarely talked about it even to me… The Fire Nation isn't the only nation that engaged in whitewashing the history books – though I'm afraid the United Republic may still be doing so."

The only part of this that was news to Izumi was the fate of the old, unincorporated colonies being hazy at best – she had always assumed everything turned out amicably, or at the very least, everyone not welcome by the mob had been run out of town. Zuko connecting it to the old hate crime issues in Republic City made her think the real resolution wasn't nearly so optimistic…

Wanting to see something that would make her happy, Izumi said, "Enough depressing stuff for now – let's go see if my daughter is sleeping soundly, or finally awake," feeling proud when her father said, "Yes – knowing her knack for technology and building, she's probably still with Korra and the… braintrust members? I like that phrasing a lot better than '**War** Minister', that's for sure." Finding herself agreeing, Izumi led the way to her daughter's quarters, telling the respectfully silent Royal Guards gathered outside her door to gather her ministers for a very impromptu meeting later. They rounded a bend, Izumi looking at the flameless throne room in… regret?

Remembering how she had a million things to keep track of, the fast pace of recent events not helping any, Izumi found herself asking her father, "We both managed to forget that we already had metalbenders in our employ at the conference. Hah – you looked half surprised to see the mixed Royal Guard greeting us yesterday, the people I just told to do something important, and we got so caught up in the new events, we forgot to tell the Avatar, of all people! I can't remember this early – did I order the flame base removed, or just the flames turned off?" Izumi added, looking at her father's scar, thinking about how he got it, "Maybe Mako was right about the flames… and us. The Fire Nation… it's been over seventy years since the monster who gave you that scar was in power. I look forward to seeing the first Fire Nation citizen waterbenders and airbenders, if that's how it works out…"

Zuko smiled, saying, "I forgave my father, and I think most of the world has forgiven us. That sounds lovely to me too. Maybe every nation can be more like the United Republic, and in many ways, us. About the flames - why don't I just show you?" Walking towards the throne, seeing the map of the five nations behind it, Izumi found herself smiling to see muted flames pop up behind the throne after her father said, bending up flames with quick jabs of a solitary finger as he spoke, "Our legacy is what we make it – not what our forefathers left us," Izumi not smiling anymore when he continued, "Just look at the Earth Kingdom – once, it was a bastion of hope against the tyranny of my father's Fire Nation, and now, over half of it is an Earth _Empire_, and I get the bad feeling the Earth Empire is nowhere near done throwing away its people's legacy just yet. Especially not with someone like my sister running it..."

Izumi groaned, vaguely remembering her father being somewhat of a killjoy in his youth. He must have noticed, turning around and frowning as he said, stroking his white beard, "No, no – that came out wrong. Well, not entirely. Not everyone in the Earth Empire is evil – just look at Jasmine and, well, Kuvira. I just forgot to add something." Smiling slightly, he said, walking back towards Izumi, "I forgot to add that even Toph's wayward son hates our other biggest threat – Long Yumao. He may be evil, but at least he's human – just like my sister," Izumi not entirely sure if he was joking when he said, "Let's hope he stays sane long enough to help end the Spirit Civil War," for multiple reasons…

Looking at the throne, then at her father, Izumi felt like she was beginning to make peace with her nation's past - even Firelord Sozin had a little bit of good motive initially, wanting to share "wealth and prosperity"… even if it did come at a ridiculous, overbearing price. Before the Fire Nation touched Yu Dao over 200 years ago, the first colony, active even during Avatar Roku's time, it had been a backwater; Fire Nation rule transformed it into one of the most famous cities in the world, drawing strength from its mixed heritage. Even now, it was one of the largest cities in the United Republic. Simply telling her father, "I was wrong - we do have a cultural heritage worth preserving. One of stepping out from darkness, into light, and even more than that," Izumi felt that peace increase when he said, his own thoughts paralleling her own, "Even in darkness, there is light - this sounds… weird, and I bet my father would be laughing hysterically if he heard me admit this, but even my evil great grandfather had a good impact in one place, in the end - Yu Dao."

All this talk of Yu Dao reminding Izumi of what they were supposed to be doing - getting ready to head for Republic City - she realized she had a request to make of her father that he probably wasn't going to like. Pointing at him, then the throne, his mouth dropped open in shock much as Izumi had predicted it would when she said, "When I was gone to Republic City a few days ago, I temporarily put my daughter in charge of our nation. While she did a fine job, this might be a much longer 'visit', and if she decides she wants to come with me, I would appreciate it if you acted as temporary Firelord while I'm away." Zuko stroked his beard, saying, "While I did put my dear Uncle in charge while I was searching for my mother, I don't know. I'm a lot older than he was." Looking slightly disturbed, he said, "My biggest reservation? Let's say the worst comes to pass - Dark Spirits pour forth from that portal. If both you and my granddaughter are present…" Not liking the implication, Izumi barely avoided joining her father in crying lightly after he said, "If both of you joined my mother at Long Yumao's hands, I… would never be able to forgive myself. And we both know that it wouldn't be just personal - our nation might descend into chaos as well, even without any Dark Spirits' help."

Feeling old shame return when she remembered exactly why Iroh II wasn't qualified to become Firelord, even though he was still her and Kuzon's legitimate son, Izumi asked, "What do you suggest - I stay here at home? Or I tell my daughter she can't go where she wants after a lifetime of isolation?" Zuko frowned, saying as he walked closer, "I don't want to tell you what to do, _Firelord _\- but I will say this, even if it sounds like something my actual father might have said to me." Pointing to the Fire Nation on the map behind him, flames flickering higher, he said, "Sometimes the needs of the many… outweigh the needs or desires of the few." His finger now pointing directly at her, Izumi said bitterly, "Fine. I'll stay at home like a good mother, watch over the children, while my troops put themselves in danger half a world away."

"You want to go to Republic City personally because of what happened with Kuvira. Because you didn't want to attack pre-emptively, and… well, what happened, happened, to Republic City. I think I understand now."

Her father's bluntness took Izumi by surprise, Izumi admitting, "Yes. Not only is it a good political move, but when I saw what Kuvira's superweapon did to Republic City up close and personal, all those scalped skyscrapers, and the big crater… it took me a while to admit it, but I felt ashamed." Holding up a hand, her father interrupted, sighing before saying, "Wait, no, stop. Don't tell me - I know what you're going to say. 'I need to restore my honor.' I've definitely been there - 'hell', even my best friend Aang felt like that at one point from what he told me after the war. You did what you thought was best - maintaining the new Fire Nation's legacy in your own way. Like a lingering sickness after removing the poison that caused it, shame is a useless emotion to keep around - and you've already decided to act on it by committing our forces to the cluster…turlteduck we face right now." Chuckling, Izumi finding the odd mix of an English euphemism and their own creatures amusing, he finished, "Aside from your architectural taste and the _minor_ detail of scrapping most of our land army and the war balloons, I think you've done a very good job. We never know everything, and given what we knew about Kuvira and the Fire Nation's past, I think you made the right decision to not attack. Who knows - if Republic City had fallen and we had attacked unprovoked, Kuvira may have decided it was time for a true Empire. Even if you hadn't scrapped equipment, there's not much even war balloons and tundra tanks could have done to stop a metalbending master and her Colossus..."

Even though her father had been wrong about her motives, she felt better nonetheless, saying with a bow, "Thank you. I never even thought of that… admittedly disturbing possibility, especially given how close Republic City _did_ come to falling. I didn't feel the need to restore my honor - I wanted to be there for our soldiers, show them I'm willing to do anything they do. But maybe that's not necessary. Now let's go see what my daughter thinks before making any official announcement about the reinforcing of Republic City, or decide who stays and who goes." Her father laughed, saying as they exited the throne room, one Izumi now intended to begin using when things calmed down, "Looks like someone's taking a page from someone else's book. I do have to admit, I like that attitude a lot better than the one my father had, never going to the front lines until he thought victory was assured and 'godlike' powers given to him by the comet... Neither one of us are young like Kuvira though - I was beyond pathetic against Ghazan, and you've never shown a great natural skill in bending like my sister did."

An odd thought occurred to Izumi - what if she had some kind of block like her father had when he joined the now-defunct Gaang, the last Team Avatar? Instead of lack of drive, what if not accepting her heritage fully held her back? Halting both herself and her father, she said "I am not ashamed of my heritage, or to call myself a firebender or Firelord" a few times out loud, feeling a fire building within herself with each repeat, and a deep-seated shame begin to burn to a crisp. A shame Izumi knew was all her own - she couldn't count how many times her father had tried to convince her to "come around" and embrace who she was **fully** instead of holding back. Feeling unjustifiably uncomfortable in her own skin, not from anything she had done - but because of what her ancestors had.

Turning around when she felt this inner fire burning intense as her desire to keep the Fire Nation on the right track, make sure past mistakes weren't repeated, and prevent both Long Yumao and Jinshu Kuangmai from doing anything _worse_, Izumi pushed forward with her right palm confidently, wanting to see what she could _really _do.

Though the fireball and her bending was not blue - not that she had expected it to be - it was powerful enough to raise the flames in front of the throne by a few feet, Izumi bursting into bitter laughter when she saw what part of the map her admittedly impressive fireball had struck. Stopping the creeping edges of flames consuming the Earth Empire immediately, not even wanting to symbolically ravage land, Izumi felt proud when her father said, "Wow. Even when you were a little girl, you never controlled fire that well - but that's not what makes me the happiest. Finally accepting who, and what, you are…" Pausing for a moment, he pointed to the map, saying, "And look - you didn't compromise your old principles entirely either. The only city you burned was Zaofu - if you can even call it a city now..."

Wondering if this sparing of everything aside from Zaofu was something subconscious or symbolic, Izumi decided it could wait until she saw Avatar Korra again. After a polite exchange, they finally made their way towards her daughter's room, Izumi trying to think of what to say to her daughter. She had raised her to be an isolationist, after all, and her influence was especially strong given almost half her life Izumi was her only parent. Princess Ursa II even had similar issues with her own bending as Izumi… had.

Seeing the Royal Guard outside her daughter's room, she noticed with a pit in her stomach that the leader of Izumi's own personal security detail was there, along with the five Royal Guard metalbenders and five Royal Guard firebenders that were assigned to her own protection she had dismissed earlier. Coughing, ember eyes looking slightly concerned, Commander of the Guard Jiazin said, "Your daughter is fine, Firelord Izumi. The reason we are here now is one of my men, Ming, detected War Minister Jet breathing erratically when we relayed your request – especially after telling him we would need the High Admiral and High General present."

Wanting to exhaust all possibilities, Izumi asked, "Royal Guard Ming – did he seem nervous, from nerves, excitement, or like he might have been hiding something?" Izumi frowned when he responded, "I'm sorry to say, Firelord Izumi, I could not tell – everything was 'fuzzy', given I still had my shoes on, even if they have metal soles." Holding up a green and red metal boot, the metal sole bending back, Izumi made her best effort to not react to the guard's odd birthmark on the sole of his foot as he said, "That won't be a problem anymore! Still wish there was a way to seismic sense properly with shoes on – I don't care what Toph told my grandfather about shoes!" Getting a slight glare from Commander of the Guard Jiazin, Royal Guard Ming put his foot back down, grinning sheepishly when the commander reprimanded him, "This isn't funny – forget your little gift; my **intuition** tells me something's up! Firelord Izumi, I suggest making this visit with your daughter as quick as possible – and not just because you have a meeting to attend soon."

Finally going inside her daughter's room – Azula's old room, Izumi remembered with a whopping dose of irony – Izumi saw her daughter was still asleep. Checking her watch and seeing it was "only" 7:00 AM, Izumi realized everything had taken a shorter time than she thought it had, or that the Avatar must have "woken" her a lot earlier than she thought. Her daughter's body shifted suddenly – as though she were having a bad dream. Given how her little Princess was smiling now, however, it was definitely not a nightmare.

Able to hear a few of the Royal Guards outside grumbling after five minutes of waiting, her father looked ready to wake Princess Ursa II up, but Izumi stopped him, shushing the Royal Guards at the same time. Shortly after, her daughter finally woke up, rubbing her eyes, asking, "Wh-what's going on? Mom, why are you here? You… didn't have to wait on me." Izumi shook her head, saying, "No – we did. Your grandfather and I were discussing who should stay behind and watch over the Fire Nation, who should go to Republic City." Princess Ursa II frowned, saying, "But… I already told Desna I'd be there; he told his sister he was going because I was, and his sister Eska really wanted to go!" Hearing a low comment from outside Izumi didn't understand, she laughed when she heard a loud bump followed by someone cursing, hearing Royal Guard Ming say in a hushed tone, "Not cool, man! How'd you like it if I harassed you over that?"

Izumi had never figured her daughter for the socially adept type, but given how she was blushing, she must have caught on to what the mystery rude Royal Guard had "said". Shrugging, her daughter said, only a hint of anger in her voice, "I've never really cared what people thought of me in a big way; I'm just awkward, not overly sensitive," contradicting what she had just said by stating with a frown, "Although Meelo was getting on my nerves earlier when I was with the other braintrust members…"

Izumi smiled - good, her daughter had gotten over enough of her misplaced humility to consider herself a part of the braintrust. Having no idea what she had likely contributed beyond her long-range indirect fire weapon a Royal Guard metalbender had helped her form a test model of, Izumi began to ask, interrupted when her daughter asked her in a hushed voice in English, "What are these extra Royal Guards doing here, mom? Is… something going on?" Not knowing the answer to that question herself, she shrugged, asking Commander of the Guard Jiazin, "Do you think you could radio the War Minister, High Admiral and High General and tell them to enact the old plans for reinforcing Republic City against Kuvira fully? After that, gather the rest of the Royal Guard - we have an expedition to make. There is a possible issue there, near the new Spirit Portal, and the Avatar has asked me to send troops to the city. I will explain on the way." Commander of the Guard Jiazin saluted, saying strongly, "Yes ma'am, Firelord Izumi! No explanation needed - unless you wish to give one." Izumi nodded, saying, "Yes - you'll get one, and so will everyone else in the Fire Nation. I hope we aren't needed in Republic City, but if we are, I want the world to know the Fire nation is back from isolation, and willing to put our gold where our mouth is. Dismissed."

After the polite bow to her bodyguard's commander, all the Royal Guards left their presence. Apparently, her daughter had been waiting for this, Izumi half wondering if she were dreaming when she heard the question: "Mom, can you teach me to be more 'human-y'? Desna said he was trying to learn, and, uh, I wanted to help him." Izumi felt torn between prematurely congratulating her daughter on finally finding someone she was even passingly interested in, her little Princess having made her wonder if she were homosexual or even asexual at times given her lack of pursuit of boys, or simply telling her she was fine as is. Izumi's indecision let Zuko speak first, her father saying, "I'm afraid life itself is the best teacher, Princess - and you're fine how you are. You're you. You had two loving parents, and still have one - while Desna had Unalaq for a father, and by all account, a passive mother. He sounds like he still has issues to work through, things to learn. Other people can't teach you how to be you better anyways - even Raava seems to be… discovering herself, to put it charitably."

Her daughter nodded, saying with a smile, "That… sounds about right, from the little while I spent alone with Desna after getting booted out." Golden eyes widening as though remembering something, her daughter said, "Oh! I forgot - Avatar Korra gave me all the locations of the rest of the tuber-vines, and they're probably fighting some big sea monster she mentioned earlier by now." Izumi nodded, saying, "Yes - the slumbering Dark Spirit underneath that monstrous gunship she was sleeping in. I know you like to draw more than speak - mind showing us the scale of everything?" Zuko chimed in, saying, "Yes, please - I saw what everything looked like, sure, but never really got a sense of scale. We might even want to ask Korra to make another one, if she can - to get to Republic City faster."

Princess Ursa II shook her head, saying, "I don't think so. Here - let me show you, and all the other new stuff I worked on with the braintrust, while I talk. Granddad, do you know where Peaceblossom is?" Seeing her father nod in the affirmative, Izumi realized her daughter's tuber-vine could be a great asset if Commander of the Guard Jiazin was right and there was dirty work afoot, being able to judge people. Her father now out of the room, Izumi watched as her daughter confidently gathered three sheets of blueprint from her room, wondering why she needed so much paper for something that flew, why she had such a spring in her step. Izumi asked politely, "Princess - you seem awfully happy. Mind telling me what you were up to between Raava asking me to leave, and now?"

Her daughter froze, saying indignantly, "Wha - mom, don't nag me to date people! I'm already-" Izumi laughed lightly, saying as her daughter turned around, hand over her mouth, "I never did - at least, not just now. Looks like you just had a 'Sokka-ian' slip - knowing you, you wouldn't be this happy or defensive about war talk." Idly tugging on jet black hair that Izumi wished she still had, Princess Ursa II said, "You're right - it's not about war talk," observing, "You seem… different somehow, mother. I'll answer your question fully when you tell me what _you _were up to. And you never did tell me much about my dad at the table before the others showed up."

Izumi adjusted her glasses for no reason other than to hide her frustration, wondering if telling her daughter everything would ruin… whatever mood this was. Thinking, Izumi realized her daughter had a small sparkle in her eyes - one she hadn't seen in ten years.

Her daughter had originally intended to talk while she drew, but she ended up listening instead, Izumi only looking at her, ignoring the drawing completely. Not batting an eye when her daughter reached for a _fourth _piece of blueprint paper, when Izumi got to the part where her husband basically had advocated pre-emptive annihilation, her daughter froze again, crying, "That's… really what this could end up being, isn't it. Unless… unless Tonga Beifong is stronger than Jinshu Kuangmai, so to speak," adding with Izumi swore was a smirk, "Plus, Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't sound stupid - if I were him, I'd take Korra's threat on his life very seriously."

Realizing with a certain unsettling feeling that militaries the world over had a certain habit of sometimes thwarting even a dictator like Jinshu Kuangmai's will, Izumi suggested, feeling a little better herself, "I remember something about odd energy outside Omashu, underground, the thing Raava thought might be weaponization of 'Korranium' - maybe whatever it is was made by a loose cannon." Lifting the pencil from the paper, her daughter drew a skull and crossbones, saying, "I don't like that name - 'Korranium'. It's like renaming Sozin's Comet Aang's Comet. How about… death metal instead?" Izumi nodded, saying, "Sounds like a good idea to me," thinking, "Yep, she's still herself all right, even if she is more perky - how is that relevant?"

Looking to the side of the skull and crossbones, Izumi saw a small figure next to a massive bizarre aircraft, pointing at it and joking, "Who's that - Rohan?" Looking at the figure again and seeing it had a slightly feminine form, stocky limbs, and what looked like a treetrunk for a right arm, her mouth fell open in shock when her daughter said, laughing, "Nope. That's Zhu Li's Thing, all 12 feet of it - and the plane next to it is the Raging Shark Whale. And likely not the truly final version either - the only thing I got to contribute was re-positioning the gun pods underneath these forward 'wings' for a better line of fire." Unable to believe what was happening for many reasons, Izumi said with disbelief, "I… guess you finally took granddad's advice to heart, huh."

Seeing more familiar figures off to the side, that of Kuvira's Colossus, both the original and "new" design, Izumi stammered, "Wha - how is that possible? That thing's longer than the original Colossus was by… 150 feet? Almost nine stories tall?" Princess Ursa II smiled, nodding as she said, "Yes - and if I remember my studies correctly, even with over a million people in Omashu, it should only take a day to evacuate with it if everything else is stripped, the only cargo Omashu residents!" Izumi frowned, saying, "I don't meant to rain on your parade, sweetie, but Meelo gave that thing guns for a reason - it's going to be doing two jobs at once." Remembering a particularly bad biplane ride of her own when she was given a tour of the aircraft fleet completed two years ago for mail and postal duties and how the pilot jerked side to side, sending her slamming against her seat, Izumi added, "Since it's a 'gunship', it's going to need to move side to side. How're the passengers going to withstand moving side to side rapidly like what I 'heard' Meelo intended? Even if it has magic tuber-vine whatevers for power, two of them, 'empowered' somehow, you can't just negate the laws of physics."

Her daughter frowned, saying, "Uh - metalbending? I'm not sure. Asami Sato and Korra can figure that out. Anyways - the fourth piece of paper was for smaller things I helped refine." Izumi got a glimpse of why her daughter might have been so changed, Princess Ursa II smiling broadly as Avatar Korra might have before saying, "You were right, all these years. Working on a team wasn't so bad, and my talk with Desna after was even better. I can't wait for tonight - I can see my dad again, and not be too sad to enjoy it. Before I tell you about Desna, here - this is more pressing." Pointing at what looked like a truncated sword with a wooden base and a forward-facing metallic grooved banana sticking out of its bottom, her daughter said, "Varrick tried and failed to come up with a rapid-fire gun design even non-earthbenders could use easily - his original design's firing mechanism exploded!" Izumi nodded her head, everything technical being "Greek" to her, infobending or not as her daughter continued, "We wanted a design that was cheap, easy to make, rugged - this is what I came up with. After each round is fired, gas pushes a…"

Drifting off when the technical details got too complicated, rather remembering her job as politician and leader than exactly how this handheld so-called "Agni Kai" or "AK" worked, Izumi interrupted her daughter, saying, "Uhuh, got it. What about this other one over here, the squat one on a tripod? The one that has 'airplane mountable' written next to it?" Princess Ursa II nodded, saying, "Yes - the Agni Kai Two. The one we might not want to leave home without, if those aircraft barges really are nearing completion," feeling relieved to get a much simpler explanation of, "This one needs two people on the ground, but Meelo suggested it could be put on a mechasuit, or an aircraft on the wingtips - more primitive ones, like those mail carriers I'm pretty sure the military will want now." Her daughter having laughed at the last part, part of Izumi felt ecstatic, not having seen her this happy in a long time - even when they were alone together, like they were now.

Another part of her found this… bonding over war repugnant. No matter how much she reminded herself that this was probably the one and only justifiable war in Fire Nation history that she knew of, the thoughts persisted. Remembering other's recent trials, Izumi sighed. Noticing that her father was back, Izumi explained her feelings and thoughts, totally ignoring the tuber-vine he was carrying. Finally giving it attention after a particularly loud "**HMMM HMMM**" and the odd spirit flashing multiple colors, Izumi didn't protest when her father handed the sentient plant off to her.

Watching in curiosity as one of Peacebloom's vines and the large, solitary and beautiful flower it was named for approached her forehead, Izumi saw the vine flash white strongly. Following its movement as it rested its vine tip and flower over her chest, she saw it was glowing white again. Even though she had personally found the tuber-vine and it had taken such a liking to her daughter, as best as she could "understand" something that only spoke in "HMMM HMMM"s, Izumi still didn't feel satisfied completely. Sighing deeply, she was surprised to see the tuber-vine try to reach for something else – her daughter.

Princess Ursa II apparently knowing what this meant, she brought her mute friend a piece of paper and pencil, Izumi watching in disbelief as it managed to scrawl out "Not all thoughts and feelings are what they seem" in crudely rendered English "letters". The tuber-vine finally drewing a crude picture of Izumi herself, bumbling as it tried to convey some deeper meaning without opposable thumbs, barely recognizing the yin yang symbol when it was completed. Wondering out loud if this was on purpose, she felt confused when Peacebloom's large white and pink flower bobbed, as though saying "Yes". Izumi's eyes widened when her father said, "It looks like Peacebloom was _trying_ to draw a distorted yin yang symbol… When I was young, I once did something that was completely counter to everything I had believed and done up to that point in my life – freeing Aang's bison. I can see the shock, maybe a little bit of fear in your eyes, both of you – my experience was an unpleasant one, but I have a hard time imagining you would have one, Izumi, much less one as serious as mine or Kuvira's. You haven't ever been bad!"

Izumi knew from what Raava had shown her that tuber-vines weren't stupid plants, but she was still surprised when it drew a ranking scale of sorts using "Arabic" numerals next to the English words "Difficulty". Even her daughter looking on in curiosity now, when the plant was finished scrawling names in English characters, proper characters apparently too difficult to write without an opposable… well, anything, Izumi saw her own name at the bottom of the list, smiling to see that even Kai's name and for some reason, Avatar Aang's, ranked higher than her own. Wondering aloud what this had to do with her thoughts and feelings, Izumi laughed when the plant drew an… exaggerated depiction of Varrick pointing at thin air, adding a small speech bubble next to him that said, "Some head voices are liars!"

Izumi didn't have much time to look at the spirit's drawing, barely noticing that it had managed proper script when she heard a loud panting behind her. Turning around, she saw Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong stooped over in the doorway, looking completely exhausted – and given the shadows under his eyes, he had been up for quite some time. Patting Peacebloom on the head, remembering at the last minute to say "Thank you" instead of "Who's a pretty, helpful plant," Izumi listened incredulously as Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong said, weakly holding up a piece of paper, "Firelord… Izumi, you have to… see this! We could all be… in grave danger!"

Seeing the wild look in his brown eyes, Izumi said, "Whatever it is can wait – you need rest. I've already sent the Royal Guard to get organized – we have a very impromptu operation to put together." In a lapse of his normal polite self, or at least what Izumi had seen of him, he said, "The longer… we talk, the greater… the danger. Here – look at this, now." Finally taking the sheet of paper from Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong, Izumi scoffed, saying as she gave what appeared at first glance to be an old Fire Nation war balloon, "You barge in on your sovereign during a private family moment, and more importantly, deprive yourself of sleep and push yourself to the brink of collapse to bring me the plans for an old war balloon? Officer, I suggest you get some rest – you're going to be very busy in a few hours, helping me organize the military on an expedition to Republic City." The man clearly either insane or short on sleep, he asked fearfully, "Wait – Firelord, did they get to you too?" No longer looking quite the sleep-deprived wild man he was, Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong said, pointing to the sheet of paper Izumi had in her hands, "Sorry. Firelord Izumi, I do not bother you with trivialities, and you likely know a lot that I do not. Unfortunately, given your reaction to that unauthorized _new_ model of war balloon, the reverse is true as well."

The implications of unauthorized weapons development beginning to crawl through her mind, remembering something about War Minister Jet being uneasy, Izumi asked, masking the fear in her voice, "Can you show me everything you've found?" Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong nodded, saying, "Yes – but only after you call the Royal Guard here. All of them. If my hunch is right, we may have a fight on our hands."

Not wanting to give Commander of the Royal Guard Jiazin any more reason to be paranoid, Izumi decided to be cautious, stating, "I would prefer it if you said your piece before sending the Royal Guard into a tizzy with just pieces of paper as evidence." Turning to her daughter, she said, "You know a lot about the Fire Nation, every nation – both present, and past. You even got inspiration for your new artillery from old Fire Nation equipment. Want to take a look at what Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong has for us?" Her daughter nodded, Izumi surprised when she didn't break from her earlier behavior and remain mute. Instead, she said, "Sure thing, mother. Let me see what Jeong-Jeong finds so… alarming about this 'new' airship, and anything else."

Handing over the blueprints to her daughter, slightly unnerved by how many there were, Izumi thought, "She's even not using people's titles anymore!" idly wondering to herself, "Not saying titles. Is that a sign of impoliteness and disrespect, or… closeness and friendship?" Apparently, she had done so out loud, feeling foolish when Zuko said, "Probably a little bit of both, given 'Intelligence Officer First Class' Jeong-Jeong was acting like a first-class _lunatic_ earlier." Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong laughed, saying, "You can call me whatever you want, Firelord Izumi. My opinion? The new titles around here need shortening – about the only thing the old Fire Nation had right was keeping things to the point."

Having seen her daughter hug herself many times before when faced with the uncomfortable or change, Izumi half felt like doing it herself, instead crossing her arms and saying with a small smile, "Very well – but I'm still calling you Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong, and 'Korra', Avatar Korra." Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong rolled his eyes, saying, "Enough. No disrespect, Firelord Izumi, but we have more important things to talk about than tiles and – Princess, what are you doing?! Are you… modifying the blueprints I risked so much to snatch from under both official wing's of the military's noses, and the third one I uncovered? Princess… Wait – are you in on this too?"

Now it was Izumi's turn, saying with more than a little disrespect for the good officer, disgusted at his idea her daughter was a traitor in whatever paranoid conspiracy Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong believed in, "ENOUGH! My daughter would rather build for peace than war, she's no traitor, and if you're worth your salt as an Intelligence Officer First Class, you'd also know the exact words her grandfather used to convince her to even consider making that cannon prototype!" Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong shook his head, saying, "No, I do not – on account I was so busy after the final speech following a lead everyone thought I was crazy for pursuing. I've got everything – the blueprints, secret factory and base locations on the northern side of the main island, even baffling accounting sheets with huge gold inputs from seemingly nowhere."

Izumi had to admit – now he had her attention. Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong sensing this, he whipped out a few maps and something far more familiar to Izumi – accounting indexes. Finally deciding his conspiracy might be real, Izumi called for the Royal Guard over the radio, merely stating a code, wondering if the person mentioned really had returned: "Princess Azula has bread for turtle-ducks." Even though her father knew full well what the order meant, he still snickered saying, "Yeah – for their heads!" After a brief glare, he looked away, saying, "Sorry. I wanted to try and inject some humor – I always had to watch my back as Firelord, but I never figured you'd ever have to say that."

Hearing Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong cough, she gave him her full attention as he explained, "After your speech - and Mako's impromptu speech - I found something – or rather, a someone. All he had for me at the time were these accounting indexes and some other ledgers that say the same thing, and he wanted my help. Between keeping up with my official duties and this, I was completely consumed. In retrospect, perhaps I should have asked for your help – we could have uncovered this yesterday, given how I spent a whole day trying to make sense of the ledgers."

Pushing aside the maps she had only glanced at, the scale of whatever operation this was readily apparent based on the fact there were four compounds out of sight, out of mind in the north of the main island, Izumi looked at these accounting ledgers and indexes. Able to see why Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong had so much trouble, she said, "Wait – this makes no sense. These things span _two years_, roughly the time since I had to put my foot down and insist disarmament of land forces continued, asserting our navy would protect us. Given how there are constant scribbles about yuan to gold and Earth Kingdom 'gold' to Fire Nation 'gold' exchange rates, there must have been some foreign involvement." The most obvious answer was that Kuvira had been trying to plot a military coup to overthrow her, but the other piece of the puzzle made no sense – why would _yuans_ need to be converted to gold? That was a friendly nation's currency! Who "in" the United Republic would possibly have interest, back then, in seeing the Fire Nation replaced by a friendly puppet military dictatorship?

At first, she wanted to point the finger at Varrick, just as Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong had done, given his little note next to a particularly large transaction and conversion. Looking at it again, she dismissed the possibility, about to test an old trick her father had once told her about - one Asami Sato knew of as well, if what Raava had shown her about the envelope was correct.

Before she could see if there was a hidden message in fireink on the paper, she was interrupted, her daughter shoved a blueprint in front of her, saying, "Mom, look! Oh - sorry. I don't know what you found on the ledger, but look at this." Pointing to four cylinders behind a propeller sitting at the front of a plane that looked much more modern than anything aside from Meelo's designs, the plane even having a single wing like the little airbender's plans, her daughter said, "Those things look familiar to either of you? They do to me - and I don't like it at all."

While they did look vaguely familiar to Izumi, Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong responded, "Yes - they do. Izumi, surely you saw that large transaction between two unknown parties. My best guess is what I think is a military coup stemming from your… military policies over your reign is not only funded by the Earth Empire and former Kuvira supporters, they even provided technology. Those cylinders are electrical generators of the style Varrick used to power his mechasuits for Kuvira - and without a metalbender to spin the metal components and charge the batteries, they're useless. You'll also notice this plane has room for two pilots, what looks like a place for someone to bend lightning in, and no conventional fuel supply - as though firebender and earthbender were to work together, or not at all." Looking a little wild again, he added, "I know who's almost perfectly split between firebender and earthbender, and skilled to boot. The Royal Guard might even be in on it. They haven't exactly responded to your distress call quickly…"

Forgetting all about fireink, Izumi said, "I doubt that - but from everything I see, I think you're right about this military coup after all. Even my pet project, the navy and the new aircraft barges, seemed to be asking for more money and materials than was warranted."

A million possibilities running through her mind, Izumi heard the sounds of many marching metal-clad boots in the distance. Wondering if the Royal Guard was here to help her or depose her, the gravity of the situation finally struck home. Expected to help protect the Republic City Spirit Portal, when she couldn't even protect herself…

After what seemed like an eternity but was only a few seconds, Izumi smiled to see Commander of the Guard Jiazin come in so fast she almost knocked over Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong, saluting as she said, "Firelord Izumi, we have reason to believe there may be a plot against you, by military hardliners who want to go back to the old ways! We'll fight to the death to prevent it, and -"

Izumi cut her off, saying, "Thank you for your loyalty - it is greatly appreciated. I'm afraid we don't have any time for formalities if we're about to come under attack." Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong nodded, saying, "They've been planning for years, given how they not only modernized all the old equipment, but added new things as well, such as that plane," adding, "Though, I did find that one and a bizarre plane with tubes under its wings in the 'Prototype' section - maybe we have a chance after all." Princess Ursa II began rifling through the blueprints wildly, saying, "Oh, no - tubes under the wings? How old was that one, and where is it? From what I know, that's spirit engines - and Jinshu Kuangmai didn't know about those until last night!"

Adrenaline taking hold, Izumi realizing this conspiracy had gone on even without Kuvira she said, "Find that paper, quick! Jiazin, take the rest of the Royal Guard and make sure our route to the tram system is secure - we may need to…" Izumi gulped, finishing, "Ask our citizens to help fight this military coup!"

Shaking slightly, Izumi felt confident again when her father patted her on the back, saying, "Hey - don't lose your cool. We've got this. When Kori Morishita came for me, it was all reflexes and adrenaline - I didn't have time to, couldn't afford to, panic." Izumi nodded, feeling someone poking her in the back. Turning around, she listened to her daughter as she said strongly, "Mom - look at these engines. See all the blades… what look like fuel lines leading to it, this bit about 'blasting jelly derivative', this weird little chamber at the back of it - that's not a spirit engine! Maybe we're looking at this all wrong! Maybe… this isn't a coup after all!" Looking at the engine, feeling adrenaline's effects, Izumi found herself believing Jeong-Jeong when he said, "That's one of the most incriminating ones, spirit fuel or not - see the little note up at the top? No? Here, let me show you - there. Fireink that reveals the characters 'Top Secret - Project Start Date 165 AG." Giving him a dirty look, forgetting his exhaustion, Izumi said, "You dolt - they were working on that when my father was Firelord! Why didn't you tell us that first, before, well, anything else?" Looking woozy, Jeong-Jeong responded, "I haven't slept… in over a day. Please forgive me the… memory lapse. There's something else you… need to know. One of their leaders has… a secret. Your father already mentioned… the last…"

Apparently, Jeong-Jeong had been running on fumes, passing out into Izumi's arms before he could say who had something to hide, Princess Ursa II barely managing to catch him before he hit the floor. Crying, she said, "Maybe… you're right, Officer. I'll… go with Jiazin, to the secret base. Mom… please come with me."

Looking in her daughter's eyes, Izumi felt rage well up inside her, seeing they were missing something they had for years. Something she got back, until Jeong-Jeong pretty much confirmed it was a coup, given they had even been working under her father's nose.

The little spark she had, ever since she had waken back up. Shaking her head, Izumi remembering her father's speech about koala-sheep and lion-turtles, "No. No one is too valuable - Jiazin, we're not going anywhere." Hearing a strong distant, alien sound unlike she had ever heard, not even recognizing the continuous whooshing roar from what Raava had shown her, Izumi grabbed her daughter, saying with tears in her eyes, "I guess they're coming. Come on - show me that spark you had earlier! You want the Fire Nation to be ruled by someone like my aunt?"

While Izumi had hoped for a strong reaction, she certainly hadn't expected her daughter to take a deep breath and breathe out fire, saying strongly, "No, I don't. You're right. This world had one human tyrant too many as is - let's go." Not saying anything, noticing even her father looked energized by now despite pushing 91, Izumi felt the flame within her growing stronger, brighter as she and her family - even including Peacebloom, carried by her daughter - went out into the light of day to see what they were up against, an exhausted Jeong-Jeong sent to the safety of the platinum-sealed volcano base in the trolley before leaving.

Stepping out of the Royal Palace, Izumi saw aircraft that closely resembled those on the tube-engine plane's blueprints, their green camoflauge painted tops, royal-fire blue and white bellies clearly visible. Even if they were there to kill her, Izumi couldn't help but finding herself admiring the speed with which they were flying. Seeing three of the strange aircraft peel off and aim their noses in their general direction, remembering where Meelo had mounted weapons, Izumi shouted, noticing the aircraft had small holes in their noses just as she had feared as they got closer, "Somebody, bend us up a shield! They're coming in!"

Covered by a metal shield by the time she had finished her command, expecting to hear the sounds of flames or "fire-earth" weapons in the hands of the traitors soon, Izumi listened to the three aircraft's engines with fascination, swearing she could hear some kind of faint whirring mixed in. Completely baffled when no fire came, even more so when one of the aircraft peeled off and displayed clearly it did have fire-earth weaponry into the sky, Izumi nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw one of the pilots… saluting them?

The metal shield lowered again, Izumi saw the pilots were no longer alone, finding herself staring at a large war balloon advancing towards them from the north. Whipping out her spyglass, she saw it had engines similar to the ones on the mystery planes propelling it forward, wondering if she was hallucinating to see… someone waving from the front deck.

Before she had time to order radio communication initiated, she heard a quick rumbling near her. Watching a lone rock fly towards the war balloon in horror, Izumi saw it strike one of the engines as surely as if Avatar Korra had made the shot. A large fireball erupting after a slight delay, the airship listing to the side but not fatally, Izumi ordered, "Enemies don't wave to you, or salute you! That one pilot looked like he was showing off for me! Give me a radio, quick! And who shot that rock?" Getting angry when no answer came, she said hotly, "Tell me - because if we can't explain that shot, they might make a coup for real!"

Glad to hear a Royal Guard meekly admit from beside her, "It was me - I didn't think, it was all nerves, I'm sorry!" it was small consolation, given a few fireballs left the airship, along with something Izumi could only hear. Hearing something around her Izumi had only "heard" from Raava secondhand, Izumi barked into the radio set handed to her, "Stop shooting at us!" She got an immediate answer, hearing someone wail, "Your little earthbender guard pet blew up our starboard flamejet engine - and more than a few good men with it! You never did respect the military!"

Some of the projectiles now a little too close for comfort, Izumi said into the radio set, "We didn't mean to hurt anyone! I thought this was a coup, and so did that jumpy Royal Guard, but I was wrong. This is all a big misunderstanding - one I'll want to hold everyone involved with accountable for, but a misunderstanding nonetheless!" Izumi frowned to hear the sounds of a verbal squabble erupt over the radio, horror creeping into her when someone yelled, seemingly to many others, "Accountable how? Like you held all our _old _equipment 'accountable' for your grandfather's crimes? I'm not taking any chances. Forget that - I don't know about everyone else, but I'm taking your little coup 'suggestion'! I don't wanna die today!"

Eerily reminded of Jasmine's experience harassing Jinshu Kuangmai except being on the receiving end, what seemed to be her own soldiers squabbling, Izumi half considered shooting at the war balloon herself after the dust from a bullet impact actually hit her leg, the bullet having passed through the shifted metal shield. Wishing that Avatar Korra were here to stop the tragedy of errors from unfolding any more, Izumi grasped at a straw, yelling into the radio, "War Minister Jet, High Admiral Kiyi II, High General Rongyu, commander of whatever this secret third branch is called whose soldiers are currently FIRING AT ME - if you have an ounce of loyalty to me, to a peaceful Fire Nation above that, get everyone back under control!"

Listening over the radio, Izumi heard some electrical shocks and zaps, relieved to hear what she recognized as War Minister Jet's voice say over the radio, "High 'Wing Commander' Shinu has gotten his war balloon and other aircraft back under control, and told me the men injured should pull through. We have the situation back under control, and we deeply regret how we chose to handle our reveal," slightly irritated when he continued, "Though none of us, not even your distant relation Admiral Kiyi II, are sorry for what we have done." Frowning, Izumi responded with a little input from her daughter, turning off the radio afterwards, "Fine - that's better than a coup, but you better have one damn good explanation - especially to my father, given your little… 'flamejet' engine project is older than my rule. And my daughter insists those planes looked more advanced than the 'top secret' blueprints Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong snuck to me. I want all four of you at the Royal Palace, alone, no soldiers, ten minutes. And go ahead and bring ALL of your blueprints, if you can on such short notice - I have something to tell you as well."

Putting the radio down, she found herself immediately hugged by both her daughter and father, swearing she felt someone or something else join in the hug. Moving her head backward slightly when a white and pink flower appeared in front of her face, Izumi realized Peacebloom really was as smart or emotionally advanced as a human. Hearing a low distressed "HMMMPH!" when she hugged Princess Ursa II and Zuko back, Izumi said, "I'm so glad you were right, Princess - peace is always better than war," snickering slightly when her father said, "Though, technically, this _is _peace before a war, instead of war before a war. Wonder what my Uncle would think of whatever we find."

Remembering there was one person who had been involved who wasn't present, Izumi broke the hug reluctantly, radioing an order to bring Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong to the Royal Palace's steps as well. Even if he had been wrong about their intentions, he had certainly proved himself capable, managing to uncover and infiltrate a conspiracy she now realized probably dated back to the day after she ordered new and old military equipment scrapped as one of her first moves as Firelord. In retrospect, playing favorites with the Navy probably hadn't helped anything, especially given who the High Admiral was - her partial cousin, Kiyi II, 14 years her junior.

Thinking of 14 bringing back both good and embarrassing memories, Izumi finally addressed the stoic Commander of the Guard Jiazin, who had been standing at attention for a long time. Before speaking, she sized her up, remembering what she had asked about the endless use of title earlier, saying, "Intelligence Officer First Class Jeong-Jeong shared his distaste for long titles earlier. What do you think? Do you prefer formal, or informal?" Looking like she had been asked a vile question, Commander of the Guard Jiazin said, "Formal, Firelord Izumi! We need to maintain order! You saw yourself what disorder did earlier!" Butting in without being asked, Zuko said, "I vaguely remember Korra complaining about how many different fancy-title people she had to deal with in her life, and _definitely_ remember a lot of Zaheer's ideology. I guess what Amon had to say applies as well, in a way…" Wondering what Zaheer and Amon had to do with titles, Izumi got her answer when he continued, "I remember Korra telling me later that the Red Lotus' founder made the organization because he believed the world, and specifically the White Lotus, had lost its way. I'm no anarchist, and believe the world still needs Firelords, Presidents, Avatars, the whole gamut. And the kind of equality Amon wanted was madness. But maybe we're a little too attached to titles."

Wondering if her father was finished, Izumi felt like he was speaking directly to her even though he was looking at a slightly disturbed-looking Jiazin when he said earnestly, "Korra found out she was the Avatar when she was four years old, and she's said and realized herself she lived a lot of her life as Avatar first, Korra second. Only recently did she accept this about herself, and she's happier, a better person for it, especially after acting on it. G- I mean, Raava knows I tried to live as _Prince_ Zuko, and not Prince _Zuko_ for too long." Pausing for breath, he continued, Izumi noticing the normally steely Commander of the Guard was crying slightly, "Leaders of men, powerful people - we think our titles give us power, authority, control, the final say. Some think they are nothing but that title, like Korra did for part of her life, and Aang struggled with being the Avatar as well, while others get lost in the title, like my father, or my sister likely would have. Really, if we let the title define us, who we are, what we want and strive for - we're weaker. Made less human, by having to play a part, when really, what we want deep inside, is to be _ourselves_. And order doesn't come from a title or formality - it comes from having people's love or loyalty."

By the time her father had finished, Izumi had joined Jiazin in crying, surprised to hear her head guard admit, "I… had a bad childhood; I had a dominating father. A petty bureaucrat who abused what power he had. I thought if I could… rise up the ranks, become better than him, and _be _a better person than he was in spite outranking him, serve my nation and sovereign fanatically while commanding others, it would fill some hole inside… but it didn't. But I think I know what might… Thank you, Zuko." Smiling, Jiazin gave a surprised then pleased looking male Royal Guard a hug, saying, "Forget being the boss - I've wanted to ask you this for a long time, even if it costs me my job. Moku, want to go out for tea sometime?"

The guard in question looked conflicted, Izumi pushing her own slightly different trouble with her own title to the back of her mind when he shook his head, saying, "Maybe - I've noticed you looking at me sometimes. Maybe you've seen me doing the same. But… I don't want you to throw your career away - head of the Royal Guard is nothing to sneeze at, and your job's important! If this really had been a coup and not a misunderstanding… I wouldn't have wanted to follow anyone else!" Some other Royal Guards agreeing, Izumi thought over what she could do - technically under Fire Nation law since before the time of even Sozin's great grandfather, they should both be fired on the spot if they dated.

Remembering it was one of those same inflexible ancient laws that had prevented her firstborn from becoming Prince Iroh II, forcing his much younger timid sibling who came along almost 20 years later under "proper" circumstances to take up the responsibility, Izumi said, "Laws can be changed - though if this is really what you want, Jiazin, your position might have to change slightly anyways." Seeing Jiazin nod her head and look slightly distressed, Izumi tried to assuage her discomfort by saying, "I don't want any woman to throw her career away by following her heart," saying nothing of her aunt Azula's secret. Jiazin now smiling broadly and a certain softness there that hadn't been there before, Izumi finished, "Judging by the color of your eyes, you're an earthbender, Moku. Maybe it's time there were two 'Head Royal Guards' - one firebender, one earthbender. Though if it's coworkers, boyfriend and girlfriend, or husband and wife is up to you both in the end."

Having known Jiazin for many years, Izumi still found it incongruous how happy and giddy she was, the strong-willed and loyal woman having always been so… formal. Wondering what _Ursa II_'s reaction to all this was, she turned to look at her daughter, surprised to see her giving Izumi an expectant look, one hand on her right hip with her head cocked, smiling slightly. Wanting to test the waters, she asked, "Ursa II, what's on your mind?"

Not sure if the 22-year old in front of her was her daughter or not, given how Ursa II didn't react to the change in how she was addressed, Izumi silently wished she hadn't asked such an open-ended question when her daughter responded, straightening up, "Just wondering what someone as nice and caring as you could have had to cry about earlier." Izumi sighed, speaking plainly, "I'm not entirely sure myself - but I think it has something to do with how I've conducted my rule as Firelord. With what I knew at the time and our nation's past, I still don't regret declining to attack Kuvira preemptively - in fact, under the old plan, we would have left first thing this morning for Republic City with the military I knew about to help defend Republic City."

Knowing she would likely be repeating herself to her _three_, not two, high commanders and War Minister, Izumi continued anyways, saying, "I was crying because I realized that in many ways, I was trying to re-define, master, change what 'Firelord' meant through my unjustified actions - change what the Fire Nation itself was out of lingering shame. My little Princess - ignoring your good, Fire Nation style architectural designs for the modernization of the Fire Nation, I instead went with nondescript Republic City style skyscrapers instead… thinking the Fire Nation slightly inferior to the United Republic, all because of one century of shame, reprehensible and _evil _acts. Father - ignoring your strong suggestions to not go ahead with the scrapping and gutting of our land and air forces. Ignoring your own pleading to not erase centuries of _good _and distinctly Fire Nation heritage by changing the very look of our nation and snuffing out flames that had burnt near the throne for generations before Sozin committed his heinous crimes against the Air Nomads, and humanity. Instead, I covered over the past while jeopardizing our future to make a largely symbolic political and cultural statement by destroying much of the Fire Nation's land and air equipment, thinking naval might alone would be enough to defend ourselves."

Swearing she heard a tinny cheering, she ignored the noise, finishing, "I let personal zeal to continue my father's legacy of peace, change and prosperity cloud my judgment - and, I think, even tried to get rid of some shame I felt for even being related to the likes of Sozin, Ozai and Azula, even for being a firebender, through my actions… trying to un-fire the _Fire_ Nation." Pretty sure she heard tinny applause now, Izumi realized someone had the presence of mind to broadcast her little speech. Realizing she had an audience, she continued, "I did not know I had an audience until just now - but it does not matter. The things I have to say can be heard by everyone. Early this morning, I had a personal epiphany - for a long time, I let the Fire Nation's abominable past and the shame associated with it twist me, sap my inner flame, fire, drive. I realize now that just like my daughter Princess Ursa II is different from most people, the Fire Nation isn't 'bad' because most of its citizens bend fire, or had some truly atrocious leaders in relatively recent history - it's different! A nation that stepped out from darkness and into light - and a nation that shouldn't mope about its sordid past like I have, much less try to change or cover up who we are!"

Hearing applause from both the radio and around her, Izumi heard an older woman's voice from nearby say, "I heard ever'thin'! Aboot tim' ya quit yer mopin' and be a real firbender, FIRlerd!" Feeling a weird mixture of smallness from having been yelled at by a little old lady and the other, more positive emotions like pride and relief that had been with her ever since starting her cathartic speech, Izumi burst out laughing before she could think when she heard her father ask with baited breath, "Wait - could it be you? Azula? After all these years?"

Hearing her daughter join her, knowing full well where Azula was right now, keeping an older, more sinister Admiral company, Izumi was surprised to hear the woman say, "What? No - yer crazy, 'Zuzu'! I did grew up in… Hira'a, was it, though? Can barely remember me own name these days, being th' big hunnerd todahy! But I do remember seein' me one craaazy woman, a twenny somethin at least givin 'er 'endowmen' th' last I saw 'er. Weren't no teenager by then, that fer sure. Though, th' first time I saw 'er, didn't get nearl' as good a … look I did th' last time. Only saw 'er and 'er blue fire when I went to the woods my boyfrien' ran into and never came back outta." After radioing an order to War Minister Jet their meeting could wait, Izumi joined her father near the ancient woman, Ursa II asking, "Old woman, can you remember the last time you saw this woman? My father's been looking for her, expecting her to come back for years!"

The old woman laughed, saying, "That's one thing I ceeertainly DO remember veeery well, on account of the first time I saw 'er was the first time when I was searchin' for my boyfrien', right after 'e ran off, I were only what, twentee-eight. Looked close t' ten yers younger than me age then, but w' looks that could kill. Which she almos' did - shot lightnin' at me in tattered Fire Nayshun royal get-up, yellin' obscentities about 'er father and 'ow she now 'ated 'me'. Don't look confused now, young Princiss - not good fer yer face! Look what confused did to mine! Apparently she were hallucinatin' I was 'im, given 'ow she stopped, askin' where he went and when I said no, started callin' me homely, sayin she wouldn't screw me if I was th' last woman alive for some reason. Made me cry, givin' that what m' dang no-good boyfriend said, on both counts. Th' last time I saw 'er she was buck nekkid, wavin' hi to me with a biiiig smile, askin' if I knew where ''is Royal Kookiness' was and if 'er father was nice yet, wantin' this Kooky-ness-es' 'elp! When I said no, she ran back off int' the woods, something 'bout getting' spirit's 'elp." Looking sad, the old woman finished, "Maybe if I had 'er form I woulda never had t' go there in the first place. She was somethin'. That was on th' last day I ever went lookin' for my boyfrien' - heard stories about a big 'ol spirit in those woods that'll change yer face if ya ask before anyone else do. Figure 'e must 'ave wanted to get away from me an me plain looks, done got a face lift. Didn't deserve me none anyways. Stopped lookin' for him about… what, fer yers later?" Sniffing, she finished, "Gave up on men after that. Though I didn't stop lookin' for 'er for another two yers - wondered if she'd changed 'er mind from the first time I saw 'er. Given 'ow frequently sh' popped up befer that, maybe ever' other month towarss what must 'ave been the 'nd for 'er, when sh' didn't show fer that long, I didn't bather nah mer. Eventuahly moved on, found somebohdy. Passed away two yers ager, two yers too late fer yer little decree thingy, Firlerd. Don' reall' matter – that just symbolic. An' I wish I could join 'er already ever' day- though I did 'ave this weeeeird dream last night with 'er. Almoss seem'd real, it did!"

Even though Izumi knew this old woman had just given them vital information, some quick head math putting the last sighting of Azula just six years after vanishing into the Forgetful Woods, also finding this woman's tale of woe sad, Izumi couldn't help but laugh when the woman squinted, asking as she looked at Zuko, "What was I sayin'? Waitaminit. Say, old fella - you an 'er looked awfully 'like. I can tell even though yer a lot older than she were last time I saw 'er - 'amily resemblance! She 'ouldn't 'appen t' be yer long-lost sister Azula, eh, 'Zuzu'? Sh' mention that lad a lot. Th' one who caus' such a ruckus in my home town after th' war, with you and yer friends, lookin' fer yer mom?" Eyes widening, the old woman said, "I rember better nah! Yes! It was 'er! 'Ust wonderin' - you lookin' to find 'er bones or summat fer a proper burial, or closurr? 'Cause there's no way she coulda' survived in those wood that long. She were lucky to survive the… six yers in ther she did. Or were it seben? Me math's all old like me. No way she coulda survived till now. Tha be… almost seben decaydes in that wood. Impossiblur."

Izumi could see her father looked crushed, her daughter looking depressed as well even though she had never known Azula as Zuko said, a tear welling up in his good eye, "So she… got to a point where she was friendly, happy, even wanted to see 'His Royal Kookiness' for help and advice on… we know what most likely, wondered if her deadbeat father had turned around, then she just… vanished for good, after looking for some spirit to help her find my dear uncle. How depressing. And I know the Mother of Faces can be cranky, even with the Avatar, but she doesn't strike me as the type of spirit who would just… disappear someone." Izumi nodded, wondering why her daughter was making to press her tuber-vine against the old woman's forehead, her curiosity only deepening when she didn't react to the vine flashing a bright white and the flower even unfurling further. The old woman giggled, saying, "What's that plant doin'? Feel like it is judgin' me! 'Ey – quit yer thought stealin', plant thingy!"

Izumi saw the tuber-vine's reputation for hating being called plants was correct when Peacebloom let out a loud "HMMMPH!", withdrawing the strange flower immediately after. Finally getting an explanation for her antics, Izumi listened as her daughter said, "I heard these beings have primitive 'infobending' powers and wanted to see if I could contact Korra about this lead, including this woman's actual sightings of Azula, but no such luck. Peacebloom says even though she managed to get the encounters 'stored', the only other tuber-vines she could reach were on Ember Factory Island - we really do need to get that communication system up and running."

Remembering they had another, more "human-y" way of communicating with one another, Izumi sighed, saying, "Radio sound good to you? We can even talk in 'code' over it." Ursa II nodded, about to say something when a deafening foghorn rang out from the direction of the capitol's defenses near the ocean.

Izumi realizing the military would not like being put off for family issues when they had so much to show, apparently, Izumi simply said, bowing to the old woman, "Thank you for your help. I may have need of you later – feel free to stop by the Royal Palace; tell the Royal Guard the Firelord sent you. I have another matter to attend to, and the Avatar is probably busy herself. One last question before you go wherever - do you remember any landmarks that Azula consistently appeared next to?" The old woman shook her head, saying, "Nope. Nothin' but the wood, as far as the eye could see… wait. Comin' in from the town of Hira'a directl' from Old Man Lee's cottage, goin' south - near some warnin' sign." Chuckling, she added, "I definitely heeded th' warnin' not to go in th' wood - not sure if Azula bein' mean an' hallucinatin', or buck nekkid and smilin' was weirder. Firlerd, Aveter or not, I'd rekemmend you do th' same - somethin' weren't right in those woods since I was yer daughter's age. Bye."

With that, the woman shuffled off, Izumi hoping the Spirit Civil War hadn't come to the Fire Nation, suddenly remembering that even if it was a weaker link, the Forgetful Valley was still connected to the Spirit World - and a possible place for Dark Spirits to pour out of! Shaking her head, remembering Korra had not put a seal there, Izumi realized that if it were going to happen, it would have by now.

The foghorn sounding again, Izumi reluctantly picked up the radio, looking at what must have been a completed … and modified aircraft barge anchored inside the Great Gates of Peace - she had no qualms renaming them from "Azulon", not when she made the decree or now - near the inner harbor defenses. Figuring her "pet" military wing would be the easiest to start with, she said, "Hello, High Admiral Kiyi II." Another fog horn blast… Izumi sighed, remembering her distant relation's playful nature, saying, "Yes, I can see you're enjoying the toy I commissioned - though I would still like an explanation as to why it's completed almost two weeks ahead of schedule, why it's changed in design since I last saw it a month ago, and what your part in the 'conspiracy' was." A high-pitched voice Izumi found most incongruous with a High anything replied, though she knew the Admiral to be more than competent, "Firelord, with all respect, I want to wait on the other military people," sounding for all the world like Ty Lee when she added, "It was fun, working together with everybody - you missed out!" Apparently, her father had the same impression, Izumi laughing to hear a low growl from the radio when he said, "I'm sorry - I didn't know Ty Lee's secret grandchild was in the navy. Sweetie, can you put an adult on the line, please? Or MAYBE we can treat this situation as still being serious, cousin!"

It took quite a bit longer than Izumi would have liked for all the military leaders to appear, calling up the Royal Guard again just in case when she noticed they had again disrespected her authority by bringing up quite a lot of equipment to show off, the fact that the soldiers who brought the equipment allowed themselves to be taken into hopefully temporary custody easing her nerves slightly. War Minister Jet even handed over his hook swords, and considering he was a nonbender, that was a pretty big display of faith on his part.

Looking at everything arrayed in the defensive corridor, Izumi felt a multitude of things - relief that they would not be going to Republic City poorly armed and armored, some of the designs looking like they warranted display to the braintrust, especially what looked to be a vastly superior version of Sokka's "ancient" submarines beached on the same place the originals had once docked. Remembering how there had been two more of the flamejet aircraft in the initial display than the solitary one now circling overhead alongside two slower propeller-driven aircraft of different models, Izumi's nerves died down as well - if they had wanted her dead earlier, they could have easily finished the job.

However, seeing multiple pieces of equipment making use of what appeared to be stolen Earth Empire technology - mechasuit components slapped onto things where they didn't "belong", even what looked like a Fire Nation mechasuit present, Izumi remained slightly suspicious. Especially concerning was they had displayed "fire-earth" weapons earlier - something that hadn't even been thought of until recently by the braintrust, though she had no idea how long ago this "Chin" had thought of the technology.

Above all, though, she felt like a fool - it was plain as day and the morning sun that this conspiracy was widespread and long-term, and only an admittedly intelligent and resourceful Intelligence Officer getting an accounting index from a mysterious stranger had uncovered it. With every piece of military equipment she looked at, knowing that there were plenty more where that came from most likely given how two flamejet engine aircraft were missing, Izumi felt small. Clearly visible to everyone in the capital, her inability to control something which had inflicted so much devastation in the past - the Fire Nation military.

Realizing she was psyching herself out, Izumi sighed, admitting, "I am no technical genius - and apparently, I can't even keep a proper eye on my own military. That is why I would like to deal with the _personal _details of this grand deception - given changed circumstances, an admittedly, oddly _welcome_ deception, War Minister Jet - first. After I found out the who, the what, the when, the why, the how behind this massive conspiracy, given my daughter was already doodling on the blueprints **High Intelligence Officer** Jeong-Jeong stole from under your noses, I'll let her deal with the technical details after while I go address our nation. One which I know you all serve, given you didn't simply have your aircraft riddle me with holes."

About to start her "polite" interrogation of the friendliest of the conspirators, one who was distantly related to her in part thanks due to spirit shenanigans letting her grandmother have two lives, Izumi stopped, yelling, "Princess Ursa II, get back here right now with your friend - what are you doing?!" Her daughter did a slight pirouette, laughing as she said, "Saving you the better part of an hour. Peacebloom's got this."

Izumi made to go grab her daughter, still slightly paranoid from earlier. She felt an old yet strong hand grab her wrist, Zuko saying strongly, "Don't. For one, remember those tuber-vines can actually attack by themselves - remember Varrick's first encounter, the little spirit blasts?" Izumi nodded, saying, "I do now. And I can guess two - sometimes, you have to let go. Which is why I'm willing to stay here now," joking, "My daughter's got more aptitude with this military stuff than I do anyways." Hearing her father say, "Mmm-mm," he continued, "Close, but not quite what I had in mind for 'two'," continuing in hushed English, "From what I understand of this whole 'grant Vaazula dual bending to undermine Jinshu Kuangmai's evilness with a conflicted girlfriend' plan, there's one big, giant gaping hole - a firebender connected to Azula in any way, shape or fashion. Mako's certainly not connected, and given what the Earth Empire did to his home, there's no way he'd be in on it. We can't just go back on our word - at least not until Wu helps evacuate the prison camp from below." Pointing to himself, Zuko continued, still in English, Izumi ignoring Admiral Kiyi II's high pitched squealing over Peacebloom and the exasperated sighs of the other military men, "So either I go to Omashu and assist in this process - one I hope works in turning both its targets, knowing both Azula and Toph's… unique parenting style, dropping a kid off on the roadside for some hapless couple to raise just because he's 'difficult'. Or we go to Hira'a on a lark and go looking for my sister to see if she's still alive."

Izumi was quite confused, saying in English, to keep the secrecy, "Buh- what? Zuko, I know you love her, hope everything turned out okay - but her soul's stuck in the Fog of Lost Souls! Raava stressed that part to me, and given the tears in your eyes, she stressed it to you, too. And we both know your sister - her name a byword for tragedy AND villainy! She shot lightning at that poor old woman and then insulted her, two years after running away. What makes you think she's not as locked into that place by fear, hatred, no, both, just as your father, Yakone, or Unalaq is?" Zuko smiled slightly, saying, "When Aang said it at the time, I thought he was crazy - but you remember that letter that ended up being nothing, even though we thought it proved I wasn't qualified to be Firelord?" Izumi nodded, saying, "Yes - though for me, that letter brings back some of my own, more… complicated memories, given how it dealt with birthrights in a way. Can you explain?"

Zuko nodded, taking a quick look towards the "traitors" and turning back, laughing, "I think your daughter has them occupied for now - Peacebloom's quite the hit, and all I can overhear them talking about is ethical spirit weaponry 'in the flesh' – though you might be happy to know it's not all military talk. Overheard something about adjusting their designs for peace eventually." Looking serious again, Zuko explained, "In that letter, my mother wrote to her former lover Ikem, saying with some pretty ambiguous language that I was their son. I can see you remember that much. What you must not remember is that at one point, the last day until anyone but that old woman ever saw Azula, Azula had that letter in her possession, threatening to kill her mother - who wasn't 'back' to herself yet, though Azula knew who she was - and then actually going in for the kill. I obviously stopped her in time, and eventually, she broke down, running through a wall and dropping the precious letter. At the time, I thought it was simply a mistake, while Aang thought she did it on purpose - like she was actually starting to change." Her father continued through a strained voice, "Now I think he was right. This is the first solid lead - don't forget we 'read' that old woman too - I have heard of ever since she disappeared. Given how she described Azula, even when she was aggressive, my sister sounded hurt -but on the mend, if she was hallucinating and hating my father instead of my mother, much less telling a total stranger anything related to her biggest secret."

Part of Izumi still remained skeptical, especially considering how often her father had told her "Don't do that; that's what Azula would have done!" in her youth when she had misbehaved badly, but listened with an open mind as he continued, "Even if that old woman was somehow lying through her virtually non-existent teeth for her second description, even though hating anyone is bad, the very idea of my sister shifting her hatred and anguish from her mother, who loved her, to her father, who would have killed her is he ever found out her dark secret… And she said she wanted to go get a spirit's help. Maybe she remembered enough to go to the Mother of Faces and ask for a new identity, and she's still alive! With a new face!"

In a moment of insight, Izumi asked as gently as she could, "Dad, I know the idea of finding your sister means a lot to you, even after all these years… but… what does it really have to do with the evacuation? With protecting Republic City? I would love to help you, and I support your desire to find her - but I just don't think now is the right time," adding, "Maybe Korra or Raava can just explain the whole 'no dual bending unless we find the actual Azula' thing - because I'm certainly not behind you putting yourself at risk. And now that I think about it - if Azula is still alive and changed, would she really be behind the deal in the first place?"

Her father sighed, saying, "Maybe you're right - but when we talk to Korra, I want to bring this up to her. I'm sure Aang will be adamant in trying to find her, even if for only a little while - and given Asami's own history with discrimination and repression, she might feel strongly about it as well." Knowing they would have a lot to say, all in English over the radiowaves anyways, Izumi said, "That, I can get behind. Who knows - Jinshu Kuangmai might threaten to turn OMASHU to rubble if his 'lady' friend doesn't get dual bending - then we'd be right back to needing you or Azula, if she's still alive. All the generals look done with Peacebloom, so I'm going to go talk to them while my daughter examines their work."

Deciding to start with High Admiral Kiyi II, Izumi asked her, the three other standing at attention, "What was your role in this conspiracy? I did not expect the navy of all military branches to be dissatisfied with my decisions on how to protect the Fire Nation. Explain - and start with how you got that improved aircraft barge done two weeks ahead of schedule, and that submarine." High Admiral Kiyi II nodded, saying, "Dunno why this is necessary if your daughter's 'Raava' friend thinks we're all okay, but I'll tell you anyways. The 'conspiracy' is older than your reign - from what I was told when I was keyed in on it two years ago when everyone else saw Kuvira as a threat to world peace and the Fire Nation, it started simply enough. Some smart people sitting together at a table, coming up with wild and crazy ideas." Grinning, she said, "There were some pretty stupid ones that got cut! High General Rongyu wanted a flying tank - they didn't even bother with a blueprint before rejecting that idea!" Izumi could see the High Admiral wanted to continue, covering her face and growling lowly out of frustration when Ursa II interjected, "A flying tank - Bumi already made one that can hover, you know!"

Maintaining her composure, Izumi asked her daughter, "While that is relevant in a way, would you please let me do my job first?" adding in English, "Though I do want to see their faces when you show them the Raging Shark Whale." Her daughter nodding, High Admiral Kiyi II continued, "You gonna teach us that speech anytime soon? I can't understand a thing. It'd be great for code! Okay, okay - should probably prove we're totally trustworthy first, don't give me that look please. Anyways, people were brainstorming even during your father's reign - it would be a waste of both our time and yours if we told you about _every _idea." Izumi found herself interrupting, saying, "That sounds like a good idea to me - the way it should be for the most part, aside from major issues - which, by the way, you should direct to my daughter, not me. That system sounds a lot better than the Avatar's 'braintrust' from what I was 'shown' by the Avatar about her braintrust's… unorthodox working methods. More like controlled chaos, really, even Raava acting like a moron at times, endless revisions - I told you about the conference already, but that was nothing compared to what they were doing yesterday and early this morning."

Glad to see the military men nodding, High Admiral Kiyi II laughing even though she couldn't possibly have gotten the joke fully, the navy commander continued, composed again, "From what I was told, even the flamejet propulsion project was initially intended for use with old equipment, initially pitched for civilian use on big shipping balloons. Like the war balloon one of your Royal Guard dorks knocked the flamejet engine out on today. It wasn't a conspiracy, really - just skunk-bear works that the military didn't feel the need to bother Zuko with." Izumi stayed her tongue, listening as her distant cousin continued, "I wasn't in on it until two years ago when Kuvira began acting more and more aggressively in her re-unification efforts, and we started to hear nasty rumors from all over that nobody else believed. Rumors and, later, direct confirmations that made me believe War Minister Jet when he said the Fire Nation might find itself at risk from her one day." Asking what these rumors were, High Admiral Kiyi II politely responded, "I'll let the War Minister and High General talk about those - everyone else decided I should explain the conspiracy's basics to you first, given you're my distant cousin, and I hope what they have to say convinces you we were only trying to serve our nation."

Izumi not feeling like she had much other choice if she wanted to get anywhere, she said, "Okay - finish your part, cousin. Just remember - I was the one who appointed you High Admiral precisely because I thought I could trust you, as well as your scores at the Royal Fire Nation Academy for Girls." Her cousin bowed, saying, "Thank you," before continuing, "The conspiracy itself started the day after you ordered most of our land and air equipment scrapped as one of your first acts as Firelord, the way the War Minister and High Admiral told me. As you'll hear, they both have personal reasons for their… unorthodox way of showing loyalty to their nation. If I remember correctly, at first it was just a small operation, both of them and the people under them working on ideas and small-scale prototypes like the artillery piece your own daughter made yesterday. They worked during a time of peace when Avatar Korra was still young and secluded in the South Pole, the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and United Republic peacefully trading with one another. War Minister Jet and High General Rongyu did make preparations to make their visions a reality, but had no plans for large-scale production of military equipment." Frowning, she continued, "But, that all changed when the Equalists attacked and took over Republic Cit - why is Peacebloom laughing, Princess? Is there some sort of a joke I don't get?"

The odd squeaky laughter stopping immediately, Izumi's cousin continued, beginning to see where she was going by now, the High General and War Minister's logic becoming clearer to Izumi, "When Amon and his Equalist army used modern technology to take over what was thought to be one of the most powerful and well-defended cities in the world, capital of the nation your father worked so hard to found and smooth out the bumps on, the War Minister and High general decided that they not only needed to start working on their _project_ in earnest, but that they needed a whole new wing of the military - an airforce. You yourself saw the power of the Equalist airplanes, what they did to your son's fleet," adding with a grating smile, "Probably shoulda commissioned those aircraft barges, oh, four years ago, in my _professional_ opinion. No hard feelings though, cousin."

Doing her best to remind herself that she was Firelord Izumi and not Firelord Ozai, Izumi gave a weak laugh, saying, "Ha. Ha. Very funny. Continue - I can't wait to hear what happened two years ago that was more earth-shattering than Republic City falling." Izumi noticed High General Rongyu shifting uncomfortably as her cousin said, "He'll tell you about that. I'll spare you the details, but at that point War Minister Jet and High General Rongyu started using most of their own pay and some very carefully solicited funds from volunteer noblemen and noblewomen who took issue with your original decision to start constructing the secret bases 'High Intelligence Officer' Jeong-Jeong no doubt showed you earlier on the map. Your original decision put a lot of soldiers and war balloon crewmen out of work, and they found eager volunteers - both firebenders and earthbenders." Pausing for breath, she continued, "The way they tell it, until that stupid hasty airman on High Wing Commander Shinu's airship suggested it, a coup was never even considered. Everything was to be kept secret until some time of need. Originally, they had wanted to 'come out' around Harmonic Convergence, but their work wasn't near ready yet, and the situation was… difficult. That was the first time War Minister Jet asked me anything, wanting to know how it might look if the Fire Nation intervened in the Water Tribe Civil War. Given President Raiko had already refused to help by that point, and knowing your non-interventionist stance, I asked him a few… pointed questions about his loyalty, told him my personal opinion that it sounded like a shortsighted action to take given what we knew and didn't know about Unalaq's plans at that point, and respectfully asked him to leave. By the time anyone found out the details of Unalaq's plan in the Fire Nation, everything was already 'over'. Earth Queen Hou-Ting's death did concern them; however, they didn't think that already politically chaotic time would have been then best time to come out about their conspiracy, and the Royal Guard were and are a lot stronger than those pitiful excuses the Earth Queen employed for her personal protection had become."

Pointing at a nearby piece of equipment her daughter was inspecting, Izumi asked, "Speaking of coming out - when DID you plan to tell me about all of this? What, was all this going to be a big present for me when we set out to reinforce Republic City today under the old, pre-Colossus plan?" Izumi laughed lightly when the blood drained from War Minister Jet's face, the man admitting, "Uh…. Yes, as a matter of fact. Then, when Kuvira was defeated anyways and we thought everything was going to be fine, we were torn between making the reveal as planned anyways, or just mothballing almost everything underground behind closed doors in case of future need. We were part ways through preparing everything for storage when we heard about Jinshu Kuangmai, and decided to go ahead with the reveal as planned, including the date. The only reason you saw what you did earlier was we were already prepared for a little 'show' today- probably should have talked to Zuko about it first, but hindsight's 20/20. In any case… your daughter told us something about needing to help protect the Republic City Spirit Portal?"

Izumi nodded, the color draining from her face as well when her daughter interjected, "Wait - maybe not… All this stuff looks like it uses 'regular' power, aside from whatever fuels the flamejet engine. I remember reports about Dark Spirits being able to incapacitate regular technology, and the only thing that might be resistant is spirit energy powered technology. And I doubt even Korra could retrofit so much stuff with spirit vine power on such short notice. While all this stuff is wonderful… it might be just as useless as an Equalist against a Dark Spirit. Maybe we should re-think our plans…" All the high military commanders looking confused and her father horrified, Izumi originally having assumed she'd be bringing just flesh and blood to Republic City on navy ships, she let out a deep sigh, disappointment turning to frustration as she said, kicking a pebble, "Damn! Maybe you're right - good catch; I just wish somebody would kill that stupid Long Yumao already! He makes everything so much more complicated!"

Tapping her foot on the ground, adjusting her golden glasses, Izumi said, "Okay - why don't you finish quickly if you can, High Admiral, then I want to hear what my War Minister and high General have to say." Her cousin nodded, saying, "Sure. The first thing War Minister Jet 'bought' - one of the first of many purchases - was the services of an old retired Republic City metalbender cop to come and train as many people as he could. He was pretty pricy, until he decided to just retire here and work for free - claimed he had spent a lot of time around Toph Beifong herself, even had an out-of-wedlock daughter with her." Izumi's eyes widened, everything she could do to keep quiet as her cousin continued, Kiyi II now crying, "I actually talked to him a while ago. He confessed that … he figured out how to truthsense when he had a hand over Toph Beifong's arm when he asked her if she cared about him the last time she ever saw him. She said yes and goodbye, but… he said her body gave her away. I always wondered how he figured out the people who hired him weren't actually working directly for you."

Knowing she'd want to talk to Korra about yet _another _sensitive family matter, even if it wasn't her own, Izumi said, "That sounds really sad - always wondered if one of her two lovers wanted something more. Have no idea who he is, though. You get his name?" Her cousin looked ready to answer, but Izumi heard a familiar voice ask from behind her, "Firelord, forgive the question, but… why are you lying?"

Turning around and seeing the truth-sensing Royal Guard from earlier, Izumi shook her head, saying, "That's something for another time, Royal Guard Ming. Just… forget it," wishing she had been born with Azula and Jasmine's shared talent. Getting a hostile look from both Head Royal Guards, Jiazin and Moku looking curious at the same time angry, Izumi said, "Drop it - and that's FINAL. Got that, everyone?" Glad to see even her father nodding for some reason, Izumi turned back around, saying, "Just forget him for now - and you don't need to tell me every purchase you made with… wherever you got all these 'slush-funds'." Kiyi II nodded, confirming Izumi's suspicion that both Suyin Beifong and Tonga Beifong's father was present in the Fire Nation, "Okay - anyways. They hired Tong after he decided Amon defeated or not, he wanted out of Republic City. After Chief Unalaq's antics with Vaatu and a fleet threatening of its own right, they felt comfortable soliciting more people for funding. They even got some people in the United Republic from places like Yu Dao to contribute - though only after being vetted by two very special people." Curious as to why Kiyi II was looking directly at War Minister Jet and knowing where the yuan to gold conversions from earlier had come from, her cousin continued, "When Kuvira was growing more and more aggressive, everyone else finally keyed me into the conspiracy. My first contribution on the material front was the submarine you see here – capable of 'landing', just like the ones Sokka used! Money, material, even people went back and forth beneath the waves undetected; War Minister Jet and the others say my subs made a huge difference. I also thought up the biggest, and by far most rewarding venture - a deal with Varrick for an 'iconic' piece of Earth Empire technology."

Izumi saw Kiyi II pointing at the "Fire Nation" mechasuit and the accompanying advanced battery and magnetic metalbending driven generator, stammering, "Y-you managed to buy… the mechasuit designs and power source? How?" Kiyi II laughed, saying, "Varrick designed them - and he always did love money. At first, we had this big, elaborate scheme set up where we had a skilled metalbender pretend to be a Kuvira loyalist from Republic City who wanted to purchase the plans and a few mechasuits to start his own little conspiracy, but… Varrick just shut the operative halfway through his spiel, saying… what was it? Oh: 'Bla, bla, bla bla, BLA. Shut up and give me the money! It's what's making me loyal to Kuvira, for now - and you appear to have a lot of it, whoever you are! Wanting three mechasuits and the plans… Say - you got more money where that came from? I'm always… flexible.' Given we were using almost everything for the purchase, at the time, the answer was 'very little', so…" Izumi slapped her forehead, saying, "If we had actually bribed him over, no spirit weapon… it doesn't matter; knowing Varrick back then, I probably would have had to raise taxes to a level as unbearable as his old personality to keep him employed."

Not sure if those around her were laughing lightly out of politeness or if they thought her joke was genuinely funny, Izumi listened as Kiyi II made to finish her piece, saying, "I've told you the when - not the why, and not the details of the who. And it looks like your little Princess is still obsessed with the what, and how, from the technical standpoint. Hey - don't touch that. It's a very delicate prototype!" Izumi's daughter still messing with an unassuming chunk of metal, she drew High Wing Commander Shinu's ire, the man saying delicately, "Stop what you're doing. That is a very delicate piece of equipment - a shrunken version of the 'airsense' array meant to detect metal objects at a distance, but portable on even a small aircraft." While her daughter brought it over to the Wing Commander, asking if it was like Shidar and Izumi pretty sure it was, figuring her daughter wanted to "talk shop", Kiyi II coughed, saying, "My part is done. Jet, Rongyu - who wants to go first?"

War Minister Jet coughed, saying, "I'll go," doing something unexpected afterwards. Izumi had always thought her War Minister was a non-bender, given he had amber eyes just as one of Izumi's least favorite Admirals had yet had never produced flame as Zhao had, and even carried weapons in the style the Jet from her own father's childhood had … though he was currently disarmed by his own volunteering. Despite his relatively young age, having been 36 at the start of her reign seven years ago and a holdover from her father's days, she held neither against him. Having until "now" proved loyal, and even with his conspiracy, he had still shown himself highly competent at his job. No – highly competent _because_ of the conspiracy, Izumi realized dryly.

But she certainly didn't expect him to assume an earthbending stance and create a chair to sit in, cracking his knuckles before removing something without touch from his eyes, of all places. Izumi watched in curiosity as two strange concave clear glass circles came closer - realizing with a start that they were not quite clear everywhere.

Where a person's irises should have been, there were artificial, amber irises. The same ones Izumi had seen for seven years, and her father for years before that.

Before she could examine them closer, never having seen such a thing, the glass shattered before War Minister Jet said, "My name - Jet. The hook swords. My name and the way I have shown you how I fight up until now isn't just coincidence. You only know one of my names. My real name is Jet Morishita, son of Zuko Morishita, son of Kori Morishita. You might be wondering why I didn't tell you who I am, aside from the minor detail that my grandmother tried to kill the man she later named her firstborn after, Firelord. It's because I am technically not originally a Fire Nation citizen - my parents and grandmother still live in Yu Dao, and I am a United Republic citizen by birth."

Figuring Jet _Morishita_'s story had to be interesting, Izumi found herself listening for the story's own sake as he explained, "My grandmother once tried to kill your father, considering his initial compliance with the foolish and divisive Harmony Restoration Movement tantamount to treason. Which I believe it was – forcing people to relocate from their home when they'd rather stay is a lesser evil, but evil nonetheless, especially considering what happened in the colonies that weren't included in the United Republic. Including the second largest behind Yu Dao – Garzai." Izumi heard her father gasp, Jet Morishita saying, "But that's High General Rongyu's story mainly – not mine. All I can tell you about is what my father endured growing up in Yu Dao as the son of two 'traitors' with the name of a Firelord. With his 20-year old mother's mixed ancestry, he was even a firebender himself – something many people saw as a sign of infidelity. As much as it pains me to say it, in some of the immigrant's eyes no firebender was good, much less my grandmother – an earthbender who had 'betrayed' her Kingdom by following her conscience." Sniffing, Jet Morishita continued, "When my dad was growing up, both my grandmother and grandfather had to defend their 'Zuko', named in honor of your father, against bullies. Mainly nonbenders, waterbenders and earthbenders who had moved into Yu Dao for a new chance, though they blew it just like my namesake did by holding on to old hatreds and grudges... They were rarely punished for their crimes due to circumstance, and people wanting to sweep problems under the rug after a hundred years of war. But my dad was one of the fortunate ones – he was the son of two influential and eventually very rich people, even in their own right, my grandmother Kori Morishita becoming a master metalworker and starting her own business, which runs to this day – and helped us in our project to ensure the Fire Nation stayed protected."

Crying a little more and stopping to collect himself, clearly disturbed, Jet Morishita continued, "He was protected – others weren't. Other kids, whose parents had lived in Yu Dao for generations, firebender _and_ earthbender alike… it wasn't until my father met the love of his life when he was in his mid twenties that people stopped disappearing. He lost quite a few friends – friends who didn't have the… protection he did." Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm sorry – this is difficult for me to talk about, AND a big reason why I started the conspiracy in the first place. I'll never know why, but even today, hatred against the Fire Nations and firebenders still burn at a low level – just waiting for someone like Kuvira or Jinshu Kuangmai to stir it up again!" Figuring this was as good a time as any, Izumi said, feeling like crying herself, "You're right – as I'm sure you know Kuvira had all non earthbenders in the Earth Empire rounded up and sent to camps. What you may not know is that her successor actually planned to have the firebenders either killed outright or worked to death until his 'Chief _Containment_ Officer' Jasmine, since defected, convinced him they were needed for work. But there's something we can do about it. There's a large prison camp outside Omashu that revolted last night that's probably fighting off Earth Empire soldiers right now – a lot of waterbenders, firebenders _and _'undesireable' earthbenders are in the camp. Spirit allies of the Avatar are there as well; spirits that can bend, each element represented."

Seeing the look on Jet Morishita's face, Izumi thought that if he were a firebender he would be producing blue fire as he roared, "WHAT? That MONSTER! Ugh – maybe I should have just spoken my mind to you seven years ago more fully, threatened to resign over the military scrapping… if we had been strong, maybe we could have stopped Kuvira all by ourselves." Doing a double-take, he said, "I'm sorry – I just don't like to see the weak preyed upon. It's the biggest reason I chose to come to the Fire Nation after a close call when I was younger." Sighing, he continued, Izumi not even sure if she wanted to hear what her High General had to say after this, "My father's childhood was still good overall, but rough. He had me with my mother, Jin Morishita, when he was 27, and everything looked bright – and it was. My grandmother's business had expanded with the help of my father, the hate crimes had stopped, and the capital Republic City began calling my name when I was 16. Taking most of my possessions, money, and my passport, I set out for the big city to make a name for myself and see how I could help the United Republic be everything my parents and grandparents wanted it to be."

Looking sad again, he continued, "I had quite a lot of money, and the price of the boat ticket to Republic City didn't sting. However, I got delayed and missed the boat, the next one not due for another week. I was discouraged, but wanted to try again – I still had my passport and a lot of money, after all. While waiting on the next boat…" Looking disgusted, he continued, "While waiting on the next boat, I read a story in the paper about a passenger ship that had been hijacked in Yue Bay, the passengers taken hostage by gangsters. Most of the passengers made it out alive… but not the ones from poor origins. Cut down, just because their families couldn't afford the ransom. I was disgusted – I knew my own home had a checkered past, having grown up with stories from my grandparents about the battle, and their struggle raising Zuko. But I hadn't heard Republic City had problems – much less gangsters who would kill people in cold blood." Looking foolish, he said, "I went to talk to my grandmother about it, suggesting I had found my purpose – ride the boats armed with my hookswords and a bit of metal and earth, preventing future atrocities. She told me while she admired my courage and selflessness, that I would just be throwing my life away, probably able to help once and then find myself dead in my new Republic City home in a fortnight, assassinated."

Getting off his chair and kneeling, he said, "That's when I decided to come to the Fire Nation instead – I knew it was a place of peace, prosperity, and order. Even a place where earthbenders like myself and firebenders lived together nicely, even if there were a lot more people like you than me. Knowing my last name would possibly get me different treatment, though not entirely sure what kind, my dad recommended I dropped my last name. It took some convincing, but I did it, finally leaving for the Fire Nation when I turned 18, fashioning contacts like you saw earlier before leaving to complete the 'transformation'. Remembering how a lot of my heartbreak stemmed from people not being able to defend themselves, I applied for military school. Next thing I knew, I had Firelord Zuko's eyes after graduating and my eyes on a woman from school. I didn't have to choose between her and career – and until the conspiracy, she was the only one who knew my real backstory." Izumi's eyes widened, musing, "So I guess all those times you couldn't see me because you were busy with family or your wife Supaku weren't the truth." Jet Morishita nodded, saying, "Pretty much. It sounds like we have some sort of a time limit, so I will just finish with this: I did what I did because I didn't want to see the Fire Nation helpless as the passengers on that ferry, or the disappeared from my father's youth. And given what I have heard about Jinshu Kuangmai and what you just said about a narrowly avoided reverse genocide, I made the right decision. Don't let pride or old notions get in the way of doing what is right, like your father did with Yu Dao at first."

Deliberately deciding to ignore the small, mewling voice of pride in her head, Izumi told Jet Morishita to be at ease after saying, "I'm not firing you – I'm changing the law. You can still serve the country of your choosing," asking High General Rongyu, "Do you have a similar story? Or is there something more?"

Seeing how uncomfortable he looked, Izumi wished it was "just" another story like Jet Morishita's.

The High General was to the point, saying, "While I am not secretly an earthbender like the War Minister, I do share something in common with him: my ancestors also came from a former Fire Nation colony," Izumi feeling chills run down her spine when he said mournfully, "My grandparents were not as lucky as War Minister Jet _Morishita's_, however – their 'crime' was being from one of the newer and largest Fire Nation colonies, Garzai, Fire Nation rule there 'only' dating back to the time of Firelord Azulon. What you were just told about Yu Dao after the war is child's play compared to what happened in Garzai. When the borders of the new United Republic were drawn, Garzai was not included, the city reverting back to Earth King Kuei's rule. Even though he tried hard to ensure that the firebender and Fire Nation loyal residents of the city were unharmed, there was only so much he could do all the way from Ba Sing Se to enforce order." Sighing, he continued, "At first, people like my grandparents and likeminded earthbenders were able to keep the peace through an elaborate vigilante justice system based on a mix of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom rules. Everything changed when my grandparents began to get older, but the situation was no better or worse than Yu Dao or even Republic City at the time. Not that hate crime is anything to gloss over…"

Apparently, the High General and War Minister had rehearsed beforehand, Jet Morishita standing up and creating an effigy of Earth-Queen Hou Ting in mid-air, High General Rongyu setting it on fire briefly as he said, "Then everything _really _changed when that tyrant came to power, and having heard rumors of her childhood disposition and opinions about what lands belonged to who, the first wave of refugees including my grandparents fled Garzai and all the other former colonies under her rule. She saw Garzai as a disgrace and awful reminder of the 100 Year's War, as much a 'blight' as the United Republic, even attempting to send Dai Li agents in and crush the 'rebellion' that was currently keeping order. When that was unsuccessful, the Dai Li already beginning to weaken from rumors I heard about the first 'battle', she simply raised the taxes to extremely high levels in all the former colonies. She began using their refusal to pay as an excuse to march her troops in under cover of darkness and 'get them back in line'. Eventually she expanded the high tax rates to everywhere else, but she made clear 'our' position by singling out former colonies at first – though she never did get her 'fair' share from Garzai."

The effigy of the Earth Queen crumbling, he continued as an effigy of Kuvira took her place, "From what my grandparents heard from Garzai after that, things were deteriorating, but still somewhat under control, even if hate crimes were an ongoing problem. The other former colonies were ghost-towns, buildings in rubble or charred husks from the fighting that happened. It was this tyrant, Kuvira, who struck the real death blow to Garzai, her and elite metalbenders breaking down its walls in the dead of night completely two years ago and thus annexing the whole province. From accounts, they still had a fight on their hands, still eventually purging the city of and imprisoning even waterbenders who had taken refuge from the Earth Queen's taxation. After their victory, she encouraged 'loyal' citizens to turn in any dissenters who hadn't fought– which all too many did…" Taking a breath, Izumi able to see what happened still disturbed Rongyu greatly, he continued, "Some crafty earthbenders pretended to be loyal and promptly fled to the Fire Nation as soon as Kuvira withdrew her troops shortly after, Garzai then a husk of its former self, much like the other colonies. But not all had left before one heard an interesting conversation between her and Baatar Jr. Kuvira was musing about the past of Garzai, half joking to suggest doing the same to the Fire Nation one day, and according to the witness' account, almost all of her troops were behind the idea, even Kuvira surprised. It was Baatar Jr. who spoke out against the idea, reminding Kuvira that their original intent was to bring order to the Earth Kingdom, and possibly re-unite the _entire_ old Earth Kingdom if the United Republic proved weak enough – but nothing more. She didn't exactly commit herself in the end outright, merely stating, 'I was originally joking. However, I will keep my mind open to different possibilities – may the best idea win; if they are as weak as these little states are, maybe even pursue both. You can remember our losses here. Garzai is the first time anyone put up a respectable resistance – and I expect the Fire Nation Capital or Republic City would be even worse.' This account came to us only a few short weeks after Garzai's fall, and we did not know if it was credible at the time, but decided we couldn't take any chances."

Bowing to her, High General Rongyu said, "Given the reports of what happened at Republic City up to Kuvira's defeat, it looks to me like both ideas may have won in the end, had Kuvira been victorious. I can see you obviously have something to say as well, so I will finish with this: two years ago, we believed the Fire Nation to be under direct military threat for the first time since the Day of Black Sun, and acted accordingly – even if no one else believed this man's story, preferring to pretend Kuvira was righteous."

Kuvira's nightmares culminating in world domination, a part of the former foe liking what she saw even after her dramatic transformation, knowing what the Fire Nation was good for in Jinshu Kuangmai's eyes, Izumi took everyone assembled off guard by talking in a stream of consciousness, spilling everything relevant but Jinshu Kuangmai's real identity, saying at the end emotionally, "I called you here to answer for your 'crimes' and treasonous behavior – and given everything you have told me about your motivations, and everything I just told you, now I _feel_ like the one who should be put on trial, even though logically I know it's ridiculous. If Korra's hadn't won in Republic City, and if you hadn't gone behind my back… we might be a province in Kuvira's Earth Empire right now. Earth not in the sense of the element, or the nation – but the world." Izumi smiled slightly when Kiyi II laughed, saying, "Don't even say that! We're all on the same side; you did what you thought was right, and so did we. Plus, it didn't turn out that way – it turned out this way instead. Now why don't you go make your speech and contact the Avatar," Izumi not grumbling when her cousin added, "But not before a group hug! You look drained – and given the look on everyone else's face, they do too."

Initially expecting just her family and the high commanders to join in, Izumi was surprised when she heard many boots striking the ground as well, finding herself sandwiched between her father and Ursa II as Kiyi II said, "I like this… hug! Even if it is a bit… tight! Maybe we should… do this more often!" Thinking about the two enemies they were all united against, Izumi said, "There's not a spirit weapon or spirit in the world that can crush this."

Hearing an odd harmonious whirring sound, almost as though a waterbender were healing somebody of physical and mental wounds, Izumi noticed her daughter smiling broadly, holding Peacebloom up slightly, saying, "Something's happening to her. But what?"

Someone very unexpected spoke, a voice that for all the world sounded like what Izumi remembered her grandmother Ursa sounding like saying from Peacebloom's body saying one word: "Love."

The rest of the time between then and contacting Korra passed in a blur, her daughter busying herself with the military seemingly without a single reservation. All her officers had proved to be more like the original Jeong-Jeong, and less like the still-trapped Admiral Zhao. They understood what fire could do if uncontrolled – but also what would happen to fire if it didn't burn strongly enough.

Izumi managed to give a speech that was actually better than the one her father had given when they returned home. The Fire Nation – a home she wondered how she could have ever thought needing of endless atonement. Izumi realized that what her father had said about lingering shame being useless didn't apply just to her – it applied to every person, spirit, and nation.

Remembering one spirit that seemed to slightly regret recent decisions it had made, Izumi decided she wanted to give Korra a message more personal than even the one about Azula.


	52. Chapter 52: City of Two Lovers: Part 1

Chapter 52: City of Two Lovers, Part 1

Having felt something urgent waking her up and cutting short her session with the Avatar and her vital ability to give out knowledge with the touch of a hand, Yangchen expected to be told by the defector's "leader" Yuehan that General Wuqing had begun his assault on her city, Omashu. Yangchen was surprised to see her husband Xingyun shaking her back awake instead, sounding slightly annoyed yet proud as he said, "Little Gyatso wouldn't stop shooting air blasts at me until he got to see his new little sister again, even if she is still asleep. He's waiting outside right now. I don't know why that big bird spirit 'Alyssralove' came by earlier – probably Avatar stuff," smiling as he asked, "Can he come in?" He frowned slightly as he finished, "Please don't tell me the Avatar wanted something done, right now. Gyatso won't be happy if you brush him off – and you know neither of us will be either, and not just because he'd complain. We're good parents, after all."

Yangchen sighed, saying as she shifted from a "sleeping" pose to a meditative one, "You're right, but as you know, something outside our city could take precedence over even family at any moment. It depends – let me personally see if there are any Earth Empire barbarians knocking at the gates right now. Everything the Avatar gave me to do should take quite a while, especially if Alyssralove ends up being needed at the camp," smiling as she said, "So if we aren't under attack like I thought we were when you woke me up, of course I have time for family," adding, "Though protecting said family comes first. As it always has, and will." Yangchen remembered Korra's idealistic foisting of impossible to reproduce "Liser" designs on her with slight amusement. Omashu had plenty of metalworking industry and metalbenders, even some glassworks and the ability to produce some of the Liser's complicated components without synthesis, but they were much better equipped to produce lethal weapons. It's what both Kuvira and Jinshu Kuangmai, even the Earth Queen before them had geared whole swathes of Omashu industry to do, after all. None had dreamed of "Lipowder" or fire-earth, and the Earth Queen's industry never went beyond jeeps, extravagant personal items people had skimmed funds from out of spite, or parts for her laughable flying junk Cabbage Corp war balloons. Now that she thought about it, they even had some of the highly sensitive equipment to produce spirit weapon casings and barrels, the only physical legacy of Kuvira's short rule aside from one of her special _actual_ schools - the spirit weaponry production capability something she had learned after Omashu's fall from the resident defector's leader, "Sergeant" Yuehan.

With all this equipment, for every Liser and new-model lightning generator she could make, Yangchen figured she could make ten Meesiles, maybe even another spirit weapon if she were inclined to add to the twenty-something already guarding Omashu – the tradeoff was obvious. Having only one non-technological source of electricity in the form of Alyssralove, the only equipment they had for producing lightning was in Earth Empire style – currents, unadjustable as far as she knew, and she wasn't about to waste valuable time perfecting nonlethal "zap". She had a nagging doubt in the back of her mind about how much they'd be up against, even how quickly - even discounting the reinforcements from Zaofu dragging mystery equipment Raava had hinted at. Three battalions struck her as underkill to invade Republic City, Spirit Civil War as a distractor or not.

Seeing her husband nod in apparent approval after explaining what she had just zoned out thinking about, even including the Lisers, knowing they would be of little use without tuber-vines anyways, Yangchen tried focusing on one Earth Empire commander's energy she knew already – General Chin. He was second in command behind his hotheaded, violent commander who was known only by the name Wuqing – even in the Earth Empire, from what some defected officers inside Omashu and Jasmine had said. Expecting to find General Chin in camp with his own three children and his conscripts, men and women she had gotten the impression he was very attached to, as attached to as she was to her own two children, she was surprised to find herself unable to connect. Instead of sight or even sound, all she saw was the endless black of the inside of her own eyelids, all she heard was her slightly rapid breathing - though she felt more than that when the implication dawned on her, breathing quickening further as she thought about the implications.

Remembering something about a spirit vine powered security system now enveloping Zaofu from what she had been told earlier, her heart sank – General Chin, inventor of the "fire-earth" in their possession, in Zaofu… likely working with Jinshu Kuangmai on new weapons, neither one caring about lethality one bit. The fire-earth weapons she had seen Chin designed didn't look nonlethal. For them, she figured, killing was a plus – not something to avoid. She had heard the dragon-bird spirit Alyssralove report a fair amount of night time air traffic between Zaofu and the armies outside Omashu, even seen it herself earlier, and Yangchen surmised Chin must have been one of the "things" exchanged, along with what appeared to be a massive number of mechasuits shuttled to the front.

Which, given what Raava had told them all about a defector telling Baatar Jr. of the Earth Empire's plans to transition to purely spirit vine power, gave her great cause for concern. Remembering a detail Jasmine had observed and relayed to her about the color of the mechasuits a short distance outside her camp, Yangchen was sure - all those mechasuits were "throwaways", and their color no long an accurate indicator of who was piloting the war machine. Yangchen sighed, quickly explaining what she had realized to Xingyun, not sure if she was annoyed or not when he looked surprised when she finished, "It's too bad - even I would have liked to be able to go easy on the conscripts." Slightly annoyed it was when he said, "Hey - I bet even the 'elites' aren't all bad; Yuehan and the rest of the defectors were 'elites', after all," feeling slightly pissed when he added, "Even tax collectors…" Yangchen shook her head, saying, "Hey! Watch what you're saying… You never know who will hear. We can talk about this another time - the 'feel-lovey-dovey' hormones are still clouding my judgment."

"Maybe they aren't clouding it, honey. Maybe they're _unclouding_ it. We both know what you did before getting airbending, wanted to do again…"

Yangchen sighed again, saying tersely, "I've got something to do - another time. And the longer I delay, the longer Gyatso's outside," glad to see the appeal to family work when Xingyun nodded, sitting down next to a sleeping Jaina. Remembering the three children Chin had shown "her", Yangchen focused on the eldest's energy - the one most likely to be doing anything, given her brothers couldn't bend just like their twenty-something sister, and were too young to effectively pilot a mechasuit to boot, being eight and twelve and all.

Yangchen paused for a moment before attempting another projection of herself, a stray thought passing through her mind: "Chin lost the love of his life to chaos in the Earth Kingdom - Jayakan, if I remember right… and it warped him. Otherwise, he would have run away after Jasmine's speech… what would I do if I lost my husband?" She saw a brief unwelcome image appear of Xingyun's final breath, followed by herself taking the breath from many others out of a desire for vengeance. Finding the final vengeful part disquieting instead of justified as she might have normally, especially considering what they had just "discussed", another paraphrased thought entered her mind, something taught to the Air Nomad Avatar after her namesake's by the original airbender nation, something her parents had stressed to her while raising her: "Revenge is a two-head rat viper - while you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself."

From what she had seen of Chin, this is exactly what happened to him - mind poisoned by the random act of violence that had taken his wife away; when she had visited him the previous night, disguised as his dead wife, he mentioned over and over how he blamed the Avatar and world for her death during her short visit, and was "seeking justice" - in all the wrong ways. Dismissing another thought about violence not being the answer, Yangchen did make one vow - she'd never kill someone _just _for revenge or vengeance. Actual justice, or ensuring peace, or preventing further loss of life and suffering, most especially protecting family, on the other hand…

She was closer to her namesake than Korra's predecessor during his lifetime on that, and from what Raava had shown her, Aang had "come around" slightly after death - probably after seeing what beings from another plane could do to their own planet for the first time. "Hell", he seemed more okay with taking life than Korra did now, from what else Raava had shown her!

Re-focusing her energy on Chin's eldest, trying to wipe images of Earth's destruction from her mind and hoping his dead wife might "help" again, she could see from the slightly shocked, slightly angry look on his twenty-year old daughter's face this wasn't the case. Frowning, green eyes glimmering with a hint of hatred, the enemy commander's daughter Jayashri said, "Wait - you're not Earth Empire. Projecting! You're an airbender… and last I checked, we don't have any of those." An unpleasant possibility occurred to Yangchen - new everything benders, truly _everywhere_ \- even inside the Earth Empire, given the lowlife Zaheer was given airbending by the clueless Spirit of Air, allowing him to throw the Earth Kingdom into chaos in the first place, indirectly killing the mother of the woman in front of her…

Noticing that the young woman looked to be getting ready to address a crowd of some sort, notes in one hand, wireless microphone in the other inside a large tent they were both "sharing", Yangchen felt guilty when Jayashri started crying, saying as she pointed the microphone at Yangchen like it was a sword, the words and tone hurting just as much as if the microphone had been real steel, "Wait a minute - I know how projecting works. How would you know my energy… Unless… YOU! It was you last night… you used our dead mother's form somehow to sneak in here and gain my dad's trust on a 'tour'! You were behind the revolt too, I bet! And I bet you've been hiding every airbender that failure of an Avatar or tyrannical Earth Queen didn't find! Little manipulative, cowardly, spying bi-" Yangchen sighed, figuring she may as well plant a painful seed of doubt if she had already hurt the young woman, saying, "I don't know how my projection looked like your mother Jayakan, and know my trick has hurt you a lot … but I do know any mother would be mortified to see her family out for blood in the name of her demise," not entirely sure what "she" had said last night - only what she saw.

Apparently, the actual Jayakan must have said something along a similar vein, Jayashri spluttering, "Wh - how did you know her last words, when she saw my mechasuit next to my little brother… Neither my father or I care what she said - he's still going to help re-unite the Earth Empire, and I'm still going to lead his men in his absence, while he's off on… business," Yangchen scowling slightly at the young woman's insight when Jayashri finished, "I know you think my father misguided - and I imagine if you captured or killed me, or either of my brothers, he'd have even more motivation to see things through to the end. Chin might even get his boss to be more 'human-y'." Yangchen sighed, annoyed by the young woman's perception when she said, "I won't tell you exactly why - you likely already have some idea if that Jasmine traitor's talked with you about him at all, or taken a good look at those war balloons you stole and my father's fire-earth. For all those 'reasons', my dad's too valuable to his leader to kill - and if you fools are aiming to have a 'peaceful' knockout end to this war, turn Jinshu Kuangmai 'good' like that other traitor Kuvira, both my father and I are too valuable to the _Avatar_ to kill," saying with a final air, "You can stay here as long as you like - I'm not saying another word to you." Rats - so much for knocking out one of their commanders to get a surrender or sow chaos… though from what Jasmine told her of Wuqing earlier, he certainly wasn't off the table. Or rather, chopping block.

Remembering how key the _relatively_ soft Chin could be to breaking down or even just curbing Jinshu Kuangmai's bloodlust, maybe even more important than "turning" Vaazula, Yangchen said, "You can be as vengeful as you like, but unless you force my hand, trying to attack one of _my _babies or my husband directly, going in for the kill, threatening our freedom again… I'm not killing you. All we want is to leave Omashu, and away from tyrant's rule, free as air, to live out in the open, no hiding my talent from the world - at last..."

To Yangchen's annoyance, the young woman's eyes stayed hard, grumbling, "Wh - I thought I told you to scram! The world didn't care when thousands, maybe even millions of babies, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters died in the rest of the Earth Kingdom from Zaheer's anarchy. Omashu, just like Zaofu, was spared from hurt in your decadence, arrogance and material wealth, and you know the price of resistance. Enough - I am done," Yangchen smiling slightly when Jayashri continued, against her word, looking slightly ashamed, "Though, I'd never kill a mother, child or father myself - not after what happened to my mother… only 17 when she died three years ago…"

Able to see in Jayashri's eyes she really was done talking, Yangchen launched a final barb, saying, "Everyone who acts like a real human being - even the misguided, like you and your father - is someone's mother, father, child, sister, brother… Maybe you need to either talk to your father's boss and try to change his evil mind in vain with Chin's help about slaughtering innocents, or re-consider who you show your allegiance to. Even your former 'Glorious Leader', 'Empress', Kuvira 'the Great Uniter' has changed sides." Getting the expected rude gesture at first, Yangchen was pleasantly surprised when she heard Jayashri mumble, "About the innocents… M-maybe I'll call when my dad isn't busy in the fabrica - ah, crap! Not another word! Get out of my sight! Don't you have something better to do?!"

With confirmation that Chin really was busy working on something, and the possibility of Chin's daughter working as a softening agent on Jinshu Kuangmai indirectly at some unknown point, Yangchen smiled, breaking the connection after saying, "If it looks like Wuqing , Jinshu Kuangmai or even you or your father are going to get their hands on Omashu or get into the prison camp and massacre the sexual 'criminals', all bets are off. We'll use everything at our disposal to stay free long enough to get out. We want to leave, even if you don't want us to - we won't be 're-educated' like Kuvira might have or enslaved like what Long Yumao wants to do to _all _of humanity. Your little Empire included. I'll just leave you guessing what we have at our disposal, just like we don't have a clue what your father is doing 'in the fabrica' with Jinshu Kuangmai. Probably something top secret, making things to kill people for his savage boss. Good day."

Focusing on a place instead, figuring she should still be safe and check her city, even if it did seem like Wuqing and Jayashri were making preparations and not attacks at the time, she found herself looking out at Omashu's surroundings from high above the base of the main earthen causeway into Omashu. Turning around, she still smiled, no hordes of green at her city's gates, even the thin-coat platinum bridges looking fine, idle spirit cannon turrets pointing outwards from the tops of Omashu's ancient walls. The industrial sector on the city's outskirts beyond the inner walls was untouched, finding herself glad to see people had been slow in carrying out the canceled order to gut the city - they'd need every bit of equipment to produce any more advanced weapons.

Satisfied for now that her city wasn't under immediate danger of attack, both Wuqing and Jayashri preparing their forces, most likely to hit the prison camp, knowing how much more hatred Toph's wayward son had for "sexual criminals" and Jasmine than mere rebels, Yangchen stopped projecting herself. She opened her eyes and found herself looking directly at her two going on two and a half year old son, Gyatso. At first, she felt a little annoyed – Xingyun had let him in without permission, and her husband was standing near the door, grinning mischievously! Looking at Gyatso's shimmering jade eyes and hearing the way he said, "Bab-y? See sister? Jai…na? Mom, name Jaina?" Yangchen softened, hugging him as she said, "Sure!", feeling love brush aside petty annoyances. Taking Gyatso over to the newborn Jaina, who looked hungry and about to fuss, having apparently waken up, hungry for her second ever breastfeeding, Yangchen wondered idly without any real purpose as her husband followed: "I am _plenty _attached to my earthly tether. And so is my husband – even if he's not the least bit dirty-mouthed during sex. Why can't I fly like Jinora, a 14-year old? What's wrong with me? She doesn't even have kids yet…"

Not sure what her "block" could be, Yangchen returned to the present when Jaina began crying - one of the few times since she was born, and not just because she had been sleeping for so long. She had chosen the name well - her baby little daughter cried only briefly after birth, all heart-warming coos and blissful suckling after that. Yangchen groaned internally – she should have fed Jaina first, then brought Gyatso over, though she realized she probably didn't have twenty minutes to feed Jaina anyways. But she'd have to **make** time… Jaina wasn't the only "one" fussing anyways – Yangchen must have suppressed the full and slightly painful feeling in her breasts earlier with how concerned she was about Omashu, then talking with Chin's daughter, and hearing Jaina cry certainly re-adjusted her priorities. Not sure how to get Gyatso away to prevent him from asking for any of _Jaina's_ milk, especially considering how difficult it had been to wean him for both mother and child. Yangchen had acutely missed the feeling of peace, calm, love, even a little euphoria she felt when feeding him ever since she stopped feeding well over a year ago. Jaina's cries reminding her there was someone who definitely needed her, Yangchen found her body moving all by itself - her baby needed to be fed, and her body didn't care about her mind's quibbling, or time schedules. Laughing to see Jaina's eyes light up and glad to hear her stop crying when Yangchen exposed one breast, Yangchen ignored Gyatso's question of, "You take part of shirt off. Expose bouncy thing. Tell what do, mommy? Please?" at first, Yangchen finally answering, "Women feed their _babies_ from their _breasts _with _milk,_" after a small gust of wind from her son told Yangchen she wasn't going to get away with ignoring his legitimate question. One she was willing to answer – unlike one of his earlier ones…

Remembering she did have work to do, she told Gyatso after telling her husband to start searching for an Air Nomad-inspired baby carrier she had once used to carry Gyatso around, as well as the breast pumps, "Why don't you take just a little while longer to look at your little sister, then mommy needs to do stuff to make sure we stay free. Okay?" Apparently, Gyatso both understood and remembered more than Yangchen had hoped, saying as Jaina suckled, Yangchen's physical discomfort lowering even as emotional discomfort increased, "Remember crazy night…bad men go good, other bad men still bad outside. _Also_ remember… what daddy call… 'mmmbag' earlier. Just barely. I hungry – can have some milk from mmmbag?" Yanghchen shook her head, saying strongly, the slight arousal she felt with breastfeeding and memories of Gyatso's annoying habit of biting at times towards the end only making her more adamant in her proclamation, "No – _breast_ milk, not 'mmmbag' milk, is for babies only, and you're definitely a big boy now!" Yangchen "stood" her ground by blowing Gyatso away from her chest using airbending as she kept Jaina' head cradled over her fuller right breast, her husband laughing at his son's antics. Yangchen blushed slightly as she remembered who had first called her breasts "mmmbags" - and had accidentally called them that in front of Gyatso this morning during Jaina's first feeding! Was it an accident, or a hint to Yangchen about something for a few days from now…? Whatever.

Realizing she felt hungry herself, she told Gyatso sternly, her husband finally finding the clothes she wanted to change into once Jaina felt satisfied, "If you keep bugging mom, Jaina time might end again, like it did earlier, when you asked over and over where Jaina came from after we told you to drop it. Now do you want one of the first times you see you baby sister to end on a sour note, or do you want to touch her for a little while she eats? It won't be for long - mommy needs to change in a bit, then have a meeting. Daddy found the special mommy baby clothes." Gyatso's eyes lit up brighter than Jaina's had, saying with a toothy grin, "Forget mmmbag. Little sister again – big brother?" Now Yangchen found herself fighting Gyatso away from her chest for an entirely different reason, saying, "Yes – let me finish feeding your little sister first! If a woman doesn't feed her baby enough right after _birth_, when the baby grows up, the baby is weaker against _infection_," adding, "Not to mention if I don't feed often enough it feels _terrible_." Gyatso nodded, saying, "Okay – not feed bad for Jaina. 'Terrible' for momma too," Yangchen sighing slightly when he said pitifully, audibly annoyed as he looked at her chest, "I just sit here, hungry, while little sis gets fed. Hungry…" Yangchen gave him a small dirty look, saying, "Even if I did relent, which I won't, you probably wouldn't like it. 'Mmmbags' don't make normal-tasting milk at first. It's still good for the baby - and the baby needs every drop it can get."

Yangchen left out how she knew anything about milk's taste progression for the same reason she hadn't told Gyatso where Jaina came from earlier. After all, Gyatso certainly hadn't come up with the name "mmmbags", even if he used it earlier, and she more clearly remembered now the third reason she weaned _everyone_, pretty sure her husband's "slipup" hadn't been one after all - though he didn't look like he meant to say it in front of Gyatso. It was great for both parties at first, the first time amazing, but eventually "playfeeding" with her husband was just… weird. At least, that's how it had felt the first time she ever thought about what someone else would think of it. The first time someone in room service had knocked and asked with audible incredulity, "Just what in the blazes are you two doing in there?" in the middle being their playfeeding last ever. She wasn't looking forward to that conversation with Xingyun, should she and her husband even get the opportunity to make love anytime soon…

Though from what Yangchen had, or rather, hadn't seen, the Avatar seemed to make time, given all the gaps in what Raava had shown her. If Omashu wasn't under immediate threat… what difference would five minutes make?

Thoughts of her husband and love reminding her what she needed to protect, Yangchen re-focused, thinking, "If the Earth Empire gets in here, there won't be a family left to love, unless Jayashri works a 'miracle' on Jinshu Kuangmai… I still don't trust his vow to Korra that he will let the civilians evacuate, and Jayashri didn't get the memo apparently - so I doubt Wuqing did either." Asking her husband for a radio behind her as Gyatso played with his sister's auburn hair, Yangchen said into the radio, "Can I get some room service, please? Something big and tasty - I did just give birth not long ago. I feel like I could eat a whole plate of sushi…" Forgetting her dignity for a minute, Yangchen added, drooling a little, "Never mind red meat." Seeing Gyatso looking at her and laughing, "Baby sister not only one droolin!", she regained her composure after stifling laughter, "Oh – and tell our top engineers and the Earth Empire defector's leader Yuehan to get ready for a huge update. I'll let them know when to come to my private quarters," adding, "Bring something for my little rude precocious son as well," figuring she could multitask between family time and "work" time for the next twenty to thirty minutes.

Jaina let out a loud, contented-sound burp and starting to suckle less strongly, even though she had only been suckling for a few minutes. Yangchen remembered a bit more about Jaina's first time breastfeeding. Now sure that Jaina's odd breastfeeding habit of sucking for a while when she was first hungry then sleeping for ten to fifteen minutes, and waking up later to finish was likely not a fluke, Yangchen wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing. Knowing she had things other than breastfeeding training her daughter to worry about for now, coughing, she said, "Gyatso, mommy needs you to leave for a little bit," intending to use the time that Jaina was temporarily asleep to change her dress and draw schematics for her engineers.

With a last kiss of his sleeping baby sister, Gyatso left the room, thankfully shutting the door behind him, the light still on. Using her head to gesture towards the baby, Yangchen said, thinking of another use of her time, "Honey, given everything I'll need to do, I think if Jaina's going to feed irregularly, we might need to mix bottled pumped milk and actual breastfeeding. Get the hand pumps," hoping to divert her husband's most likely interest by saying, "I think I'll need an… _assistant_, if you know what I mean. My hands are 'tired'… and yours aren't." Xingyun nodded, saying with a smile, "Huh - playpumping. Sounds fine to me," Yangchen feeling a different kind of love when he said, "If you're open to it, later - I'm not stealing any… colostrum? from Jaina," giggling a little when he said, "Doesn't taste good anyways. I remember what does, though…"

Seeing her husband's smile, Yangchen arched her eyebrows, remembering another use for shared inner dream worlds aside from meeting, saying only, "I might be able to help with that. I'll explain…later," glad to see her husband nod and run off to find what she needed.

No longer feeling Jaina sucking, Yangchen felt comfortable assuming she was asleep, placing her daughter into swaddles in a corner, not needing to set a timer - Jaina would let them know when it was time for a feeding again. Her husband returning with the baby-holding clothes, bottles, breast pumps _and_ pencil and papers, even though she hadn't said anything about needing those, Yangchen smiled, saying as she placed the pencils and papers to the side, "Thank you, honey. I didn't even have to ask." Xingyun shrugged, saying, "No problem. Now get out of those clothes," noticing with a smile he didn't say, "And into these."

Taking the last of what she had been wearing off, seeing her husband's glittering green eyes as he held the half knockoff Air Nomad robes, half baby carrier she had made what seemed like an eternity ago to carry a bouncing baby Gyatso around, Yangchen felt her earlier resolve about work and pumping while Jaina slept slip when her husband said, staring at her chest, "I remember the whole reason you designed this thing - make it easier to feed a baby on the go. I didn't say anything, but I also remember what we did accidentally at first before - where that nickname came from." He looked like he wanted to continue, but Yangchen held up a hand, saying as memory came back, "Like you said earlier, some other time... Jaina needs every drop for the first few days, and more importantly… don't forget we might be in a war zone soon," the color draining from her face when he said, frowning as he said with a slight tremble, "Honey, that's exactly why I brought it up, held the baby carrier back, admired your naked body - sex. I'm not stealing from Jaina either. I know you know what I'm going to say, but… I won't say it."

That this could be the last time, if they did anything now, and either one of them… died… later.

Though she didn't say anything, Yangchen thought, "If it could be… I want to make it count," not caring if she had just given birth a few hours ago. Unaware of her internal comment, Xingyun continued, saying, "I'll wait. C'mon - I won't do anything aside from what we came up with earlier right now, even that not without your permission." Yangchen remembering how lucky she was to have Xingyun - "Lucky" - as a husband when he said, "I haven't massaged you on your chest aggressively or really messed with your 'twin attractions' in a while, even though that part of your breathtaking body is my favorite… I remembered how far along you were with Gyatso when your breasts got too sensitive for real roughhousing, let alone the other thing, and made sure it was different this time. I hated how hurt you sounded, disappointed," all this talk having reminded Yangchen she missed more vigorous "play" there a lot as well…

Not sure how long they had before Jaina fussed, currently facing a wall fast asleep, or room service arrived, Yangchen smiled, looking down as she said, pointing between her husband's legs, "There's one spot that doesn't smart at all right now - and you're lucky it's on you, not me," laughing at his vaguely koala-sheepish expression, Yangchen insisting, "I don't mind - you heard what I said earlier about 'room service'… and it's a different kind of playpumping, after all." Her husband blushed slightly, saying as he undressed just the required amount, "O-okay. I won't complain - and I guess you're pretty sore down there, after giving birth and all," both laughing after he said "'Room service', coming up," though by this point Yangchen couldn't see the expression on his face - she liked his "expression" elsewhere better.

Beginning, even though a sense of oneness overlayed with physical bliss permeated her being, not a hint of shame, Yangchen felt something else - a small bitter melancholy that she found fouled the experience for her. She stopped for a moment and said slowly, mouth no longer otherwise occupied, "Sorry, I… I just hope this isn't the last time…" She was about to say something else, but found she couldn't, mouth again "occupied", crying slightly when her husband said, "I know - just be. Shhh… Don't think about anything else… I know I wasn't… Amazing…"

Doing just that, Yangchen began "speaking" her love without words and focusing on physical feelings and sensations. Yangchen successfully banished nagging thoughts once she felt oneness again, her mind fading shortly after that. Yangchen felt much better after, not sure how much time had passed - only that she had a great time, blood still pumping through both her and Xingyun. Given her husband's normally lackluster exclamation was abnormally strong this time and his heavy breathing matched her own, she felt happy, realizing she had given him her all without even thinking about it. She took a moment to savor her end of things, not protesting her husband's exploratory caress of her upper body after she stood up on an impulse, kissing him deeply without thinking about what lingered on and in her, involuntarily moaning after, "Do whatever you want, you **lucky** son of a -"

At first, he looked like he was about to forget all about what they had came up with earlier - trying to make "work" like breastpumping fun. At the last moment, he shook his head, saying, "Wait - be right back," Yangchen at first feeling annoyed to be left hanging. Xingyun coming back, it was a little physically awkward at first, the plastic and rubber decidedly not sexy. Hormones kicking in, Yangchen found the play almost as good on her one attraction as she had remembered, eventually taking the pump herself, saying, "I'll do it - you just… feel the other attraction." Yangchen let out another low moan as he repaid her favor while she worked instead, savoring the feeling of oneness and bliss she knew came along with any kind of adult play, thinking nothing about what they'd look like if someone walked in, only about what her husband was doing. She could have sworn she felt something on her other breast besides her husband's touch, but didn't care.

If it really was the last time… she wanted it to be memorable.

Again not sure how much time had passed, everything having passed in a panting blur of touch and pressures after the handoff, two hearts beating rapidly as one, Yangchen realized she'd look like a fool if she didn't clean up properly. More importantly, she probably needed to feed Jaina soon, hoping her husband hadn't drained the other faucet accidentally. Remembering what she had felt on her left breast, she cursed involuntarily - so much for being careful. She'd need to let Jaina have her fill - even if it meant producing "extra" milk down the line. She was sure her husband wouldn't mind in the least…

Re-adjusting herself lower, seeing he was "at attention" again, she cleaned up quickly after a much quicker go than before, her mind distracted by more welcome bitter things, snickering when her husband said, "Wow… There. You're all good - and we better have gotten _everything _off my face," nodding her head in agreement and not for another reason when he said, "Let's get you dressed again - make sure there's a next time," feeling content and motivated when he said, "If you're up to it, much later… Maybe even another kid - one who will only see peace." Yangchen beamed, feeling happy when he added as he caressed her, looking over her shoulder, "Jaina's so beautiful - just like you."

Hearing Jaina begin to fuss halfway through getting dressed, Yangchen feeling lucky she hadn't protested sooner, she felt extra urgency to finish getting dressed again, maternal instinct overriding any thoughts about room service or weapons, finally putting on the robe her husband had held out for her earlier. Having accidentally forgotten to keep her breasts in between the inner, skintight portion and baby-holding outer portion, both breasts lay outside the modesty and baby-restraining outer layer of cloth. Remembering Jaina was hungry, she only put the one both Jaina and pump already had a crack at away, asking Xingyun for a cloth to help obscure her left, open breast. Even though her breast hurt a bit from being "abused" earlier, in a good way towards the end, she didn't protest when Xingyun helped her and threw in a quick little something, glad to see him smile as much during the quick extra tender "assistance" as when she took Jaina out of her swaddling and onto her lap, supporting her head at her other, overly full breast. Seeing Jaina smile for a brief moment before suckling happily, Yangchen said, feeling light and not caring her breast was exposed, "To peace."

Her husband nodding and not making some exclamation about her levitating off the floor, vaguely remembering Raava showing her Jinora's "first time", Yangchen felt confused, feeling _plenty _love as Jaina was close to her and her husband holding her gingerly from behind and laying one hand on top of their youngest.

She wondered internally, vaguely angry with the Universe, "Wh- what's wrong with me?!"

Closing her eyes, she saw a cryptic image, seeing her own face to the right of what she knew from her studies to be Avatar Yangchen's face. She noticed that there were "less" familiar faces to the left of her namesake's. Given two of the younger ones had arrows on their foreheads, they must be Jinora and Kai, Jinora and another airbender Yangchen vaguely recognized as Opal "stacked" on top of Avatar Yangchen's head. Noticing another familiar Air Nomad Avatar's young face was far, far to the left and Jinora's desire for an Air Nomad military, Yangchen half wondered if it was a scale of some sort.

The last thing she saw before hearing a knocking sound was numbers appearing beneath Aang, her namesake's and her own face, the young idealistic Aang's face displaying the character for one beneath it, Avatar Yangchen's stern face having the character for ten beneath it…

And her own face, with the two characters that stood for eleven beneath it.

Opening her eyes, Yangchen tried to make sense of it - "turning it up to eleven" was an English phrase, a language she knew - so why bother with conventional characters? Was "someone" trying to make a point - stressing she was "one" over whatever was being measured? Or one beyond acceptable? So she went to eleven - but on what? Thinking back to what she had been doing with, or rather, to and with Xingyun before and loving it, she idly wondered if sex were the issue. She shook her head, thinking "No, no - that can't be right, even if Jinora did stop flying after trying to grab her boyfriend's babymaker prematurely. Kai didn't want any of it, and my husband obviously did just now, and every other time, so... and Aang had kids - Avatar Yangchen didn't!"

After she told her husband about what she saw and thought of it, as well as a crash course on earthly tether-embracing flight, yelling, "Just a minute!" to whoever was knocking on her door, Yangchen could see he looked off, eventually "commanding" him nicely, "Hubby, if we can _both _figure out how to fly - though I'm pretty sure what your issue is - we're a lot more likely to have many more, happier days together. Able to dodge attacks a lot better… Tell me - if you have an idea, say it." Xingyun sighed, saying lowly, "People can hear. This is probably going to fall on just as deaf ears as you telling me just now I need to cuss like a schoolboy like you do sometimes when we're 'tethering' ourselves, like we did earlier - man that was great - but… I think that scale had nothing to do with sex, just like you said. Aang had three kids. I do know one thing he was a 'one' on, and from what you've told me, Avatar Yangchen was a 'ten' on - willingness to take life."

Her husband right, Yangchen groaned, "Oh, what? I haven't even ever… that is ridiculous! We've been in hiding or incognito for three years! I've never had an opportunity to kill someone with _airbending_ before!" The knocking getting louder, and Yangchen's stomach starting to protest more vigorously for food, her face flushed in anger and annoyance when she heard her husband say very quietly, "We both know that's true - before your first gift, that is. We 'talked' about it earlier…" her husband not needing to say anything else to remind her of a secret she wished she had never shared, even if she felt - and still felt - totally justified.

Her one-time act before Harmonic Convergence of carrying out vigilante justice on one of Earth Queen Hou Ting's worst tax collectors, Tanxin, who had abused Omashu and her own parents and family in particular for years, and the ironic fact that it was airbending that stopped her from continuing on his replacement. She was fine with Omashu providing services if they were paid for it, but couldn't stand the city being bled dry in other, less legal ways, like that rat had done to her family. By the time his jumpy permanent replacement had come to town for the first time - having been delayed by bandits from what rumors she heard, Yangchen having originally intended to make sure he met a quick and unsuspicious end as well before he could bleed Omashu dry - Yangchen was already organizing and shuttling airbenders underground, the Avatar by that time having already been "at war" with Earth Queen Hou Ting over new airbenders such as herself.

Thinking back to her feelings, what had motivated her to kill the man, she winced slightly - she had been slightly more interested in revenge for her family's suffering than any real "justice", even if it was still somewhat close. Maybe that was what was holding her back…

Realizing she had a job to do, Yangchen snapped back to the present, grousing slightly when she saw an outstretched hand, saying gruffly, "What do you want?" Hearing a female voice say calmly, "It is polite to tip those who serve you for their service, leader, and my children need it," Yangchen apologized, saying, "I was off in my own little world. Hubby, give the woman some money. Make it extra - she looks pregnant. Seven months, based on your belly, at that." Feeling famished, she turned to the smiling woman's face, asking, "Is room service here?" The woman smiled, patting her belly, saying, "Yup - seven months. Feel what I hope is a _her_ kicking all the time. Our fourth - and possibly final! You're not the only working mother around here, Yangchen. Why don't you see who has come for yourself. It's about to get a lot more crowded in here."

Not sure if she _had_ gotten everything cleaned up from earlier, Yangchen coughed, saying, "Wait - uh, I - uh my husband needs to clean the room quickly… it's… too dusty to eat in here!" The woman smiled knowingly, Yangchen blushing slightly when she said, "Whatever you two were doing in here before I came in, I can't see any evidence of it aside from a little sparkle in both your eyes," the blush fading when the woman admitted, smiling coyly, "Room service was a little slow for similar reasons - we should have been here five or ten minutes ago, but… myself included, people made some 'pit stops'." Looking a little wistful, the woman said, rubbing her belly, moving the light cloth that covered it around, "I do love kids, and what makes them, a lot… Maybe it won't be our final… You didn't sound overly urgent, so… people took their time." Remembering the entire reason people were making "pit stops" and remembering she did have a time constraint, logic overriding maternal instinct or the "logic" of desire that had made her a mother of two in the first place, Yangchen asked, feeling foolish, "Is Omashu still okay? I… totally lost track of time. What time is it?"

Yangchen breathed a big sigh of relief when the woman smiled, saying as another room service woman entered the room, noticing with curiosity that this second woman's eyes were blue, "It's just now 7:00 in the morning, and Omashu is fine, as is your baby, apparently - look at her go." Yangchen did just that, saying, "Wh - oops. Forgot to cover that," relaxing and deciding she didn't need to change a thing when the woman said, "No - I think it's beautiful," feeling a little embarrassed when the first woman added, cupping her slightly smaller chest like a gradeschooler, "Wish I had boobs that big, for myself, my husband and for when I was breastfeeding my youngest - you can probably hold a lot of reserve in there, as opposed to me," Yangchen noting with a little irony that Kipa's chest looked different than it should for someone seven months pregnant. Almost… further along, swearing she could see a tiny stain where the other woman's nipples would have been beneath the light cloth. Yangchen's own embarrassment turned to full out blushing when her husband chimed in, saying, "Yeah - there was plenty… for Gyatso when he was younger!" The room service woman raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical. Yangchen wondered if she had heard the last playfeeding herself, exclamations and all. The woman's nine-month plus upper figure only increased Yangchen's suspicion.

Finally introducing herself, though Yangchen swore she recognized her, the first woman's light yellow eyes looking a little shifty as she spoke, "The name's … Xun Bihu. But don't worry about me - you need to eat, make sure your new child is fed, and see everyone who's come to see you. I'll be on my way back to my food stall now. Call if you need anything." Yangchen shook her head, saying, "Bring in the food - nobody else but Gyatso for now," noticing the woman's light yellow eyes widen as she said, "I know a fake name when I hear it. A bad and rather literal one, at that. Jinshu Kuangmai's name means something specific, and so does yours. 'Refuge seeker'… If you've got something to hide, like I hid the airbenders who came from and _came to_ Omashu over the past three years, say it - we're free now, and if you know anything that will help us stay that way... until we can get out." Yangchen frowned slightly, feeling sad when the woman said, her voice sounding like she had seen much hardship, "M-my real name is… I - there's a reason I love my family so much, even expanding it, I guess, for its own sake - it's all I have left to remind me, of… my family's past… Yangchen, airbenders weren't the only ones who took refuge in Omashu. Or the one with a big secret. I never really felt safe telling anyone until now, without a tyrant over us and a chance to get somewhere truly safe, but… I might just seem like a food worker, but I've been helping run something _inside_ Omashu for years, under everyone's noses - literally." Yangchen jumped slightly, her husband letting out a startled yelp and Jaina protesting at the interruption to milk first, then cooing softly when the woman produced a small flame, saying, "My real name is Kipa - and I am definitely not of _traditional _Earth Kingdom descent, and neither is the waterbender baby in my stomach," Yangchen noticing the flame was much larger now.

Shushing some part of her mind that wanted to demand how many more firebenders there were, where they had hidden for so long, and if there were any waterbenders other than this woman's husband, Yangchen listened as Kipa continued, ignoring her own stomach's growling, her only action to make sure Jaina could suckle again, "There… used to be a great city, to the north, where my ancestors _lived_ \- Garzai. When Earth Queen Hou Ting came to power - the same tyrant that forced you underground, with her airbender conscript army - a lot of people left the city out of panic, knowing from rumors she hated the United Republic not being Earth kingdom territory. People in Garzai figured old colonies would be even worse off, including my grandparents - though not everyone could afford to leave on boats, like a lot of the wealthier citizens did, headed for the Fire Nation or Republic City. People from poorer backgrounds like my family had to leave on foot, some like my grandparents unable to leave until a few years into Hou Ting's rule." Smiling slightly, she said, "There was a slow trickle out of the city, my own grandparents a little into their twenties when they bumped into each other on the road. My firebender grandmother was fleeing with her parents to an ancient city where she hoped to be safe from harassment and what her parents feared would come one day, and did - the roundup of firebenders and waterbenders. My waterbending grandfather was trying to flee the Earth Queen's excessive taxation to one of the few cities at the time where taxes were less inevitable than death," Kipa quipping nervously, a little light in her yellow eyes, "And taxes less likely to cause the other!"

After another growl from Yangchen's stomach and knocking on the door, Kipa sighed, saying, "I guess the more personal details will have to wait for some other time. Anyways, my parents and grandparents, a lot of other mixed heritage lovers like them and some earthbenders who were leery of living under Hou Ting inside a former Fire Nation colony eventually taking up residence in rooms they constructed. They figured the City of Two Lovers the perfect place to make a new life - even if they felt like they needed to vanish and hide." Smiling slightly, she finished, "I meant what I said about under your noses this whole time - everything was built out and up into the rock surrounding the city's sewer system. The thinking was nobody would check there - and they didn't. There's more than quite a few people living under Omashu secretly - my own husband is a waterbender, and we have a three kids," frowning deeply and crying slightly when she added, "Even though he's a firebender, one of my youngest has only seen the sun a few times in his two years of life, and my second youngest Katara has only seen the moon a few more times than her little brother Iroh, even though she's a waterbender and almost four. Our oldest, Jeong-Jeong, only nine, works hard, to keep our family fed, along with my husband at our food shop on the surface, my little man never firebending in public. His sister - I don't know if she'd ever be able to help up top and stay anonymous; she's just like what I've heard about her namesake at a young age - bending constantly, defiantly!" Kipa cried slightly, saying, "We've clung to legends, heroes for years, to weather the storms the Earth kingdom has been through, especially the… the former colonies… hoping for a day when it's safe to come out. We couldn't make it to the shining beacon of the world - Republic City. I heard what happened there, and I hope it is safe to come out now…"

Feeling disturbed, like she could produce blue fire if she were a firebender like this woman was, feeling so angry and rightfully so, Yangchen said, "Well then, go - get your families out of there and into the sunlight! That's just horrible!" glad to see Kipa looked like she understood when Yangchen said, "Plus, we may need everyone we can get to defend Omashu later, so I may ask them to fight," adding, "Not your babies, that is - I hope it doesn't come to that. If I need you, I'll ask for your other fake name and red meat." Kipa making to leave, Yangchen, figuring the woman likely had more to be righteously angry about then she did, said quickly, "Wait - I want to see you later," adding when she got a confused look, "You've got the right stuff, working seven months pregnant. I might just be able to coach you on how to make blue fire, and if every other firebender down there has as a heart-wrenching tale as you do… maybe everyone. I can't say how I've seen the Avatar and her experiences directly without a long explanation, but she 'told' me how she first made blue fire."

Kipa nodding eagerly and leaving the room after complimenting Jaina's looks and distinct hair, Yangchen swore she heard Kipa crying slightly but sounding happy, Yangchen sighing deeply as she said, "With love on our side, and a whole lot more help… I don't see how we can lose." Yangchen finally got to see what food Kipa had brought, digging in to the fresh greens and noodles topped with a large piece of what must have been a whole fish's worth of sushi along with Gyatso, her dutiful husband making sure both herself and Jaina could eat at the same time. She hadn't had any red meat ever since Omashu fell a month before Zaofu– everything high-quality went to Kuvira and then Jinshu Kuangmai's soldiers, and she hoped Jaina's health hadn't been affected. Remembering that Pema's children were perfectly healthy despite the whole family until recently having been vegetarians, she felt better – though she did wonder if the other woman's babies would have turned out taller or stronger with meat in their diets, and their mother's…

Kipa's own three children were likely worse off, having lived underground for so long, in fear of tyrants. Yangchen found herself identifying with the firebender just thinking about her, laughing slightly when she wondered, "What was _her_ 'pit stop'? Maybe her hubby likes pregnancy like mine, but in a different way…"

Taking a break from eating herself, she checked to see if Jaina was full on mother's milk, and given she could still feel Jaina's tiny mouth sucking at Yangchen's left "twin attraction", it might be a while, hoping Jaina wouldn't mind being bottlefed the rest of what had come from Yangchen's right breast. Yangchen had heard mothers with twins managed fine, and remembering past playfeedings and Gyatso still having enough, she felt better about being able to provide enough for Jaina.

Remembering more clearly now how Gyatso had been about being fed and changed as a baby, Yangchen half wondered if she'd be directing defenses, evacuation, Varrick gun fire or military movements with her voice as she sat at the city's top, reassuring a suckling Jaina with the next breath. Distracting herself from such thoughts by digging in to the food brought to her with her right hand, Yangchen noticed that the fish seemed to satisfy her much more than usual, so busy eating she forgot to scold Gyatso when he tried sticking noodles in his nose. Hearing her husband say, "Hey, stop that – it might just stay in there! You want noodle nose for life?" Yangchen felt a bit more comfortable, laughing nonetheless when Gyatso disobeyed. Her son airbent a jam-packed nose full of noodles in his father's direction. Yangchen turned to look at her husband who was behind her, helping support both her productive breast and Jaina - Yangchen found herself appreciating the hold around her body as much as the help. Xingyun was only half-smiling at first, a few noodles landing on her shoulder. Part of the small bunch of noodles hitting the floor with a splat, all three burst into laughter - even Jaina sounded happy, giggling and then resuming her never-ending quest for more food, Yangchen sighing deeply again, finding more "spiritual wisdom" and true enlightenment coming from raising a family and her own body's workings than anything her parents had taught her about the Air Nomads.

Swearing she felt light, Yangchen dragged herself back to the present. Seeing the smile on the second still-present room service woman and remembering how the fish tasted better than usual, Yangchen asked, "Can't ask Kipa, given she's off getting her family, but… do you know if that fish anything special? It tasted better than anything I've had in weeks." The woman nodded, saying, "Now that we're free, for now, the Earth Empire 'occupation' troops started sharing their higher-quality rations… with a little guilt tripping from some children and pressure from their commander, the way I hear it," laughing slightly as she remembered aloud, "Even Kipa's eldest son was in on it, little Jeong-Jeong working the defector who oversees Omashu's food like a master. Anyways - If I had time, I would have cooked the se-tu I gave you, but you sounded hungry, so I just deep-freezed it to kill anything bad in it, with, uh… bah, secret's out; I'm a waterbender, if you hadn't figured that out by my eye color and what Kipa said." Yangchen looking forward to eating more se-tu in the future, the woman smiled, finishing, "Apparently, that fish is just as hardy and adaptable as we are, living somewhere it's not 'supposed to'. 'Quartermaster' Da said it came from one of the big lakes behind those old hydroelectric dams that dried everything up around Omashu before anyone in this room was born. Even though they are 'supposed to' spawn like sea salmon-bass, they're there in the lakes anyways, all these years later." Looking at Jaina, the woman smiled, saying, "Guess life finds a way. She's cute, and I love the color of her hair. Just like your husband's."

Sighing contentedly again, Yangchen felt glad for the compliments, to see a waterbender in front of her and to hear that some defectors were taking their change of allegiance seriously, and also glad she could eat se-tu again for both her sake and Jaina's. Yangchen almost cursed when she saw an Earth Empire defector standing in the now fully open doorway, a lot of geeky-looking men and women standing behind him. She was having difficulty getting used to the idea of defectors... Coughing, the man she recognized as their "leader", formerly Sergeant Yuehan said, nodding, "Yes – life does. I was the one who told that lard butt 'Da' to quit hogging the supplies earlier, with a little help from what must have been Jeong-Jeong. If the Avatar really does come through, she can get us a lot more food where that came from. Figure waterbending would make fishing real easy, and the waterbenders here might not be too keen on going to the dams just yet. And I heard everything Kipa had to say… when one of these goofballs wasn't knocking on the door. Anyways… I got your summons. Brief report for you here, Yangchen – under watch by some of your men, an officer of mine who can earthsense, just like me, says he made a confusing discovery far away from the city. Side trip while inspecting and reinforcing the dams against attack with metal. That order of yours is completed, as are the bunkers, by the way. We got a lot of material from bending out the new places. His claim - confirmed by a few airbenders checking out the site. We wanted to consult you before acting on it and sending anyone to investigate further." Looking down, he said, looking a little sad, "I can see you're otherwise occupied for now. Here - I'll show you the map."

Looking at the piece of parchment, finally taking back over supporting Jaina and her left breast from her husband so he could eat, Yangchen's eyes widened – it wasn't a report, it was a map of Omashu and its surroundings! Seeing all four bridges and the main approach to Omashu looked fine, the dams near and even far away from Omashu looking reinforced, Yangchen tried to find what was wrong, noticing the map included the Cave of Two Lover's… open twin entrances? Looking at the cave, hoping Yuehan followed her gaze, Yangchen asked, "Is this what the 'problem' is? That this cave system here should be shut up and closed off, but it's not?" Yuehan nodded, saying, "Exactly. I've heard stories that there are two badgermoles that live in the caves, constantly shifting the tunnels around. I say stories because my man didn't detect any seismic activity." Yangchen nodded, saying, "I've actually been there before with my husband, right before we got airbending." Seeing Gyatso running circles around the dour looking defector "leader", she continued, "I hope my little 'pest' isn't bothering you," remembering where he had been conceived - in the caves themselves. The sweet in a different way memory bringing her back to the present, she said, remembering what had provided them light to see one another by as they had made love for the first time after getting airbending, "Beautiful place, all the crystals – I've heard stories that badgermoles sometimes stop moving if they've just given birth recently, like… well, I have, hah." Yuehan nodded again, saying, "If you say so – I certainly hope that's what happened. Oh, uh - your son's not a pest, just… energetic. My scout said he felt creeped out, when he went in further. Weird faint smell unlike anything he's ever whiffed… and he swore he heard some kind of low moaning. Whole reason he decided to come to me instead of going in further."

Remembering a big part of the evacuation – the prison camp – depended on badgermoles, Yangchen found herself hoping she was right, the smell just a part of badgermole biology and not anything sinister. She had a harder time convincing herself the moaning wasn't sinister. Trying to adjust her seated position to make Jaina more comfortable, forgetting to move carefully, she felt a dull pain in her hips and crotch, the only outward sign she gave of any "weakness" a low pained "HUUuuhh". Then again, given how her vagina and hips, oh "God" her hips, had felt and still felt after giving birth… she wouldn't be surprised if it was the mother badgermole moaning in pain. Yangchen made a mental note to send a few loyal earthbenders and airbenders in to investigate once she was done with the technical parts of the defense and re-hauling _everything_, given she "now" had both waterbenders and firebenders to work with. All depending on how fit to fight or willing to fight they were, of course...

Jaina still busy feeding, Yangchen started to feel more lovey-dovey, only caring that Jaina now had an easier time nursing and not minding her own pain. Smiling, Yangchen said after she rubbed Jaina's little spit of auburn hair, "Thank you. Before meeting with you engineers, yes, I can see you back there, doing your best hopping llama impersonation, I'll have to see how Jasmine's holding up. Speaking of military… you have experience with mechasuits, and their lightning generation. Yuehan, have any idea if the… what, two dozen mechasuits we do have, could be modified so that the lightning doesn't kill?" Not entirely sure why, Yangchen found herself concerned with the target's survival beyond just the possibility of knocking out conscripts and "recruiting" them, so she felt frustrated when he shrugged, Yangchen surprised he didn't nod like he habitually did while saying, "Yes - I have a vague idea. But really, should ask the 'dorks', not me. A few of the 'dorks' are even Earth Empire – all I know is, the suits certainly don't have a power adjustor, just like the spirit weapons we have. Kuvira was never really one to care about killing in the end – unlike you airbenders, I guess."

Not sure what she was defending, Yangchen pointed to Jaina with her head, saying, "That's not entirely true – you've seen those explosive metal javelins. Anybody messes with my babies, they're dead." Yuehan nodded, Yangchen wondering if he did anything other than nod as he said, Yangchen feeling a little… ill at ease? as he said, looking sad at first, "Respectable – the babies part, that is. Still think those javelins are not right for the situation entirely, unless you want those waterbenders healing _everyone's _wounded and metalbenders playing 'remove the shrapnel from the conscript' while they could be fighting. Knowing Jinshu Kuangmai, he'll throw the conscripts at us or the prison camp first. People with babies of their own – and not even all the 'evil' metalbender elites or officer are single men or women like I am. Show them you're different than their current boss… who knows what could happen." Finding being lectured on morality by someone in Earth Empire garb ludicrous, even if he had defected and Korra might have told her the same thing, Yangchen snapped, crying a little, "Alright, that's enough! Stay your tongue - I still haven't figured out what these 'badgermole people' living beneath our city mean for the defense of the city. But if they're anything like Kipa, they have, we have, even more motivation to defend ourselves. I have heard rumors it was Kuvira who dismantled Garzai, being a former Fire Nation colony and all, and I won't give specifics, but I know her successor hates the Fire Nation passionately. And… I don't know why, but I'm having second thoughts about using the javelins as anything but a last resort anyways. I would rather get more people to join our side than kill men, but I'm not diverting a huge amount of resources to heal the enemy's wounded. Dismissed." Yuehan nodding once again, he made to leave, stopping dead in his tracks as he said, "Wait. That big bird spirit, Alyssralove - did she know about those people and their… 'housing' while making the reinforcements to the old mountain's base?"

Yangchen not knowing the answer to that, she shrugged lightly, saying, "Hey - I'm pretty sure Kipa would have pitched a royal fit if our lavabending reinforcement of Omashu's base had fried anyone," cursing in English when Yuehan shook his head, saying with a troubled look, "Not what I meant. If they turned the base of Omashu into a network of rooms and tunnels, even if they had good architects planning everything out... that's going to make Omashu a lot weaker against any attempt to topple or undermine the city. Even all that vertical metal and cooled magma base around the city's sides might not help. Undermine the foundation… I'll radio the city's head architect now." Yangchen sighed as Yuehan did so quickly, telling her husband to look for something suitable to help support Jaina while she continued to suckle. Her arms had started to get a little tired, but she didn't mind - for now.

What she did mind, and still would mind no matter how much "love hormone" was pumping through her veins right now, was shy people afraid to say their piece. Seeing all the "dorks" in front of her finally included a lightly panting man she knew to be both outspoken and an architect, having worked with Seiko before going underground along with her parents on the industrial sector's design. Yangchen looked at his eyes, realizing with a start they not only were a Fire Nation color - they were also golden, something usually associated with royalty, the upper class or the rich upper crust, like her family had been before that rat of a tax collector…

Yangchen shook her head, thinking, "Wow… I guess I really do have something I need to work on…" Remembering it wasn't just her family the tax collector had hit, she idly wondered if he had negatively affected Omashu's truly poor residents - the ones who had been hiding for years beneath their feet. Given she had seen Kipa before today, the woman's distinctive eyes seemingly vaguely familiar from four to five years ago before Yangchen herself had any cause to hide, Kipa would have had to pay tax at some level, being a part of society but still hidden. Remembering Kuvira and Jinshu Kuangmai's own "taxes", and the fact that Kipa's nine-year old son felt forced to work to support his family, Yangchen was pretty sure Kipa paid her fair share. Maybe, to avoid suspicion, even more - imagine all the opportunity to extort people with a secret…

Fully aware she had drifted off, Yangchen found herself wanting to talk to Kipa more than those in front of her, finding the task of relaying military technology something that got in the way of what she wanted to do rather than the other way around. Gesturing to Seiko first, she said to the man who was about as old as her own father, "Sorry - drifted off. Those eyes - Kipa from 'room service' told me all about the secret city beneath Omashu, and who lives there. You're a firebender, aren't you?" Seiko nodded, saying as he shocked those around him by producing a good size flame briefly, "Yes, I am - my deceased father was one of the first here, deciding to use his family wealth to help make sure the poor got as good a new start as possible beneath Omashu instead of going to the Fire Nation or Republic City. I learned architecture from him," smiling slightly as he said, "That wasn't the only thing I learned from him - he led a double life as I have, above and belowground, though for appearances we live up here. I've been carrying on his legacy of trying to make sure no one starves anywhere in Omashu, at the very least, no matter the circumstances." Yangchen nodded, saying, "Let's talk about this more personal stuff in a while," as her husband finally brought her the support table and blanket, giving him a quick smile and wink while looking at "him", mouthing as she looked at his crotch, "I'll _tip _you tonight," smiling broadly when he barely stifled a snicker.

Deciding to get the most important item out of the way first, she was direct, asking a smiling Seiko, "I've seen your visible work, and your father's visible work if I remember correctly, along the edge of the city. I know you're no fool, but I just want to make sure - when you and your father made all those tunnels and living spaces beneath the city, you didn't compromise the old mountain base, did you?" Seiko beamed, saying, "Thank you for the 'compliment' - everything is structurally sound, even steel reinforced in areas," Yangchen realizing how connected Seiko really was when he continued, "I know the basics about this evacuation. My father and I constructed everything we made with the possibility of needing to evacuate in mind." Holding up an architectural blueprint for Yangchen to see, he said, "Beautiful baby, by the way - and son," before saying, "The only problem is, it leads directly towards the nearest water, the tunnel exiting as a medium-sized 'cave' at the base of tall natural cliffs facing the peninsula containing the city where my ancestors lived - Garzai. Or rather, the ruins of it."

Yangchen didn't really see how this was a problem until he continued, looking even more sad, "From rumors I have heard, Kuvira never really saw the need for a navy of any sort. Apparently, Jinshu Kuangmai thinks a little differently from a little snooping someone did out of the tunnel far to the west - the whole reason I was late. There's nothing but barely started boat hulls and oblong shapes sketched into the earth the scout couldn't make sense of, but the boats didn't look like trade ships to him, given their steep draught…" Yangchen coughed, saying, "Okay - so from what I know of rail lines, and Jasmine's camp sitting smack dab on top of the one linking Zaofu to the most likely place for this naval base - west of the Cave of Two lovers near the seashore - there's no way Jinshu Kuangmai can get soldiers or supplies back and forth to this _maybe_ naval base." Seeing Seiko looked confused, Yangchen guessed, "I've had indirect dealings with Chin before, and everything we've read about 'fire-earth' on the captured war balloons indicates he didn't think the ground or the air was the only place appropriate for it. This could be his work, his boss unaware of anything - from the notes we've read, the same held true for fire-earth at first. He must have been working on it for months - I half wonder if he's the only one on their 'brain trust'…" Asking for her husband to grab one of the blueprints, one which she hadn't been able to make sense of until this mention of a naval base, Yangchen made her first leap of faith with the baby-supporting table.

Jaina fully supported by the table and blanket, her right hand free to gesture and draw, still supporting her little baby girl's head with her left hand, Yangchen filled in what she thought were the missing pieces around one of the items that had perplexed even Alyssralove: a massive chamber of some sort, along with cryptic references to Satomobiles, drawing in the missing piece - massive, long gunbarrels. Having seen the power of Lipowder through what Raava showed her of Kuvira's inner struggles, Yangchen was certain it could propel something made of metal, the same volume as a Satomobile, if enough was used. And the scale of this chamber was massive!

Using her right hand to explain, she said, "My best guess is Chin wanted to make a kind of ship never seen before - a battleship mounting long-range, indirect fire weapons. Projectiles the size of cars! Jam fire-earth into the chamber, give it one or more ways out when it combusts, like the tubes I drew, put something in its way - you've got huge potential for damage, if it hits." Gesturing towards Seiko, she said carefully, "You've never seen proper fire-earth in action, and I've only 'seen' it second hand. Something like this would be able to hit almost any part of every nation if they refined it enough, ignoring mountains, unlike spirit vine weaponry. Given these notes about 'metalbent trajectory' and high angles, I think that's the idea… Jinshu Kuangmai's least favorite nation would be particularly vulnerable, being so close to the sea all around - the Fire Nation." Seiko nodded, staying positive in a way that surprised Yangchen, "Well, they haven't made any, and it doesn't sound like there are many people to cut off an evacuation. Why don't we just -"

Yangchen looked at him expectantly, saying, "Why don't we just what, Seiko?" The older man grimaced, saying strongly, "No - nevermind. In fact… my father, everyone below us has been running for two, maybe even three generations, hiding from the world. I helped expand Omashu's industrial capacity. We can hold our own, I think, and if the Avatar really is coming - why don't we just hold Omashu?" Yangchen sighed, saying, "While we do need to hold for now, if for nothing other than making sure the camp is okay… Do you _really _want me to explain the reason why? I gave half explanations before… Spirit weapons aren't the only 'horror' Jinshu Kuangmai is believed to have."

The answer yes, even Yuehan looking interested, Yangchen realizing this would be a good time to fill her husband in on events as well, Yangchen explained everything relevant, trying to be as concise as possible. Yangchen cursed herself internally, having forgotten to tell Gyatso to leave beforehand, crying a little when he asked, everyone else silent, "What 'death'? 'Asami particle' cause death? I thought Asami good?"

Yangchen began sobbing, saying, "Just a minute," needing time to think about what she would tell her young son… about death. Looking down at Jaina, the words came to Yangchen easily, saying, "I don't know if you'll really understand, but… death is the opposite of life. When someone dies, their spirit is no longer attached to their body; that person is gone forever from the physical realm. But their spirit lives on. Death, and the people that bring it like 'the bad men', are the reasons why we need to be strong - all of us." Tussling Jaina's hair, Yangchen continued, still crying, "Your baby sister - life. The other reason we need to be strong." Seeing the sour expression on Gyatso's face, Yangchen knew he must be understanding part of it, especially when he began crying after she said, almost choking up completely herself, "Death comes from hate, and life comes from love. That's why, no matter what happens, we have to hold onto life and love - not give into death and hate."

Gyatso wasn't the only one sobbing like a little boy, Yuehan revealing something with obvious pain Yangchen had no idea about: "I'm sorry - seeing you, loving your little girl, talking about death and hate, just reminds me of… my own loss." Yuehan breaking down into tears, Yangchen made to start speaking again, stopping when he said, "No - stay. Let me speak… You and your words just remind me of happier days, when I was an ordinary citizen in the Middle Ring, no threat of weapons making the world nothing but… death," clenching his fist angrily and saying, "I never understood how someone could be filled with so much hate or greed that they'd kill a pregnant mother and living child over some baubles… until I realized last night that I let the death of my son, our unborn child and fiancé fill me with that same hatred. With death of the soul…" Yangchen had never heard this before, saying, "WHAT? No - there's different levels of evil; killing a mother and child like me and Jaina has to be one of the worst," asking, "What could you have possibly done that was worse?"

Yuehan shook his head, saying, "It was never _officially_ condoned by Kuvira and she made no attempt to stop it, rumors having it she saw it as a way of cementing control forever, but once Ba Sing Se was back under control… there was a time of retribution against anarchists and looters, and I took part in it - though I never went after rumored petty bandits. Eventually, I did find the people who had killed my son and pregnant fiancé, killing them out of a desire for revenge rather than justice or preventing them from hurting anyone else. Disturbed, I stopped after that, Kuvira unofficially taking into consideration my 'success' when she made me overseer of Omashu. At least she didn't rename the city like that accursed Firelord Ozai did, all those years ago… 'New Ozai' - more like 'New Death'." Able to tell Yuehan was speaking from the heart, he said, not knowing the irony, "Please, Yangchen - don't ever do what I did, giving in to revenge and vengeance. Letting death and hate make home in me… Even if they did deserve death, it was for all the wrong reasons, and 'finishing them' gave me no real peace. Last night, dreaming, talking after my change of heart with her when I got brief sleep - that's where the real first peace came from." Yuehan sighed deeply, looking a little less downtrodden when Xingyun said, "You're still young - maybe you can find someone and start over, once we get _everyone_ out of here - including the people in the camp. They don't have some secret tunnel - and even if we can leave now, we should stay, to make sure they can, hopefully with Wu's help and badgermoles..."

Everyone in the room deathly quiet after that, Gyatso was the first to speak again, saying, "I… think I understand… death. My death would mean…. No more mom, no more… dad," Gyatso breaking down completely when he said, "No more… little sister Jaina. Jinshu Kuangmai winning would mean… death for a lot of people, like… the Air Nomad… genocide," gulping audibly after this last word - a word Yangchen was pretty sure she had never taught Gyatso. Yangchen found herself wishing she wasn't rewarding Gyatso for speaking in a complete sentence on such a heavy subject, but she did so anyways, Gyatso smiling weakly, asking with a single tear, "Thank you. I'm a big boy. Can you… make bad men have life inside… them, mom? Replace death with … life? Can the Avatar… do that?" Yangchen feeling a little disturbed when he asked, " 'Infobend' into good?" Yangchen shook her head, saying, "No, sweetie - Korra can't run around violating people's minds and forcing them to be good; true transformation can only come from within." Realizing she had divulged a lot of highly sensitive information to everyone in the room, she added, "You can't even run around, not trusting people until she 'reads' them - she can't be everywhere at once. People have to make their own judgment calls," looking at Yuehan and smiling at the end. She hadn't said that for Gyatso - she'd said it for Yuehan.

Noticing Jaina was still suckling at her left breast, her little girl supposed to have been switched to the pumped milk by now, Yangchen found herself not caring, even if it meant trouble and excess supply later, saying to no one in particular, still stressing part of what she said like she were talking only to Gyatso, "I had thought all these lovey-dovey hormones, _oxytocin_, would make me a bad leader… but I was wrong. I don't think…" breaking up, she continued, "Don't think I… could have handled talking about some evil person 'Asami particle'-ing us to death without it," deciding she'd draw on her feelings for strength and "advice". Smiling slightly, she said proudly, "Let's do something - Yuehan, hand me something else to draw on."

"I want to show you this 'Liser' first."

As soon as Yangchen had finished speaking, sure what her problem was and how she could fix it, with actions today, even admitting to herself she needed this besides just flight, she felt nauseous, sick, a splitting headache, her last words before blacking out, "No… not that, right… now! Why…"

* * *

Xingyun looked at his fainted wife in terror, her breast flopping away from their baby along with the rest of her upper body. Jaina's confused cries rending his heart, Xingyun immediately made sure Jaina could still suckle. Having not a clue as to why she would faint after _apparently_ making a big change in decision, or even what her last words meant, Xingyun commanded on a whim, still holding Jaina, "Everyone, not family, out, now! And get a doctor or a waterbender, maybe both in here!" adding, seeing Gyatso looked terrified and wanting someone to help console him, "Don't worry, Gyatso - I'll get someone nice, Kipa, to hold you while mommy's… asleep. I've heard of women giving birth and having strokes later… maybe Kipa will know what's wrong!" Yuehan lingered, saying, "I… I might have some idea what this is. When I lived in Ba Sing Se, I talked to some older woman who claimed to have known both Zuko and the original Iroh - she even ran their tea shop. Jin, the Jasmine Dragon - that's it. And she said Iroh's nephew had something sort of like this happen to him once…"

Xingyun nodded, saying, "You can stay." Seeing as he was not a military man and Yuehan was, Xingyun said, "I'll tend to my wife and Jaina - you answer Jasmine if she calls on the radio. Kipa needs to comfort Gyatso, for now - I can only do so much. Got it?" Yuehan nodded, saying, "Yes - I'll contact her now, actually. Jasmine sort of knows me, her camp having been so close to Omashu and all." Xingyun grimaced slightly, saying, "You might want to bend us a… privacy wall. I may end up needing to wake my wife in an unconventional way. Knock three times when Kipa comes - maybe Gyatso would be better anyways…" Yuehan smiled, saying, "I understand," Xingyun laughing lightly when Yuehan said before bending up a privacy wall, smiling, "If you need time even after she's awake, I'll cover - from what Jin told me of what Zuko told her, these transformative experiences are _not_ fun. Though I'm not sure what her problem could be entirely…"

Confident someone else could handle Omashu's defense, Xingyun tried keeping Jaina on Yangchen's left attraction at the same time wiping his wife's forehead repeatedly, asking, "Honey - can you hear me?" over and over, growing more distraught with each unanswered call. Remembering that bloodflow was obstructed during a stroke, he took her pulse, suppressing his own panic to focus better, brushing aside her light brown hair to put his index finger on her jugular.

She had a pulse - a very, very strong pulse. One that seemed faster than normal - like she were either slightly elated, or slightly distressed…

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, sure he wouldn't lose his beloved to stroke, Xingyun tried thinking about what could possibly be wrong. The way she said "I want to show you this 'Liser' first," made him think she didn't want them to designate lethal Meesiles… Maybe between being a new mother and what he had told her earlier, she was… changing? Her heartbeat an indicator? Ignoring chatter on the other side of the wall, figuring it to be Yuehan talking to Jasmine, Xingyun racked his brains, trying to think what he could do that would wake his wife up from… whatever this was, without hurting her.

Remembering he had placed the pumped colostrum into a small fridge and how Yangchen hated the cold, he fumbled around, trying to grab the glass bottle while still holding Jaina. Realizing with a dry horror Jaina couldn't breastfeed or grow well, period, without a mother, he removed her from the nipple, Jaina's light crying making him feel guilty. Swearing he had heard her giggling and cooing earlier, seen her smiling, Xingyun tried babytalking to his daughter as he got what he needed from the fridge, not sure if he could believe his eyes when Jaina smiled. There was something special about this baby…

Hands finally on the cold, cold bottle, awkwardly cupping Jaina back against Yangchen's slightly leaking nipple, he tried to decide where the best place to touch the cold surface against his wife's beautiful body would be. Knowing shoving it into anywhere but her mouth would likely hurt her and her jaw clenched shut, or even just contact anywhere private, he tried lifting her up with his right hand, placing the cold bottle against the back of her neck, rolling it back and forth.

No reaction.

Trying again in a rather unconventional place, but appropriate considering what was inside the bottle and who was currently suckling contentedly there, he rolled the cold bottle's side over his wife's exposed breast, noticing this must have caused a little extra milk to come out of her nipple, given how Jaina's face… lit up?

He got a reaction from Yangchen - but not the one he expected.

Yangchen's head rolled slightly in a way that reminded him of how she might move when resisting being woken up. But not from a nightmare - from a good dream? She was smiling slightly as well, actually moaning "Love" lowly when he touched her breast again…

Still having not a clue what was going on, but feeling like his wife was not in any danger, his arm started getting tired from supporting both Yangchen and Jaina. Strength waning, he could tell the adrenaline was starting to wear off. He was starting to let both wife and baby daughter slip slightly… Realizing earthbending could help, Xingyun yelled, "Yuehan - I need help in here! I need something to prop up my wife, quick!" Xingyun waited for the door to open, glad to see Gyatso looking much calmer - happy, even. As Yuehan carefully raised Yangchen into a sitting position for him, Xingyun said, "Yuehan - thank you. Jaina should be fine now - we'll just have to see about Yangchen." Yuehan nodded, saying, "Everything is more than well at the camp - though from what Jasmine was yammering about, only your wife would understand completely. Something about mover acid in barrels?" Xingyun nodded, saying after he checked to see if his wife was still smiling, "I have no clue about that. Thank you, Kipa, for helping me with Gyatso - I greatly appreciate it." Xingyun's eyes widened when Kipa produced a half-full bottle of white milk not that different from the one he had used to try and wake Yangchen aside from its content's color, Kipa saying nervously at first as what must have been her family filed in behind her, father looking nervous as Kipa spoke, "Your little guy here noticed this bottle of, uh, moo-sow milk when I first came in, and, uh, I just picked it up at the market, so I let him have a, a little. He really… liked it, so I gave him more, drank half of it, was so happy I didn't think about the cost - and he liked getting to see 'baby tummy' again. He loved touching it, the feel of my baby kicking against my belly, 'baby touches' - you might have a real sweetheart on your hands."

Suspicious of all this talk about milk, how Kipa's husband looked, the bottle not having any market markings on it only making Xingyun more suspicious of Kipa having done something horrible. All this, bringing up painful memories of his own that predated Yangchen unbidden…

The first thing that came to any _good _parent's mind being their child's well-being, Xingyun took a deep breath, saying, "Yuehan - bend the door shut." Kipa's panicked look only increased her guilt in his eyes, her husband frozen in shock. Xingyun wondered just _why_ they wanted so many children when they had to live underground, having noticed the woman's breasts looked more like his own wife's had when she was feeding Gyatso than those of mother-to-be's at seven months, claimed "small size" or not. Xingyun proclaimed, sounding more like Yangchen than himself, "With this man as my witness, if either of you touched or abused my child in any way, 'baby touches', or deliberately fed him something other than moo-sow milk on some sick fetish, I'll take your breath before you even have time to scream," feeling like he could take them both with adrenaline's return.

Both Gyatso and Kipa began crying, quickly followed by Kipa's own children, her husband looking furious, Xingyun's eyes widening again when she said, Yuehan looking confused as Kipa blubbered, intermittently rubbing her seven-months pregnant belly apparently for comfort, "You… think I abused your little boy? Touched your baby? I'd rather die than do such a thing! All children are precious…" Her husband looked ready to strike out at Xingyun, but Kipa stayed his hand, water splashing to the floor as she said, "No. Don't - he doesn't know about my stupid, stupid mistake. I - I'm sorry, I should have said the truth, rather than feeling embarrassed… I… to save money on solid food, I 'wean' my kids really late. Like, two years 'late'. Your wife seemed to notice something off about my 'seven months pregnant' body earlier, given the way she was looking at my chest. Iroh, my youngest, about Gyatso's age, is still breastfeeding - the pumped milk in this bottle was for him, and the other one for him as well, though only the other one has what Iroh really needs in it - moo-sow milk. I only stop when the next baby is coming, for the baby's sake, so they can have those first few precious days of colostrum, rather than weaker 'normal' milk..." Xingyun demanding more of an explanation, Kipa looked directly at Yangchen. She said, pointing to her own chest, Kipa looking upset, sad and almost unaware of her surroundings, her husband looking embarassed, "Following a little… inspiration from over a year ago, my hubby gets some action here - but for fun. Something to distract us from how hard our life can be at times," her husband looking sad instead of embarrassed now as she continued, still extremely upset, "We don't get much chance for play down there - kids, or adults. It's a hard life. We decided if someone else was doing it for fun, it wasn't weird - as one of our few things we can afford time for fun - during sex, 'direct from the tap'…" Given her children's disgusted reactions to hearing their mother talk about what she did with their father, the oldest boy saying as his sister closed her blue eyes in obvious disgust, "Wha- eww, mom! I know this crazy guy just implied you and dad are child abusers, but… watch what you're saying! If he doesn't believe what you're telling him, it's his own fault. I didn't need to hear… I thought that was just for my little brother and babies!", Xingyun started to have doubts Kipa was a villain.

To her own kids, at least.

Xingyun raised an eyebrow, still listening, Kipa looking zoned out still, not responding when her daughter asked, "What's a sex?", Kipa continuing to ramble, "The milk in the half-full bottle… is mine, as I said, I accidentally gave it to Gyatso without thinking, the other bottle is moo-sow milk, I mixed the bottles up, didn't realize the mixup until it was too late, sorry, so sorry… There was a very practical reason I said what I did about your wife's endowment… We can only afford so much real milk, and every drop for little Iroh counts, just like it did for his siblings before him…" sobbing as she explained, her oldest looking embarassed, "I've seen Jeong-Jeong here looking at his little brother jealously when little Iroh gets fed - even good natured Katara complains, being young enough to remember when she was weaned a year ago… We really are hard up for money. I sometimes felt like I'm a weirdo monster, breastfeeding a two or three year old when they beg and plead, telling me they're hungry, big eyes watering... All my kids want 'moo-sow' milk, any milk, and need it, but ever since we surrendered, the two oldest can't get 'big boy and girl' milk except once every three to four days."

Finally stopping for breath, she began crying when what must have been Iroh and Katara both asked, "Moo-sow milk?" her little girl continuing, "I'm… I'm hungry. Did you get any big girl milk?" Kipa nodded, saying, "I - I'm so sorry, to everyone. Your accusation just shook me to my core, and I spoke without thinking. Yes - here, sweetie," Xingyun smiling ever so slightly when Kipa admonished, "Share with your little brother, Katara!" Kipa continued explaining as Iroh and Katara fought, oblivious to what their mother was saying, though Jeong-Jeong and her husband were not, given how they both were sobbing slightly, as though remembering hardships, "What I bought today was the first reasonably priced in what seems like an eternity. The price of moo-sow milk was so high, with everything good going to Kuvira and then Jinshu Kuangmai's soldiers! Almost everyone… We're poor, down there… Scraping by since Omashu fell, just this side of healthy, and not much better before the Earth Queen fell… The only reason I look as good as I do, truly healthy, because of the baby I'm carrying, and helping little Iroh stay healthy…" breaking down further as she added, "I don't know if it's just what fate gave him, or poor conditions under the Earth Queen, or you little one's exact age, but when Jeong-Jeong was younger, three, he was smaller than your little boy is right now. He only caught up when chaos reigned elsewhere, the Earth Queen's taxes and that awful tax man's extortions of everyone below, gone..."

Giving his son a soft look, Xingyun asked him, "Come here," asking once he was out of Kipa's earshot, "Is she telling the truth?" Gyatso nodded, saying, "Yes - she forgot the… milk in the… bottle wasn't from a moo-sow… I didn't get enough to drink… earlier, and it tasted so sweet, but I couldn't place… what it tasted like… so _I _asked for more." Taking a deep breath, he cried a little, saying earnestly, "You believe me… right daddy? Please - don't kill the nice woman! She made me feel better… with more than just milk! She let me feel baby tummy!" Gyatso grinning slightly as he finished, "I felt kicks, just like when mommy had baby tummy, with Jaina! Life, love - cool!" Kipa's husband nodded, saying, "It's true - he actually calmed her down after she realized her little slipup with the milk on the way here, even trying to listen for the baby's heartbeat" frowning as he said, "You talked about taking my wife's breath - if I see any funny hand movements, I'm freezing you on the spot."

Xingyun just now noticing the other man had reformed his water arm sheathes, apparently drawing moisture from the air, he said, "I…" finding himself unable to explain why he had been so hostile… Kipa's husband looked angry, but Kipa did not, saying, "Bohatei, don't. He must have a good reason," finally admitting, "He had right to be suspicious," crying a little as she said, "I… I've known some kids and their mothers, the kid goes to the surface, gets separated from their parent for even a little bit… they never are the same after whoever or whatever… strips them of their innocence."

Xingyun flinched, mention of stripped innocence bringing up increasingly raw memories.

Xingyun looked to Kipa, back to his son, back and forth, finally asking, just wanting to be sure, "Yuehan, happen to have any truth-sensers here?" Yuehan shook his head, saying, "No," Xingyun recoiling when he continued, "You heard what I told Yangchen, and I believe Kipa and her husband. In some ways, she reminds me of my own dead wife - willing to sacrifice and work hard for family, even if we were middle class. She… was pregnant at the time of her death, almost to term, but still worked. The way the people who took her life pleaded and begged and talked, she fought them to the death, pleading for their pathetic lives when I took them down for all the wrong reasons. You heard what Kipa said about rather dying than abuse a child - and she's going to have four kids soon. Let's be ridiculous, let's say she's a liar, her husband's a liar, her kids are all whipped into line, your own son lying to you as well, and that I'm a total idiot. Assume Kipa's a horrible molester. Maybe her husband too. You take your vengeance. Would killing a mother and father of three, soon to be four bring you any peace? Killing an unborn child? You want your life to be pathetic, like the people who took my beloved and my only child away? Like… mine ended up being, until Jasmine and your wife helped me see the light?"

The answer an obvious no, even given his own history, Xingyun began blubbering, saying, finding himself the one so caught up in emotion that he forgot his audience instead of Kipa, "What you said about innocence lost… What you said about feeling guilty, like a monster, for doing something that to me, sounds necessary, you're so poor… It reminds me of… of… I… I'm sorry. I was so suspicious, willing to **kill**… because… I've never been able to enjoy my wife fully, because… what my own mother… I never admitted it to anyone before now. Not even my own wife." Sobbing, he continued, still not really caring who heard, overcome by emotion that couldn't be stopped, not after so many years of being held back, "I had no father. My mother… never really transitioned from mother of a baby boy to a toddler, even teenager, before I finally ran away. She had no reservations about nursing me for a long time… And she made everything seem right, making me a man, really - the man she didn't have, in retrospect, didn't seem to want... All she wanted was me, in the worst sense." Xingyun saw everyone looking at him with slight confusion, managing to stammer out, "She wanted me… s-s-sexually. A-and... she… had me." Taking a deep breath thinking about the woman who had turned his life around, he continued, "Until I met Yangchen, I thought the Universe had played a cruel trick on me, not feeling lucky in the least. She changed everything… I guess playfeeding was one way of having with my wife what I never really had with my mother - something so sweet, associated with love, instead of… of evil." He remembered the first accidental playfeeding with Yangchen - it felt beyond weird at first, a very old "ritual" kicking in, but the way Yangchen went with it, loved it, the next time all his own doing and initiation and no one else's, finally started to make so much feel right…

Taking a deep, contented sigh as he was hugged by son, Earth Empire defector and "badgermole family" alike, Kipa and Bohatei and their children all crying as deeply as he had been. Hearing Jeong-Jeong say, "I… I love you, mom, dad - this poor man… I wouldn't trade our poverty for the world," Xingyun felt something break, saying nothing, decided to let go. To let go of lingering shame with his own body, of masculinity he linked to his mother's abuse, thinking, "My body is mine - not that evil woman's" adding internally, "Especially my penis," for good measure, not attaching any shame internally to the word. Letting go of what held him back from enjoying what the Universe had given him, when his luck turned around.

Yangchen.

Just thinking her name made him feel light. Much more than light…

* * *

Given what Yangchen knew about other's experiences, she found herself surprised to be looking at two passingly familiar sets of pools when she opened her eyes, having expected to see some sick doppler waiting for her - a version of herself made of wind-blown dried blood, perhaps, for the life she took, seeking revenge first, justice after. Yangchen couldn't make out much about what she saw, what she assumed to be the Avatar and Asami's chakra pools shrouded by a thick mist.

Taking one step forward, wondering if she was in the spirit world or her own inner world, Yangchen called out, yelling, "Hello? Is anyone out there? Anybody?"

Lowering her hands, listening to the sound of her voice, she noticed something was amiss. No sooner than she had noticed, than she forgot anything had been amiss, feeling like she had dreamt being an adult at all.

Looking at the shrouded pools in front of her and wondering what they were, Yangchen ran towards them, giggling happily, feeling curious about the wonderful energy she felt emanating from them, an energy that seemed vaguely familiar for other reasons she couldn't remember…

Running into a strange wall of some sort that blocked her from the pools, getting the sense she wasn't allowed there just yet, she heard a familiar voice yell, "Yangchen? Is that you? Over here, honey - we've been looking for you for a while!" Giggling again, glad to hear her mother's warm voice, she made an air scooter, making her way towards where her mother's voice had come from.

Looking around, finally spotting mother, father, and her sister, Yangchen asked her mom, "Mommy, all I can remember is deciding to be nicer to mean people, then passing out, like someone hit me on the head with a rock. Do you know why I'm here, momma?" adding, "Where am I? Do you know?" Her mother smiled, surprising Yangchen when she said, "All three of us, here with you- we're the little bit of us that you carry inside you wherever you go," not sure what her mother meant when she talked about some "inner space".

Yangchen did find herself understanding when her mother Weifeng continued, Yangchen's younger sister Diki and her father looking slightly disturbed, "Even if 'we' don't know about it outside here, in your inner world, I know what you did to that tax collector," Yangchen feeling like throwing up even as her mother added, "When we raised you, your father Dafeng and I taught you and your sister all about the Air Nomads - as well as what we found to be true. I know I stressed that money and property are life when I raised you, unlike what the Air Nomads thought. You can't keep your body going without things, after all. I hoped you'd respect other people's things and be generous, like you have, but… I never intended you to take it that far, and for mainly the wrong reasons. Even if after what that man did to us, we didn't have as many things to be generous with…"

"The most valuable gift you can give yourself, anyone, is your love. Even those who have wronged you."

Yangchen took a deep breath, sniffing even as she agreed internally, feeling an unfamiliar peace begin to build inside her, "Okay - but why am I here? You never answered that, mom…" Her mother nodded as her father said, "You've already taken the first step towards cleansing your soul of the lingering death you carry inside of you, and even know how you'll get rid of it completely, in time - through action, changed fighting, and changed ways."

Beginning to remember more, Yangchen stamped her foot, protesting, "But daaad! Kuvira did much worse than I ever did - and I wanna fly now, feel better now… like she did for the most part, even after all her horribleness! And that man stole a lot more than Kai ever did - hmmph!" Crossing her arms, Yangchen listened as her little sister said, sounding and acting her apparent physical age of two, "Maybe one way to be better now - no, two! One much nicer than other - but come after bad one. You sure you want go through 'bad' one - be impatient, big sister?"

The answer obviously yes, Yangchen knowing she hated waiting on almost everything, she was surprised to see her family vanish, replaced by the taxman who had caused them so much grief - Tanxin. For some reason she didn't fully understand, she found the red and black chain wrapped around his ankles alarming. Her mind feeling muddled again, she asked the frowning man, "What's the matter?" not flinching when he swiped some nasty looking red and black barbs right in front of her face, the man spitting before he said, "You are. You're 'the matter', little girl… You killed me - I can see the resemblance even with you being, what, six or something?" not feeling threatened when he finished, "No matter - you'll be joining me in the place I was before this soon enough…"

Even as she felt pain when a small chain wrapped around her leg, small hooks now beneath her skin, Yangchen started crying for a different reason. The man's eyes - they looked completely empty, aside from pain and hurt. Remembering a little more, she recalled his endless avarice, thinking more about what he did to families poorer than her own rather than her own "suffering", being brought down to middle class at worst by his greed as she said, "I… I don't know if I hate what you did to other people more, or find you more deserving of pity. The true suffering of others… or whatever made you lose your little light inside. Replaced life, with death."

Seeing how the man howled at the last comment, Yangchen still wasn't sure which she felt more strongly, eventually feeling both at the same time when she remembered how someone she liked, Kipa, might have been extorted by him. Finally feeling the tug with full force, small barbs in her legs dragging her closer as she remembered more and more, finally saying when she was close to him, withstanding the physical and emotional pain as she said earnestly, "You lost someone, something, didn't you - tried to fill the hole with gold, silver, jade, diamond - but it never was enough."

The man actually showing true emotion for the first time, Yangchen found herself forgiving him after all these years, saying, "I don't know who or what hurt you, but… if I had known, I wouldn't have killed you with that hook sword," noticing he appeared to be shrinking as she hugged him, saying as she felt the pain in her legs cease, "I might have talked to you like a person - just like Jasmine did to someone else with a lot of hurt, and countless others - Yuehan…"

Yangchen feeling some tug, she ignored it, listening as the now toddler-sized Tanxin blubbered, "Lost innocence. My… my daddy was mean, my mommy ignored it. He wanted me to be someone 'big' like him, beat me when I failed in any way in accounting school, took my stuff away… Drove me to work for some evil woman, when I didn't want to at first… Corrupted by her. Wanted others to feel what I felt. Feel horrible, awful… Everything I did to others, right now…" Yangchen not sure if she had the heart to tell him the truth when he asked, looking all of two now, apparently amnesiac as she had partially been earlier, "I - I can't remember. Did… did I do that? Shifted revenge? To... other people? Why are you crying?" Choosing her words carefully, she said, "Yes, you did - but you sound like you regret what you did, taking revenge, just like I regret stopping you, revenge first, justice second." Yangchen found herself adding, "I could have just tried to scare you out of town, but I didn't - killing you was the only thing that ever occurred to me, blinded by my own hurt… do you forgive me, like I forgive you?"

Yangchen shrinking back slightly when the two-year old Tanxin began crying wildly, complaining about fears, hatreds that caused and fed those fears, Yangchen remembered what the shackles represented finally - being stuck in the Fog of Lost Souls. Taking a deep breath, she said, trying to talk as if she were consoling another small child she knew was close to her, though not exactly how, "It's okay - daddy's gone now. He can't hurt you any more - just be you, the younger you, not the older, hurt and confused you. Maybe even try and forgive him - fear comes from hate, you know." The little Tanxin nodded, saying tentatively, "O-okay… I guess h-hating daddy bad too. What he did to me…" hearing a more adult version of his voice say after the little boy vanished, leaving only the broken red and black shackles behind, "Remembering what I had become more clearly now, especially my abuse of Omashu's most vulnerable, below the city… I… not only do I forgive you, I _thank_ you - that's not the kind of life the little me would have wanted. I needed to be stopped. Maybe we'll meet again," Yangchen smiling slightly when the voice added, "Though it won't be in the Fog of Lost Souls."

Feeling very happy and content, having helped herself _and_ the man she had killed for the wrong reasons so many years ago, Yangchen heard her mother's voice calling again. Fog dissipating to reveal mother, father, and sister, she started crying happy tears when her mother said, clearly proud, "From willing to use explosive metal javelins at the first sign of even small trouble and revenge killings, to being more interested in weapons that don't kill, and to reconciliation… even conversion - 'I' am very proud of you, Yangchen." Hugging her mother's legs, feeling an immense peace when her little sister Diki hugged her own waist, Yangchen said, "Forget old books, dusty scrolls, trying to separate yourself from your body and life to learn - the world's the best teacher there is."

Yangchen had thought the peace couldn't possibly become any greater, but when her mother picked her up, her father Dafeng joining in the mutual hug, Yangchen's mind felt as blank and happy as the day she was born, splurting out, "I love you, mama - and love is strong," vowing for some reason, "One of my most important guides, anywhere! Even for go boom stuff."

After a sort of odd disconnect, she found herself the one hugging a four-year old girl in an adult body, saying with disbelief, "Wh- what happened?" The girl in her arms giggled, auburn hair moving slightly as she looked up, saying, "Love happened! Hi, momma!" the little girl looking vaguely annoyed, frowning a little as she said, "Don't you recognize me, mommy? Your own daughter?"

Yangchen blubbered, saying, "Wh- I thought only the Avatar's daughter could…" stopped short when what must have been Jaina said, "I dunno either, exactly…" Yangchen still finding the whole experience surreal, she started moving when Jaina said, looking a little distressed, "Mommy, I just had a nightmare. A really quick one… Something about who I was before I was yours - and how your actions just now are really, really good for both you and me because of them. I feel a weird draw to that pool over there, though. Maybe it can help."

Deciding to go over to the pool she thought was the Avatar's, with a creeping suspicion it might actually be her own, given Yangchen was apparently in her own inner world, Yangchen startled slightly when she heard a familiar voice intone, _I can't make out much about what has happened to you, being busy humbling a very powerful sea spirit, and Korra's body over two thousand miles away, but I can say this: All worlds are connected - when Korra and Asami put "For anyone who needs help" on their chakra pool pedestal, they had no idea how many people could run into them._

Seemingly as a last thought, what must have been Raava added _Jaina is special, not just because she's your daughter…_ before Yangchen climbed into the enticing-looking pool, noticing for the first time with slight shock that she was naked, half wondering if she and "everyone else" had been this entire time. Thinking back, seeing a stream of images, she realized the answer was yes, sex not having entered her mind the entire time. Apparently, these waters did have special properties, Yangchen feeling under the influence of something slightly when she said, "It's okay - I didn't do it on purpose, and touch is just a part of love. I 'don't know how to blush in shame', feeling love… I have nothing to hide now."

Getting an odd sense something approved of her interpretation of something she'd never read, Yangchen noticed Jaina was still outside the pool, looking terrified as she said, trembling, "I - I don't know, mommy - something… is telling me I have a lot to hide, and, and… I don't know why…" Frowning, Yangchen said, getting her daughter's permission first, "Why don't I just give you a little flick of water - maybe you can handle whatever it is in small doses." Jaina nodded, saying, "Okay," flinching slightly when the first water droplet made contact over her heart.

Jaina looked confused, saying, "I see… something tells me this is who I used to be… a young boy, with funny yellow-brown hair, being trained in some kind of weird bending art by someone other than his father, who was very good at it… becoming his father's pride and joy, in a time of war and uncertainty." Sighing at this reminder of what they faced in the physical world, Yangchen intended to do much the same with Jaina once she was the age what must have been her soul appeared as now - four. If she were anything like her brother, making small tornadoes at the age of two, maybe earlier. Yangchen flicked another water droplet at Jaina, baffled as to why Jaina had been so reluctant when her daughter continued, "Before going off to help his nation, but after growing up, he met a woman he loved - though for some reason 'the water' won't tell me her name - and even though he had to leave to help his nation, he thought of her a lot." Again - slight parallels. Yangchen hoped her love for Jaina's influence on her mood and demeanor, and when she was old enough, even Jaina herself, would make any advice their family gave to the young airbending master Jinora and her family on the new Air Nation all the better.

It was not until the third flick of water Jaina began crying slightly, saying, "Then, after he had to start fighting some things the water won't show me fully… he came upon a city full of people who were half good, half bad somehow - but you couldn't tell who was good or bad until it was too late, the 'bad' people turning into monsters. Making more 'bad' people…" Yangchen was about to breathe a slight sigh of relief, figuring whatever disturbed Jaina so much couldn't happen here without Raava or a tuber vine catching on first, but ended up feeling a slight panic when Jaina blubbered, "He decided that he had to… to kill _everyone_ inside the city to prevent the badness - a… plague of some sort… from spreading, that made people into monsters…" In the mass infobending earlier, Yangchen had managed to see one of Asami Sato's proposed war machines, the massive flying VarriMag gun concept, remembered what even Avatar Aang had said about using a spirit weapon to blow up Zaofu, and found herself wondering: "Is that really any different, than the culling of whatever city my daughter's past life did? Not all the people in Zaofu are 'bad'… How would I feel about Jayasrhi becoming an, an _orphan_?"

Yangchen snapped back to the present after a small blast of air from Jaina, Jaina surprising her by saying, "I think I need to know more. More than just little flicks - splash me! Have some fun. Maybe after we're doing, we can snuggle in the water - I want to hear your heart beat!" Yangchen nodded, saying "Okay" as she splashed more water, soaking her daughter as per her request, wishing she hadn't seeing how Jaina tensed up, looking determined but disturbed as she said at great length, wondering how her daughter knew so much about _their_ world, "When my past life got to the end of… of _culling_ the city of everyone, good and bad, thinking he had been righteous, 'purging the unclean', he found a bad spirit. Think like one of Long Yumao's little minions, but worse. The bad spirit taunted him, and… out of a desire for revenge, vengeance, for himself and his people, not any real justice, he followed it to a far off land in the north, wanting to kill it. Avenge the fallen. He found a mockery of Raava's sword, Life's Gift, there, inside a cave - the sword promising great power to anyone who was willing to pay the price. He didn't know it, but the price was… the soul. He… he took it, paid the price, even after his friend told him not to, and eventually - the water didn't show me how - he _became_ the big, bad guy," Yangchen feeling slightly unnerved when Jaina didn't cry anymore, instead directly pointing at her and saying, "The way the water 'said' it, it sounded like his decision for vengeance was his doom. Momma… given we've both apparently had problems with revenge and vengeance in the past… that's why I'm so happy you're my mommy. Even if _I _never did it, the past me did - much worse than killing a tax collector," Jaina finally crying again as she got into the pool's water, saying, "I'm so glad, mommy - that you chose life over death. Not only that - life _and _forgiveness."

Something in Yangchen's gut telling her she wouldn't likely have an opportunity like this for another four years, to see her daughter grown up, she gave her a big hug, pressing Jaina up against her own body. After a short time, Yangchen felt a completely different kind of oneness - the world, without boundaries between bodies, mother and child. A oneness she had never felt in the sexual sense with even her dutiful husband Xingyun, her husband always seeming… ever so slightly reserved even while making love. Happy tears flowed after Jaina said, "I love this, you - I can hear your heart beating!" Yangchen said, "You seem like a really good kid - I'm sure no matter what comes your way, _our_ way, we won't repeat your past life's mistakes. Not with your daddy's love, your big brother's love, my love, you aunt and grandparent's love to guide you, and… me, keep us on our _new_ paths. Though from what you said, yours is a much bigger 'straying'… Listen to our hearts and, I guess ultimately, bodies and souls first, minds and logic second," Yangchen not entirely sure how she knew Jaina's past life had been listening to cold logic…

She just knew.

Yangchen wondered if she could pester Raava into making an exception and let her see her daughter again at night, feeling some kind of special bond with the girl considering her past life, and the fact Yangchen had struggled with revenge herself. After a while of talking to Jaina more, she began laughing when Jaina finally said, "Mommy, you should go. Enough enjoying the four year old me - baby me lasts a lot shorter!", Yangchen did just that, seeing a huge group of people in front of her when she opened her eyes. There were so many people she couldn't see who was being hugged, her heart dropping when she heard one man's name mentioned over and over, even by the small children in the huddle.

Xingyun - her husband.

Asking what was wrong, still not able to move just yet, Yangchen saw Kipa break off from the hug, holding up a half-filled bottle of milk and crying a little as she said, "It's pretty complicated, Yangchen," blushing slightly as she whispered, "Long story short, I accidentally gave your son some of the milk in this bottle - my milk, and your husband thought I had abused Gyatso when I wasn't forthcoming… all because of a very old, personal hurt he hadn't told anyone before now." Yangchen getting a slight sense of dread, her stomach twisted in knots when what must have been Kipa's eldest Jeong-Jeong joined his mother's side, saying, "He thought my mom _and _dad were very bad people - all because of what his mom did to him. I heard a little, and wasn't sure if he wanted to - "

"I'll tell her."

Yelling a little to be pushed aside, Jeong-Jeong recollected himself after her husband came back over, saying with a nervous grin, "Good news, bad news? Good news is, I don't know if any of the kids in this room will need 'the talk' when they're older - and we know who… overheard us a year ago - Kipa. Bad news - my mother was an evil, sexually abusive predator, and… I never admitted to it now, but I've let all my shame go. I'm finally comfortable with my body - and sharing it with you, best thing to happen in my life." Giving her husband a quick once-over, Yangchen was confused and angry more than anything, saying, "Wh - that's an awfully dark thing to be so… cavalier about. And you obviously told everyone else in the room about this, given Kipa's oldest heard." Seeing Xingyun still looking a little uncomfortable, scowling intermittently, Yangchen said, "Yuehan - bend us a privacy room - and what time is it? Tell Jasmine other things can wait," relieved slightly when Yuehan said, "It's exactly… 7:12. Huh - funny how time can slow to a crawl, or go super fast. Anyways, Jasmine - last I spoke to her two minutes ago, camp's doing great - though given how forces are distributed, they are probably going to be the first under attack," feeling she could focus entirely on Xingyun when Yuehan finished, "Something about mover acid barrels and what I _think_ were the ingredients for fire-earth and other valuable stuff on one of the many railcars still unopened, and that she'd started producing fire-earth herself? Tried telling me something in a weird barking tongue, wouldn't give the details aside from 'making Jinshu Kuangmai better surprises than we thought we could' normally."

Once even Gyatso had left their side, Yangchen feeling like she could trust Kipa with her life and intending to talk to her next, _then_ Jasmine anyways, especially about her own experience, Yangchen said, "Honey, I know this might be difficult to talk about seriously, but I want to hear everything. The more I know, the more I can help _you_ through this." Xingyun sighed, half looking like he was attempting and failing to levitate after he sat down in front of her, cursing after a failed attempt, asking no one, "What the… Universe, now I'm finally okay with my body, none of my mother's evil acts holding me back anymore. I even let go of the shame - what now?"

Yangchen had much the same question, as well as another one, asking delicately, "Can you please tell me more? I can't help if I'm in the dark…"

Even though it was hard, Yangchen made sure she was listening to her husband's tale of woe with everything she had, one that started with one of his earliest memories, the first time he remembered his monster of a mother raping him with her hands, finally ending when he ran away at the age of 15, fleeing a scheduled "mother-son" sex session on impulse, no longer believing her lie that such a relationship was normal, briefly explaining the mishap with Kipa's breastmilk. Yangchen cried throughout, so sad that she didn't even notice Jaina had stopped nursing. Apparently, Xingyun had, sounding angry instead of ashamed as he explained the personal meaning of playfeeding - " 'Playfeeding' instead of 'special time', a b-blowjob like the one you gave me earlier… included when I was old enough to, not a day later, 'mmmbags' instead of 'UGH I HATE YOU bags'. It was an accident, but an important one. To me… A chance to have with you, what I never really had with my own mother - associate something sweet, nursing, with love, instead of her… evil," Yangchen feeling touched when he finished, "Until I met you eight years ago, five years then the time since I ran away from my despicable mother, I thought the world was a cruel place, my name - a joke, something my mother thought herself to have a 'man' that was all hers. Practically a sex slave. I don't even remember my father… but I do remember you. What turned my life around - what ultimately made me whole again. Like I said earlier to the others - you started to make so much feel right, even before we got married and had kids."

Seeing he still looked troubled, angry instead of ashamed, Yangchen carefully got up and put a sleeping Jaina into her swaddling, only daring to try the ridiculous once her daughter was safe - tethered flight.

To her great surprise, though given everything she had talked with her husband about just now she didn't mention it, she found her feet left the floor momentarily as she thought of her family and Xingyun. "Luckily", her husband must have been too bitter to notice, and given how often he had called his mother evil with audible hate, Yangchen was pretty sure he had a dual block - just like she had. She needed to change her outlook on life _and_ forgive a man who ultimately ended up being a pitiable soul - Tanxin, who had been abused by the opposite parent, in a different and ultimately less severe way.

Her husband, needing to get over lingering shame about his body - and hatred of his mother. Yangchen just hoped he wasn't stewing, plotting to go have his own revenge…

Treading delicately, she said, "You mentioned Yuehan talking to you about revenge - and I haven't said anything about my two blocks on flight, and a happier life. When I went in, fainting, I expected a battle of some sort, a need to fight something - but I realized early on, that's exactly what I didn't need, if I was to value life more, and… I didn't realize it at the time, _forgive_ Tanxin the tax collector for what he did to my family." Noticing her husband looked as skeptical as she had been of Lisers initially, Yangchen stated coolly, "Believe it or not, you have something in common with him. You both had abusive parents - though his father did not sexually abuse him. You turned out better than him, despite all the odds - and when I talked to him, I realized fear and hate are closely linked. You may not fear your mother now, but it sounds like you still hate her," saying a little more harshly when he protested, "B-but she's evil!", "Honey, I didn't say she isn't evil - I just said carrying around any kind of hatred can bring you right back where you started - fear," adding, "I now know why I never got to see your mother - but maybe at some point, for your own sake and inner peace, we should… so you can forgive her."

Yangchen felt hurt to her core when he snapped, "Wh- so your family lost some baubles to a poor widdle abused taxman. I lost my innocence and virginity to a monster! How can you expect me to ever forgive her?" Noticing Xingyun was crying again, Yangchen said, "You're over your shame - but maybe you're not over your hurt yet either," adding with a frown, "And given that hurt is tied to your shame… it might come back again tonight, when I give you that 'tip' I promised. 'Room service'… Come on - I can't know how difficult it is, honey, but can you try? Think of anything good about your mother - she raised you all alone, didn't she? Surely, there isn't some part of you that wants to kill your own mother - no matter how horrible she was to you? I know this isn't quite the same, but… after Korra recovered from Zaheer's attempt on her life, she couldn't meditate into the Spirit World until she faced him, went through what happened, _let go her fear_. And something tells me this flight is deeply connected to spiritual advancement - and, ultimately, how happy you are to be a part of the world. Even a part of the world where your mother lives."

Noticing Xingyun looked a little better, she asked, "We want to be good parents - are you willing to forgive your mother for Gyatso and Jaina, so they can have a happier father?" Xingyun nodded weakly, saying, "I'll… uh… maybe. I guess I'll just tell you more then. If my mother was to be believed, and I remember her face right, the deep scars… she was actually badly disfigured when she was… raped. When she was young, too - an orphan at fourteen, she claimed for seven years, on her own since she was seven. She said, that aside from… me, that was the only man who ever 'knew' her. I never believed her, but she said that's where I came from, where she came from." Sobbing a little, Yangchen swearing he seemed a little higher, "She… her face - 'only something a mother could love'. Three long gashes, from some horrible blade, three... strikes… missing part of her nose... I remember her telling me I was the only boy or man who would have anything to do with her, that she needed me as more than a son. She was sort of right - I never remember anyone propositioning her, even when she tried desperately, saying she'd do anything." Sighing, he continued, "Even in the end, I guess… she was my mother. Honey, you're right - holding death inside my heart isn't going to help _anybody," _breaking up slightly as he admitted, "Even when I ran away, I still loved her - as my mother, and given I was still young, a teenager myself, a little more than that. Even if I knew it wasn't right, that I needed to leave. Time alone let me stew, realize exactly what she had done to me - make the small shame, fear and hatred I had become my own. I remember now - feel like something's been lifted off me," Yangchen noticing that by this point it wasn't the only thing that had lifted - given her wasn't touching the floor, Xingyun must really have forgiven his mother!

Smiling slightly, he said, "I didn't just run away without a last 'word'- I left her a little note when I ran away. One I hope she read and took to heart now - for her sake." Tearing up, Xingyun continued, "I think it said… 'I can't stand this anymore, mother - your little boy is gone now, and he has been gone for many years, because of what you did to me. I'll never know if it was ignorance, perversion, or malice… Your 'luck' has run out - go find someone your age who will love you better than I ever could have, in both senses of the word. A grown man - not a child. Not YOUR child. I'll never forget what you did to me, but maybe, just maybe… you weren't lying about where I came from. Maybe you really didn't have any teacher but the cold, hard world you wanted to keep me away from, always talking about how hard it was, an orphan with a child. If that's the truth, everything you said about your own life true, then… maybe someday I can forgive you, for treating me as half son, half 'lover', likely having no idea what to do with a baby. It sounds like you went through more than I did - at least you were there for the fifteen years I stayed before writing you this, unlike your own mom and dad. Not to mention my 'father', if he really did rape you and leave you for dead.' As awful as it sounds… I hope she was telling the truth all along. It's really the only way I can justify having… forgiven her?"

By the time he had finished, he was definitely floating off the floor, though he was so sad he didn't seem to care, asking, "I… do you think you could find her? Project to her? M-maybe… show her what I became? A good parent - what she wasn't? Likely didn't know how?" Xingyun looked like he wanted to continue, smiling slightly, but hit the ceiling first, cursing a little before saying, actually managing side to side motion, "Wait a minute - don't we, or rather, you have stuff to do for Omashu?"

Yangchen sighed, saying, "You, Jaina, Gyatso - family. The whole reason we're fighting in the first place. What we just finished talking about. Jaina should be out for a good two and a half hours now. We have more than enough benders, mechasuits, spirit weapons and even a powerful spirit ally - the weapon designs I got from Korra can wait." Yangchen decided to respect her husband's wishes when he said, "No - I feel whole now, and I haven't even heard your story. Looking for my mother, talking about your… 'experience' can wait. If you have something that can help us stay free, you need to share it - Lisers first, apparently."

Yangchen nodded, saying lowly, "Okay - I still want to visit Kipa's home and look for your mother when my work is done. Good, good - it's only 7:18. Let me explain something to you really quick, for tonight - if we make it that far," correcting herself, "No - when we do make it that far. If it's taken Wuqing and Jayashri almost twenty minutes to get everyone organized, maybe we won't be needed after all - seems Jasmine could handle them." Giving him a one-minute explanation of the inner dream world's workings as she understood it, including her hope about guilt-tripping Raava into letting them both talk to Jaina, Yangchen felt tingles run down her spine when her husband said, "Hmm - maybe we can violate the six week rule in there later… while floating."

Yangchen nodded, saying, "That's the idea," before yelling, "YUEHAN! We're done in here, and I've got a lot of stuff to show our engineers," adding on a whim as the walls lowered, "Call my sister, and my parents - they haven't been here since Jaina was born." The walls completely down, Jaina noticed with a smile that Kipa and her family were still there, Kipa's own children running over along with Gyatso and giving a laughing Xingyun a big hug.

Remembering she owed Kipa something and not knowing how long it would be until the engineers came back, she walked over to Kipa, surprised when the other woman gave her a hug and light kiss on the cheek, saying, "Th-thank you. You might not have seen them yet, but you've given Omashu's 'other' residents like me a lot of hope," Yangchen blushing slightly as she said, "Not a problem - so I'm explaining blue fire to you and how many other firebenders while we wait?"

Kipa took her outside, Yangchen's eyes protesting to the change in lighting as Kipa said, sweeping her hand out towards the city's tall wall, "Why don't you see for yourself?"

Yangchen blinked a few times, wondering if the city beneath Omashu - "New Garzai", she decided to call it - went beyond the original mountain's base, down into the bedrock, based on how many people she saw firebending and waterbending. Noticing some of the benders looked very young, Yangchen smiled to hear the contented laughter and celebratory yelling of children, swearing she heard one young voice saying, "I dun care what you say, momma! If mean men come, I fightin!"

"An I not leavin' either! Dun care bout no Avvy-tar! This is my home!"


	53. Chapter 53: City of Two Lovers: Part 2

Chapter 53: City of Two Lovers: Part 2

Yangchen looked out at the scene in front of her, many small children playing with each other and occasionally annoying their parents or older siblings, able to hear exclamations of awe and wonder about the sun and the city itself intermittently over snippets of conversation. There were even what must have been toddler waterbenders playing in the one "monument" King Bumi made to himself - a big water fountain and mock slide with a wildly grinning younger version of himself and Aang sitting in a precariously perched mail system chute container at the top, water flowing down the fake mail chute. Yangchen even spotted Alyssralove, perched on Omashu's wall next to some rather nervous looking Earth Empire defectors manning one of the five spirit weapons that guarded the main approach to Omashu, the huge spirit looking… contented somehow.

Wanting to get closer, down and away from the entrance to her own hideout, Yangchen was tempted to use her newfound power of effortless flight. Hazarding a glance at Kipa's baby belly and remembering she herself had to take it easy physically and work her way back towards being physically combat ready again after Gyatso was born, Yangchen realized babying herself would be a bad idea. Pointing to Kipa's belly, Yangchen said, "I could fly down there, but - I won't. I need to make sure I don't baby my body," having intended to continue and make some stupid joke about passing a baby like a kidney stone from "hell". The way Kipa nodded, Yangchen felt that wasn't necessary, the words unspoken, Yangchen instead saying, "Kipa, the things we put up with for love - but it's worth it, in the end. Even without the 'it's all worth it' hormone. Why don't we talk on the way down?"

Kipa smiled, saying as she patted her stomach, "Glad to know someone feels like I do. Some of the moms down there have even more kids than I do! That sounds wonderful - but before we do, I'll go grab you a radio, and see if anyone else wants to come," laughing slightly before she left Yangchen's side, saying, "I've had one more kid than you have, and… the feelings never stop amazing you - or distracting you slightly, especially when they're strongest. After birth, and nursing… You tell me the basics of what needs done, and I'll do my best to help. I don't mind even 'milk' diapers. Maybe that big bird spirit can help. Alyssralove? What's her story - how can she bend two elements, or anything at all, for that matter? You'll have to tell me later. Be right back." Yangchen sighed when Kipa was out of earshot, at first finding herself annoyed that she'd need to rely on others to help keep her on track - technically, she should have sketched out Varrick guns, the more powerful and easier to handle spirit weapons, Meesiles, even Lisers by now, talking to her only spirit ally about how to help Jasmine out! Maybe even thought of a way to help Jasmine at the camp aside from sending Alyssralove… The list seeming endless, Yangchen felt for a moment like she hadn't done her job properly - let Korra down, jeopardized her city's safety for personal issues…

Hearing the laughter of children, Yangchen's mood shifted again, feeling better about her decisions - a lot had happened since she got up over 30 minutes ago, and if she really did need to fight, tethered flight would help greatly, gravity not dragging her down in any way - or her husband, after his much more personal breakthroughs. Hearing familiar young laughter behind her, Yangchen wanted to give Gyatso the first of what she hoped to be many high-flying "mommy rides", stopping at the last minute when she felt a small pinch on her backside. Yangchen felt light for a different reason when she heard her husband's voice say, anticipating seeing her other family again, "Hey, honey. I told your parents and sister to meet us at King Bumi's fountain - and it looks like a lot of people are there already," a single tear rolling down her face after he said, "I don't really know how I got over everything so quickly - all I want to do now is hug my mom, not yell at her. I thought Kipa had - has - a rough life… but…"

Turning to her husband, Yangchen was glad to see he was carrying Jaina, taking her warm baby before a cold steel radio any day, slipping her into the baby carrier she had designed for Jaina's big brother, Gyatso… Thoughts of Jaina reminding herself Yangchen she had a story of her own to tell, she absentmindedly took the radio from Kipa, busying herself with walking and looking at a sleeping Jaina every so often rather than listen to the her husband's tale of woe - again. She didn't know how much more of that she could handle… Listening for a minute, hearing her husband's tone of voice, Yangchen felt stronger somehow - if he could handle… that, alone just like his mother had been from the age of 15 to 20, not really having known a good life until 8 years ago when he met herself, she could handle anything with him, together.

By the time the group got almost to the bottom of the first large stair leading back up to Yangchen's hideout, having decided years ago to hide - and successfully - in plain sight inside the massive restored Omashu Royal Palace, it was Yangchen's turn to speak, stopping momentarily to hug her emotional husband and tell him, "I'm so proud of you - I love you. It's going to be okay…" Xingyun sighed, Yangchen smiling contentedly when he insisted, "It has been okay - more than okay, since I met you," Yangchen deciding to tell everything about her own experience, following her husband's example. After she was done with her personal story, she even included more details about her "mission" and what the Avatar had told her, sans bending pulse. Aside from making sure everyone knew what they needed to know, Yangchen hoped to throw the curious Katara off from asking anything else about Jaina, as she had the moment "past life" was mentioned.

Finishing by the time they reached the bottom of the final stair, Yangchen groaned loudly when Kipa's only daughter asked, pointing at Jaina, "Hey - you stopped telling her story! About who she was… I wanna know more! Forget death particles or the bad serpent spirit!" Yangchen shook her head, feeling as though someone else were temporarily speaking through her when she said, "There is a very good reason Raava censored … Jaina's life aside from the little she told me about," - though she was pretty sure she was going to ask Korra more about it. If there was anything Yangchen needed to watch out for as Jaina's mother…

Yangchen was rather unnerved when she saw Alyssralove lift her head slightly after Yangchen had thought about her own concerns. She found herself not really questioning why she no longer felt the need to worry about Jaina when the massive spirit shook its head from side to side, steel beak glimmering in the morning light - swearing she had seen it moving, not understanding any words the spirit might have spoken. Seemingly satisfied, the dragon bird spirit returned to preening its feathers of varying shades of blue, Yangchen listening with a more open mind when Jeong-Jeong asked, tugging on her robe, "You gonna show us firebenders how to make blue fire like the Avatar? Can that big spirit make blue fire, like its feathers - and why does it have steel on it? How's it fly? Is it heavy?" Yangchen chuckled lightly when Yuehan piled on, "Yeah - care to explain why I swear I can see the characters for 'Mako' and 'Kuvira' inside that big yin-yang symbol on its chest? Ones that weren't there when I first saw the spirit?" not really remembering that part of Alyssralove's form being quite so… obvious in meaning. Maybe the spirit had changed?

Alyssralove squawking slightly when Yuehan finished, Yangchen found herself the one re-directing to what needed to be done, Yangchen saying as Katara whined about Jaina like the four year old she was, "Blue fire first - maybe Alyssralove can help with that," sighing in annoyance when Kipa's four-year old daughter insisted in a way that reminded her of herself, "Wha - no! I don't wanna wait to know the answer to Yuehan's question! And I didn't like your answer earlier either about Jaina! Cop-out!" She smiled when Kipa reprimanded her child, "Katara, hush. It's not nice to ask people questions they don't want to answer, much less can't," laughing when Kipa added, "Plus, mommy wants to see if she can make blue fire or not - so you guys will have to wait!"

Seeing they had drawn a crowd of firebenders of all ages as well as their families, even surface residents of Omashu as well and what must have been "New Garzai" earthbenders, green eyes looking full of hope, swearing she saw her own sister and parents approaching, Yangchen said, "I won't go into the detail of how, but I've talked with Avatar Korra," adding after she remembered one anonymous child's vehement refusal to leave Omashu, "I will say Avatar Korra is adamant about everyone cooperating with the evacuation that, given I heard someone from the city beneath Omashu complaining about earlier, almost everyone must have already heard about."

Seeing one young boy frown and stamp his feet, Yangchen conferred with Kipa quickly, letting Kipa say, Yangchen on a whim turning her radio on, switching it to Omashu only, "We need to leave. I know abandoning our home, even one built around sewers, is hard enough, much less someone who lives on the surface." Yangchen laughed when an old man said, looking too dapper to be from New Garzai as he pointed a fancy cane at a somewhat familiar boy, "I dun care what that whipper shnapper said earlier - I wanna leave, and I got all sorts of stuff here! Stuff's nice, but ultimately useless - and I already done left the city once, when the Fire Nation took over seven decades ago, when I was barely ten! Jinshu Kuangmai ain't stupid enough to fall for the pentapox ruse. I don't know 'bout the rest of you, but I'd rather take my chances with Ozai or his cronies than that Jinshu Kuangmai fellow - rather be zapped than choked any day!"

Yangchen could see many somewhat familiar faces nodding, having been incognito while out and about while in hiding herself and every other new airbender. Unable to talk to any of her friends as herself, not entirely sure she could refrain from showing them her gift, her world had shrank to family over the past three years. Many wholly unfamiliar faces looked unconvinced, Yangchen whispering, "Kipa - you know them best… say something!" Kipa nodded, and say something she did, starting passionately as if she had been waiting her entire life: "I know some of you want to stand and fight - refuse to leave at all. While I admire your courage, just look at it this way - with the Avatar's help, we can finally achieve the dream we've held close to us as a source of hope. We've been living in terrible conditions beneath Omashu for multiple generations, hoping for this opportunity: leaving the 'Earth Kingdom', 'Earth Empire', finally becoming a part of the United Republic of Nations," Yangchen surprised when Kipa continued strongly, "Being a part of the United Republic. Our birthright, our forefather's birthright - denied to us, former colonists of the Fire Nation and waterbending refuge seekers alike, former citizens of Garzai. Being a part of the United Republic denied to the citizens of Garzai and other neglected colonies by Earth King Kuei's cowardly concern about giving away land, afraid he'd have civil unrest if he did what was right. Unwilling to let go of land occupied by people who wanted to live in the nation of hope and new beginnings. The one the predecessor of the current Avatar and the current Firelord's father founded - even if it meant drawing more lines on a political map. His tyrant daughter Hou Ting, the reason my grandparents met each other on the road, her deliberate persecution of former colonies after only swelling our ranks as more people fled taxation or the possibility of persecution. The former tyrant Kuvira the one who destroyed Garzai's walls, the current tyrant Jinshu Kuangmai, the tyrant who may have the power… the power to kill us all, with a single stroke."

Yangchen didn't remember including permission to talk about the death ray or modified "Korranium" weapons, but didn't care, finding herself inspired as Kipa continued, " Republic City - the United Republic. Somewhere any bender can be who they are, openly - somewhere _anyone_ can be who they are, openly! I'm sure you've heard President Raiko's decree, as well as the Firelord's," curious to see two young men fidget towards the end. Seeing the boy from earlier still look skeptical, Yangchen smiled when one of the two young men who had fidgeted said, blue eyes gleaming, "Little brother - get over it. We're moving. I… don't mean to freak you out or anything, but…" The young man smiled, taking the other teenager who had fidgeted, the larger, shyer teenage boy blushing as the more confident, slighter one said, blue eyes watering slightly now, "Seems like a weird place to come out, but I've got something in common with the Avatar - even if we're not the same sex. I'd rather move somewhere new, where I can - oh come on, man, quit blushing! Well - both of you, if you're gonna be like that, little brother! Whatever…"

Seeing how annoyed the young man looked, Yangchen wanted to go re-assure him, stopping when she saw two teenage girls coming over, neither one look interested in the boys they were now consoling. The original younger trouble maker buried his face in his hands, saying, "Gah - wh…" finally screaming, "I needa nice bath afta that!" Remembering one thing her city had been spared, a visit from "the devil himself", Yangchen found herself yelling at the creeped out, possibly intolerant younger brother, "Jinshu Kuangmai would have your big brother killed, you know - just for being him! You really want to treat your big brother like that…?"

Apparently, rumors had spread even to the lower level, the young man stopping and instead saying, "Never mind… I don't wanna stay nowhere some evil thug's gonna kill my big bro - even if I'll never see 'im the same way again."

Satisfied that people understood the need to fight, and _then_ leave regardless, Yangchen said, noticing her parents and sister were close now, "Now I've got something for every firebender in the city - though I don't know if everyone will be able to do it." Nodding towards Alyssralove, who seemed to get the hint, Yangchen said, as the large spirit carefully made its way down off the wall and into the back of the parting crowd, producing a single blue flame in its iguana-parrot like hand and flicking its distinct metallic thumb spike back and forth slightly, lightning covering the large thumb, "I'm going to try and teach you how to do that - make blue fire. If you don't already know how, lightning as well - though Alyssralove will have to handle that. If - no, when the Earth Empire's forces come to our gates, we'll need every little edge we can get," half hoping the blue love-inspired flame would possibly cause extra incapacitating pain to evil people, just like Korra implied it might to evil spirits.

Yangchen felt slightly annoyed when the spirit politely took over her job, still laughing to see so many people jump when Alyssralove spoke through her metallic beak in an incongruously friendly voice, saying, "I'll take it from here, Yangchen," Yangchen feeling a small panic when Alyssralove added in English, for her ears only: "Wan Shi Tong 'tells' me Jasmine's prison camp is now under attack. While the assault so far has been pretty laughable, not even getting close to the walls, that could change if Wuqing actually commits his own men to the attack - many of the new 'sexual' prisoners and even old bending prisoners are not in fighting shape or willing to fight," adding normally, "You should busy yourself with drawing schematics and making weapons now. I'll handle it from here - once I am done teaching, I'll see if I can help whoever needs it the most," for some reason Yangchen didn't understand, Alyssralove adding after her avian eyes thinned for a brief moment, "Maybe some of these firebenders can be trusted enough and are capable enough to help **synthesize the most important pieces**. I can **trust** you're all that trustworthy anyways… right?"

Alyssralove's eyes thinned again after people said the obvious, professing their loyalty to making sure they didn't _die_ and one man exclaiming loudly his hate for Jinshu Kuangmai, Yangchen still feeling confused even as long metal whips shot out from the metal on the spirit's chest. Confusion vanished after the metal whips wound around multiple people who had tried to flee upon seeing the whips. Yangchen saw a very different side of the normally peacefully and pleasant spirit as a few men and women were dragged in front of the spirit's beak, noticing Alyssralove's beak took on a more predatory, serrated look as she yelled at what Yangchen could only assume were traitors, "SPIES! I'll be taking those radios now… I do not know exactly how, but I could feel your hearts beating excitedly when I talked about making weapons, could feel your erratic breathing and heartbeats as you proclaimed you hated the man you obviously work for - Jinshu Kuangmai!" Yangchen was slightly puzzled when the spirit added in English, "Guess the 'spirit vision' judging doesn't work perfectly, or I need to hone it like any other skill… perhaps I was too distracted to notice your red, red souls."

The crowd transfixed, Yangchen realized that spirits transformed with dual bending got more than just their human link's bending, given the spirit could now sense irregular heartbeats. Alyssralove continued, "I cannot infobend, unfortunately, so I'll just have to do this the… old fashioned way - though a little more humanely than Kuvira might have. I noticed you trying to bend ME, the metal whips - and I'm sure a little platinum handcuffs will keep you occupied until the Avatar arrives and she can strip your bending… unless you decide to cooperate." Yangchen sighed when all four spies spat, one yelling "Glory to Jinshu Kuangmai! All hail the Great Resistor!" Yangchen pretty sure she hadn't heard that title before. Apparently, Alyssralove did not feel amused either, hissing with what sounded like slight resignation, "Thsss - a pity. Now, I'll just be taking those notebooks you're clutching so tightly, along with your other personal affects," Yangchen cracking a smile, remembering a line her parents had told her King Bumi once used on Korra's predecessor as Alyssralove said, "Get me eight platinum shackles, one for each set of hands and feet, and then… throw them into 'the refurbished chamber that was once bad'!" Yangchen wasn't sure, but she swore she could hear something resembling a chirping laugh come out of the spirit's beak after.

Yangchen took the opportunity provided by the impromptu show's diversion to look around, not surprised in the least to find her mother, father and sister standing behind her. Yangchen blushed slightly when her sister Diki started to tussle Jaina's hair as her younger bubbly sister said, the tussling moving Yangchen in a way she wanted associated wither husband and not her sister, "Oh, she looks even cuter than she did before! I want one - and everything that comes with it! Oh you're such a cute little baby. Especially in that wonderful baby carrier!" Yangchen smiled to see Yuehan come a little closer, Yuehan saying with melancholy, "All babies look similar at her age - and really, all babies are the same, when you really get down to it. Her innocence… She really does remind me of … my baby son, may he rest in peace," Yangchen no longer smiling by the time he finished.

Her normally upbeat sister Diki looking sad, sadder than when her big sister had been the only one to get airbending in the entire family, Yangchen carefully took Jaina out, feeling light to see her sister's eyes light up again when Yangchen offered, "I'm going to be busy for a while - you want to look after her, Diki?" Diki beaming again as she took Jaina from Yangchen gingerly, Yangchen noticed that Yuehan really was interested in… something, maybe more than one thing, given how he joined her parents at Diki's side as they fussed over her daughter. Not entirely sure where her husband was, or if Alyssralove was going to start lessons anytime soon, Yangchen told a smiling Kipa, "Come on - I still do have stuff to do," deciding she'd wait for the engineers to come to her when Kipa shook her head, saying, "If Alyssralove's… otherwise occupied for now, why don't we go back to the original plan - you do the coaching? It's got something to do with love, the way I hear it. Oh- forgot to mention - you don't need to bother with lightning generation training. Almost every firebender down there can do it - my own oldest son included. It along with purifying the sewer water with earthbending and waterbending then sanitizing it by boiling were what let us stay 'off the grid' for so long." Yangchen felt grossed out at the idea of drinking sewer water, not sure if she wanted to tour New Garzai after all. Kipa called for Jeong-Jeong, Yangchen not sure if Kipa was being overly optimistic to think a nine-year old could master blue fire, even if he could generate lightning.

Seeing this had attracted the attention of a lot of other people holding small fires, some holding larger ones, Yangchen knew there was no going back now, explaining, "For decades, it was thought that blue fire was one particularly evil and twisted individual's trademark - then Princess Azula. I do not know how much you have heard about the outside world exactly, so I will just explain what the Avatar 'told' me about how she and her friend Mako managed to produce blue fire almost a week ago," surprised to hear the same troublemaker boy from earlier say, "I know how she told ya, most likely - 'star projectin'! Or wassit 'astral projectin' - whatever." Technically, he was wrong, Yangchen not having a clue until the massive information dump from Raava in a "place" she was still having some trouble making sense of herself, but she went with it, saying, hoping Alyssralove would keep her beak shut about this white lie, "Yes - after she contacted me last night, she contacted me again, giving more specific instructions, as well as letting me get to know everything that's happened recently in more detail," adding another white lie to make sure she wasn't interrupted again, "I'm no firebender, and it's all I can do to remember the exact thoughts and feelings, so if you interrupt me again, it could end badly. No blue fire."

Seeing even the young boy's big, apparently gay brother nodding, noticing that the older brother had the blue eyes of a waterbender, his boyfriend having yellow eyes and the smallest boy light yellow eyes, Yangchen decided to see if there were any other acidbenders aside from Korra and her mother Senna in the world after. Kipa and her children now standing in front of her, smiling to see that Gyatso had apparently made a friend, holding Iroh's hand, Yangchen began explaining: "Azula's blue firebending was a combination of exceptional skill as well as exceptional malice and hatred as a fuel, the way I have heard it. Avatar Korra first discovered a much less reprehensible source for the more powerful - and possibly Dark Spirit-deterring as well - flame while thinking about her _other-centered_ anger. Everyone hoped that with Kuvira's surrender, that days of peace would return - but no one was more personally affected than Avatar Korra. She'd been fighting for four years, on and off, hoping for a lull, getting her only lull filled with the pain of recovery from Zaheer's poison, instead finding the future held the same things that her past did - chaos, discord, strife, conflict. No peace." Pausing for breath, noticing many of the adults in front of her including Kipa looked angry already, Yangchen continued, "It all came to a head the day after the Spirit Civil War started, her lover Asami Sato having been threatened indirectly by the spirit 'Long Yumao the Opportunist', her mentor Tenzin threatened by the same spirit the next day, and Tenzin's fourteen-year old daughter Jinora shortly after that. Korra first produced blue fire while thinking little about herself and her own concerns, thinking about everything that had 'gone wrong' and her anger with the Universe. Righteous anger. After the Hundred Year's War, from my studies, firebenders transitioned from hate and rage to more 'peaceful' power sources - but when your loved ones, friends, home is under threat by dark forces or evil people, righteous anger and wrath can be some of your best allies."

Vaguely remembering something about Jinora wanting to try out a similar technique with airbending, Yangchen decided to make her own "attempt" after she saw the first blue flames, continuing, remembering some of the things Kipa had told her on the way down the stairs, "I want every firebender in front of me to think about how you feel. The justified anger and rage you harbor at Earth King Kuei for not letting Garzai join the new nation it wanted to be a part of so desperately. The righteous anger you feel for Earth Queen Hou-Ting, even after death, for punishing the former colonies for being who and what they were. What you would feel, if your husband, wife, daughter, son, father, mother, boyfriend, girlfriend, friends were butchered by the monster that lurks far beyond these city walls, in his lair inside the city he ruined - Zaofu." Remembering how Korra had almost incinerated a passing boat, Yangchen made sure to add, seeing she wasn't a moment too soon, "When you unleash this rage - no, no, not yet, I'm not done! - make sure to control it by thinking about your loved ones, the feelings you have for them - platonic, familial, or sexual. This blue fire is difficult to control; the Avatar warned me about this specifically."

Yangchen raised her hand, saying, "Now try your hand - see if you have the heart of an Avatar!"

Yangchen saw many large billows and jets of flame erupt skyward, all intense and powerful looking - even those from children, including Kipa's oldest, Jeong-Jeong. Yangchen hadn't known what to expect, but she was sorely disappointed to not see any blue fire at first except from one vaguely familiar tall man near King Bumi's fountain, saying angrily after she recognized Seiko, "Seiko just did it - and so can you! You don't have to hide anymore - TRY AGAIN! I know firebenders draw power from the sun - and I know your circumstances! Feel the sun's rays on your skin - feel the sun within! Burning life! You may have had to hide underground for generations, closeting your children until they can learn to refrain from expressing a vital part of who they are - their bending!", feeling angry herself as she continued, "But just like the howling typhoon I feel inside my heart, when I think of what could happen to my family, at the hands of Dark Spirit or 'Dark Human' alike, nothing can extinguish your inner fire! Only losing hope can! ROAR!"

Yangchen smiled, hearing the intense crackling of flame, the warmth from the symphony of fire in front of her giving her a simultaneous feeling of power and peace. Very few "little people" could produce any blue fire like Kipa's son Jeong-Jeong had, likely drawing on his anger and resentment for having to work so hard just to keep his family above water. Having heard Mako himself was a skilled firebender, as was obviously the Avatar, Korra seeming equally comfortable with all four elements to Yangchen, Yangchen hadn't expected _everyone_ to produce blue fire. Which they hadn't, Yangchen frowning slightly to see a few people crying, apparently feeling inferior, people nearby consoling them after a while.

But Yangchen certainly hadn't expected for there to be more than one or two _multicolor fire_ vortexes screaming out of firebender's mouths towards the sky, Kipa among the ten to fiteen who had produced dragon's fire out of what seemed like many hundreds of firebenders, making a mental note to ask Kipa just how many people lived in New Garzai at some point. Yangchen noticed with a smile that someone she hadn't expected had managed to produce the colors of the rainbow - the shy, larger gay teenager had. Yangchen smiled broadly to see any kind of love bloom as she heard the bigger teen saying, "Jobukori… I love you. I... I've never actually said it before, out loud and strong - just like my… fire for you," what must have been Jobukori kissing his much taller boyfriend after he said, "I love you too, Daikaji - now let's go make sure we can live to see Republic City, together! To arms!" Yangchen noticed a few other "sexually interesting" young couples join them. Yangchen winced slightly for multiple reasons when one with green eyes glistening with hate said, manipulating two dual dao swords she had just whipped out far too deftly to be a nonbender, "Yeah - to arms! One defector told me what I thought all along for the past two years. My parents, in Jasmine's camp, having been deemed 'dangerous' enough two years ago as Garzai's 'leaders' by Kuvira to warrant being thrown in the 'highest' security prison camp. It's payback time when the Earth Empire attacks. I was the only one in our family to get away two years ago from Kuvira by pretending to betray them, unable to get my little sister… I've heard the rumors from defectors about what Jinshu Kuangmai wanted to do to people like us - 'sexual criminals'! When they attack, let's return the favor!" With that, the girl held both swords at her side once more, forming an Earth Empire symbol from a piece of stone and slicing it clean in two with one sword after, as if to demonstrate what she though Earth Empire soldiers good for.

Yangchen was ready to go into a big long speech about not giving into hatred, much less killing for its own sake - at least she had killed for a purpose, if mainly for the wrong reasons! She was certain she wasn't going to try the acidbending experiment if that was how some people felt - she didn't want to inadvertently empower an angry potential killer like this unnamed teenage girl earthbender. Yangchen breathed a huge sigh of relief when what must have been the bellicose teenage girl's girlfriend said incredulously, "Wh - Lumang, no! Don't be stupid - if we piss off the Earth Empire too much, they might fry us all, like Kipa said earlier." Yangchen's relief didn't last long, grumbling slightly when Lumang tossed one sword idly in the air, looking at Yangchen directly as she spoke, "Yeah, Jin - I guess you are right, in a way. If I'm dead, I won't get to fight, or ever see you again either. Got to remember what we're up against… which is what, exactly, Yangchen? You and Kipa haven't told us everything."

Not sure she could get a headstrong teenager to understand the fact that she _didn't_ really know what they were up against, even the Avatar not knowing aside from guesses, Yangchen was relieved when Kipa took over, merely stating, "The way Yangchen explained it to me earlier, it's something you can't see - something that you would never see before dying, or something that leads to a long, lingering death you can do nothing about. And that's just the unknown weapon - she also told me there's a large railway gun that Jinshu Kuangmai claimed could vaporize either the prison camp or Omashu if he wills it at any moment, not vaporizing Omashu out of concern for the city itself and all its industry. The camp, not vaporized due to some private deal even Yangchen didn't give me the specifics of. We've got to defend ourselves enough to stay free - I'm sure you and your girlfriend Jin have extra incentive for that, aside from you wanting to see your family again - but not so effectively or brutally they decide to just kill us all. We can't afford for them to give up hope of taking back Omashu before the Avatar arrives - capturing the city, above ground resident and below ground residents alike. Again, from what Yangchen said, the illusion of hope of victory for _them_ is crucial to maintain." Yangchen felt a small pit in her stomach, realizing those spies had likely seen and reported the residents of New Garzai's existence as soon as people started bending water and fire in the open.

Maybe even what had just happened as well - four spies for _all_ of Omashu did seem like not nearly enough, if Jasmine's camp had warranted one spy. Then again, Jinshu Kuangmai had "trusted" Omashu enough to never visit personally. If he had, with his truth sense…

There may not have been an evacuation to do from Omashu in the first place, almost everyone dead or imprisoned for their "treachery".

Snapping to the present when Kipa tapped her shoulder, she listened as Kipa asked, "Yangchen - you okay?" She nodded, face perking up slightly when Kipa told her, "The engineers are finally here to see you."

The other, highly protective part of being a mother taking over, Yangchen felt a rush of energy at the opportunity to make sure her city and family stayed safe, quickly preparing to draw out and explain the weapons she'd been shown and would need to the stunned looking engineers. Without needing to be asked, Yuehan made a table for them all to work on near the soothing sounds of King Bumi's fountain, and a separate one for himself, Kipa's family and Yangchen's family. Wondering why he had made the other table so close out loud, Yangchen nodded in agreement when Yuehan said, "Inspiration comes from the oddest places at times, and I figured you might want to be near family while working on war. Cheer you up some. The water should help too." Able to sense he might not be needed for a while, Yuehan immediately returned to talking to Yangchen's sister about love, life and his own loss, Diki appearing like she was cradling a sleeping Jaina tenderly more for her own benefit than Jaina's. Yangchen and Kipa's family kept to themselves at the separate table - for now.

She didn't know exactly why, but Yangchen felt she might need their support later, feeling something she hadn't before - a sort of premonition. Closing her eyes, she saw eight characters, a chill running down her back at their meaning: Chief Military Officer Wuqing.

Merciless.

Recollecting herself, Yangchen still started with the Liser as she had wanted to after her change of heart, though she did explain its potential for designating targets for benders and Meesiles alike. Even without truly endless power feeding it, the Liser could be a highly effective way to give orders in the right hands - likely her hands, though she'd still try to find time for Jaina. After all, her parents hadn't just taught her about the Air Nomads and their near extinction, but also the underpinnings behind and workings of what might have saved them - a standing military, like Jinora wanted. Yangchen made two mental notes; one, to ask Korra about any changes in tactics she or anyone else thought spirit weapons and these newer weapons brought, remembering that the Avatar had likely used every weapon system she had provided the plans to Yangchen by now against some vile sea spirit. The other, to ask her parents to bring out their personal book collection, and to ask Yuehan to see if he could scrounge up any Earth Empire tactical manuals, wanting to know more about her enemy thought and operated beyond what the former Sergeant knew himself. Given one of Kuvira's schools was present in Omashu, Yangchen was pretty sure he'd find something.

Noticing the engineers did mostly look lost at her explanation of the Liser with only a few exceptions, Yangchen moved on, hoping they would "get" the workings of Meesiles, airbender projectiles and the glove design, smokeless Lipowder weapons such as the two forms of the Varrick gun, the spirit repeaters and spirit engines better than they had Varrick and Zhu Li's odd light-based brainchild. While they didn't look lost, Yangchen could tell they needed a while to digest everything especially when one dunce asked, "Why don't we just make Chin's fire-earth 'fully automatic'?" despite having just been told why the "fire-earth" Chin had been able to produce would gum up any such weapon. Yangchen felt like a dunce herself when he added, clearly displeased and more than "slightly" condescending, "Don't give me that look, woman - err, Yangchen. I'm not an idiot - just airbend the smoke away from the barrels and earthbend the soot out of the barrels if needed. And unless you can figure out how to 'synthesize' with four benders before the Avatar herself figures out how it works, that 'Varrick gun' sounds awfully complicated to produce on such short notice - you sure there's not a simpler version?" Yangchen laughed when a woman who bore some resemblance to the other engineer scoffed, saying, "Well, why don't you come up with it, if you're so smart, 'Grating Gear', and stop earning my nickname for you!"

Remembering that all spirits aligned with Raava had some link to the great spirit of love and light, Alyssralove also having an apparent link to Kuvira, wondering if some of the former tyrant's technical expertise had rubbed off on her spirit friend, Yangchen yelled, "ALYSSRALOVE! I need you over here!" The same man as before yelped slightly when Alyssralove chose to delicately land fairly close to him, everyone except for him laughing after the spirit said, "You may be a chauvinist, but I'll work with you if I have to. 'My human' Kuvira doesn't take guff from any man, and you should probably treat Yangchen with the same respect you'd treat both her and 'my' other human Mako," the female engineer who must have been the sister of "Grating Gear" laughing harder than even Yangchen's own mother.

Turning to Yangchen, still towering over every human present, Alyssralove cocked her head to the side, chirping, "Exactly what did you need me for again? I'm done seeing those spies to their cells, and the situation has only improved in the prison camp. Sura's begun healing people… if you know what I mean." Yangchen nodded, pointing to the blueprint of a Varrick gun as she said, "Good to hear. You can say what Sura is - we're all friends here, and I bet the enemy knows she's a psychic bloodbender by now anyways. I'm sure Jasmine has put her to use," a few people gasping as Yangchen continued, Alyssralove nodding and confirming Yangchen's suspicion, "Following this rude man's suggestion, I need a simpler but still effective version of the Varrick gun, that can use inferior fire-earth like that in Chin's war balloon that we captured's holds instead of the more resource and time intensive smokeless version."

No sooner had Yangchen finished than a metal pen levitated into the air off the table, the great spirit looking at her expectantly - as if wanting clear paper! Yangchen quickly took the other blueprints off the table. At first, the pen, which she assumed was being manipulated by Alyssralove, moved erratically, her suspicion confirmed when after one particularly bad pen stroke the dragon bird spirit hissed, the pen's metal cap and point melting slightly. Now slightly leery of the spirit, Yangchen suggested, "Uh, Alyssralove - you can earthbend and firebend. As I can see by you melting that pen. Why don't you just lavabend a piece of marble with the blueprint engraved on it?" seeing the spirit was more than logical when it replied, "No - something like that would be much easier to leave behind than a piece of light paper, and we don't want Jinshu Kuangmai getting ahold of this. Paper's also very easy to burn. It felt like I had a little block on the design. Hmmm… just a moment - I think I might know the problem."

The spirit closing its eyes and breathing in and out a few times, "Grating Gear" having the presence of mind to bring another metal pen to the stone table, the pen had hardly come into view before a small metal tendril grasped it, the form of a more primitive-looking weapon Alyssralove labeled the "Gatling gun" taking form on a clean blueprint. Apparently not done, another metal tendril shot out from the spirit's central yin-yang symbol exposing more paper, the other metal tendril drawing even more primitive-looking weapons on the page. Alyssralove explained coolly, "I just 'talked' to Wan Shi Tong - the spirit who needed to grant me access to the wing in which these weapons can be found in his spirit library. What Jasmine calls the 'put-put cart', seen here with its many barrels, has proven to be very effective during a few subterranean tests when coupled with metal, earth and firebending for firing, cleaning and reloading. This other weapon, the Meesile cart, has not been tested, the 'Meesiles' themselves nothing more than glorified fireworks with metal shells instead of paper and extra Lipowder in the tips. These three along with the 'Gatling gun' should be child's play for Omashu to produce - and I recommend starting immediately."

A few engineers running off with the blueprints, Alyssralove re-produced them quickly after. They were apparently eager to do just that -run off - and leave the more complicated weapons for others to worry about, those left looking relieved somehow at their departure. One woman spoke up, saying to what must have been her brother's consternation, "Surprised you didn't leave with the other cop-outs, _big_ brother." The man still looking annoyed, his cheeks flushed when the woman continued, pointing to the Meesile and Liser's blueprints, "Bet you're just jealous Meelo, a nine-year old boy and Zhu Li, just a 'woman', made things you'd have never thought of." Although it was amusing, Yangchen didn't have time for this banter, saying, "Whoever you two are, cut it out for now."

Both nodded, Yangchen suppressing a smile to see the young woman elbow her brother covertly, saying at the same time, with false innocence, "All that stuff you gave us is great - got anything else for us, either of you?" Yangchen had a vague idea she wanted tested, but found herself interrupted by Alyssralove, the spirit speaking as she drew some items Korra had either forgotten - or tried - to give Yangchen, "Yes - adjustable strength lightning generators. If the Lisers can really be powered by 'mere' spirit vines to even a fraction of their potential, they will be key, if you want to knock someone out with lightning generated by a machine, instead of killing them. Even if we have firebenders, they would be best used trying to master the 'synthesis' Avatar Korra used to produce these weapons." Yangchen liked how the spirit thought when she added, "Would be great to knock out and capture Wuqing - I bet he knows all sorts of stuff Korra would love to. Not to mention Chin himself…"

Not sure why Jinshu Kuangmai himself hadn't been included, Yangchen wondering if infobending was like its "parent" energybending in that one will had to triumph over another for anything to happen, Yangchen cemented her own idea for Lisers, drawing quickly as she explained, "This is the last piece of equipment I can think of to make on short notice, unless you feel like trying to make more spirit weapons and convert them into engines, or, hah, modernized mechasuits, tanks, war balloons, let alone aircraft. This Liser 'dazzler' isn't to kill or even wound - just incapacitate, like a weak lightning bolt. I got inspiration from it by remembering how much my eyes hurt adjusting to the morning sun earlier. Idea is, you have a whole bunch of little Lisers facing forward, or a few aimed ones, at a power low enough that the enemy is only temporarily blinded instead of permanently if it hits their retina." Realizing a lethal use for this non-lethal weapon, she added, "If it ever looks like we're going to be overrun, just turn up the dazzler's power, and while the target is down - hit them hard. Yeah I can see you over there, Xingyun. Don't give me that look, honey - we all known Jinshu Kuangmai is unlikely to play fair. Yeah - I hardly call a mystery instant death weapon playing fair."

Not feeling like she had backtracked any on her change in heart about taking life or like she could no longer fly, Yangchen realized with a mix of excitement and dread she'd likely be setting precedents for the new Air Nation military and ethos without intending to in defense of Omashu. Yangchen now noticed what she had thought were disapproving stares were just blank ones, people apparently still not getting the complicated Liser. Just as she had originally feared and rationalized not telling anyone about for the exact reason that was now staring in her face. Yangchen asked for a mirror, paying back whoever "Grating Gear" was for his earlier misogyny by reflecting the sunlight into his face, saying as though to a grade schooler, much to his sister's delight, "Basically, that, but with a Liser instead, 'strobing' out towards the front all over the place from multiple sources. People will be too busy covering their eyes to try and fight back," adding, "Now that I have your attention, 'Grating Gear', I'll repeat myself," another woman engineer snickering slightly to see the look on his sister's face. Ignoring this, Yangchen said, "Electricity makes light, and the light does funny things when run through this chamber with vaporized spirit vine 'gas' - sort of looks a little like a mover camera had a foursome with with a spirit vine capsule and two mirrors, now that I think about it," hoping "Grating Gear" wouldn't react negatively when she stressed, "Probably where **Zhu Li** got the idea… If they ever get too close and it looks like we might lose… I figure, just like the sun's rays if you look at it too long, with enough juice, we could blind them - permanently. Only as a last resort though - I figure blinding Jinshu Kuangmai's precious elites would be enough to 'earn' us oblivion."

The female engineer nodded, her brother not batting an eyelash at Yangchen's stressing, Yangchen noticing her eyes were golden as she said, tossing her jet black hair slightly, "I don't like to throw my father's name around, but I'm Kosuke, the renowned architect Seiko's only daughter. That chauvinist idiot is my one, and thankfully only, brother, Taro, or as I like to call him, 'Grating Gear'. As you can see, he really can be grating." Giving Taro a quick glance, noticing his eyes were the same color as Asami Sato's - light green, Yangchen asked out of curiosity, "Either one of you benders?" Both siblings shook their heads, Kosuke frowning a little as she said, "No." Yangchen did her best not to act excited when Taro said, sounding like he thought he was being ridiculous even mentioning it, "Did have a crazy dream last night where I was taking earthbending lessons from our grandfather, my little sister- ouch! you know I'm older than you, Kosuke… even if I don't always act like it - taking firebending lessons from our grandmother. In Garzai, of all places - before Kuvira tore it up, or even the Earth Queen ruined it, from what gramps said!"

Yangchen hoped nobody was good at catching lies as she said, knowing Raava had been pretty explicit about very carefully disseminating knowledge about the bending pulse, "Hah - dreams can be crazy. Just last night, I dreamed I was a hopping llama," her face flushing when Kosuke's eyes thinned, saying, "Uhuh - yeah. You sure had plenty of time to dream, giving birth then handing out information about what Avatar Korra wants with Omashu. I can see the little shadows under your eyes. That dream seemed too real to be a 'hopping llama' mad dream - grandma seemed just like she did when I last saw her, but younger! She even told us stuff my dad knew, and had never mentioned, given his… less than enthusiastic reaction to 'baby and teenager Seiko' stories she told us. And I think that bending thing means something too."

Yangchen acted like she needed to use the bathroom, saying, "Oh shoot. Bathroom - be right back," stopping dead in her tracks when she heard an avian voice say from behind her, "Yangchen, remember - I can tell when you're lying," glad she had a co-conspirator when Alyssralove said, telling a partial truth herself, "She really needs to go talk to Jasmine about something that's hush-hush - better to not ask about it," Yangchen realizing Alyssralove was talking to her part ways through when the spirit added in English, "Raava has the same reservations disseminating information about the bending pulse, as she does for telling you anything else about Jaina. Just know that I did speak earlier - saying you are the perfect mother for Jaina, past life considerations and all."

Apparently, nobody around her was a truthsenser, spoke English, or knew enough to realize Yangchen could simply "talk" to Jasmine through Alyssralove, Yangchen saying, "I owe you one!" in English as she left, glad to hear the engineers talking and apparently working in her absence once they finished complaining about the "barking tongue". The last chatter she heard being about a spirit engine sketch, it was apparent Alyssralove was helping as well, Yangchen yelling, "When you're done, Alyssralove, help them make everything a reality!" hoping the dragon bird spirit had heightened hearing.

Finding herself actually needing to use the restroom now that she thought about it, Yangchen winced prematurely, not anticipating the sting that came from her vagina being raw after childbirth. Remembering her earlier pain when she tried to rush moving her lower body, she went slow, cursing still as she went. The pain - still there! Yangchen tried something unconventional, attempting to meditate the pain away. While it worked in a fashion, she wondered what a waterbender healer might be able to do for her - a woman, obviously. Now thinking of another person she might want to talk to in the camp, Yangchen exited the restroom. Remembering some of what her mother had told her about delivering both her sister Diki 26 years ago and herself four years before that, Yangchen felt she had gotten off easy. Her mother required both a waterbender healer and a surgeon after delivering her little sister, Yangchen hoping she could have another kid unlike her mother. Her mother Weifeng had been devastated when the surgeon told her another child might be her end… and she was too old now, well into her fifties, likely more interested in having grandchildren from Diki than the biologically impossible.

Remembering what she had needed to talk to Jasmine about and now wanted to ask Sura about, Yangchen contacted the prison camp's leader after a few tries, saying in English, "I'm not entirely sure what Alyssralove has 'told' you, Jasmine - so I have a question for you. One I didn't feel comfortable relaying through Alyssralove, given she might act on it herself, even if she did just tell me she had reservations about it. Two of my engineers had bending dreams last night, and I botched the diversion attempt - the sharper one, Kosuke, thinks something's up. What should I do?" After a brief pause, the response came in English, Jasmine sounding vaguely annoyed somehow, "Hmmm - do whatever you think is best, Yangchen. Your call is as good as mine on this - I've had a few of the nonbender 'sexually interesting' prisoners tell me about their own bending dreams, including some others I think are just flights of fancy," Jasmine contradicting herself slightly when she said, "My position? Things are complicated enough as is, and it's over a week away. People knowing would just complicate things, and you never know if someone's going to slip up." After a slight pause and an English curse, Jasmine continued in the same language, saying, "Like I just did - forgot to stay in code for that part! Hope Jang didn't catch that - not like he'd ever puzzle it out anyways. On what I know - she's let Wan Shi Tong know about everything that's happened."

Remembering the other reason for the call, one a little more… personal, Yangchen asked, "Can I speak to Sura, if she's not busy nursing?" Rather than an answer from Jasmine, Yangchen heard another woman's voice pipe up, what must have been Sura saying in English, "I don't know what you guys were talking about, but understood everything you were saying. If you have something that might give people hope or inspire them, tell them," Yangchen hearing a slight bumble after footsteps faded, "Why do you want to talk to little old me, Yangchen? Don't you have something to be doing?" Yangchen could see her point, but the lingering and dimming pain had a stronger argument, Yangchen saying with a hushed tone, "We're both new moms, that's what, Sura. You gave birth to twins a while ago - my own baby slide's smarting, a lot more than after I had my first kid, Gyatso. You think a waterbender healer could do anything about my pain? Make my vagina shut up already?" After a slight pause, Sura said, "I'm a first time mom - glad to know that's 'normal'. Except mine felt less like smarting at first, more like screaming, having had twins and all. I'm just glad nothing went wrong… All me or my husband has done so far is normal healing, even internally with some water, and it helped ease the pain a little. Just a moment," saying after a much longer pause, "Whoa - never thought my special talent would be good for quite so… personal care! I almost feel like I could handle a little 'traditional' style fun with my husband now, aside from my hips. Too bad nobody can bonebend. Not like I'd have time to do anything for six weeks anyways, with twins… but you never know. If you're still hurting later and everyone gets out of this camp and to Omashu, I'll see what I can do for you," smiling slightly when Sura finished, "If you get free time, I'd like to talk to you - all this fighting isn't my thing, even if I know Jasmine needs me badly. I'd rather take care of my babies Sokka and Katara than make people jerk around like puppets in this endless tug-of-war. Over and out."

At first, Yangchen only felt glad to know she had another mother concerned for her and possible friend, a stray thought running through her mind ruining the feeling entirely: "If we're spread out into two targets, that means we might have a chance to take out the railgun and then save whichever doesn't get hit by the mystery weapon from destruction by the unknown device, once they take the first shot. If it comes to that... Maybe… the prison camp shouldn't 'retreat' - stay and act as a temporary sponge until the reinforcements from Republic City arrive? Any help at all?" Calling back and relaying her concerns to Jasmine in English, Yangchen didn't like the string of profanities she heard, Jasmine admitting in code still, "UGH! Nobody had thought of that, or took that into account when thinking about what goes where! I still don't know how that big Dark Spirit turned out for Korra - can't make radio contact at this range with most of the towers being in Earth Empire hands," Yangchen not sure what to think when Jasmine said in English, "As I mentioned, Wan Shi Tong was telling me about 'little Garzai' beneath Omashu from what your only spirit ally saw, the blue fire as well, and, while news of more people on our side is welcome… I can't help but think. If something like that can stay hidden from even Jinshu Kuangmai, never mind Kuvira and him… maybe this mystery device isn't officially condoned? We both know Jinshu Kuangmai wants Omashu intact, and from what we know about the weapon's possibilities, even a … death particle ray would 'ruin' the city for him, most of the metal in Omashu radiating death particles for who knows how long. Chin worked behind both Kuvira and Jinshu Kuangmai's back to an extent on fire-earth, I know, though Kuvira never knew of it and it sounds like Jinshu Kuangmai approved of the weapons a little bit, given the funding he did receive before now - damn. We need the WHOLE story!"

A borderline lunatic idea occurring to Yangchen, she suggested, still in English, "We both know our favorite blood-iron bender seems to have taken Korra's threat to end him seriously, guarding some special project like his life depends on it - which it probably does. Say we radio him - Jinshu Kuangmai. Maybe if we call him out on what we think might be Korranium weaponization… he'll either confirm it's someone else's sickening baby, or give Korra the reason she needs to off him?" In the silence that followed, Yangchen thought a little, remembering something the tyrant in question had said himself: "I want to rule EVERYTHING, not see EVERYTHING turned to ash before me, Vaatu!" Remembering another thing Toph's reprehensible son had said: "If everyone's dead, how can I take pleasure in seeing other's fear, or their quaking obedience?" and the fact that Jinshu Kuangmai had demoted one of his top officers for suggesting they would obliterate Omashu under any condition, Yangchen's stomach sunk, pretty sure they were dealing with a "loose cannon" now. Telling as much to Jasmine in English, she got another string of curses, cursing a little herself when Jasmine gave a one-word reply: "Wuqing."

A one word reply that sent chills down her spine.

Not knowing if there was anything they really could do about either the rail gun or the mystery device at this stage, Yangchen sighed with resignation, saying as much, laughing bitterly to hear Jasmine suggest in English what she herself had suggested earlier jokingly: "Like it or not, Omashu may need to try and produce tanks, mechasuits, airships. Crap, if you can do it, a Raging Shark Whale would be nice! The whole 'nine yards'. Any little slipup to the north with the people coming from Republic City or the west with the Avatar, we could end up on our own for quite some time, and we both know Jinshu Kuangmai's 'holding back' and preparing - Tonga said as much," not sure if she was relieved or distraught as Jasmine continued, Yangchen realizing the place that needed it the most was the weakest, "Even with that find of supplies, unless we figure out how to synthesize equipment and get more materials, our camp may be screwed sideways in the long run. I don't look forward to seeing what my former boss and Chin have been working on. You might be better on the bender front than Omashu has all four bending types present - plenty of earthbenders, that's for sure. From what you told me in Pema's inner dream world, you've got over a hundred airbenders from all over the former Earth Kingdom who took shelter there over the past three years of varying skill level."

Yangchen chuckled weakly when Jasmine continued, "And not all running from the Earth Queen or Kuvira, the way you've told their tales. Knowing the old Tenzin and Air Nation, I can see the how and why behind what you said people felt. I guess people fancied being found by Tenzin or Korra and guilt-tripped into the Air Nation just as attractive and resistible as the Earth Queen's 'recruitment'. Wonder if Korra or someone's going to go back and give everyone who refused when asked outright the 'good news' about the _new_ Air Nation." Yangchen remembered more than a few airbenders who had come to her discreetly even before Korra's poisoning, having correctly hoped there were airbenders in Omashu that weren't goody-two shoes. These reluctant souls weren't sure if they could resist both Tenzin and the Avatar's appeal to join the Air Nation, but didn't want to give up things like meat, regular clothes, or non-nonviolence - much less leaving their families behind! Luckily, the chaos in the Earth Kingdom let the trickle continue, even made it grow, all the other airbenders under her "command" having originally intended only to make a new life in Omashu as nonbenders much as the residents of New Garzai had without the world's knowledge. Omashu was one of the few cities besides Zaofu itself that hadn't fallen to chaos… aside from Garzai, from what Kipa had told her. Such a loss... Yangchen had made it a priority to take any newcomers she could aside when possible over the past three years.

Remembering how many of her airbenders had come with family, especially how some of the new bender's family members had been slightly resentful at first of their sister, father, daughter's lucky gift, Yangchen made a vow to let anyone in those families - including her own, if any of them had dreams they hadn't mentioned - know about the meaning of any bending dreams. Even if it meant "letting the fireferret out of the bag" to Kosuke and Taro and likely anyone else.

Yangchen snapped back to attention, saying, "Sorry - drifted off into thought. What was the last thing you said?" Yangchen found herself wondering what was going on, hearing scattered sounds of fighting as Jasmine said, "The fighting's starting to heat up a bit. It's really sort of… quiet, even still. I haven't seen a single reinforcement or any bit of activity in Zaofu's direction. Not even from the 'proving grounds' nearby where the rail gun is…" Yangchen wasn't entirely sure what Jasmine's point was, her ears perking up when she continued, "I was scanning radio frequencies earlier; dolts haven't changed them enough. Apparently, people are contacting Jang, even from some ruckus up north that one person is speaking in some sort of code about… but nothing's getting through to Jinshu Kuangmai - if he knew what Wuqing was doing, or rather, doing poorly and doing instead, it'd be that hotheaded idiot's head. I don't know if you've noticed it, but they've been fussing around with his own elite troops in an empty field, making hills and digging into existing ones while Chin's troops under Jayashri get tossed around like rag dolls… No harm done with your lapse of attention - I was listening to the process two of the 'sexually interesting' prisoners, two of Jinshu Kuangmai's former top scientists Fai and Maylin, came up with just now for making metal-based synthesis easy. Hope we can test it one more time before we need the spirit weapons for anything else… Alyssralove can tell you - we're still going to keep trying to do synthesis 'properly' like Korra does though. So far, metalbending, waterbending and firebending together have been good - but still missing something, given how the material sometimes either cracks or doesn't end up like it should, and we can't make anything really complicated… like a Varrick gun. Sigh… Wan Shi Tong found the theory fascinating, the demonstration, even more so. What you need to do - make Alyssralove some extra armor, like what I'm designing for every spirit in our camp. Given how big she is, you might even be able to arm her with some physical weaponry."

Yangchen recoiled slightly, saying, "I don't know - remember the whole thing with the Spirit Portal barriers? Spirits might not take too kindly to humans arming and armoring their spirit allies for human wars," conceding the point to Jasmine when she said, "Uh - Alyssralove's already drawn weapon blueprints for you, and tuber-vines are basically that, except on 'steroids'! Half their whole point in the first place! We need to make sure _everyone_ is protected - even Raava has the common sense to wear armor while in her human-y form." Yangchen still feeling slightly uneasy, she said, "Okay - still not sure why she needs armor when she can just go incorporeal," Yangchen's stomach dropping when Jasmine said, "Aye-zul tried that, intending to see if he could just waltz over to Wuqing when he returned to his camp after doing whatever in the middle of nowhere, hop into him and kill him - he's now sporting a few holes in his ears, incorporeal at the time or not. He swears it was from 'man-portable spirit weapon fire' guarding Wuqing's tent, sort of like a spirit repeater but smaller. I hope he's wrong," Yangchen glad the spirit was okay - wondering if she'd be facing miniature spirit weapons anytime soon.

Jasmine continued for a short time, still in code, yelling over an awful racket, "Crap - looks like our line in the sand has just been crossed! That's Lipowder you hear! They're finally starting to bring out the big guns! Aye-zul says he recognizes 'chirping' from earlier," a nasal voice interjecting, "Those metaltossers have more than one - I thought I saw more than a couple when I was jetting away! Why, why'd I have to be right! Tell 'Miss' Stinky she needs to hurry up and get here!" Jasmine continued after what must have been Aye-zul stopped speaking, "We may need support at some point - probably sooner than you can make any military equipment! Figure out a way for Omashu to support us 'ASAP' without risking anyone - human or spirit! You're clever - I'm sure you'll think of something!", Yangchen grumbling to hear Jasmine finish in code, the odd "BWOONG" ringing out as she spoke, as well as a chirp she had never heard before, "Until she's armed and armored, something other than your spirit friend - this could be a long haul, even with everything we've found in scavenging the train! If I need her, Alyssralove will just leave Omashu, but only as a last resort - I'm not getting someone's 'lovebird' killed! I know you have reservations still most likely, but… just… think of it as a mechasuit for a spirit! Use her while you can."

With that, a powerful voice building to a roar by the time it was finished speaking rang out clear through the radio, "All the red soldiers… I can see the hatred through their mechasuits… I know what they… WHAT THEY WANT TO DO TO THE 'SPECIAL' PRISONERS! OVER TEN THOUSAND YEARS… AND NOW IN THE RIGHT. PERMISSION TO **WIPE THEM OUT**, JASMINE?" Jasmine responded, more human shouting almost drowning her out, "No - not as a first 'resort'! I had no choice but to kill that spy earlier! Control your rage, keep it controlled but still useful, all of you! Kill to protect, to defend what's right - not for its own sake! Remember which powerful spirit backs the Earth Empire, which one we're fighting for! Goodbye, Yangchen!"

After a little pause, nothing. Not a sound from the radio…

Yangchen was glad she heard silence, instead of static, or an enraged Aye-zul contradicting Jasmine in a… physical, violent way. Looking at her watch, she noted the time, intending to remember exactly when Jasmine had come under heavy attack: 7:28 AM. Making her way back to the engineering table slowly, Yangchen felt slightly comforted by the fact she had been able to accomplish so much in such a short time. Remembering how the enemy had apparently squandered their own time, Yangchen figured Jasmine had more than a fighting chance if the enemy's idiot and likely treasonous commander Wuqing had waited this long to attack in force, small arm spirit weapons or not. Remembering Jinshu Kuangmai's temper, she was pretty sure why Wuqing hadn't used the superweapon on the camp - whether Jinshu Kuangmai liked it or not, the camp was the ticket to his "girlfriend" getting dual bending, and Wuqing likely knew taking away that bargaining chip would have been his end.

Then again - if Wuqing were logical at all, why would he risk so much to construct a device anything close to what Jinshu Kuangmai had seen destroy Earth - those weapons the whole reason Toph's wayward son lashed out at Vaatu in the first place? Just how poor was the enemy's communication with one another?! A small chill running down her spine, pretty sure what her premonition had been about now, Yangchen realized she'd never understand evil, and didn't want to. She did know what she needed - find out more about this mystery device, if at all possible.

Finally back to the engineer table, noticing the family table had some blank blueprints on it as well, she smiled slightly to see Kosuke greet her warmly, waving many sheets of paper in the air as she said, "Yangchen, come and look - if benders can make this equipment and change some of Omashu's existing industrial stuff, we can make all the bullets, shells, these man-portable Meesiles we came up with without bending! And Alyssralove gave us a bunch of other designs - claims you've seen some, but not all of them!" Giving Alyssralove a quick glance, Yangchen said as enthusiastically as she could manage, a small suspicion beginning to gnaw at her, "That's great, Kosuke - I'll make that top priority."

Remembering two other top priorities, she said, "Mom, dad - get all the books and scrolls you think relevant to defending ourselves from 'our' library. Yuehan - go to Kuvira's school, anywhere, find me an Earth Empire tactical manual, I need to know how they think," quickly after floating over the much larger family table, Iroh clapping innocently. Hearing Gyatso sniff a little, her own knowing what something like this could mean, Yangchen found herself tempted to cry. Remembering something Raava had shown her about the great spirit's own failing, Yangchen shook her head and said, "No - I've got to stay strong. I can't afford to lose it right now." Seeing an unexpected face at the table, Yangchen listened as Seiko said, his wife and two children joining his side, "How can I help - like my kids have?" Knowing Seiko likely had an encyclopedic knowledge of Omashu both aboveground and below, Yangchen said, "Seiko, I want you to work with my parents and Yuehan. Figure out the most likely routes of attack besides the obvious - the bridges. Assume the worst, that some spy managed to get out information about the subterranean tunnels' specifics. Also try and come up with updated defensive positions and ambush sites - secret tunnels could prove decisive if the enemy doesn't know. Maybe even help ensure most of the takedowns are nonlethal."

Noticing both Kosuke and Taro were at full attention, Taro giving Yangchen a respect he hadn't before based on his stature, Yangchen said, "You two, get busy with ammunition production equipment creation. That other stuff can wait - likely a bunch of advanced stuff," Kosuke's nod confirming Yangchen's suspicion as she continued, "Get the spirit weapon and engine works running too - we may need air support beyond airbenders, and who knows how long it is until Jinshu Kuangmai or Chin think of making something other than just war balloons. Take as many benders as you need. I'll try to tag along - come up with a way to help Jasmine at the camp from afar without risking anyone while we do so." Seeing her husband looking a little flustered, Yangchen said, "I know you're a lover, honey - but maybe you should study these blueprints, read up on tactics, everything. I need you to be a second me."

Xingyun nodded, saying as Kosuke and Taro looked antsy, "I know what's at stake. Of course I will! And have - I paid attention to the meetings too," Yangchen laughing when he added, "I remember you admonishing me for giving you 'that look' earlier," Xingyun saying after a loud squawk nearly caused Yangchen to land, "Looks like someone needs to speak to you." Yangchen spun around, Alyssralove speaking fast, "I am glad the siblings stayed - I just got all the exact details about a new way to make things, though I've already explained a part of it - a way to make spirit weapons not fire at full capacity. With this, you should be able to make the ammunition-producing equipment very quickly, given it's all metallic and earthen. Possibly even the ammunition itself, given there's spirit energy in the smokeless Lipowder because of the spirit vine base. Just hear me out…"

Yangchen listened incredulously to Alyssralove's explanation, finding herself not alone in demanding an explanation or demonstration at the end: "When Varrick first examined spirit vines, he postulated they were pure, unstable energy given a physical form - something he confirmed violently, getting one of my human's attention in the process, back when she was evil. You all have worked with transformed spirit vines - the vines I stabilized and empowered with Raava's energy. That of love - love and hate being the two truly universal constants, associated with great energy and power. Though we know the more powerful one… Anyways, Fai and Maylin observed the process of spirit vine transformation in the prison camp, how they absorbed no matter, only love's energy apparently, still growing in size and power. After messing around - not in that way, you idiot, Taro, Fai's a guy, Maylin's a girl, both 'sexually interesting' - eventually coming up with a wild plan based on their own knowledge of untransformed spirit vines: use two or more transformed spirit weapons tuned down, using a process I already relayed to 'your' engineers, Yangchen, and shoot them at a hunk of earth, ore, metal - any raw material manipulatable by an earthbender or metalbender. The first test was a success, so they went further. After the addition of stable transformed spirit vine material, the material begins to pulse with energy, like putty in the bender's hands, easily manipulated into complicated shapes with the right technique."

Yangchen got a partial explanation as to how this was possible after Taro asked for one indignantly, Alyssralove saying, "The more time we spend talking, the less we can act. I'll keep it simple, Taro. Fai and Maylin theorize the stabilized love-based 'good' energy contained within the spirit vines myself or the Painted Lady transformed is actually part of what makes up both the physical and spirit worlds - what binds everything together." A few people including herself gasping, Alyssralove bobbed her head, saying, "Most curious, I know. I'll continue, seeing as you all look… very interested, to put it mildly. They theorize the other two energy types are neutral, such as part of what was present in the original Republic City spirit vines as well as those from the Great Banyan tree, and hatred, also known as evil - also present in the original spirit vines from Republic City, given Vaatu created them, absent from the ones in the Swamp. Even before the 'Restoration' I'm sure everyone has heard of by now, the Great Banyan tree had neutral and love energy inside of it, the love and the tree's history why vines from it were more powerful; now, it is just like the spirit vines powering part of our defenses, except probably stronger. They believe that the new spirit vines - both those transformed by Vaazula or a spirit like myself - are more stable, since being truly neutral is a very difficult state to maintain, Fai theorizing that these binding energies prefer extremes over 'balance'. Balance something I am sure any human can attest is hard to maintain, truly 'gray' humans almost non-existent, even being 'pure' good or evil not removing the burden of balance," adding, looking sad, "One of my humans, and the Avatar herself would both find this to be very true - though for very different reasons…"

Tired of listening, though she found what Alyssralove said about balance to be very true, Yangchen said, " 'We humans' thank you for the compliment… 'we' guess," getting a small snort complete with flame out of the spirit as she continued, "Okay - let's see if we can use this to make more 'spirit synthesizers'. Alyssralove, go grab eight spirit cannons and any extra spirit vines you can find as quickly as possible and… bring them _outside_ Omashu as you are able, to the flatlands where I had bunkers constructed. Either that, or bring the materials and cannons here - the most open part of Omashu. Yuehan mentioned they found a lot of raw materials during excavation," continuing, "Actually, the last one would be best, the one that involves the most work - we don't want the Earth Empire seeing what we're doing," swearing she heard Alyssralove whine slightly before taking off, blue flame jets roaring once she was out of torching distance. Noticing out of the corners of her eyes that her parents and Yuehan were returning, Yangchen said, looking at her husband, "Gah - I'm going to have to multitask. Honey, Kipa - help me stay organized, anything," saying when she noticed her sister giving her a confused look, "Diki, look after Jaina - things are about to get real busy."

Seeing everyone begin to take their places, Yangchen took Xingyun aside for a moment, saying after the loud settling of earth that followed Alyssralove's first delivery, "This other kind of synthesis could change everything - or it could prove to not be what we need. There's a more 'traditional' kind of synthesis that involves all four elements working together as one - I think I may have mentioned or explained it to you already." Seeing her husband looked a bit confused, Yangchen realized she couldn't possibly tell everyone everything, simply saying, "Go give the order for all the airbenders to come out, and we'll go from there." Her husband nodded, Yangchen finding herself admiring his tush as he floated away quickly laughing, "This flying's great!", shaking her head and thinking, "Work later - sex now. Errr - crap! The other way around…" wondering if she envied or pitied the women who lost their sex drive after giving birth. She didn't need this right now, distracting her!

Re-focusing, deciding designing a weapon system to assist the camp "ASAP" took precedence over anything else, Yangchen closed her eyes, trying to think of something, anything. Suppressing a laugh, finding an image of her husband naked and his package coming to attention highly inappropriate in multiple senses of the word but still relaxing and alluring anyhow, Yangchen tried again, trying to think of something destructive. She only saw other kinds of love replace the racy image - a vision of a four-year old Jaina in an adorable dress, her parents cradling a younger version of herself in that same dress, Gyatso walking for the first time… Yuehan, and Kipa's family, all together with her own and some friends she hadn't seen as herself in years? Pretty sure she had some kind of block on war for now, as frustrating as it was, realizing that all the talk about death and Jasmine's troubles had taken a toll on her, Yangchen landed next to her sister, saying over other conversations, "I can't work - something else is on my mind… can I hold her for a while? I need a break."

Diki nodded, saying, "Of course - she's yours in the first place!" After taking Jaina, Yangchen feeling concerns about a more personal "Sudden Death" fading from her mind, Yangchen asked her sister idly, just making conversation, "So, little sis - have any interesting dreams lately? A guy and family, anything?"

Yangchen couldn't keep her eyes from widening when Diki said, sounding excited, "I dunno if it's connected to Seiko's kids' dreams, but, falling back asleep after Jaina was born… I had a really cool flying dream - mom and dad were there too, flying!" Yangchen had figured her sister to be somewhat of an airhead, slightly surprised when she saw Diki's jade eyes staring strongly at her, still polite as she said, "Big sis - you must know something. Can… can you tell me?" Yangchen sighed, feeling good enough to begin working again, for that reason saying, "Yes - but I'll have to tell you later. I need to get everything squared away first," savoring her sister's warm, gentle hug around her and Jaina, saying, "I'm sure you'll find someone, Diki - you're too nice to 'go without'." Yangchen noticed a sparkle in Diki's eyes as she said cryptically, "I may have already - but life's funny, so I won't 'jinx' it," blushing a little as she said, smiling slightly, "Now go already!"

Finding stroking Jaina's auburn hair soothed her even as she walked away, contemplating what could be lurking outside their city, Yangchen' stomach dropped, glad she had put Jaina into the baby carrier.

It had finally dawned on her - Wuqing hadn't been just screwing around, digging into hills and having his troops create more outside Omashu where there had once been irrigated fields and open plains. They had been making entrenchments - far away from their own camp, the way she remembered it!

Deciding not babying herself didn't really matter, taking Jaina to Kipa for safekeeping and grabbing a pair of advanced binoculars Yuehan had brought with him from Kuvira's school, all Yangchen could feel as she flew away after a terse explanation to her parents and Yuehan was her rapidly beating heart. The wind on her face and even the dust produced by her flight hitting her didn't register as she raced to a nearby mountainside to the south, finding herself zipping between obscuring rock outcroppings on instinct.

Heart still beating rapidly, she surveyed Omashu's surroundings. Looking for any obvious entrenchments first, she found many odd-looking hills and even strange seemingly pointless circles in the earth north of what must have been Wuqing and Chin's camp to the east of Omashu, the camp deserted. Looking at the camp again, she noticed with displeasure there were more circles and roughed-up looking hills to its east - where the Republic City reinforcements would likely come from after stopping in the Swamp! Realizing the enemy might make some attempt to cover up what must have been fortifications against attack on Wuqing's superweapon and an attack from the northern reinforcements, Yangchen took out a piece of paper, working hurriedly - some of the places she had spotted not thirty seconds ago looked "normal" again! The covering up traveled in a wave of sorts - people must have been finishing up!

Unable to see any detail even through these binoculars about who might be doing this, Yangchen set the binoculars down, intending to project herself closer to those east of Wuqing's camp after closing her eyes. Opening her eyes again, she found herself staring at a couple soldiers inside mechasuits from behind a rock, the one inside a dark green mechasuit continuing to work after one soldiers addressed him and said, "Sergeant Riyu, sir - cover up going as planned. Other mechasuit platoons report no issue with new equipment. But that's not what I wanted. Permission to speak freely, sir?" What must have been "Sergeant" Riyu said, "Permission granted, Lee - but not if it's another damned question about Wuqing versus Jinshu Kuangmai. We know where our real loyalty lies - to Jinshu Kuangmai himself, followed by Chin. Jinshu Kuangmai's got the guts, Chin's got the brains - and if rumor's true, so do some of his soldiers. I didn't volunteer my battalion or my wife Yulian's for Wuqing's pet fortifications - just the originally ordered ones." The other soldier groaned in a way that reminded her of Gyatso whining, what must have been Lee whining after opening his helmet dome, "Oh, come on, man - we all know something's up!" Yangchen's eyes widening when Lee complained, "The bathroom nearest our batallion's barracks is right near Wuqing's stupid 'personal' room, a room the size of two supply depots and a barracks combined, and I've almost pissed myself waiting for his cronies to approve me going to the bathroom! I know his boss can be sort of a jerk, but that's just… wrong!"

The dark green mechasuit's helmet dome slid down, what Yangchen assumed to be Sergeant Riyu sighing deeply, saying, "Wuqing is busy right now - but every time I try and radio Jang out here, the whole reason we came to the surface unlike Yulian, I get stupid platitudes, half the time Jang snapping at me about how many calls he's dealing with, all the tapes he's managing at once… Jinshu Kuangmai and the only competent military man I know of since all these damn traitors and defections Chin are busy doing something top secret - hush hush. Hush hush-er than these new mechasuits were, before that idiot Sergeant Sensu defected earlier this morning with a copy of the blueprints, according to Jang's propaganda 'assistant'. Half wonder if she's a replacement for his wife…." Riyu groaned when Lee protested, "Forget him, both of them - forget his whole family! What, hush hush like Wuqing's stuff? You know about Jinshu Kuangmai, man - he hates secrets! He's paranoid - more than Kuvira was!" Lee visibly shook when he continued, looking like he'd be nibbling his nails if they weren't inside his mechasuit, "If our commander's up to no good, and Jinshu Kuangmai finds out we didn't say anything…" Yangchen barely stifling laughter when Lee moaned, "Damn it - guess I won't have to worry about a bathroom break for a while!"

Originally, Yangchen had gone to the hillside in a panic, but if this Lee and Riyu had reservations about what Wuqing was doing, "secret room"… maybe her original idea of talking to the "enemy" about the more idiotic and evil enemy was the right one.

Going out on a limb, she tried acting like a Dark Spirit at first, not sure what reaction she'd get as herself, saying in a gravelly voice as she hid behind the same rock, "Me new Dark Spirit ally - hear everything you say. Think Wuqing up to no good - may want to overthrow Jinshu Kuangmai after using superweapon in secret room I saw on Omashu and traitor Jasmine! Need talk to - "

Yangchen heard a low, "Ahem," turning to see a displeased-looking Riyu staring at her, saying, "Hmmm - I didn't know Jinshu Kuangmai had _two_ girlfriends. Or one that was blue, wearing a baby carrier… You have approximately one minute to convince me to listen to you, airbender, before I decide to test out my suit's weapon on your projection - see if it has any affect, like I heard about some Raava spirit over Wuqing's personal - and only 'sanctioned' - network by him, come to think of it…" Riyu shook his head and said, "Whatever. I'm setting my watch. And don't think I can't find your body - so don't try and run."

The words pouring forth, Yangchen said, wondering just how they'd get a "read" on her position anyways, "Uh - let me start at the beginning. Korra visited Jinshu Kuangmai in a dream, trying to get him to change his ways by showing him that Vaatu's behind any kind of destruction - even if it means death of all life on our planet, like what the Avatar and myself think the kind of secret weapon could do if used enough." Yangchen had expected Riyu to not move, but he did, relaxing as he said, "Never mind about the timer - the Earth Empire wants to re-unite the old Earth Kingdom at the least, conquer everything at most, not see the world burn like that idiot Zaheer, or his predecessor Unalaq did, who actually merged with the… former twerp of a spirit Vaatu three years ago. Uh, who are you, by the way?"

Yangchen smiled, saying, "I know the stakes - both for Omashu and the prison camp, and yourself. Lee said it already - imagine what Jinshu Kuangmai would do, if he found out about this superweapon, and you hadn't done anything to stop it." Seeing that even Riyu was sweating now, she made her one demand: "Before I give out any more information and _arrange for a meeting between Korra and Jinshu Kuangmai_ via projection on this subject, I want you to tell me: Riyu, you have a battalion, as does your wife, apparently - hers still under ground. How many more are there, and who are they loyal to?"

Given the way Riyu cursed, she must have driven a hard bargain, the Earth Empire Sergeant saying with audible reluctance, "I am sure you know this force was intended to go to Republic City, before… recent events. Three battalions on the surface and visible - two under Chin, or I guess right now his daughter Jayashri, and one under Wuqing himself. You sound like a smart woman - three battalions and some updated tanks isn't enough to take Republic City, even with Long Yumao being a menace and the city gutted. Six more underground… probably enough, if the Firelord was as slow as she was last time." Yangchen did not express her doubts even about nine battalions being enough, merely stating, "Go on - you haven't finished. So you and your wife - loyal to Jinshu Kuangmai still, for reasons I won't try and fathom," her face flushing slightly when Riyu responded hotly, "Family - we live down here, down south in the Earth Empire, not up north with riff-raff, middle-class people like myself who can't see the stronger side in this 'Earth Kingdom Civil War', or hoity-toity types who inhabit the upper ring. Almost every one of us in the battalions from down here… and I never got your name, or the rest?"

Yangchen sighed, saying, "My name is Yangchen, and I am the rebel resistance leader you've likely heard masterminded the **bloodless** overthrow of Earth Empire forces in Omashu last night. Before I say anything else, I'll just say this: ultimately, all anyone inside Omashu or Jasmine's camp wants is to leave in peace to the United Earth Republic or the United Republic of Nations, and start a new life there. Just like some of your own have been willing to pull up their roots to join the Avatar's side, we're willing to pull up ours to go somewhere we're safe from your tyrant of a leader." Before she could continue, Lee interjected, "Wha - just let them leave then I say, don't throw men's lives away for people who don't want to be a part of our state! Good riddance," Riyu barking, "SILENCE! From what I have been told, Jinshu Kuangmai wants Omashu intact, just like Kuvira wanted Zaofu - but if there's still people there to serve him rather than losing another million fighters and civilians from Omashu, all the better. He'd love Omashu to lay down like Zaofu did for Kuvira, bunch of spoiled richies… We've already lost the 'core' of the Earth Empire, to that stupid republic," looking directly at Yangchen as he said, some kind of odd barrel popping out of his mechasuit's arm as he did so, "STOP LECTURING, start talking. Don't think you can just break the connection and scram either. We know where your body is, thanks to a little feature on these suits," Lee asserting, "Just added too!" much to Riyu's annoyance.

Still skeptical, Yangchen said, "Oh yeah - how?" her eyes widening as Riyu _did_ point in the right direction, saying, "Proprietary technology, I'm afraid. Lee - keep your mouth shut." Without thinking, Yangchen violated his order of no lecturing, blubbering, "Riyu, I… I just want to take _my family_ somewhere else, Xingyun, Gyatso, Jaina…" noticing the man's eyes softened, sounding disgusted with himself as he stamped his foot, "GAH - this is why I'm still Sergeant after three years! I guess… I'm willing to hurt to get what I want, but not kill!" finding herself identifying with Riyu when he said, "Though, you touch my wife or my three kids - you're dead." Saying as much, Riyu grumbled, looking dead serious when he said, "Not everyone down there's of the same mindset. Now hurry up, before a killer comes up - what, did you leave the tea kettle on to cook or something, Yangchen? Something that doesn't require attention? Don't you have something to do too?" Yangchen laughed, saying, "I guess you could say that, in a way - in the same way Avatar Korra's job is cooking and serving food to people at conferences," Riyu grumbling, "Again, hush, start the other talky-talky. I'm no chauvinist like Jang or Jinshu Kuyangmai - that was just an expression! Sheesh."

Choosing her words carefully, Yangchen said, "Part of this relies on 'proprietary technology' - technology Avatar Korra and everyone else with an ounce of sense never wants to see developed, let alone used. Unfortunately, given two of our earthbending spirit allies have already detected suspicious energy, decidedly non-spiritual energy… one or more may already be in existence. Suffice to say, there is a material that exists which can be used for one of two purposes. One, it can be made into a bomb that leaves behind lingering death particles, or two, it can be used to make a different kind of bomb that still destroys a substantial portion of whatever city it is used on and emitting death particles intentionally to kill living things in a wide radius." Riyu nodded, Yangchen continuing, "The only 'problem' for your boss is that these death particles embed themselves in many different types of something he apparently holds nearer and dearer than life itself - metal. If even a very small one of the latter bombs were used on Omashu, the central ancient city would be obliterated forever, and the industrial outskirts, full of death particles for a long time. These death particles are what Alyssralove and Hei Bai believe they detected - even in the material's resting state, it decays, releasing death particles. Given the fact of the massive blast radius, if Wuqing has produced either weapon type, he would deploy them from the air - anything else would be suicide." Feeling an odd energy come over her, she continued, "Enough of these weapons get used - life's dead. By the Avatar's reckoning, given our planet's size, not that many, either - a dozen of 'powerful enough' bombs could be the end. Even 16 of the most basic ones would be the end - not nearly enough targets to be of military use. Even if one never goes off inside your 'Empire', you'd still be toast, death spreading on the winds," not entirely sure where the figure and other specifics had come from.

_I'm not as busy as I was, so I… assisted. Extraordinary circumstances, extraordinary measures. Aaand I hate to admit it, but… 15 could still be 'enough' to force a surrender, unless the other five nations feel suicidal. Though, "Tonga" wouldn't have much other than towns and minor cities to rule…_

_Everything else that's anywhere, ruins._

Riyu nodded as Yangchen felt slightly creeped out by Raava admitting to speaking through her, much less her "little" conjecture, Riyu, saying, "….Ooookay. That was awfully… specific. Spirit shenanigans? Whatever. Regardless… Remember, this room in question - the secret room - is massive. And underground. Not only that, it doesn't seem made to be opened either. Now, don't tell anyone of Wuqing's cronies I said this, Lee, the rest of you, but… I tried earthsensing the secret room from within the adjacent bathroom earlier, and got nothing. Not even any odd energy - like he's covered it up since your spirit lackeys sensed something amiss. Everything, coated in platinum - possibly something else as well, not sure what. Didn't see any tunnels leading to the surface, though." Yangchen knowing the other metal's identity and keeping it to herself for now - lead, what the Avatar named "Tophinum", a name Yangchen found much more appropriate - Riyu cursed and barely stopped himself from facepalming using his mechasuit when Lee said, "Wh - that little rat, he stole the platinum for our room, your wife's and the trams for his little thing, didn't he?" Yangchen refrained from laughing, making note of the possibility of underground transports as Riyu continued, clearly annoyed with Lee, "Ugh - moron! May as well tell her more secrets, huh? Anyways - you told me two things, Yangchen. That these are deployed from the air if at all, and that use of even a relatively few would toast life as we know it. And as far as I know, Wuqing has no war balloons that report directly to him, even his subordinate Chin getting a few, which you stole - Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't trust Wuqing with any equipment that's really hard to replace. Like a little toddler…"

Yangchen sighed, not entirely sure what Wuqing had after talking with Riyu, saying, "Hmm - I know one person other than the Avatar who could force their way in there, assuming Wuqing still reports to Jinshu Kuangmai. Jinshu Kuangmai would likely be very… interested in making a little tour of this underground facility," seeing Lee nod, looking like he was going to say something before Riyu hushed him as Yangchen continued, "See if you can get through to Jang - tell him the Avatar wants to project to Jinshu Kuangmai on 'matters of state'," Yangchen remembering that the Earth Empire saw itself as a distinct entity - even Raava had obliquely hinted at the reality of the situation by saying "other five nations" and not four. Riyu nodded, eventually laughing, wagging his mechasuit's "finger", "Ah ah ah - no. No projection, certainly not by the Avatar. Have no clue what she could do to the security measures in Zaofu, given I've heard rumors of her projecting well over a thousand miles, far beyond a normal airbender's abilities. Radio call **only**. You already found out things you weren't supposed to - like where I came from, the extra battalions. Korra shows up where she's not supposed to, we'll test our theory about astral projections and spirit weapons on her." Yangchen nodded, asking on a whim, "You wouldn't happen to be close to anyone, who's close to Wuqing, would you? Or know anything about odd materials?" Riyu shook his head, saying, "No," in a way that made Yangchen suspicious he wasn't telling the whole truth, frowning when Riyu said, "I… know nothing of odd materials, aside from the other metal's possible identity - lead. That wasn't the lie… the other part was," tearing up slightly as he continued, "I used to 'know' him, until he came out of Wuqing's room, acting like I was a complete stranger, ordering me to leave." Given Riyu made no comment about the Dai Li, he didn't know his history - or perhaps Kuvira really had appropriated their methods as her own?

Seeing the answer right in front of her, she asked Riyu, who had been in Earth Empire service for three years, "Riyu - did Kuvira ever manage to successfully brainwash people, Dai Li style?" his wince making her think he _did_ know of the Dai Li and the memory likely fresh and painful. Riyu sighed, saying, "We've been at it, what, four minutes, Lee? Thank you. If I linger any longer, people will start to ask questions. He was my best friend… until that rat Wuqing brainwashed him. To answer your question - no. I heard rumors she tried, possibly successfully, but if the key phrase was '**Kuvira** has invited you to join her inner circle' instead of something about the Earth Empire, Jinshu Kuangmai hasn't used it at all. If he did, it would backfire horribly, obviously." Remembering Kuvira had tried to get people to be loyal to _her_ explicitly, not sure if Riyu knew about the schools and Kuvira's mug being plastered all over them, Yangchen said, "That's it! She made schools with her face all over - and if Jinshu Kuangmai used that 'key phrase', which is probably what it was, then the people would just go to Kuvira - defect all over again! Like you said!"

Breaking the connection after saying goodbye to Riyu, Yangchen refrained from throwing in any last barbs for his cooperation. Rather than feeling upset about the confirmation of this mystery device's existence and that it had been hidden from Jinshu Kuangmai, she found herself feeling glad to have set up some sort of a meeting, about something both parties agreed was bad - though for very different reasons. Yangchen figured Jinshu Kuangmai would love Korranium weaponry if it weren't for the death particles, and the fact that any city hit would be mostly leveled, instead of selectively, like she imagined he'd prefer. Knock out all communication, military targets and kill anyone who resisted, the rest left alone - that's what she would do if she were inclined on conquest. Deciding to change her position just in case Riyu or someone else took a potshot at her, not wanting to take chances, Yangchen hovered above the mountain on which she had been hidden from sight.

Spotting another place to land among some bushes near a large cave, Yangchen landed, checking her watch - 7:35. Apparently, all her gabbing with Riyu had taken shorter than she thought it had. Realizing the presence of a whole _4,800 men_ underneath the ground bent on subjugating Omashu again was a very direct threat to her city, even if they appeared to be being held in reserve, Yangchen checked in on Omashu first from near the cave, surprised to hear Kipa answer over the radio, "Hey! We've been worried about you, wandering off for five minutes outside the city. What did you find?" Yangchen smiled, figuring talking normally over radio about what, or rather, who, she had found would be a good way to make sure the message got to Jinshu Kuangmai, explaining everything. Even the reinforcements - Sergeant Riyu would be a fool to not let his ultimate commander know their position had been compromised, even before Yangchen tried talking to him. She'd overheard plenty, after all.

Kosuke was the next to speak along with her brother Taro, Yangchen feeling a burden lifted off her when Kosuke said, "The 'spirit synthesis' is going marvelously - " Kosuke cut off by a loud hiss, Alyssralove saying tersely in partial English, "Kosuke, shhh - they can likely hear this, and you don't know the code! Yangchen - keep it personal, extremely vague, in English, or what we want them to hear - or just get back here!" Yangchen sighed, for some reason not wanting to leave her current spot near the large cave just yet, saying in English as she remembered something Jinora had done, "Fine. I'll just come back in a bit and touch you to do an 'information download' - I want to project or talk to Jasmine first," adding on impulse, "Then check out this cave - I feel… drawn to it, for some reason." Getting a chirp of confirmation, Yangchen kept her last questions vague, asking, "So, Kosuke - how's the city planning coming along?" glad to hear, "Very well - and one of the elephant rats we found in your room finally started squeaking. Looking through your room, there aren't any more where they came from - Alyssralove confirmed it with seismic sense," surprised to hear Alyssralove add in English, "Her father's greatest work remains unknown, in specifics. New Garzai's details didn't leak out, and her father and your parents have planned out everything."

Wondering why she didn't just talk to or project to the spirit, she got her answer after a loud flapping of wings followed by a distant roar - apparently, Alyssralove was still working. It was Yuehan who spoke next, saying, "Yangchen, come back as soon as you can - your house and making more furnishings for it is fine," Yangchen groaning lowly when Yuehan's euphemisms for tactics and equipment design turned out to be inferior to the ones for city review and synthesis of said equipment when he continued, "We need your assistance on… pro-bending plays and… pro-bending equipment design." Yangchen slapped her forehead in frustration and said, "You may as well have said 'tactics' and 'equipment design' if your euphemisms were going to be that bad - there's no pro-bending in Omashu!" After a small sigh from the other end, Yangchen said, "Sorry - for the tone, not the message. We still need to watch our mouths, even if it does sound like Jang's got his hands full right now. Your first two euphemisms were fine - I'm contacting Jasmine and coming back after that."

Again, the strange draw to the nearby cave…

Deciding to go ignore the draw for now and check in on Jasmine in a more physical way, Yangchen marked the cave's location, flying high above, successfully maintaining altitude and looking through her binoculars at the same time.

Yangchen had once heard someone tell her, "One thing goes good, something else must go bad." Looking at Jasmine's camp, Yangchen could see the cranky old man had only partially been right. Through the advanced Earth Empire binoculars - probably designed by Baatar Jr, Zhu Li or Varrick, Yangchen idly wondering what the enemy's "brain trust" was now, post defections and purge of "undesirables" like Fai and Maylin - she was barely able to distinguish four low spirit weapon beams from within the camp and some rather heavy-looking equipment she didn't recognize as well. Directly observing the camp for the first time, Yangchen found herself stunned, having a hard time a camp of that size was meant to hold a mere two thousand prisoners as her husband had guessed, the walls taller than any Earth Empire defenses she had heard about. There were even a few very new looking weapons turrets, busy firing away at the enemy's onslaught, swearing she saw streaks of fire that changed direction to hit their target. Wanting confirmation from Jasmine that this spirit synthesis had started and was working, also curious as to how many people were in the camp exactly and what this weapon she had observed was, Yangchen contacted Jasmine over radio, getting a very basic response in English: "Synthesis going well right now - first Varrick gun's currently being fitted to its turret. Metal manipulated with spirit synthesis method absorbs spirit weapon fire, but needs to be discharged. Streaking fire is new type of Meesile - Alyssralove should know design. Guided by metalbending through cables here, medium range - you may have equipment in Omashu to make controls anyone can use. On people… Before the almost 400 'special prisoners' from all over, the way they tell, and other unexpected arrivals, the defectors, maybe 250 themselves…" Jasmine paused, sounding vaguely guilty as she explained, rambling, "Now keep in mind I had to run the camp without arousing suspicion, had to sneak people extra food and claim Jinshu Kuangmai wanted nobody to starve to some of my foremen so the prisoners could work, lie to Kuvira and then Jinshu Kuangmai and say I'd 'stop the prisoners from stealing food', and that not everyone wants to fight when I say this - a lot of the prisoners think they can avoid punishment by not fighting in case we fall into Jinshi Kuangmai's hands - had over 2,000 'bending prisoners' of each type, and a handful of people deemed too dangerous for any other camp. I'd say about a third - over 1,500 total - of former bending prisoners able and willing to fight without getting themselves hurt, even after Sura's assistance," Yangchen's stomach sinking when Jasmine finished, "We're still up against three full-strength battalions, 2,400 men plus equipment, even the war balloons giving us trouble - Jayashri's starting to command better. Risked her life earlier, got Chin's men's respect, and Wuqing - gah, it'd be so much easier, just letting Aye-zul and Hei Bai go into rage mode! Wipe out the whole army!"

Speaking before Jasmine could cut the connection, Yangchen said, "No - don't. You sound like you're not thinking straight - rambling. Don't do something you'd regret later. Even without the Spirit Civil War, do that, Wuqing might fire his weapon - and those modified hills and such earlier? Fortifications for his pet thing. Even Jinshu Kuangmai didn't authorize them. Wuqing's not the fool we thought he was - he might even be fortifying it further after this. I talked to an Earth Empire Sergeant about it - set up a meeting between Jinshu Kuangmai and Korra to convince him to take a look at what his subordinate's doing." Jasmine grumbled, "Uh - thought the idea was to keep Jinshu Kuangmai away with his high tech reinforcements until Korra could _get_ here? Whatever - you need to get busy, come and support us. Think outside the box. Jasmine, over and out."

With that, the radio went silent, Yangchen intending to return to Omashu and help move weapons design and tactical considerations along. Trying to think of a weapon that might help Jasmine and closing her eyes, she saw nothing at first. Letting her mind do the wandering, swearing she felt her body moving at the same time, she saw a happy childhood memory: riding the Omashu mail and mischievous youngster carrier much as the mad genius King Bumi had, almost two centuries ago with Korra's predecessor. Feeling a strange alluring energy that seemed to be beckoning her, Yangchen opened her eyes - finding herself staring at the cave from earlier. Deciding to close her eyes again and let whatever "wanted" to happen happen after remembering Aang's experience with the Swamp and other airbender's ability to feel energy, she let herself get lost in thought again, wondering what this place "wanted" - or if her subconscious just wanted to check out the vaguely familiar energy she could now feel coming from within.

Distinctly able to feel herself touching down inside of a cool and damp location, she saw another much more mature image replace her childhood memory, finding herself giggling like a teenager when the image of her naked husband did something it hadn't before, saying as his package "delivered", "Can't wait till I feel good enough for that, inside me. Or tonight, when I go to sleep…" At first, she just thought letting her mind wander had been a waste of time - she still found the image alluring, but didn't see how it had anything to do with her predicament. Thinking for a little, remembering how her last ride on Omashu's mail chutes had gone south, only clever use of her hook sword preventing her from crashing into an industrial building when the earthen carrier had careened out of control, and… launched itself in an arc, Yangchen started to get an idea. Realizing Xingyun's member coming to attention had appeared first earlier, she put her hand to her forehead, thinking, "Two times. Can't just be that I'm passionate, 'dirty little girl' - erecting something, a 'launch', 'emission'…"

Her other vague idea for assisting the camp involving using Omashu's rail systems, Yangchen started to cement her ideas, sitting on the floor. The simplest one would be easy to get up and running, even with just Lipowder for fuel, and the other much larger one would likely require a spirit engine. But driving it wasn't the problem - aim was. Wondering how either one could be made accurate enough to hit preferably just Wuqing's men, at the very least hit just Earth Empire soldiers and not friendlies, she felt some odd urge to open her eyes - as though something around her was the answer.

Doing so, Yangchen gasped in awe - she was deep inside the large cavern from before, and given how her gasp reverberated, it must have been huge! Not entirely sure what had illuminated the gloom in a slight blue and white glow, Yangchen took in the rainbow of colors - red, yellow, blue, opaque and dark brown gemstones in long veins along the walls, deposits of a strange yellow earth that made her sense of awe temporarily turn to unease, what looked to be many veins of different metallic ores… Remembering a little from recent events as well as her own learning, she identified almost all of the things she had seen - the yellow earth that gave her the creeps was likely Korranium, something she most certainly did not want Jinshu Kuangmai or Wuqing getting their hands on. The different gemstones - ruby embedded inside orange topaz, opaque quartz, sapphire, more quartz, except dark brown - combined with sealed-in blood was likely the closest they could get to "elemental crystals" if they found themselves needing bloodstones or "elemental" stones for equipment to "lock" metal - though she was not sure where they'd get the spiritwire from, not having any tuber-vines. While the Korranium had been hard to identify, the other types of metal ore were not - iron, copper, aluminum, perhaps even a bit of what the Avatar called "Tophinum", having apparently never heard of lead before thanks to her isolated upbringing and everyone deciding the "new" name was more appropriate.

These didn't make up the majority of the cave's inexplicably illuminated walls, Yangchen spotting three different types of gems she had never seen before, along with a massive vein of an unassuming-looking ore, one gem type emitting the same low blue and white glow that permeated the cave. Coming close to the vaguely purple gemstone, ignoring the bipyramidal one for now, Yangchen thought she was hallucinating, seeing the gemstone start to shift slightly. Hearing a loud reverberating sound after she touched the pillar-like slightly opaque purple crystal, Yangchen watched as the whole gemstone morphed, taking on a blue and yellow bipyramidal form. Like the one she had seen glowing slightly…

Touching it again, the yellow flashed white, Yangchen feeling a deep peace when contacting its surface. Remembering Fai and Maylin's theories about the three forms of energy that bound the universe together - evil and hatred, neutral, and good and love - Yangchen realized whatever this new mineral was, it very directly obeyed this rule. Looking down the cave and seeing more purple pillar crystals, many more blue and yellow crystals towards the back, then back to what was in front of her, Yangchen finally spotted what was illuminating everything in the cave with a weak blue-white glow - a massive group of shining bipyramidal gems in the far distance on the cavern's roof just like the one she had changed somehow… likely with her own energy!

The crystal in front of her still stuck in the rock, she realized she'd need an earthbender or a chisel to get it out. While everything in front of her was pretty, she still didn't understand why the cave had "called" to her, like the Swamp might the Avatar. Realizing her ideas for helping defend Jasmine's camp from afar both still relied on accuracy, accuracy she didn't have without a tuber-vine powered Kuviracomputer and not wanting to throw away either a tuber-vine's "life" or a Kuviracomputer to guide the Meesile, Yangchen felt stumped. The echoes of an earlier conversation drifted through her mind, Riyu's voice saying "Know where you are… proprietary technology."

Trying for the first time to dislodge the blue and yellow crystal in front of her, yellow glowing white as she tried to pry it loose, Yangchen fell backwards when it popped out of the rock, cursing, "Damn it - that was close!" having nearly fell down square on her sore booty.

Thoughts of booty bringing her husband to mind, she let out a low scream when the crystal spun in her hand, apparently pointing _somewhere_ specific. Standing up straight, Yangchen noticed one of the crystal's two tips was glowing bright white as it adjusted its position, white tip now point down slightly - as though it were tracking someone…

Trying on a whim, she thought of Jasmine instead - the crystal moved. Thinking of Korra instead - the crystal moved. Thinking of Riyu instead - the crystal moved, the tip no longer glowing as brightly. Thinking of Wuqing instead - the crystal moved, the tip now a sickly yellow. Thinking of Chin instead - nothing. Thinking of Jinshu Kuangmai instead, again - nothing.

Realizing that this odd crystal - except likely in a different form - could be what Riyu had claimed to be able to track her with, Yangchen realized she could have her answer for guiding her Meesiles! Trying something different, she thought of Riyu not as someone she might need to kill, but as a potential ally. The crystal moved again, tip white again, an odd pattern appearing on its surface - a pattern she realized looked too orderly to be anything but a language of some sort. Trying again, pretending she needed a range, angle and thrusting power to hit Wuqing with a Meesile and no one else, the crystal shifted position again, the characters now intelligible, giving her the information she "needed", the crystal's tip now the same sickly yellow as it had been before.

Deciding she had everything she needed from the cave, Yangchen made to leave, stopping when the crystal pointed up at the ceiling at the strange metal ore she had noticed before, tip bright white. The crystal jumped slightly - as if it wanted her to touch it to the ceiling? Figuring she had nothing to lose by doing so, Yangchen floated upwards, noting the cavern was so large it took five seconds to reach the top, even at a good speed.

Touching the crystal to the ceiling, she saw the metal in the ore begin to lowly glow blue and white as a set of white lines formed Raava's spirit and human-y shape alternating on the upper pyramid's four faces, hearing an odd, ear-piercing shrieking at the same time. Turning to its source, Yangchen saw another, more sinister looking gem deposit, the third and final gem form red and black, vaguely scale like gems she hadn't recognized earlier beginning to shift form slowly to the bipyramidal blue and white gems, along with the rest of the purple pillar gems in the cavern.

The process ending, Yangchen noticing the upper portion of "her" gem still had faint outlines of Raava on them, Yangchen felt herself enter a strange trance of sorts after they pulsed white one time, feeling connected to everything and nothing all at once as a ghostly figure gradually came into view in front of her. The feeling of peace not making her inclined to move at all even before the ghost began speaking, she stayed silent, stunned as the ghost said, another figure joining her side after the figure shook dark, long hair, "Hello, 'lover' - Yangchen. I am Oma - and this is Shu. I am not sure how we can see you - or how you can see us. Or why we aren't in our cave, where our bodies lie…" Realizing the apparition wanted her response, Yangchen stammered, "Uh - I came in this cave, called by something, a familiar energy, touched a gemstone, it transformed, touched it to the roof, every other gemstone in here like it transformed, full of -"

"Full of love?"

Holding the crystal in her hand, realizing why the red and black crystals had shrieked, what Raava's outline meant, Yangchen nodded, saying, "Yes, Oma - I suppose so. Just like you were with Shu, before his death." Oma nodded, saying, "I know not what has happened to Omashu since my time, but know this: love knows no place and no time. It continues on after death, and you carry it in your heart - no matter where you go." Yangchen sighed, a part of her not really wanting to leave Omashu, saying, "I have to leave my home, Omashu - according to our current plan. But there's a chance we could hold out in your city - make 'love' strong against any attack. What would you do?" What must have been Shu sighed, saying, "I don't know your situation either aside from the love you have inside, but… all that matters is that you still have each other, your family," Yangchen half wondering if Shu had secretly been part Air Nomad when he said, "Attachment to a place is not bad - but it's not inherently good either. Attachment to things can be worse. If it's getting in the way of what you need to do - just go. The only 'possessions' you need are love and determination." Yangchen smiled as Oma said, starting to vanish with her dead husband, "If your foe is motivated by hatred, he will fall eventually - and our city, something tells me your city now, will be free again. Love is patient - hatred is not."

Shu bidding goodbye and vanishing, Oma stopped shimmering after Yangchen held up a hand, saying, "Wait." Yangchen asked, figuring the cavern should have been evenly split between "good", "evil" and "neutral" crystals, finding even the initial imbalance she had seen odd given Fai and Maylin's theories on spiritually attuned matter like spirit vines and the nature of the Universe, "Oma - have any idea why there were so many of the 'good' crystals here in the first place? It didn't seem balanced, even before I did anything." Oma's ghost smiled, saying, "I'm not sure - but we are very close to the city I founded out of love and loss. Perhaps the 'love crystals' in here have something to do with the 'imbalance' caused by Omashu's energy," Yangchen smiling when Oma said, starting to shimmer again, "I do not know - but I do know love does not need to be balanced with hate. Certain things don't need to exist. Hatred and war are what killed my beloved, after all… goodbye."

Landing on the floor, Oma gone, remembering this love crystal, probably some form of a metal given how it interacted with actual metal ore, had given Yangchen what she needed to know to take another's life in defense of her city, she breathed easy, saying, "This stuff… spiritmetal, I'll call it, given how there were 'neutral' and 'evil' forms… this stuff could be what I need to defend Omashu AND help Jasmine."

Deciding to take a few crystals with her at first, eventually stuffing enough into her baby carrier until she could barely walk under the influence of the feelings they produced in her, fitting in more after realizing she could fly away without any true weight, the feelings overpowered Yangchen to the point where she forgot to know of shame at all, removing and using her clothes as bags for a massive haul of the crystals, her only real care by this point that the cave seemed to have an endless supply of them.

Landing near the engineering table, not having a clue why people were staring at her, Yangchen quickly began unloading her haul, glad to see the stares change to smiles as she explained what she had found - and who she had talked to. Stepping back a short distance, self-awareness rushed in, Yangchen blushing deeply as she got dressed, saying, "As - as you can… see, or rather, what you didn't see on me earlier, it's… probably not a good idea for a human to go collecting the crystals," grumbling slightly when she saw those in front of her were still "under the influence", so to speak. Yangchen smiled nonetheless when Kipa suggested, "No - maybe loving people are the best beings to collect them. I know I'd love to help with my husband - except, of course, he can't fly like I can."

Alyssralove finally chimed in, saying, "While I know these spiritmetal crystal elicit great feelings of love in humans in sufficient density… we need to get busy adapting them for war," Alyssralove appearing to cry slightly as she admitted, quicksilver tears rolling off, "The crystals make me feel the same way, but… the situation in the camp is not good right now." Yangchen took a deep sigh, steeling herself as she prepared to explain her other two "finds". Remembering something Jinora had done, she tried getting Alyssralove's attention, the great spirit putting its thumb spike in her outstretched palm, noticing the spike felt warm, and felt a deep sense of peace as she "recounted" her finds. The thumb spike retracted, Alyssralove said, "Good - everyone else, just go on as usual." Following Alyssralove's advice, Yangchen re-focused, smiling slightly. Seeing the piles of crystals and how people like Kosuke and her brother, their father Seiko, even Kipa's oldest seemed like they had something they wanted to say, some sort of idea or inspiration, Yangchen stepped forward.

Closer to the crystals, remembering an earlier vow to draw on love and her feelings for strength and advice.

Finding herself still self-aware, unlike her earlier childlike innocence, Yangchen was half glad, half sad, missing the pure feeling for the pleasure, glad she still had a concept of self so that she could complete her work. Remembering how the enemy had apparently already discovered spiritmetal in what she decided to call the Vaatite form, Yangchen found herself wondering if she hoped they'd amass many crystals next to one another and tear themselves apart, or afraid it would make them of one mind and purpose in their hatred.

Yangchen began to explain her ideas, finding they were evolving as she spoke, "First things first - the easiest weapon, with a ramp adjusted to pin-point accuracy against stationary or semi-stationary targets with a metal ramp," having decided using a part of Omashu as a weapon was just begging the enemy to wreck the city, at the very least an iconic part of it, as she continued, "This smaller long-range ramp-launched Meesile is of a much simpler build and make than my other idea. It's basically just a flying bomb - slap some wings on an Equalist bomb from four years ago and one of Varrick's rocket boat motors and you wouldn't know the difference. Problem is, it's probably not going to be very accurate, and may be slow enough for spirit weapon fire to knock down." Trying to think about the best place to put such a weapon, thinking aloud, she got input from an unexpected source, Kipa saying, "The mountains - they'd be hard to track, plenty of track material, easy to erase the ramp after firing - and they'd need a clear shot off the ramp anyways. Don't want to blow up our own buildings!"

Moving on to her next idea, Yangchen explained, at first intending to avoid eye contact with Xingyun, finding herself looking at him directly and stressing certain words "under the influence", Xingyun starting to smile gradually, "The next idea's probably going to be **harder** to accomplish than the flying bomb. I got inspiration from an unlikely source, and hope these have a **longer** range than the other Meesiles do. This type of Meesile would have a bigger warhead and possibly **pin**point accuracy. It'd need a spirit engine - maybe the engine could **eject** off the end when the Meesile is on the right track, and be recovered soon after. It'd need an **erector** \- I envision it have a highly **curved** trajectory. The whole **package** would need to be carried by a big, long truck with a lot of wheels - preferably off-road capability. After all, you never know when you'd feel like **firing one off**. And we want these to be **slippery** \- hard for Jinshu Kuangmai to catch." By the time she was finished, Yangchen heard avian laughter join much louder human laughter, blushing slightly when Alyssralove asked rhetorically in English, "What, you get inspiration for this 'package' from your husband's or something?" The answer yes, Yangchen ignored the dragon bird spirit, saying, "They're just ideas for now - help me make them a reality!" adding in English, "I showed you all that. Where the idea came from - don't mock me. If you're going to be a dirty bird, go get us some more of these crystals, and the metal itself!" Alyssralove squawked, "My pleasure - be right back," before scattering papers with her wingbeats, Yangchen's stomach sinking when Alyssralove added before flying off, "I have a better connection with Raava and Kuvira than the camp right now - all the spirits there must be busy fighting. I can't get anything from them - other than it's bad. Good luck."

The final products ended up using Lipowder propellants, with what Yangchen called the "Lucky Dragon" in honor of her husband having a propellant that Kosuke claimed came from Princess Ursa II somehow - thin spirit vine cuttings evenly distributed through the Lipowder crystal rod bundles. Looking at the Lucky Dragon's truck, she shrugged, saying, "May not need a launcher for the other kind of Meesile with this beast." By the time they had finished brainstorming and re-drawing, the original flying bomb design had been deemed likely to be too inaccurate, the long ramp needed too obvious even in the mountains. The concept had branched out into two long-range semi-portable Meesile types, one with a larger body and higher potential accuracy, guided by one of the spirit energy designators Kosuke and Taro had managed to get to work off mere spirit vines. Twelve of these unnamed medium-sized Meesiles were to be launched from the back of a shorter truck base they called the Squat Badgermole, its longer "brother" that fired longer-range and larger Lucky Dragons called the Dragon Erector. The Squat Badgermole could also be fitted with two containers with dozens of unguided rockets, aimed at a general vicinity and likely killing almost everything within it - these other Meesiles something Yangchen wanted to avoid using at long ranges unless it was do or die.

Looking at the three blueprints and sighing slightly, Yangchen said, "Can't even come up with a final product in time - it's been a few minutes. Kosuke, Taro - I've been away for a while. How fast do you think we could make these things with equipment, and the spirit synthesis?" Taro nodded, saying, "Sounds like to me you need these in bulk to make a difference from what we know about the camp's situation, especially if the reserves got thrown in. The most important parts for the Lucky Dragon -the basic guidance system and everything but the Meesile's outer shell - would take longer than it sounds like we have to make even using spirit synthesis. Earthbenders and metalbenders are still getting used to manipulating 'watery' materials… You said the Avatar managed to make things way more complicated using all four elements really fast. What if… the 'original' is a better option?"

Yangchen let out a long sigh, tossing a "Raavatite" crystal back and forth in her hands as she said, "Maybe you're right." Holding the crystal giving her an idea, she said, "Everyone who can bend, grab a crystal - stuff it close to your skin, like this." Noticing her husband watched attentively as she placed the now steadily pulsing crystal between her breasts and the baby carrier's cloth, Yangchen laughed, saying, "Yeah - think like that, sex, love, friendship, anything light while bending - any kind of love's good." Remembering there were a lot of airbenders she hadn't even gotten to talk to yet, not sure where her parents had sent them, Yangchen said, getting out her radio, "Mom, dad - get our half a company's worth of airbenders, and remind them this isn't a drill. Kipa - try and get as many fire, earth, metal, and waterbenders as you can from 'New Garzai'," seeing by the way Kipa's light yellow eyes lit up that she loved the name as Yangchen continued, "Yuehan - get all the elite metalbenders including yourself and see if you can speed the spirit synthesis process up. I know you're all capable fighters - probably more than the people you helped train," Yangchen's eyes widening when Yuehan said, "I'll do that - and then some. We've got the original metalbender right here in Omashu, after all - Toph. Heard she's _almost_ as good as Jinshu Kuangmai at manipulating metal, even if she can't blood iron bend - I'm sure she'll be a big help," Yangchen hoping he was right as he ran off, herself continuing, "Seiko, Kosuke, Taro - help me 'direct' everyone, familiarize them with the blueprints of everything we need. You may as well start making blueprint copies now - and leave the ones I haven't seen yet behind. I'll look at them when I get a chance. Gyatso - stay here with me and look after your baby sister, along with aunt Diki." Seeing Alyssralove returning with a large load of both ore and gemstones, including ones aside from Raavatite, Yangchen whistled, saying, "Down here, Alyssralove - everyone else, grab and go!"

Everyone performing their assigned tasks, each taking one of what must have been thousands of gems Alyssralove delivered and Seiko and his children replicating blueprints furiously , Yangchen finally got a chance to relax a little - knowing things were out of her hands, for now, aside from the unseen blueprints. Looking at the three people who hadn't really been given much to do, Yangchen laughed slightly when Gyatso reached out and handed his aunt a crystal, breaking down into hysterics as her son foisted it on Diki, Diki blushing deeply as Gyatso asked, "Aunt Diki - wear crystal like mommy is? Between breast and clothes?" Diki groaning slightly when Gyatso added enthusiastically, "I think Yuehan would like it - he looks at you like you're really pretty!" Diki looking embarrassed, Yangchen reached out to her, saying, "Don't mind him - he's not even two and a half yet," grumbling slightly herself when Gyatso asserted, "My grammar not good yet, but if I know what death, 'a sex', 'a sex' abuse and war is, I'm not just nothing!" crossing his arms as he added, "Take serious!"

Looking at Gyatso's expression, seeing his eyes had hardened since Jaina's birth somehow, Yangchen sighed, realizing that Korra and Asami weren't the only ones who had a child that had grown up too fast - this morning appeared to have changed Gyatso a lot. Picking up a now distressed-looking Gyatso and hugging him tightly against her chest, not caring about how the Raavatite crystal dug into her flesh as she said, "It's okay, sweetie - mommy's here for you, your sister, daddy - no matter where you go, or any of us go." Gyatso started crying, saying as he clutched his own smaller crystal tightly, "I don't wanna lose you or daddy, mommy! Forget the bad men - they made their choice! Don't… I heard what happened to the old airbenders, love enemy too much - don't be like them!" Yangchen re-assured her son, remembering his namesake's skeleton had been surrounded by those of firebenders as she said, "Don't worry - mommy won't go down without a fight. Just because you love your enemy doesn't mean you won't fight back - just that you're sad that they're bad. Only a fool would remain forever nonviolent. In fact, your namesake, Avatar Aang's friend Monk Gyatso didn't go quietly into the night - when Avatar Aang found him, he was surrounded by firebender's remains."

Yangchen had expected Gyatso to just start crying again, except more softly, feeling a shiver run down her spine when he said after a pause, "M-mom…? Six… six firebenders. Around him… How do I know that?" Yangchen having not a clue, she just said, remembering he might have picked up a book given he knew what genocide meant, "I'm sure it doesn't mean anything, sweetie - mommy has a book about Aang restoring the temples, and that was mentioned in there, along with a picture you might have seen. You must have just picked up the same book when you learned the word 'genocide'," another chill running down her spine when she remembered Gyatso couldn't read, even as precocious as he was. Putting him back down on the ground, seeing the blueprints, she felt torn - catch up with whatever they had created in her absence to better do her life or death job, or continue to console her distressed son?

Looking into Gyatso's eyes, she felt she had no choice, didn't really want one either, asking him gently, "Why are you upset? What's the matter?" Gyatso kicked a Raavatite crystal near his shoe, Yangchen glad the crystals were apparently resilient given it didn't shatter as he said, "Never told you before, but some nights… dream about a necklace. Familiar. Always the same." Gyatso being awfully unspecific, Yangchen asked him, "Why don't you draw it for me, sweetie? We have plenty of paper over there - I'll give you a blank blueprint." Gyatso's eyes lighting up, she walked over to the table, using the time he was drawing to examine the other blueprints. Shuffling through them, seeing Gyatso was looking at her intermittently, she decided to put on a little of a show, saying, "Seen it. Next. Saw it. Next. Know that. Next. This again? Does not compute. Next…" in a "Kuviracomputer" voice as she filtered through page after page of schematics she'd already seen, wondering why Alyssralove had decided to include the plans to what seemed like…. well, everything the braintrust had ever made, excepting Korra's equipment and the Raging Shark Whale. Even then, parts of those were included - the thighblade design, apparently for metalbenders to use on the end of cables as a way to extend their bending's reach, and a puzzling amount of notes and details about verticals - something Yangchen was under the impression required tuber-vine power. Finally, there were some designs she didn't recognize towards the end, all revolving around various forms of Lipowder weaponry. Yangchen started saying, "Does not compute" again for an entirely different reason as she flipped through the pages. She was baffled - stamps of "Designed by Braintrust" on all of them, even though some bore resemblance to no weapon she had ever seen, either "Designed by Princess Ursa II" or "Consultation provided by Princess Ursa II" on so many of them. Yangchen found their hypothesized ranges even more ludicrous, even with the use of her own new Lipowder formulation, apparently independently "invented" - one artillery piece mounted on some sort of tank chassis with a hypothetical range of 45 miles without a tuber-vine for a VarriMag gun to shoot the shell, possibly more?! Finally finding a few things she didn't want to just say "Next", Gyatso complained as she examined one closely, "What, no more funny voice? Awww!"

Seeing more than a few passingly unfamiliar blueprints behind this one, Yangchen said, "Later - mommy needs to work, and you need to finish your drawing." Looking at the blueprint, she realized she'd heard it mentioned - this was the blueprint for a new kind of Meesile! Seeing how "kuviricon" chips and wire controls were mentioned, she realized it was the wire-guided Meesile from earlier, Taro having apparently figured out a theoretical way to guide it without bending, without a true Kuviracomputer. A note apparently from Yuehan about Kuvira's school books being used as reference only increased the impression. Flipping to the next blueprint, she blinked a few times, saying out loud, "Wha - why'd they even waste time drawing this? A gunship with verticals powered by spirit vines - ludicrous." Seeing out of the corner of her eye that she had Gyatso's attention again, Yangchen asked, slightly irritated, "Will you let mommy work, please? You still haven't finished your drawing, and you're going to have to get used to sharing attention with your baby sister Jaina anyways. Think of mommy paying attention to go boom as… training." Gyatso sighed, saying, "Wanted see fly thingy. Talk about! Okay, mommy, if you no love me that's fine," Yangchen rolling her eyes slightly - he loved using that when he knew he needed to go away, getting plenty attention other times.

Looking at the design again, noticing it had multiple signatures and what appeared to be a light imprint of a gigantic claw, Yangchen still found the idea of powering something that advanced by spirit vine power alone ludicrous. From what she had heard, Kuvira's Colossus required a massive amount of spirit vines to run, having a hard time believing even transformation of the vines would allow such a feat. Two spirit engines, one larger spirit weapon and a Varrick gun under the broad chin, two dumb Meesile pods with a weapon she recognized from earlier called the "Agni Kai 2" in a small turret underneath the two dumb meesile pods, four guided Meesiles close to each vertical and wingtip, what appeared to be a metal cable launcher like the ones on Earth Empire mechasuits on one side of the oversized front, what was labeled as a "lightning and Liser" and a store for flamethrower fuel on the other side- the thing would collapse if it ever tried taking off! Seven different kinds of weapons… maybe they were just being crazy? Or maybe Gyatso had given… input on it, and people couldn't say no? He had expressed interest in it, after all…

Shaking her head, flipping to the next page, she found something more useful - notes about the spirit synthesis tests. Reading one in elegant characters aloud, Yangchen said, snickering a little, "Material does not like being forced into position with bending - bender who attempted this almost 'smacked' by material under manipulation. Force failure - material responds best if… bender 'asks' it to move nicely with gentle, controlled movements? Unknown mechanism in action, material responds best to waterbending-like movements," a note scribbled quickly echoing her own reaction, "Oh man, don't tell me this stuff is sentient! I don't want sassy steel or mouthy earth!" laughing slightly when the note continued, "Ask Yangchen if this is really better than what Avatar does."

Yangchen was about to flip to the next page, but heard her radio come on, an exhausted-sounding Jasmine saying in English, sounds of battle still raging in the background "Withhold support - tide reversing. Breach plugged. We're turning walls to spirit-resistant metal after beat back enemy. Save anything you've come up with for later, Yangchen - don't bother yammering, keep working. Wan Shi Tong will take care of communication, air not really being useful for repairing people or damage," her ears perking up when Jasmine finished, "Got a surprise for you later - someone had a bonding… event with a spirit without Raava's… involvement. Returning to fight - over and out." Smiling broadly, still flipping to the next page, Yangchen frowned slightly, the page full of half-drawings and musings, realizing that her engineers were taking that gunship idea seriously, given this was their apparent doodle page. Looking at one doodle, Yangchen circled it, saying as she looked at it, "Hmm - pop-up turrets. That's actually a really good idea." Noticing there were a couple versions, including a simple circle, she barely refrained from cursing - the Earth Empire had already done something similar, and given the size of the circles in the earth she had seen Riyu covering up, there were likely some heavy duty spirit weapons in theirs!

At first, she stopped looking at the doodle page out of a tiny sense of despair, finding herself looking on the bright side for some reason, thinking, "Bigger target's easier to hit!" Looking down at the paper, she noticed her baby carrier and left breast was literally radiating light. Removing the crystal, she felt the optimism return as she held it in her right hand, the images of Raava burning brightly as she found herself saying, "Good - Jasmine's okay, and we've got a lot of bright people working here - even without the Avatar! Who knows - maybe the gunship's not ridiculous after all! I want a ring made from this 'Raavatite' thing!"

At first, she could hardly believe her eyes as a portion of the crystal broke off and formed a ring perfectly shaped for her finger, feeling foolish when an avian voice said from behind her, "I heard your request - the 'Raavatite' crystal isn't any more magical than love is." Wondering aloud if it would regenerate just like a spirit vine if given enough positive energy, Alyssralove laughed, saying, "No - it still obeys the laws of matter. While 'spiritmetal' is attuned to spiritual energies, it's still a fully physical object, unlike spirit vines," smiling slightly as the crystal re-formed to a smaller size, the great dragon bird spirit finishing, "That doesn't mean that crystal is any less powerful now - energies like love and hate don't need anything to hold them; from my experience with Raavatite, the tiniest shard exhibits the same useful behavior as the largest crystal, the amount of love inside depending on who transformed it as well as who is holding it. Though you're not going to power an aircraft carrier with one of these…" Still slightly annoyed that what she knew was _her_ crystal, the first given how it felt "right" to her and had Raava's image on the upper half of the double pyramid shape, was now smaller, Yangchen said, "Still wish it was like a spirit vine - this one was the first, and I want it to stay big!" Yangchen heard an odd low hissing sigh from behind her, Alyssralove sounding more like Long Yumao than any spirit Yangchen wanted to associate with when she said, "Ugh - humans and your things. I had wanted to shatter all the crystals for maximum number and efficiency, but…Whatever - that vein runs for a massive distance, so there's plenty more where that came from, so you can keep your oversized gem," Yangchen's stomach sinking slightly when the spirit finished, "Honestly, I'd rather get all the spirit metal and Raavatite out of the surrounding metals than the Korranium, what Raava tells me they've decided to rename 'death metal' - Jinshu Kuangmai's unwilling to fry our world, but I imagine he'd devour spiritmetal voraciously. Given their range-finding capabilities, especially the 'Vaatite' form, for the same reasons you found it so potentially useful…"

Flipping back to the gunship blueprint, telling Gyatso she'd just be a minute, Yangchen asked, "Alyssralove, just what is this? How are you going to power something to advanced-looking, heavily armed and armored, and _supposedly_ agile with mere spirit vines? And what's this I see about _additional_ pylons if a waterbender's aboard, or earthen disks?" Alyssralove bobbed her head, saying, "I understand your concerns - the water tank was Bohatei's idea, disks, Taro's. This is intended as something any bender can use their specialty from, as well as the conventional weapons - all we lack is spiritwire. Fai and Maylin studied the vines extensively during the Painted Lady's conversion of the vines, and believe that both sides are underusing the transformed vine's potential - as far as we know about the enemy's equipment…" Still skeptical, hearing others calling her name, Gyatso taking first priority, Yangchen said, "Very well - I'll believe it when that thing's flying back and forth in front of me, dodging air blasts before they can connect that what you say is true."

Turning to her insistent son after re-stowing her crystal, wondering if she'd ever want to part with it, Yangchen asked him, "Sorry about earlier - mommy was busy. Gyatso time now. Want to show mommy your drawing, Gyatso?" Gyatso nodded eagerly, Yangchen feeling light as he said, "Sure!" Sitting down next to her son, she noticed her new Raavatite ring was glowing brightly as she placed her right hand on his drawing, trying to place where she had seen that shape before. Gyatso had drawn a misshapen circle with three squiggles inside attached to a string of dots, what looked like dense lightning coming out of the dots to either side of the crude circle. Cocking her head slightly, she asked a beaming Gyatso, "Your drawing's very pretty - did it take you all that time, or did you draw anything else?" Gyatso shook his head, saying, "Nope - think I recognize what drew now. Monk Gyatso's necklace - you shown me before. No big deal. Can see silly ship?" Yangchen smiled, saying, "Good - nothing weird going on here. I'm glad drawing it made you feel better - mommy wants to see more of your drawings!" Noticing Gyatso had his arms crossed, Yangchen sighed slightly, coaxing him over to the table with an offer to see the "silly ship", finding herself taking it a little more seriously now, even making some adjustments of her own, not sure if she was glad Gyatso was getting mommy time or a little weirded out it was designing a weapon…

Realizing the craft would likely be hit from the bottom or sides, not the top, unless Jinshu Kuangmai developed something like the Ferocious Lemur, at which point this particular craft would be toast no matter where its armor was, she re-drew it. The armor on the back, thinned, instead increasing the armor on its flanks, underside, drooping wings, broad Y-shaped tail and the two-seater cockpit, adding more spirit vine power source and an additional angular spirit engine to the roof - if this thing were to be of any real help to Jasmine, it'd need to be fast, in any direction. Looking at the wings again, seeing the weapons as something that would only slow the gunship down, she drew a kind of view she'd seen in architecture before when reviewing Seiko's work - a "cut away". All the wing weapons now covered by aerodynamic metal, part of which could be slid back via internal hydraulics to let the weapons drop down for firing when it wasn't trying to fly at a high speed, the wings themselves much sturdier and thicker now and hopefully more resistant to enemy attack. Yangchen ignored a male voice that said, "Uh - I don't think that can fly now," intent on her work. Looking at the gunship's chin and the weapons on the gunship's sides, she could see a major problem - she'd have a much harder time making those aerodynamic!

Looking at the side view, feeling frustrated, Yangchen got a crazy idea, saying as she picked her crystal back up, "Good job on the original, all of you, but… Forget drawing it, Taro - why don't we try _making_ it, no spirit synthesis, do what Korra did - what's the worst that can happen? Design on the go? We waste some time that we have now, thanks to Jasmine managing to turn the attackers back at the camp? There's almost five thousand people underground outside my city - no, our city - just waiting, so we might be the next target! And who knows how soon, and what, Jinshu Kuangmai's going to ship to the front…" Seeing people were nodding, Yangchen realized there was one material she hadn't heard of anyone using just yet and that any bond might help people work as one, like Korra did, saying, "Maybe spiritmetal can make this thing fly. Kipa, get ALL your family and friends together. Yuehan - get any defectors you know particularly well, and anyone you're friendly with," making sure she didn't mention family to him, Seiko smiling and saying, "Be right on it," before Yangchen could give any sort of order. Yuehan nodded, Yangchen frowning when he said, "Toph's working - by herself, aside from the two people she's told to be silent while working the spirit synthesizers. Says she wants to be left alone for now - currently bored making spiritmetal ingots Alyssralove delivered to her earlier, seeming like she's somewhere else," Yangchen smiling when Yuehan said, "The two people manning the synthesizers told me the spiritmetal interacts amazingly with the spirit 'weapons' - swear the metal itself radiates energy, even before spirit vines are thrown in!"

Turning to Alyssralove, she said, "You've already given Toph some stuff. Anything, everything we might need for that gunship - bring it here," asking as she got an idea on how to ensure these gunships could help the camp if needed in the future, "Ingots are small. Do you think there's enough spiritmetal to make two 'gunship platoons' of eight gunships each, two of each kind of bender as 'gunner/bender' for all eight gunships, all spiritmetal and spiritmetal alloy make aside for where it doesn't make sense? I want at least one gunship platoon to cover our city, and one to hide in the mountains or even underground near Jasmine's camp, in case they need support." Alyssralove nodded, saying, "We should have enough. Yes - great idea, sneaking them into the mountains near the camp. Dunno about underground… You'll need to talk to airbenders about 'training' and gunnery - if you know any, or this idea works. I have a similarly… unorthodox idea. I think I may even be able to produce spiritwire, if something that happened in Jasmine's camp is any indication. I'll need two… non-squeamish firebenders, though, and you may not want to watch yourself." Yangchen gave Alyssralove an odd look, feeling vaguely horrified when the spirit explained, "Raava's energy, as well that of Mako and Kuvira, is inside me - literally. It is possible if a large amount of copper is run through my 'heart' and a large shock applied, spiritwire could be created," feeling a little better when the spirit reminded her, "I am a phoenix, after all - even if it goes bad, I can be re-born. Who knows what I'd look like after Kuvira's… second brush with oblivion."

Yangchen realizing they could possibly even evacuate themselves if this synthesis were successful, time passed in a blur as everyone finished their jobs and people gathered, Yangchen saying, "Everyone here knows what we're going to try and do - so don't be surprised if we fail, or it's impossible entirely. I do know we have everything to gain by trying - if we can make this thing, we might even be able to evacuate ourselves and the prison camp alone!" Intending to go on, Yangchen felt a slight chill when her husband asked from the front, "Last I heard, all you wanted was one test ship - you forget about that device? How they might fry us if we're 'too strong'?" Yangchen sighed, cursing when Alyssralove interjected, "Earth Empire soldiers have already seen 'spirit synthesis', so ironically, the 'best' we can hope for is those soldiers reporting their findings - or that Jinshu Kuangmai already knows about 'spirit synthesis'. Otherwise… he may see us as too big a threat, and go back on his word about superweapons himself." Remembering Riyu's rangefinder, Yangchen added herself, "I've seen that they already likely have, and are using, the spiritmetal's crystalline form already as range finders. I had a soldier threaten to shoot me with information from 'proprietary technology' in his spirit vine powered mechasuit…" noticing more than just her own family winced at the more personal story.

Yangchen explaining what they were going to try and do, make all sixteen gunships if the synthesis was successful, she let people divide themselves into groups as Alyssralove gathered supplies, for some reason bringing spirit vines and slighter-looking "weapons" the spirit claimed were specially made for spirit synthesis and non-lethal shots of spirit energy, smiling to see quite a few spiritmetal ingots included. Yangchen noticing her sister chose to stay by Yuehan's side for some reason as her own group assembled, both blushing slightly when their eyes met hers. Yangchen chuckled, saying as she picked up Jaina from where Diki had left her, "Whatever - I guess Gyatso was right." Originally, Yangchen had thought she'd need Raavatite crystal to facilitate the synthesis, but as she handled Jaina and put her in the slightly abused baby carrier, she shook her head, thinking as she looked at Jaina, snug and fast asleep, "No - I don't need things. Something tells me I just need love for this…"

Closing for a brief moment, she saw four figures - Oma and Shu holding hands, herself and Xingyun holding hands. Knowing love was inside, sizeless, she knew she was right - even if the crystals did make her feel great.

Yangchen remembered something about Raava herself and more advanced supreme beings simply being love's servant, even if some were better ones than others, as well as the Avatar allowing Raava to "possess" her. Yangchen looked out at Kipa's content family and Alyssralove taking a break nearby, saying as her husband hugged her and even Gyatso looked like he wanted to help, noticing Seiko's family near Kipa's farther away, "This may strike you as odd, to do while making something for war - but I want you to try letting something bigger than yourselves, bigger than Raava guide you - like a mother guides her son or daughter. Love. I don't know how many of you can meditate, but try that first." Trying it herself, she felt peace - though nothing else. No movement of limbs…

Remembering something from the _original_ Air Nomad's philosophy, one she found no fault with, only sad that some nations and individuals didn't believe it, much less acted in the exact opposite way, Yangchen added, remembering her earlier naked innocences, "The four elements, the nations, you, me, humans, spirits - separation is an illusion. All four elements, plus a spark of Raava's energy are what make the Avatar powerful - but it can make everyone else powerful too. We all have a spark of Raava, light, inside us, and our personalities - a unique blend of what makes each element different. Now let loose - let the universal light inside take control!"

Yangchen had hoped she made sense - she had felt emotions coursing through her as she spoke, saying whatever came to mind. Letting loose as she had earlier without intending to, "under the influence", she realized she had been babbling from the heart. She had expected to be controlled like a puppet, but found herself moving in synchronicity with others willingly, part of an enthralling dance, not questioning when two dimmed blue and white beams struck the material in front of her or a large avian form tossed in plant material. Feeling the air she was bending and reveling in the sense of freedom that came with giving up control to something benevolent and much greater than herself, Yangchen didn't even catch the fact that the mass in front of her was steadily growing in size, moving backwards after an unspoken command she didn't know the source of.

Eventually becoming self-aware, but not losing anything in the process, she turned a critical eye to the form directly in front of her, hoping people would know _exactly_ what she wanted while yelling, "Make a Raavatite range finder and link it to the chin weapons! Make an angular turret mount on the chin that shields the weapons, two holes for the weapons's ends to poke through, side by side! I don't think we'll be able to do independently targetable chin weapons after all. Make the spirit weapon adjustable down low like a spirit synthesizer - move the Liser and lightning generator to the chin on an independent cylindrical turret nearer the nose tip, along with a spirit energy designator! I want non-lethal options up front and able to fire elsewhere, and something to illuminate targets! Add an extra ammunition storage area in the belly, connected to the 'small' Varrick gun's feed - and vine and wire it up so that the mount and engines can rotate well! Make the three 'tricycle' configuration feet stronger, longer - add some more armor around the engines, thicken the glass of the cockpit! Extend the lower end - I want this to be able to carry up to ten people if needed including pilots, or supplies! Alyssralove - go do the spiritwire experiment, if you haven't already!" surprised to hear the bird spirit reply, "Guess you really didn't 'see' anything until just now, did you? I've been VERY busy - finish, and you'll see. I'll help make the modifications you want to speed things up."

Yangchen shook her head, saying, "No, I haven't seen anything - just a blur until now," as her body continued to move, feeling as though she were being watched by someone unseen when her limbs finally slowed after making sure the gunship was what she wanted with the spirit's help, the process apparently winding down. When her hands stopped, pointed down at a slight angle away from her body, she finally took in her surroundings, gasping when she saw that the gunship she had been working on was stably on the ground. It wasn't alone either, seeing other groups winding down their work as well as she inspected the second, identical looming gunship in front of , Alyssralove had seen the synthesis was a success, and had brought enough materials to make Yangchen's plans a reality - even told the others her changes after her direct assistance! Both gunship "platoons" - finished! Alyssralove touched the gunship in front of her with a single metal tendril, the gunship coming to life - even after Yangchen's impulsive modifications, actually able to lift off the ground, the metal itself glowing the same dull blue and white as a spirit engine's jet!

Panicking slightly, unsure of the time, Yangchen heard an unexpected voice from behind her gush as she saw her watch now read five minutes past eight in the morning, "Wow - I guess Raava was right! About everything in this area… Glad I finally listened to her demands that I come see for myself. Even with her re-assurances about what Alyssralove was telling her, I had been worried, wondered if Omashu had turned out as poorly as the reinforcements from Republic City according to General Iroh II… and the camp was looking according to Wan Shi Tong when it finally came under strong attack, but after seeing this, I'm just… amazed. Good work, Yangchen. Looks like Omashu is going to be _very_ safe."

Turning around, Yangchen felt an immense pride when she saw Korra's projection bow as though to a master, crying slightly when the Avatar said, tearing up a little herself, "Big help will be coming, though not from where we had planned, and certainly not the _who_, but from everything I see in front of me, you might not need it. I can see you look curious - you'll find out soon enough. I'll have to ask Tenzin and Jinora, of course - but I'd say you've more than earned being the second airbender outside of Aang's family to earn Master Airbender tattoos by figuring out synthesis without me," Yangchen not deflated in the least when Korra added, laughing, "Mass synthesis, that is," tearing up when she continued, "Especially what you said, how your version works… So beautiful. The irony… I thought I'd be trying to teach you the how of synthesis after figuring it out in a slightly different way earlier," pride and sense of accomplishment swelling, finding herself smiling when the Avatar admitted, "Yours is a lot more impressive. We have close bonds with each other, much older than any your friendship with Kipa - yet what you made looks flawless. Closer to what Raava or I could do than we thought possible…"

Korra smiled, saying as Yangchen looked at the Avatar's own tattoos, wondering what an arrow would look like on her own forehead, "Raava's told me the basics - I'll get more details AFTER THIS, _Raava,_" Raava apparently being a slight pest given Korra's initially disgusted facial expression as she continued, "Hush - this is the last stop, Raava. Enough. Jasmine and her allies have also proven themselves impressive from what I know, and everyone else has done nicely as well, given their own unique… situations. Everyone's come up with their own ideas… Even found a very astute pair of eyes on the ground in Republic City, and a new spirit convert. Now that everything is mostly okay, I'll be seeing you again relatively soon along with many others, in a different place. A chance to collaborate, and make decisions - I can't handle it all myself. A place you've seen before indirectly, if what Raava tells me is true. Jaina's beautiful, by the way. Goodbye - see you soon," Yangchen wondering where Korra had in mind for this meeting.

She was pretty sure it wasn't in anyone's inner dream world, however, remembering how Pema had acted after people were booted out. Thinking Pema's name made Yangchen smile - and not just because she shared something in common with her own sister Diki, both to become new airbenders if all went to plan in slightly over a week.

Pema's name made her smile, not because she was the twin leaders of the new Air Nation's husband and mother, but because Yangchen knew she'd love to just talk endlessly with her and Kipa about love, life, and above all, families.

What the equipment in front of her was to protect.


	54. Chapter 54: Melting Tundra

Chapter 54: Melting Tundra

Desna not entirely sure where his cousin wanted him to "go" aside from somewhere not "here", out from a … place that was likely to vanish soon, he found himself grabbing Princesss Ursa II's hand tightly, feeling the same bizarre shift occur as when cousin Avatar Korra - no, just _Korra_, this change in mindset was proving more annoying than he had anticipated - had first taken him to Pema's dream… thing. Desna hadn't really been one to do anything more than necessary with spirits or spiritual matters - not since his father had used him and his sister for his sick plan with Vaatu. Remembering the one part from earlier aside from the Princess that had grabbed his attention, Desna smiled, wishing Raiko had reacted to Wu's cap toss, not sure why or how someone would not care about possibly being able to _bend_!

Desna heard a small part of him that thought, "Just like you ignore the points your father _did_ have, that your cousin saw, don't care about spirits living peacefully with human as a result of Unalaq's actions… at least until that serpentine slitherer ruined everything," thinking back, still feeling a need to break away completely, "NO - the less I have to do with him, the better!"

Opening his eyes, Desna found himself in a representation of the throne room he hated so much, noting his sister was not there, hoping she was talking to Yue and not something else. Desna sighed, "Here - my least favorite place in the world. From what you told me earlier, Princess, you and your mother hold the same opinion of your throne room - a reminder of past 'sins'. Perhaps I should get rid of the ice, like you mother removed barbaric fire in front of the throne," Princess Ursa II nodding, she said tentatively, "Yes… I wish all we had in common was trade, and… the sea," Desna chuckling lightly when she added, shivering, "Needs central heating. Maybe some flames… Don't see how you stand the cold."

Desna wasn't entirely sure how to pick back up where they had left off. His father had sabotaged his own children and, probably more important to Unalaq even before "falling for" Vaatu, his own _heir's_ ability to relate to others. And as Bolin had shown his sister, fear was not a good way to get a husband. Instead of speaking, or making good on his idea to remove some of the ice around the throne, Desna merely pondered the irony of his thankfully late father's bad parenting possibly preventing the Northern Water Tribe from ever having another Chief of Unalaq's bloodline after he and his sister Eska passed. Bolin was a long-ago memory for his sister by now… and his sister saw that relationship as proof Unalaq had more than just repressed his only children. Eska had already vowed to tread carefully and not be so controlling.

Realizing he'd never heard a word about his fellow awkward soul's father, Desna treaded carefully, finding himself reverting to older speech patterns, being so pre-occupied with not offending Princess Ursa II, "So - uhm - we both have something in common, aside from the sea. Which surrounds both our nations, and provides trade opportunities… Ahem. Both our fathers aren't around anymore; while I am sure you know the reason for my abominable father's absence, I do not know the reason for yours." Looking at the Princess, seeing her start to cry, Desna asked, something he hadn't felt before in his stomach, "Wh - what did I say? What did I say wrong? I tried to be as polite as possible," wondering as the novel "sinking" feeling intensified, "Was - was your father horrible too?"

Princess Ursa II sighed, shaking her head and saying gently, "No - he was the antithesis of your father. I… I don't want to talk about it," softening her expression slightly when Desna interjected, finding himself sighing just like he used to about everything whenever his father came up, "I do - if that's okay with you. Parents… all I ever really knew was my father - my mother Malina still seems petrified of him, three years later." She sighed, sounding like she still hurt from a very old wound when she began, "I guess I should be thankful… your father was worse than my great-grandfather - at least Ozai never consorted with a 'Grand Dark Spirit', and Zuko had his uncle Iroh… it sounds like you had nothing but, well, _him - _Unalaq! I… was twelve years old when my father passed away. Ten years since… I had always been… reserved, awkward before he died, but…"

Princess Ursa II sighed again, remaining silent. Desna found himself reminded of Mai despite the massive age difference - and himself, in a way. Remembering how the great spirit his father had once practically killed had insisted people "weren't supposed to" be like he and his sister were prior to their own awakening in progress or the ever moody Mai, Desna tried saying something without thinking, just feeling. As he had been when making the Northern Spirit Portal's cap with his sister. Nothing coming at first, he felt compelled to fill the silence with something, anything, remembering something his cousin said about loss Raava had seen fit to impart to him and his sister, "I am aware this may sound trite, but… your dad's not really gone. A part of him still's inside you," recoiling slightly when Princess Ursa II said something he had never thought of before: "That's why it still hurts so much - because I can remember everything good, and… the ten years of separation and pain that followed just make my memories bitter! And not bittersweet! I saw him for a moment last night - focused on something else, couldn't stand…"

Feeling way out of his league, not entirely sure of his way around the "inner dream world" himself, letting out a frustrated grunt, Desna asked, "I do not know, my father never taught me such things, and I did not mourn his passing… but how long is a normal grieving process?" adding incredulously, feeling a bit jealous, "Wh - you've got Zuko as your grandfather! He's about as wise as the original Iroh - you ever talk to him about this? Your grief?" Seeing the Princess shy away from him, a childhood memory of his own sister being in a similar funk when his father had first started "weaning" them from "normal" children, Desna tried a different tactic, saying, "I've felt pain before - realizing what my father stole from us, made me and my sister have to start WORKING for recently, when we finally admitted the truth about what our father's influence on us was. When we were younger, some days, I'd accidentally put on my sister's clothes, and Eska, mine, nobody would notice, not even us, not even when we were barely teenagers - and it sounds like you had a wonderful father, if you miss him this much! Just like my sibling and I, you have your quirks - but even I get the feeling there are things about how you act, carry yourself - that aren't normal for _you_. I've seen dead eyes before - on my father," crying a little as he added, "I didn't want to admit it, but… they're there on you too. A lot less so, but... there."

Seeing he now had Princess Ursa II's attention, her golden eyes looking slightly mad, but above that, hurt, remembering something of her namesake's history, Desna said, "I remember the stories about how your namesake, Zuko's mother, chose to run from the pain of separation. _Forgetting who her children were _rather than remember your grandfather and great-aunt with melancholy, waiting on the day she could see them again. I think you may have done the same, ignoring the pain of losing your father for so long - just not gone to the Mother of Faces to do it! Ten years of that? The pain from grief, from quelling feeling? Nothing but the ice my father forced on us? I'd rather be bored to death on my icy throne than in misery of my own making for that long. My father's the reason the way we were, and, to an extent, still are - but it sounds to me like _you _did it. Raava showed us a lot. You saw what Asami Sato and, to a lesser extent, my cousin had to deal with - their griefs. Accepting grief as a part of life, even a part of what makes life so precious… Asami Sato saw her father die in front of her eyes, and from what I got, she'll never really be able to make the grief and pain go away. Just deal with it." Seeing she looked overwhelmed, trying to shy away still slightly, Desna decided to be more direct, forming an ice mirror in front of her, saying as gently and strongly as he could, "Look in this ice mirror - those aren't the eyes of a happy person. Beautiful gold irises - spoiled because something's missing. Something that was missing for me for a long time too, and my sister - the spark of life, laughter, soul. As Raava might say, what makes you 'human-y'. Grief… Whatever you're doing to deal with it, Princess Ursa II, like Ursa in more ways than name alone… it's not working."

Waiting on a response, Desna's mind raced, things like, "Did I just screw her up even more? Make her hate me?", "Did I just break her heart?", "Am I even over my own grief for childhood lost - can I really speak to her, like this?" and "Dealing with the shame of my father by not speaking of him except ill… am I making my own mess?" plagued his mind, not having an answer for any of them. Especially not the last one - Desna had heard rumors his father's plan all along was to become a Dark Avatar, but maybe… maybe that was Vaatu's doing? Corruption… Seeing a slight change in her face Desna couldn't quite put his finger on, he turned the ice mirror to water, tossing it aside. Princess Ursa II knelt down on the floor, Desna's feelings shifting in a direction they hadn't before when she began speaking.

Speaking with great audible pain, but without pauses, and with something he had only heard from her a few times - confidence.

Looking up, though still kneeling, Desna finding what Princess Ursa II said more beautiful than her golden watering eyes or jet-black hair, envying her family life deeply, she said, "Thank you for making me look. Look at what I chose, written on my face, in my eyes… Desna - you're right. Being only twelve at the time, I felt immeasurable pain when my father passed away from a freak heart attack ten years ago. Daddy's little girl, just like my 'great' aunt Azula, but in a good way… Along with my mom and grandparents, he was my world. Rather than deal with it, as you told me to, my grandfather and mother have told me over and over to, I tried softening the blow at first, then dulling my feelings to make the pain go away… and it backfired horribly. From what little you've told me about your own childhood, it sounded like you were interested in bonds outside family, to get to know the 'peasants', the commoners, but your father quashed them. I was the exact opposite - loved our family, never really thought to try to make friends actively, though just like my mom I hated a good portion of our nation's past, and my father Kuzon was the one who pushed me out of my comfort zone - more so than my mom. Got me to do things I didn't want to, and ended up enjoying… After he died, I didn't even make passive friends - the kind you make at school? You do have a Royal School, right?"

Desna had not a clue as to what that was, his father having home-schooled them from an early age, merely shrugging. After a slight pause, getting up and closer to him, Princess Ursa II continued, "Talking to you, working with the 'brain trust' earlier, most importantly, _listening_ to you rather than just brushing you off… things my father would have wanted me to do," surprising Desna when she said, "Thank you for being so harsh and honest - a lot of what you said is what my grandfather Zuko's told me," admitting, "I think my mother is still grieving my father - though not as much as I was… no, am. Just like what our predecessors did to other people, I need to come to peace with the fact that life isn't always fair." Desna smiled when she added, sounding empathetic, "Like how you got such a horrible father, while myself and your cousin got such nice ones."

Before his own transformation, Desna might have made some short monotone quip, or laughed awkwardly. Maybe cursed his father - wait, no, he still did that… Noticing she was staring right at him, Desna felt a strong urge to do something. Giving her a deep hug, intending just to console her, he blushed when one part of his body had different ideas, made all the worse by the fact he didn't have on a long androgynous robe anymore. Desna was relieved when she said, "Never done this before - don't stop," the way she started giggling, "Ohohohoo! That feels… different, strange, but in the best way possible," making it "worse". Tightening the hug, feeling a small something that was much more pleasurable, Desna smiled after she said, "You… Desna, just call me Ursa II." Physical stimulation dimmed slightly and the other strengthening as she said, not really liking what she was saying, "You helped me a lot - you talking like Zuko, it's reminded me of other things my grandfather's said, told my mother and I over and over. I heard you basically cursing your heritage - just like I cursed most of mine. Nowhere near as bad as my mom, though… stupid nondescript buildings. Given that, maybe I can help you…"

Part of Desna wanted to break the hug, go talk to Yue, get to Republic City - rather offend Ursa II by vanishing than deal with… that. The elephant koi in the middle of the pond - whatever was keeping him from moving on from his father, onto something else better. Breaking the hug for a different reason, wondering if Raava responded to requests from anyone in the "inner dream world", Desna said, "I wanted to run, to be honest, rather than face that. If you're going to help me, you may as well help my sister as well… RAAVA! If my sister's still asleep… plop her in 'here'!"

Both Desna and Ursa II yelped when a different, much older Northern Water Tribe former Princess appeared instead. Desna was surprised by how "human-y" Yue appeared, all cloth and body, no mist. Yue chuckled lightly when Ursa II said, "Hah - to think, you were just the example I was going to use, Yue," Yue smiling broadly and coming closer when Desna asked, "What about my sister? Where's Eska?" Sounding happy, Yue said, "She came to talk to me about the Spirit Civil War - and things ended up getting a lot more personal," Desna frowning slightly when Yue continued, "I'll be quick, to the point - like Katara might. Basically, your sister kept mentioning how much she hated your father over and over. While I'm all behind opposing everything about him - actually had a few spirits bug me about even being related to him on the 'human-y' side - obsessing about it holds you back just as much as his actions did." Desna was half tempted to say, "Enough," but remembered how Ursa II had thanked him for being frank, so he listened instead, Yue continuing, "I can't possibly imagine your life - but I can imagine mine. I hated, hated, HATED the arranged marriage - but I didn't hate my father."

Shaking his head slightly, Desna asked dryly, "What do you want me to do - pretend my father didn't almost end the world along with Vaatu? Pretend my father didn't emotionally and developmentally warp us, with his controlling nature?" adding, frowning slightly, "He didn't even make sense! A member of the Red Lotus, he betrayed that organization in pursuit of power with Vaatu as the Dark Avatar. But even before that - the Red Lotus was supposed to be about freedom and anarchy. I wouldn't call high taxes and controlling your kids in line with either freedom or anarchy. Even as a villain, he was bad - leaving his Red Lotus 'brothers and sisters' out to dry, or I guess in P'li's case, freeze." Yue simply shook her head, Desna grumbling slightly, feeling like he was getting ganged up on, two girls on one guy when Ursa II said, pointing to her Crown Princess' headpiece, "Your father is NOT the Northern Water Tribe, the same way Sozin, Azulon, Ozai aren't the Fire Nation. This isn't about your father - unless you make it that way. The Northern Water Tribe used to be a symbol of hope in dark times, when they were facing my nation during the Hundred Year's War," Yue chiming in, "Every minute you spend thinking about, hating your father is a minute wasted. Don't be afraid to use any of the 'good' things from him either - he taught your cousin how to quell Dark Spirits, and led to her… until recently positive decision to open the Spirit Portals," Yue laughing, "I knew what Raava wanted to do before they even got in the portal. Tried to tell Raava no - just let them adopt a kid or half a dozen instead. Guess even 'gods' need to be humbled by experience…"

Letting out a sigh, Desna said, "Even though my father tried his hardest, Vaatu was certainly humbled - but that's another topic. Though I did love cousin Korra's speech to Vaatu…" Yue smiled broadly at the comment as he continued, "Less than a week ago, my sister and I were perfectly content with who and where we were. Maybe it's ridiculous to expect change to be lightning fast," getting a snicker from Yue when he said, "How ironic - Kuvira, war criminal. Gets over her problems like it's nothing. Two technically teenagers, me and my sister - confusion and annoyance." Yue starting to shimmer, Desna gave her a sour look when she said, "Every road is different," Desna's eyes widening and feeling like a fool when she finished, "Given she's yet to fight Earth Empire forces, yet to even fight the Dark Spirit your cousin was concerned about and will be fighting soon, Kuvira's trials aren't over. She will be tempted, just as this woman's great-grandfather was by Azula. Kuvira's not done, Nightmare Colossus or not - and she knows it. Don't pretend to think you can understand another's life, let alone know the future for them - not even Raava knows that…"

The last part a slight surprise to him, he made a mental note to tell cousin Korra that - he remembered his cousin being very annoyed with Raava "blocking" things about the future when she didn't even know it in the first place! Not sure what his own held, some crazy part of him idly wondering what it would be like to take Republic City where his father had failed, Desna relayed the thought to the only person left near the throne. Ursa II surprised him by saying, "That's nothing unusual - I've had stray thoughts at times, wondering how life would have been different, or what it would have been like, had the Fire Nation won the war - re-designing Ba Sing Se to be 'Fire Nation'," Desna musing, "You're right - just a thought. It's only when you act on something you enter crazy territory. Wonder where they come from…"

Feeling something at the edge of his mind that conveyed the sense it could answer that question, why people acted on the crazy, and so much more, Desna shook his head, catching a glimpse of a snow-white orb pulsing when his eyes were closed. Eyes open again, having gotten the impression that… _something_ had risen and been quashed, Desna noticed Ursa II looked bored, idly jetting out small amounts of fire from soft hands. Trying to think of anything to do, not really wanting to leave just yet, Desna said, ignoring a nagging thought about rationalizing tardiness, "Well - my sister's already talked to Yue, obviously, and it'll take both of us two days at least to get to Republic City… want to... do an activity?"

Not sure at first why Ursa II snickered then giggled, Desna felt like groaning slightly when she said, "That's the line my grandfather used on a girl in Ba Sing Se," Desna not entirely sure if this was good or bad. Remembering what he had so much fun doing the "first day" with his sister, Desna suggested, "Perhaps we could have a fireball and snowball fight?" When Ursa II nodded, saying, "That sounds good - my own bending isn't particularly… impressive, as you just saw, and I could do with the practice, especially since I heard you inherited your father's talent," Desna found he didn't mind the reference for some reason even as she apologized, Ursa II saying, "I - I'm sorry, I didn't think, I just spoke…" Shaking his head, Desna said, "It's fine. From what I can gather, that's one of your quirks," smiling to see her look better when he added, "Maybe it's not all a 'bad' thing - they say you sometimes say the truth when you're not thinking, something you might not have said otherwise…"

Ursa II looking somewhere else for a moment after nodding, apparently fascinated by the throne room Desna despised, shivering slightly, Desna decided to be impulsive like she was at times. Working quietly, Desna smiled after knocking her Crown Princess headpiece off accidentally with his snowball, her dark hair unfurling like a… like a…. sail? A scroll? Desna thought to himself as Ursa II laughed, picking up her headpiece, "Damn, I'm bad at romantic metaphors - maybe I can ask cousin Korra for help with that?" blushing slightly when what he had just thought registered on his mind. Something telling him it might be the answer to becoming more "human-y", to move on from his father…

The momentary pause let Ursa II catch him off guard, surprised she chose to chuck her headpiece at him instead of a fireball. Feeling the same way he had with Eska a few days ago, playing for the first time in… he'd rather not know how long, except stronger, Desna returned the favor, laughing when the snowball hit Ursa II square on the face. The snow melting into steam, Desna decided to play keep-away with the headpiece, saying as she tried to get it back, in a goofy imitation of his father's voice, "If you throw your heritage away, there's no getting it back!" Apparently, she knew more physical combat than just hitting him with a royal "shuriken", finding his feet swept from under him by her long legs. Desna smiled in anticipation after she said, "I liked that impression - let me give you one of mine," picking the headpiece back up and speaking in a silly voice of her own, inspecting her nails as he chuckled lightly, "Oh, really, 'Desdes'? Us Fire Nation Royals are hard to get the drop on - I thought a Water Tribe peasant would know better," Desna bursting into laughter when she continued her apparent Azula impersonation with mock horror, "I'd hate to see one ever do something really crazy, like find a really powerful energy source. Nothing can be more powerful than my lightning - I won't allow it! Everything else, banished - by Royal decree," Ursa II finally cracking up herself after she said, "Spirit vines, you're all banished! Colossus - banished! Long Yumao - banished! I can't deal with it all!"

Seeing Ursa II shimmer slightly, Desna frowned, saying, "Wait - don't go." No longer shimmering, she smiled slightly, guessing, "Maybe someone wants me up," her smile broadening after saying, "I look forward to seeing you in Republic City - hopefully that spirit menace won't show up at all, or at least have the 'manners' to wait until we can 'do an activity' together. I've heard Narook's Seaweed Noodlery is still standing - and I've never had Water Tribe food before…" Remembering one thing that his cousin and her "boss" - though from what he had seen directly at times it seemed as though Korra was the one doing the bossing and not Raava - Raava had shown him that was always appropriate, Desna got up off the cold floor. In the back of his mind seeing one benefit to his old androgynous robes, not loving the cold anywhere near as much as his cousin did, Desna gave Ursa II a big hug, at first meaning to say something profound. Catching a whiff of something he'd never encountered before, something overriding his brain, he took a deep sniff of her hair, asking without thinking, "Your hair - it smells wonderful. What is that?" sniffing again before she stammered, "Uh - it's - I l-like you!," blushing deeply as she said, "Oops… Uh, white lotus," Desna pulling back and wondering if he had accidentally creeped her out.

Desna asking as much, she seemed hesitant at first, eventually saying, "No, actually. I think it's sort of… sweet. All your talk about your dad, making it sound like you have not a clue, I… it was a pleasant surprise," blushing slightly as she explained, "Especially considering I don't wear it for romance - I do it to honor the Fire Nation's good past. I'm sure my great granduncle Iroh would be beside himself." Having just heard her admit she liked him, Desna realizing the feeling was mutual as he finally placed the small feeling he had for her earlier while in another hug, Desna was baffled when she hugged him back, Ursa II saying as he caught another whiff of white lotus, "I - I like you, but don't tell anyone. Not yet. It might be… complicated. Just like Yue…"

Desna not entirely sure if he should ask why, enjoying the hug still, curiosity eventually got the better of him when she started shimmering slightly again, asking, "Wh- why? Why wait?" his eyes widening when she admitted, shimmering halted, the hug tightening, "Nobody at home likes to talk about it, but… you know my brother Iroh II? My mom and dad had him out of wedlock, a happy accident - when she was fourteen. My big brother wasn't eligible for the throne because of some stupid outdated rules - hence why I'm Crown Princess, and he's not Crown Prince." Desna filled in the blanks, saying, "So us, your reservations - has to do with your brother… because of a similar rule?" surprised when she responded, "I don't know of a rule, specifically… but I can imagine it would be complicated long term. Even I know there are unwritten rules, and I can imagine Water Tribe and Fire Nation _royalty _together would run counter to more than a few."

Finding himself not caring about the longer term, at least right now, Desna stepped back and asked for an explanation, Ursa II simply sighing, "Desna - we're not normal people. You and your sister aren't even 'abnormal' like your cousin is, being the Avatar. **Avatar** Korra can do whatever she wants, to be crude, do whoever she wants, but…" crying slightly as she continued, "Like I said. We're royalty, Desna. And so is your sister. With Wu stepping down, and nobody really knowing what the new Air Nation's going to be, aside from your cousin's father Chief Tonraq, we're the only royalty left, the rest of the world having moved on past Kings and Queens." Desna heard Ursa II start talking like his father, grimacing as she said, "We can't just totally… be normal. My namesake was in a… _very_ arranged marriage to Ozai. My mother and father - wedded out of circumstance, the youngest wedding in the Fire Nation's history. I don't need to tell you about your own tribe's legacy - Yue's marriage."

Who and what had been the impetus for his own and his sister's change finally coming to mind, Desna stopped listening, started talking again, saying with great rage in his voice, "You think Asami and my cousin Avatar Korra have had an easier time of it, Avatar or not? Forget the petty squabblings and opinions of men - their relationship's caused a SPIRIT CIVIL WAR! Just because those stupid things can't wrap their heads around anything other than black and white unless they're forced to see the 'human-y'!" Seeing Ursa II was now crying, Desna choked up slightly, saying, "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to lash out at you," saying much more gently, "You used my cousin as an example of someone who doesn't have to care about marriage, the politics of reproduction - aside from the obvious, civil war causing things. It's not true - she's Chief Tonraq's only child, and technically, someday she'll become Chief herself," trying to add some levity by saying, "Talk about a conflict of interest - Chief Korra someday, AND the Avatar." Seeing her smile slightly, Desna continued, "From everything I've seen, people don't think when they get together - they feel, just like I did a little for you earlier. I think we should follow my cousin's example - just see where we go. Think what Iroh would say."

Noticing Ursa II still looked unsure, realizing something profound, Desna said, feeling slightly awkward at the same time, finding difficulty putting into words what he wanted to say, "What we're talking about - it has a lot more to it than just who **we** can and cannot see. It's about everything - if rules rule men, or men rule rules. Along with my sister, I lowered tax levels in the Northern Water Tribe as soon as I got back, overruling more than a few elders and rules. The Spirit Civil War - it's about weather humans deserve to live alongside spirits as equals, sometimes superiors - that's the way I see Asami Sato, at least, and countless others - by proving themselves capable of love and transcending petty differences. Capable of great changes, like Kuvira. Or prove themselves stupid, undeserving of anything but slavery - like Jinshu Kuangmai and his Earth Empire. I think it goes the other way too - if spirits are deserving of the things that were given to them 'carte blanche' for so long. My father loved to talk about how he wanted spirits to be respected, occasionally talked about how spirits needed to be a part of our world even before Harmonic Convergence, even before we found out what he really wanted. Any respect has to be earned…"

Finally getting to the point that involved himself, Desna said, "The Northern Water Tribe is flexible, and I'm sure your mother would hate to know you didn't do something _different._ Just because you're afraid of something far in the future. Rules can change - and so can people. If what you're worried about is what happens two, five, ten years on down the road, you're just repeating one of your earlier mistakes in a different way - 'mourning' the painful possibilities of the future instead of looking at each new day as something exciting, like my sister and I do, after our change." Feeling exhausted for some reason, Desna could only manage a smile when Ursa II's slight frown turned to a smile, admiring her face as she said, "Wow - we both think we don't know about life, but it sounds to me like you do, father and all," Ursa II blushing when he managed, "And so do you."

Even though it pained him to hear it, Desna nodded after she said, golden eyes watering slightly, "Narook's - it's a date, but… a covert one. No royal procession, no royal anything. Well, aside from the guards - but not in uniform. Get your bodyguard to go plainclothes, keep reporters away, spend some of those yuans you were flaunting on Ember Island and get an all alone reservation. I'll do the same. Let's keep this to ourselves for now - spirits aren't the only stupid beings, and we're lucky people haven't reacted negatively to your cousin's romantic choices. Given I don't even really know you yet, really… let's not push our luck," Desna getting closer and saying, glad to see her plump lips form a smile, "I agree - and after we're done, let's go on a tour of Republic City, incognito. I've always wanted to see things from a… 'normal' person's perspective." Remembering he still had a job to do, Desna added, "See the Spirit Portal at the same time - the barrier my cousin made, hopefully..."

Seeing her shimmer slightly, Desna went in for a quick hug, feeling faint when he got a peck on the cheek, the last thing he heard, "I'll see you soon - if not in person, here. In the heart's space…"

Opening his eyes, seeing nothing but darkness at first, Desna wondered if he was having a personal crisis. The darkness… moving somehow, now feeling something against his face and like a fool, Desna laughed lightly when he remembered he had gone to sleep under a thickly wrapped blanket, now able to see his sister standing over him. Coughing, Eska said, "Seems like someone took their time in waking up…" a small piece of ice touching his neck. Exclaiming, "Woaah! What's the meaning of that, sister?" in surprise, Eska chuckled, "Never gets old, especially since you didn't used to do that. Guess I am more like cousin Korra when it comes to cold now," Desna rolling his eyes when she playfully said, "Wuss - big thick blanket. Don't know what's gotten into you," grumbling when she finished, "Even Bolin didn't use a blanket that thick, and he _was_ a feeble turtle duck back then." At first, Desna was glad Eska hadn't said anything about the reason she thought he was so late in waking up, simple guesswork or not - or the why behind shunning cold, where even his balanced cousin reveled in her first element.

Problems with his father - still…

Figuring he could trust his sister and realizing they both now had something the other didn't, Desna decided to "spill the beans", to use an English phrase. Eska had no luck finding anyone who was interested in her even superficially, cursing her initial treatment of Bolin every time a nervous guy politely declined small talk and ran away like she was her father. But according to Yue, and given the way his sister was smiling as warmly as the "first day", Eska had managed to make more peace with her "daddy issues" - something that had eluded himself, just as anything close to a romantic relationship had eluded Eska. Words flowing less like water and more like a chunky ice floe as he talked about the most personal parts, his voice occasionally breaking much like one of the pieces of frozen water might have facing a waterbender's wrath when talking about Ursa II's reservations, Desna took a deep breath once he was finished, even having talked about linking the cold to Unalaq, saying, "As I've told you, I've had luck where you haven't - but Yue never did say more about what she talked with you about."

Eska smiled, saying, "Sounds like she left out one important detail - our mother Malina was there with us," the simple smile turning to a mischievous grin as she added, "As mom is right now. Come on in - my brother looks like he could benefit from a strong arm constriction," Desna smiling weakly when Eska added, "He was certainly snug in that blanket…" The curtains at the entrance of the room swishing, Desna stood up, smiling broadly to see his mother looked different right away, life in her eyes rather than lingering fear as she said, giving him a hug, "Hello, Desna - my only son. I know I've never really been a strong influence in your life, deferring to your father entirely too much, but… hearing what you said gives me hope for the future for you two." More interested in why his mother looked… well, happy, Desna asked, "I'm as interested in you and my sister's 'talk' as you are in mine. Can you fill me in on the details some?"

His mother nodded, Desna realizing with a certain embarrassment that she reminded him of Ursa II in some ways - quiet, reserved, unassuming, humble, the black hair… Snapping back to attention after thinking about the scent of white lotus, Desna listened as his mother said, "Yue's talk was as much for your sister as it was for me. She told your sister to not focus on the past, to not let rejection discourage her from trying to find someone - she said 'Love comes from the most unlikely places' after talking about Sokka, and their 'forbidden' love," Desna laughing slightly when his sister interjected, "Wish a guy would just follow me like that, dunking himself in frigid water…. What you said about going incognito - maybe we should do that all the time!" Malina shook her head, saying, "No - that's another thing Yue talked about, to me. Relationships built on lies and manipulation aren't worth having, aren't worth holding onto," looking a bit ashamed as she said, "Even though he was three years gone, I still let Unalaq cow me from beyond the… Fog of Lost Souls? Certainly didn't have a grave…" crying a little as she said, "Talking to Yue, telling her how I also blamed myself for not trying more, how you two ended up until recently…" breaking down when she finished, "Yue told me the only way life can be 'lost', beyond death, is if you give up trying completely, and from what she had seen of my efforts… I was doing the best I could," Desna giving her a deep hug after she added, "She understood my difficulties, neither one of us having ever bent anything in life, your father, passing on his bending prowess to you two."

Desna's father had never really taught them much asides from statecraft, bending, spiritual matters and "proper" behavior - never really having thought what it must have been like, wedded to one of the most powerful benders in generations, unable to bend herself. Realizing he had a lingering resentment towards his mother as well, Desna apologized, swearing he was beginning to no longer curse the cold as he had ever since returning from the Fire Nation, "I'm sorry, mother - father never really taught us to even try 'walking in someone else's shoes', and… I guess I had resentment of you too. Never thought - to be a nonbender, with my father…"

Desna nearly fainted when his mother responded, "Thank you - that means a lot. But if what your sister told me about a dream I had last night is true… maybe I'll be able to teach you two healing someday, once I learn myself," Eska making her mother blush slightly when Eska insisted, "Wh - no! I already said we're teaching you fighting - I thought you told Yue you were over the old rules!" Malina simply sighed, saying, "My marriage was an arranged one… Old habits die hard," Desna glad to hear her finally move on, saying, "You already told us about you and Izumi's daughter - which I agree with your decision on," Eska smiling when her mother continued, "Though, if my daughter here finds someone, it could all be a moot point. I'll let your sister take it from here - then, from what she told me, you have a fleet to lead."

His mother making to leave at first, Desna stopped her, saying, "Don't go - not when you've just come out!" surprised when she left after saying, "I'll be back - since I'm not afraid of him anymore, it's time to do something I should have three years ago. Go through your father's abandoned things… see what I can find that might help your cousin. Or you two, more importantly…" Eska now alone with him, Desna groaned slightly when she asked persistently for more details about what he and Ursa II had talked about, merely saying, "I told you everything - and my mother on accident as well," noticing she frowned slightly when he added, "If you're going to find a date, you can't just badger them about things. From what I know, I'm lucky my deeply personal questions didn't make her run away - imagine if someone asked you what it was like working for father," Eska sighing a little after he asked, "Start, please."

Listening to his sister at first, Desna was surprised to hear so much overlap with what Yue had told him, his ears perking up when Eska said, their mother back by now, "Yue seems to know a lot more than her own life now, talking about how much trouble Zuko had dealing with right and wrong related to the colonies - and that was when both his evil father and crazed sister were still alive, his father feeding him tripe like … 'It is being the Firelord, your will the Firelord's will that makes your decisions right, Zuko - not anything else,' something like that," Eska snickering a little when she added, "Yue told me that I was really just being a stubborn child, focusing on our father as much as moving forward." Desna realizing he had done the same, he said, trying to get a particular point across and see what Eska thought of it, "If you're trying to guide a boat, you can't be looking back instead of forward," grumbling a little when she corrected him, "Well - you've got to make sure there's not a shark whale or shark squid on your tail, so not looking back's a bad idea," merely asking his grinning sister, her new haircut's inspiration coming though in her behavior, "Whatever, you wannabe Opal - did you get the idea?" a stray thought asking of no one "She can be so… annoying now! Was this change worth it or not?" passing through his mind.

Eska surprised him by asking, "No - did **you** get the idea?" everything making sense when she finished, "I made peace, as much as I can make with someone like our father, by realizing - without Yue's help - you need to look to the future, but learn from the past, so you don't repeat those mistakes. Bad old habits catching up with you because you didn't look - just like the shark squid." His sister smiled, adding, "And from what you told me, it sounds like your 'girlfriend' has some issues with her element as well, even if you can still bend well. Disliking the cold… Tsk tsk," Desna grumbling, "Quit it, 'Opal'," and making Eska and his mother laugh at the same time. Having seen an opening in the conversation, his mother interjected, "On to less funny business. I went through Unalaq's things - nothing of interest, that I could understand at least. Here - take a look, see if you know what this script is. It's like nothing I've ever seen… and looking at it gives me the creeps for some reason."

Desna and Eska having spent equal amounts of time with their father, they both reached for the paper at the same time, Desna saying at the same time as Eska, staring at characters that seemed alien yet familiar at the same time, "What the 'hell'?" At first, Desna felt annoyed with himself, having broken a previous "bad habit" just now, Eska saying as much out loud at the same time just deepening the annoyance. Desna's eyes widened when he heard his mother say, "Wh - that's just part of what makes you, you! We need to melt out old habits and parts of ourselves Uanalaq almost chilled to the death, not 'fix' who we are. I haven't said anything until just now, but a lot of what you've been trying to 'fix' is as a part of you as being a bender. You were finishing each other's sentences when you were children! Why are you trying to 'fix' so many things?" blushing in a mix of embarrassment and anger slightly when she added, "Bet your girlfriend would think your bond with your sister sweet, like she did your sniffing. And be appalled to know you're trying to change everything. From what you told me, she has her own quirks." Desna admitted she was right after Malina finished, "You wouldn't want those to go away, would you?"

Re-focusing on the paper in front of them, Desna couldn't make any sense of what it said, his father having apparently gone to great trouble and length to… write the strange characters? Draw them? They looked nothing like proper characters, or even English "letters". Finding they reminded him of something he couldn't put his finger on, Desna shrugged, saying, "Maybe cousin Korra can figure this out," before his sister said, fussing with her hair some, "I'm staying here - hopefully it will just be a walk on a snowbank, and our portal barrier will hold," Desna's eyes widening when she added sullenly, "Yue said unless it's nighttime and the moon is full, she won't be able to help very much on a global level - just locally near our tribe, even daytime assistance pushing it," Desna asking, "Wh - can't she just cheat, like Raava does? Or summon that massive Koi spirit monster Avatar Aang and La formed?" idly wondering if Raava had cheated before recently.

Eska laughed, saying, "Afraid not. I'll have to ask her about 'Koizilla' though. From what Yue told me, there's certain privileges only Raava has - or Vaatu, if he was most powerful," Desna laughing when his mother asked, "Wh - cheating? I thought she was supposed to be the good guy - err, girl!" Sighing, though not out of frustration, Desna said, "Maybe you can ask her yourself someday, mom," in synch with his sister when he said, "For now, mother, we want you to stay here, help heal old wounds our father caused to all of us," Desna continuing after his sister had stopped, "Maybe even try your hand at matchmaking - though not an arranged marriage, I despise the idea - I'll have someone in Republic City, and knowing who we might be up against… maybe sooner rather than later is best, sis."

Eska now the one blushing slightly, they all left the room, what appeared to be the most important artifacts of his father's in tow - a piece of paper and two books full of the strange writing. About to go out and start the inevitable speech, hoping what he had to say would never be acted on, the trip to Republic City just a way for himself and his men to see the world as tourists and not villains, Desna noticed his sister staring off, smiling when he saw what she was looking at, Eska saying, "It's okay - you can come out. Nobody's going to hurt you."

A small seabird-like spirit appearing, Desna asked as it came closer, "Wh - how did you see that in the low light, and… are those blue lines I see on it? I mean, I saw it, but… how'd you notice it? It's so... small." All three now stopped, Eska shrugged, saying, "How'd you not notice it? Given how she looked, our mom saw the spirit too - cute little thing," giggling lightly when it landed in her hand. Paying attention to it, the mixed brown and white spirit reminded him slightly of a toucan puffin with blue and white on its bill instead of yellow and red, dark brown instead of black, but mixed with a much larger spirit, despite its small size - an adult dragon bird. Desna was slightly averse at first, eventually holding out a hand on faith - having the odd belief he might turn it Dark, given his history.

The small spirit shook its head, letting out what sounded like a sigh, pointing its blue and white toucan puffin beak at his mother's things, squawking - like it wanted to see something from the pack. Eska temporarily immobilized by jealousy, mumbling "I saw him first," after she sat down in a funk as the spirit took an interest in Desna instead, Malina saying as it hopped all over him, settling in his hand, "I may have been married to him for a long time, but I don't know a lot about spirits, unlike Unalaq. But it seems to want something. Here - spirit birdie, have your pick." Desna was not entirely surprised when it hopped off his hand, choosing the sheet with inscrutable yet vaguely familiar symbols first, Eska getting up when it began squawking loudly. The spirit looking at him expectantly, Desna got the sense it wanted his help.

Sitting down, the spirit directly in front of the paper and the rest of their family behind it, it hopped onto the paper, Desna yelping in surprise when the spirit appeared to turn Dark temporarily, swelling in size greatly and morphing slightly… yet retaining its blue coloration. Turning around, the spirit now roughly as tall as a four-year old and dwarfing the paper it had just stepped off of, Desna was not sure why he thought it should be larger. It opened a now slightly serrated and sturdier looking toucan puffin beak, the spirit apparently unable to speak, squawking as it gestured to a pencil with… dexterous-looking reptilian "hands" with pointed nails covered in white and light brown down? Feeling rather lost, Desna tossed it a pencil, giving it another sheet of paper as well after it gestured for more. The spirit turning back around, Desna watched as it apparently translated the sheet's contents, feeling a bit sick to hear the spirit whimper occasionally - as though disturbed by what it was writing.

The final result in English, not normal script, Desna took the paper eagerly, reading its contents with wide eyes as his sister asked what he wanted to know, "Why? Why in English… and not normal script?" The spirit let out a low squawk, seemingly disappointed on having been "called out" as it wrote its answer on the icy floor with a nail almost obscured by brown and white fluff. Desna was too distracted by what he was reading to see its excuse, saying out loud and upsetting the spirit for some reason as he read, "Harmonic Convergence and _Post _Harmonic Convergence Plans Highly Personal Belonging List: Scroll of plans for opening Spirit Portals. Scroll of plans for Spirit Portal defenses: KEEP ON PERSON until time is right! Drawings cannot be hidden from unworthy as words can. Avatar must not suspect me of anything. Scroll… logging content and locations of _tomes_ from communication with Vaatu? _Tomes of known spirit allies… neutrals, and enemies?_" No longer able to read aloud, the spirit was squawking so loudly, Desna turned to his mother, asking, "Wh - did you know about any of this?" saying with a shaky voice after he got no response, seeing she looked devastated all over again, "Mom - we're at war with spirits again. I have the bad feeling any spirit that would throw in its lot with Vaatu and my father back then, would go to Long Yumao or Jinshu Kuangmai and Vaatu now. This could be important - I know it might be hard, but if you know anything, be strong. Tell us," the color draining from his face when she sobbed, "I don't know, Desna, Eska - I… finally get the chance to enjoy, then this spirit shows me more things about a… raw issue… literally just this morning…"

Finally looking to see what the spirit had written in ice, Desna felt guilty, saying as he saw the spirit had tried to warn him to be discreet, "Stupid, so stupid - should have known it was in code for a reason!" Brushing him aside, Eska asked his mother, "Mom - I saw Raava reduced to tears over something that happened, directly from Vaatu, no less. Taunting her, tormenting her. She needed help to be strong - no shame in help. What do you need?" Malina responded, "Someone to hug me, love me - what your father never really did, liking spirits more than humans, it seemed… it never really hit me fully that he planned this all out until your brother, this spirit showed me…"

Taking a deep breath, Desna was relieved to hear her say strongly, "Whatever happens, I want to be there this time, even if I am all alone, without even a bad husband... I can't afford to be nowhere again," not entirely sure what she intended to do after standing up, asking them all to do the same. Getting a deep hug from his mother, Desna felt at peace, hearing Eska say, "Yue told me that as long as we have each other, we can beat whatever spirit we face. Thank… Raava the enemy we might face has an actual crippling weakness to these feelings… Love."

Desna shivered slightly at the unsaid - love might be strong, but in the **physical world**, where his cousin would be doing all of her fighting… Jinshu Kuangmai or his human goons wouldn't howl in pain if someone loving touched them, unlike a Dark Spirit of either side.

Achieving a minor breakthrough, the breach widening when he thought, "I'd rather deal with my problems along with my sister and mom than anyone else's problems," Desna didn't mind the cold as he had, could actually _sense_ what the squawking spirit wanted now... Given how his sister asked, "You want us to find more of these books, so you can scribe them out?" she did as well, surprised to hear the spirit squawk again, getting the impression that it had done all it could that was of use, other unseen but passingly mentioned books being for someone else to decipher. Giving it the other things in odd script to read, the spirit did so readily, shaking its head side to side after reading the second and last tome, Eska saying, her guess satisfactory given how the spirit nodded, "Those book aren't important… red herrings, or stuff that's already happened!" The spirit cocked its head, Desna getting the impression it was trying to convey it didn't know anything about what Eska said next, "My father must have scattered everything important far apart, in secret hiding places! Did you find anything about that?"

The spirit shrinking back down to a smaller size and landing on Eska's shoulder, Desna tried his luck, asking as all _four_ left to search areas his mother thought might hold the all-important index scroll, "Spirit - nod for being a new convert, shake side to side for being an old one," idly wondering why he had never seen the spirit before if it was an ally, given it shook its head vigorously. Getting the impression the spirit had been trying to contact them for a while and that much like the Painted Lady, few people could see it, Desna did a double-take, asking, "Wait a minute - did my father's teachings about spirits actually rub off in a good way in the end? Is that why we can see you now - no longer blinded by our hatred… and fear of him? Even get impressions from you?"

Desna thought the spirit was going to explode with happiness, given its loud squawks and celebratory mid-air pirouettes. The spirit stopped dead when Eska asked, "My father obviously planned beyond Harmonic Convergence - you wouldn't happen to be on his index in any way, would you? Or know what he planned… beyond the end of the world?" Desna blinked a few times when the spirit finally managed to speak, looking utterly exhausted after asking "Paper?" in a gravelly voice, avian tongue hanging out slightly as it wheezed pitifully. Giving the spirit what it wanted when it looked recovered, noticing that they had now drawn a crowd near the throne room's entrance, Desna was surprised to see the odd person here or there bring out materials like colored pencils - like they could not only see the spirit but also get impressions from the spirit as well. Like Jinora and any spirit, or Bumi and Bumju, but different…

Closing his eyes, not sure what he hoped to see, Desna saw an image of his father talking to the Avatar and getting the sense what was said had been changed, Unalaq saying, parts stressed, "Korra, all **the past** Avatars **lives on** **inside of you**. Let them guide you. Let them help you** find the light in the dark**," swearing he heard a familiar voice whisper in a tone he had never heard it speak in before, "With my legacy, you have done the same…"

Opening his eyes, Desna smiled, wondering if his father had been right about the **North** after all - he certainly had never heard of anyone aside from his cousin in the Southern Water Tribe communing with spirits. Hearing another squawk, Desna gave the spirit attention again, laughing when his sister rubbed its light brown feathery head, the spirit content as she asked, "How can you be any more cute?" opening its beak and squawking with what sounded like annoyance when she resisted its efforts to redirect her to its drawing. Realizing it obviously knew English, Desna asked, "Just curious - could anyone in the South see you or 'get' what you want without words?" blushing deeply when the spirit's beak opened wide in apparent laughter, getting the sense it thought he should be ashamed of himself for his arrogance. Desna didn't need to be able to get impressions to tell this spirit thought that idea the South was "degenerate" was ludicrous.

Looking at the full-color drawing, vaguely recognizing the spirit's name from the few stories his father had told without some sort of moral lesson or what he now knew to be training for their "duties" as the Dark Avatar's children - serious talk of spirits - Desna could hardly believe it as he saw what the spirit "normally" looked like at full size. Staring at the bizarre toothed snout covered in feathers and scales, the rest of the spirit feathered, appearing half bird and half predatory reptile, the nails were much more pronounced than even earlier. Looking at its "hands", he was reminded much more strongly of the spirit named Alyssralove that Raava had shown him, though that spirit did not have the… intimidating foot claws this one had in its largest form. This spirit appeared capable of flight without bending much like any other… "bird" spirit, even by physical and not spirit power alone, given the long feathers that came off its… visibly jointed wings? Exceptionally long arms?

Desna now understood why it had chosen to appear in this "cute" form, the spirit's larger form appearing primeval but in a way much different from regular spirits. The drawn spirit had a somewhat stubby tail of sorts with apparent broad flight feathers at the end. Desna stammered, "Wh- I thought you were just a story my dad told us, some mad self-proclaimed 'enlightened' hermit's ramblings from the mountains about a spirit he rarely saw, the way he told it! Even my dad had a hard time wrapping his head around such an odd concept - opposites, as one. 'Nunasiluk' … both earth, and air! 'Earthfeather'… would certainly explain your coloration." Given the spirit bobbed its head, Desna was endlessly curious as to why the spirit had shrunken so much, finding an explanation in English on the drawing: "I did not appear in this form as I did not want to frighten you, and given how you startled when I grew in size, I was correct. I can also appear 'cute' and large at the same time, only assuming this form when needed," smiling when he read the rest: "I had not expected to find you, your sister and certainly not your mother so well earlier," frowning again when he read the final words: "From what I know, not even Raava knows the contents of these secret tomes and books, written in the universal language of hatred your father apparently learned from Vaatu. I would keep this to your family for now - only present evidence to your cousin and Raava when you are ready, and keep it off the airwaves and telegraph lines." Asking it one more question about its appearance, the spirit shifted to its apparently "small" form and wrote out its response, Desna's eyes widening to read the English words "Like the Painted Lady, humans animals as well, I came from a 'lowly' animal - one that predates humans by countless generations, intelligent as well," Desna sighing in resignation when it wrote in a corner, pencil unsteady at the end, "I can sense your hope for answers about the past, but I am afraid I have nothing beyond things that would only interest academics. Raava would be unlikely to give me permission to talk on that. Just like Raava, a large gap exists in my memory - the product of something long forgotten… I do not wish to write any more. Headache…"

Getting up and realizing he should get busy and delegate tasks rather than quiz a slightly amnesiac spirit about its past, remembering how even Raava and Vaatu themselves had wanted to avoid some mystery 60,000 year gap, and given many of his Naval Commanders and Generals had served under his father that they would do as told without question, Desna made to tell his sister to start sending out telegraphs. Stopping at the last moment, getting the feeling something had a problem with it, he saw Nunasiluk looking right at him. Desna groaned, "Aw, man - what, you're my replacement for my father? Micromanager!" the spirit opening its beak in a dry laugh, Desna getting the sense it found what he said very funny - and not true at the same time. Seeing it gesture out towards the crowd with one wing, Desna was pretty sure what the spirit wanted - for him to give some sort of speech before giving out orders.

Noticing more than a few people in the crowd looked expectant as well, Desna smiled slightly to see a young girl point at Nunasiluk and say, her smaller brother who appeared all of two looking at the spirit as well, "That's a pretty bird - can I touch it? I've never seen a toucan puffin before! And definitely not one that grows big either! Wait - that's a spirit! Cool!" Hearing the girl's father say derisively, "Well I don't see anything - as usual. Stay by my side -safe. Silly little girl, not even ten and you think - Poallu, get back, that's the Chief there!" Desna acted on impulse, using the man's poor parenting as a starting point as the girl looked ready to cry, her little brother already crying as Desna said, "No - she's fine. Maybe _you_ should get back. I'm going to need all the _good_ men and women I can get shortly here, as my cousin Avatar Korra and the other world leaders want us to go to Republic City. The kind of enemy we might be facing there, I don't want anyone like my father, or you coming - love will be our greatest weapon." Desna laughed to see the man's wife had a lot more spunk than his mother had, the man looking small as she berated him and their daughter played with Nunasiluk, "How many times do I have to tell you, you stubborn fool - the new Chiefs, Desna **and** Eska. **They're** not like their father. The old's out, and for the last time, if you're not careful with what you say to Poallu, so are you! Look at how you made Suka cry!" Continuing his speech, getting some inspiration from how Poallu and Nunasiluq were playing, what must have been Suka running over and joining his older sister as well, even though one was a toddler and the other a spirit that apparently predated humans themselves, Desna said, Poallu and Suka's mother blushing as he used her as a good example, "Even my father was right about some things - that humans and spirits should live together. Just like Suka and Poallu are. I don't know how many of you can see this ancient spirit - 'Nunasiluq', 'earthfeather', two opposites as one - or how it's playing with Poallu happily, but this is the future - and past, to an extent - we'll be fighting for. For three years after my father's demise, humans and spirits coexisted everywhere peacefully - until one power-hungry and hateful spirit changed everything. Long Yumao - the whole reason I'm calling on everyone who's willing to come with me to Republic City. I am sure you know of the earthen barrier my cousin, Avatar Korra, erected there - just like the barrier my sister and I erected around our Spirit Portal, and our cousin empowered with all her past life's energy, Raava's - most importantly, the energy of love."

Pausing for breath, noticing his sister was crying silently as she watched the growing crowd of children around Nunasiluq, Desna found himself needing to pause, continuing after a few tears of his own, "I'm sorry - seeing what 'Long Yumao the Opportunist' calls evil, vile, wrong up close and personal, especially considering my own checkered past, and the actions of my father, nearly bringing about ten thousand years of darkness… it makes me very angry, to think anyone or anything could be against it. Even Jinshu Kuangmai - I do not know how much you have heard of him exactly, the North being the North, I know the Spirit Civil War is much closer to us than turmoil in the southern main continental mass - sees humans and spirits cooperating together, though for conquest and war. While I have a lot of faith in my cousin's work around the Spirit Portals, here, in Republic City, and our brothers and sisters in the South, Avatar Korra has reservations. She believes for some reason a humanitarian mission she and her close allies are on right now may have collateral damage besides Earth Empire soldiers - the barriers themselves, broken, Dark Spirits loyal to both Long Yumao and Vaatu's current 'pet' human, Jinshu Kuangmai, to roam freely again in the world."

Hearing the fearful gasps, the scattered screams, hearing one person ask loudly, "What are we gonna do about it, huh - and why are we leavin' for Republic City if our own home might come under attack!" Desna tried to re-focus, saying, "We have Yue to protect us - she has assured me she can act along with La during the day to help protect the North," Desna not knowing what to say when a boy asked, "Why dinn'she help three years ago then, when you dad was bad, Chief?" Desna jumped slightly as did many others when snow in front of them shifted, characters forming that said, "Yue here. Myself and La already straddle the Physical and Spirit Worlds, and the blurring of the lines between the two of late has let unusual things happen," Desna smiling to see the characters, "Until recently, the only time our worlds came as close as they are now was during Harmonic Convergence. Had the showdown during Harmonic Convergence happened under a full moon, things would have turned out very… different, La having no great love of human villains after what Zhao did to Tui," appear, then vanish into the wind as snowflakes. Desna got goosebumps when the idle thought passed through his mind: "If Raava can't see the future… what are things _really_ going to be like after this last 'pulse'? The first pulse let spirits bleed and cry… aside from the bending, what's going to happen? Harmonic Convergence… _all the time_?" realizing with a dull horror such a state would let Jinshu Kuangmai become the second Dark Avatar after all…

Many people clapping, shelving the concern until later, Desna was glad to see Yue and her other more… "spirit-y" half La could act close to home after all - even if they couldn't do anything anywhere else unless the Moon was full. Desna continued, "As you can see, we're perfectly safe. And in the event the barriers break, we may not see many spirits here anyways. Long Yumao has many reasons to hate Republic City more than us - not the least of which being it's home to my cousin and her lover, Asami Sato, and home to many spirits who peacefully cohabited with humans since my sister - err, cousin, decided to keep the portals open in the first place." Seeing the same loud man looking ready to speak again, Desna tried to anticipate his question, saying, "Avatar Korra has said she will not close any portals aside from the Republic City Spirit Portal - even then, she does not know what doing such a thing would do," Desna listening to Eska continue for him, "My cousin and the first Avatar, Avatar Wan - who thought he made the right decision in closing the portals ten thousand years ago - both believe the new portal to be _linked_ to far more than just passage into and out of the Spirit World through Republic City. Cousin Korra attempted to get a 'read' on the portal, but did not have time, Dark Spirits chasing her off." The man still looking annoyed, Desna did his best to not laugh when Eska said curtly, "Look, I know it sounds goofy, given no one has seen cracks in our work, the symbols my cousin added pulsing as strongly as they did the first day I've heard - our portal's barrier looks just fine last I saw it, aside from a few naturally caused cracks my brother and I fixed already. And if you're concerned about favoritism or safety - Avatar Korra hasn't even really assigned anyone to guard our sister tribe to the South, _her home_, and unlike the South, we've got Yue and La to help protect us. Like my brother said. There's no favoritism involved - we all know the North has a much better military than the South. We're just being asked to pull out weight - just like my cousin has asked the Fire Nation to do already on the other war. But almost all of Republic City's military forces and many of its civilians are off doing something else - helping Avatar Korra with what's hopefully a very quick operation in the southern Earth Empire."

Eska now the one looking tired, Desna laughed lightly when she said, "All yours" in English and ran off to just sit and watch Nunasiluq and his child entourage, Desna not sure if she was watching the children or the spirit himself closer. Desna continued, "My cousin has already committed to helping evacuate Omashu and a nearby prison camp – Omashu is under the control of a friendly rebel airbender named Yangchen, and the prison camp is under control of one of Jinshu Kuangmai's former top women, 'Chief Containment Officer' Jasmine - both women of unimpeccable morals. Omashu holds new airbenders we did not learn of until recently, and the prison camp, many 'sexual criminals' that before Jasmine revolted, were scheduled for… execution today at a sick dinner Jinshu Kuangmai wanted to throw." Hearing more than a few horrified gasps, Desna continued, "We can do our part by going to Republic City along with the Fire Nation, just in case we're needed. My cousin, everyone else helping her - if they have to worry about the city, let alone go back assuming the worst happens and the barriers break, they won't be able to deliver the help they've promised. Omashu, fallen, the prison camp, snuffed out. Which, now that I think about it… failure of their mission and triumph of the Earth Empire could cause the seals to break."

Getting plenty of confused responses, some people speaking words that Poallu and the other older children nearby found hilarious or naughty, Desna heard the loud man ask, "WH - I thought the spirits didn't like humans fighting - can't they make up their minds?" Desna responded, pointing at Nunasiluq, "Not every spirit is as reasonable as the one you see… or may not see in front of you. I am sure you've all had run-ins with unreasonable or hypocritical spirits over the past three years," quipping, "Not to mention the ones that hung around my father," seeing many people nod and a few give nervous laughs as he continued, "Spirits tend to lack the greyscale world view humans have, seeing things in black and white, or humans below their concern. Influenced by whoever they see as the most powerful. Long Yumao himself is quite the hypocrite, telling my cousin Avatar Korra one week she couldn't use spirits for war to defend their shared home, a few weeks later, basically declaring war on humanity itself after taking offense to two entirely reasonable gifts - Korra's daughter, and something no one here has yet to see - tuber-vines, intended as a peaceful power source, both to power homes, or war machines piloted by righteous people." Remembering the spirit's penchant for lies, Desna continued, ignoring a teen's question of, "When are we getting 'tuber-vines' - heard about them already! Heard it's power so cheap don't bother get charged for!" initially, "Being the liar he is, I suspect Long Yumao may have simply wanted an excuse for power for himself - he does have the title 'The Opportunist', after all, one I vaguely remember Raava saying he had earned. Nowhere but Republic City and an island in the Fire Nation have tuber-vines, and they are in limited supply - for now, more only being able to be created on accident." Seeing a few people looking annoyed, one saying, "Wh- what's Izumi done to deserve some exactly? She had almost no forces at Republic City!" Desna sighed, saying, "Circumstances are not always what we want, and other people share your concern - right now, Republic City has most of the world's supply, but they can't even use them, since Republic City has no spirit weaponry production capability!" Seeing multiple people nod, the man who had objected saying, "Whatever - I'm sure Avatar Korra will distribute them fairly," Desna sighed again, saying, "One thing I didn't mention is that they're alive - not things to be spread around like coal or firewood. They also possess immense power - power that will likely be needed elsewhere, the only thing **our **Tribe hopefully needing them for being electrical power, being so far away from fighting and not having what is needed to use them properly anyways."

Desna hoped this was true, realizing his sister might have to rely on spirits for defense…. if it really came to that. The North certainly didn't have the specialized industry Zaofu must have to produce so many spirit weapons. It didn't even have any great amount of _regular _industry! Desna thought, "Perhaps I can convince cousin to give us some of the other Omashu 'evacuees' - industrial equipment. I'd like to be independent - all alone, at the top of the world, as far from help as we are from helping others…"

Seeing the man nod, Desna hoping again they wouldn't need spirit weaponry himself, he finished, "Regardless, spirits could revolt and break the barriers if humans fight too much, but they could also revolt and break the barriers if humans back out on deals they have made and Jinshu Kuangmai is allowed to kill whoever he wants freely." Desna cursed under his breath when he realized that could apply to the deal his cousin had struck with Jinshu Kuangmai on Vaazula - still not entirely sure what she had been thinking. Remembering something he had shoved aside earlier after realizing the deal's process would need Raava to be very close to Jinshu Kuangmai, the possibility of a second Dark Avatar entered his mind again unbidden.

Without this… disturbing new consideration, at least the deal wasn't as stupid as trusting Zaheer… Looking to the crowd, Desna continued, pointing to himself, his sister, then everyone in front of him, " 'We' are possibly in a 'Catch-22'. I'll repeat it - a 'Catch-22.' It is… a phrase I made up for this," glad waterbenders couldn't truthsense as he continued, "A 'Catch-22' is when you find yourself in a place where you must do something with bad consequences or face equally bad consequences, caught between two contradictory 'rules' - in spirit's eyes, the evacuation is one of two things. 'The evacuation cannot take place, because it is people fighting and behaving badly,' or 'The evacuation must take place, because it has already been promised to other humans, and going back on your word and letting people die is behaving badly.' I never said spirits were all smart."

Hearing another loudmouth, this one a woman, chime in, "Then why'd your idiot of a cousin decide to do it in the first place? Go back home instead! Why not go back home after the conference I heard about?" Desna found himself wishing he were a bloodbender, his sister snapping, "BECAUSE THEY WERE GOING TO EXECUTE PEOPLE LIKE MY COUSIN AND ASAMI SATO, that's why! My brother said it - did you not hear? OR CARE? That prison camp wasn't just for waterbenders and firebenders - the latter of which Jasmine had to convince Jinshu Kuangmai to not kill in the first place! He…. He wanted to hunt down, kill every last single person who wasn't 'sexually normal' in his little 'Empire' - she had to… do something!" Eska crying by the end of her outburst, noticing the woman looked horrified - but only for a second…

Desna's stomach sank to hear the same woman yell, not sure if her face was flush from nervousness or hatred, "I don't care about the prisoners - and I don't care about your stupid edict either; it's not natural!" and then a man assert, "I've heard the whole reason for this Spirit Civil War - your cousin getting treated specially by Raava with that rich brat Asami! Getting a kid when nobody else could… Maybe Long Yumao's right about that!" Desna realized after three years free from an "overly strong" leader like his father that his people were not only insolent over trivial things, but worse - some of them, heartless. Desna felt his rage rising, eventually yelling, "I certainly don't need anyone like YOU close-minded … ughs coming along with me to Republic City!" twirling around, feeling his body move automatically and pointing at a few of those who had spoken, saying loudly as emotion replaced reason, "I've heard there might be people willing to become turncoats for power, betray humanity - but I never thought there might be some who'd do it because they find ideas more important than… everything!" Noticing a group formed of about twenty people, Desna pointed at the one who had dared say Long Yumao might have a point, saying, "You - right there - the one who said Long Yumao might be right, despite seeing children play with a good spirit - why didn't you speak up when my sister and I first spoke about this? Spoke against our decree? Strength in numbers now, is it?"

Panting heavily, self-awareness returning as adrenaline was no longer rising, holding steady, Desna saw he was using both hands to point a large icy blade at the man in question, looking down on him from at least twenty feet in the air atop a spiral of water, people around the twenty strong group assuming bending stances. All people around this man looked full of fear, the young woman who had spoken earlier looking bewildered and an older woman with a vague resemblance looking anxious. The "ringleader" man apparently not afraid, after saying, "Provin' my point with that kind of behavior", the man shrugged, Desna just now noticing his sister had acted in a similar manner, two frosty blades pointed at the man. The anonymous man was not at all cowed by the ice's sharp edge as he said confidently, "Hmmmph. It's just an opinion - not worth killing me over. It's not like I'm Chief and able to make binding proclamations, and your 'boss' giving you a _gift_ like that is pretty darn favoritistic," the formerly nervous older woman smiled oddly as she said after, "I am not the only one unafraid of you 'Chief' Desna. Very well - if you're going to resort to displays of power like your father, physical threats like your precious cousin the Avatar might have before becoming soft with that Asami _woman_, do it. Fight me. Kill me," Desna swearing the woman mouthed "You'll be sorry you did." Something about her disturbed him… but he didn't know what.

Though Desna had no desire to kill, he felt any will to take this woman up on his "offer" fade after hearing the scattered crying of children, lowering himself down with great control, holding back rage as he said, "No, I won't. The other man who spoke before you is right - it is just an opinion. If you ever make to act on that opinion… that's a different story, and you will be dealt with justly. To everyone else – I am sorry if I frightened you." The older woman still looked hostile, the twenty-something who bore a strong resemblance to her the only one out of what Desna had decided to call the "Troublesome Twenty" not looking the least bit distressed for now. That changed when Desna continued, still feeling angry, "Given no one here can judge you like Raava might, I won't incarcerate you either. But you WILL regret making me realize there might be people who would betray humanity, you saying Long Yumao might be right. Most of all, you … older woman. Offering to fight me over an opinion. What are you defending, exactly?" The man who had spoken up blubbered, saying, "Wh- what? I ain't no Dark Spirit lover, least of all one that wants to enslave me! All I said is, it's pretty darn favoritistic, if that's even a word, to give your 'host' a huge present no one else could ever have, unless I missed somethin' in that press conference." Seeing most of the Twenty nod with two exceptions, Desna frowned when the older woman said, what Desna assumed to be her daughter looking composed again, not nodding herself, "Your father was many things - but he never risked the wrath of spirits for a few unnaturals." Desna shook his head, the older woman seeming to take offense when he countered, "No - he risked the wrath of spirits, and got it, just to banish his older brother!" adding without thinking, "You have early selective memory, or something? Crazy old lady!"

Noticing some Chieftan's Guard were now present, Desna sighed, he ignored the woman's response, only catching, "So rude - fifty's not old!" as he said, "Men, make sure these men and women never get close to the Northern Spirit Portal," rather unnerved when he got the sense there was another being nearby who would more than gladly oblige on using lethal force if this order were violated.

Realizing he hadn't heard a peep out of Nunasiluq, Desna looked around for the friendly spirit, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw a form he had only seen on paper standing next to him, though at much reduced size. Even then, the spirit still stood as tall as a grown man, not everyone around Nunasiluq recoiling, those that did not apparently unable to see him. Desna was able to understand what Nunasiluq was saying to the Troublesome Twenty, despite the spirit speaking in what sounded like an odd raspy mix between a bird's chatter and a dragon's roar, barking at times like a reptilian dog, "Most reprehensible behavior - I can see your energy, unlike these other humans. And I do not think 'purple' signifies neutral between Raava and Vaatu, given what you have said… it could be the third party. I am sure Raava would find no problem with me directly guarding the Spirit Portal without being told to do so." Desna noticed the older woman began sweating after Nunasiluq hopped closer and said, still using a "language" more barking than English to speak, hand claws displayed, "The way you talk… Perhaps use one of these blades for the first time in millennia, if you decide to compromise the portal's ice barrier… or anything else," Nunasiluq hissing, "A very, very long time…." at the end.

As though getting a message from a different powerful spirit, Nunasiluq shifted to his much less intimidating form, Desna only able to get impressions now and vaguely missing the strange speech. Given the way the spirit was covering its beak with its wings, riding his shoulder in apparent shame, it must have gotten a very stern talking to by Yue. Desna got the sense somehow Yue's problem wasn't Nunasiluq's issue with this woman - it was the other parts, not fully understanding human behavior yet still acting threateningly. Desna had to admit the man had a point in a way, Korra and Raava having refused with the "heir" help vehemently, Desna seeing his former state as sure a "handicap" to having a kid as being infertile, and Nunasiluq had lumped the "ringleader" in with this mysterious hostile woman. Eska having apparently gotten something as well, she said, "Leave them. I think Yue can handle herself, make sure any traitors don't compromise the portal," Desna blushing and Nunasiluq whimpering when she said, "Enough intimidating women-brats and man-children, and making actual children run away," the man whimpering when she added icily, the older woman looking oddly confident as his sister tried to be threatening, " 'Just opinion' or not, tread lightly, and do not venture near the portal - scythes might still be in your future, Nunasiluq being 'called off' or not. Ice scythes…"

Finally calming down, Desna tried to get Nunasiluq away from him to say something to Eska, not wanting to talk to the spirit, eventually relenting after the spirit whimpered at him pathetically, saying over growing chatter in English, "Let's not bring this up to cousin Korra just yet - okay? Certainly not over telegraph and radio," getting the sense he might be overruled causing him to add, "Nunasiluq, you can tell Raava - but… I'm still disturbed by it. Do not tell Korra." Desna said "Fine," after getting the impression that this was too important to brush off - but he was right to want to wait until the best time possible to tell his cousin, puzzled to get the impression long distance spirit communication might not be possible. Thinking, "Who knows - there might be other… dubious souls out there," Desna wanted to ask about this last impression, but got distracted by the noise around him.

Chatter now a dull roar, Desna listened in, glad to hear people _volunteering_ to keep the "Troublesome Twenty" under watch, his eyes widening to hear one young voice ask, "When I was seven, before I had a little brother, didn't that old woman run out of town?" Desna smiling to hear a male voice from earlier respond, "Yes, Poallu - she did. Still don't know why. And… Sweetie… I'm sorry," frowning slightly as what must have been Poallu's father continued, "You saw how Desna reacted to… that. Knowing his father, I was right to be cautious - honey, no, he acted without thinking! Desna apologized himself!" Desna coughed loudly, saying to the much larger crowd around him, noticing it still included Chieftan's Guard and now had a few military men in it as well, "My father taught us to repress our emotions. I believe this was my first test - and while I wish I had been… aware? Of what I was doing at the time… I didn't kill him, no matter if Asami Sato herself was the inspiration for my change." Seeing a few people had blank looks, Desna said, "She's the reason for my personal transformation - which led to me cutting taxes," laughing when he got cheers, questioning his decision to not tell cousin Korra about this… incident when he heard someone say, "Forget the 'Twenty Losers' - I want to thank Asami personally!" Desna was pretty sure he was going to break it when he heard a younger male say, "I look forward to going to Republic City with my boyfriend - help protect the city that started it all!" Eska ribbed him and said in English, "Maybe we should tell her," Desna frowning slightly when she added, "Though, it would be through telegraph to the Western Air Temple from what I can gather. And we both know what a pain those machines are."

Initially feeling like he wanted to start mustering right away, Desna got the impression someone would think that was a bad idea, sighing, "Nunasiluq - we know you can 'talk'. Just go to your other form!" getting the impression the answer was no, only… really advanced people were able to get impressions, but anyone could "understand" the spirit's odd speech? Whether they could see him or not?

Smiling broadly as Nunasiluq squawked, Eska said in English, "I'll start looking for father's things - you go talk to Poallu's family and - oh for 'Pete's' sake, you want us both to go looking? Fine - brother, go with Poallu's family, and… I guess I'll do the mustering. A lot of the Chieftan's Guard is already here anyways," Desna chuckling lightly when Eska teased in English, "And I know you'll want them for your little firebender date." Nunasiluq bobbed his head, opening his beak in a dry laugh when Desna protested in English, "But I wanted to do that, the mustering - it's not… emotional!"

Desna did not bother to reprimand a group of people who had made impromptu "badges" for the possible Long Yumao sympathizers to wear, signing off on the idea himself, adding the stipulation that the older woman and her daughter be specially marked. Desna walked over and introduced himself at the same time reminding himself to just be honest, hoping this interaction with Poallu's family would go well - trying to push the odd mother and daughter from his mind. Desna couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the pair disturbed him deeply - mainly the mother, the daughter seeming conflicted somehow…

Looking at Poallu's mother, still having his doubts about her husband, Desna said, "Uh - hello. I already know two of you - Poallu, and Suka. What are your names again?" The woman smiled, saying, "My name's Nini, and my husband's name is Iluq," Iluq groaning when she added, "'Frost' - name's a bit too appropriate, if you ask me," Poallu groaning when Nini added, apparently hoping to not be heard by her children, "Not just Poallu he's cold around, if you know what I mean." Desna coughed, saying, "Tell me more about your daughter," able to see Nini likely wanted to harp more on her husband the way she was staring at him. Or something else Desna didn't really want to think about, having found Nini's comment… inappropriate, odd. And given most people still found him and his sister odd, mainly for reasons both had agreed they would no longer try and change, that was saying something.

Laughing lightly when Poallu claimed she was the second Avatar, now able to see why her father had been suspicious of her claim of seeing Nunasiluq, Nini said, "I have to admit, she does make herself hard to believe at times - though she has made a lot of spirit friends, Nunasiluq the first one I couldn't see." Desna's eyes widened when Poallu sniffed, "All of my friends got blue and white lines a while ago, then went to the Spirit World - said they needed to fight again the bad guys in there, do their duty," the young girl having a point when she asked, "I don't know why we can't just let the bad guys have that place - let all the spirits who want to be around people be around us, like Nunasiluq!" Poallu had struck Desna as sweet, so he was rather surprised when she said, her father and mother nodding alike, "You did the right thing earlier - and keeping tabs on them's a good idea too," nodding when she said, "Especially that… aged woman. She creeps me out." Desna shrugged, saying, "She creeps me out too. And on the other thing… I guess - still seems a little hypocritical, but spirits wear their allegiance on their sleeves, so… and it's just tracking them anyways." Thinking of a possible issues, he added, "Anyone caught roughing them up _if they haven't done anything_ won't get off free either - I don't want to punish people for opinions, just actions." Iluq sighed for some reason, Nini looking more relaxed when Poallu's father said, "Pretty humiliating, getting used as an example - though in my defense, no offense, I wasn't as bad as your father was, Chief Desna." Desna bowed, saying, "None taken," looking at Poallu's bright blue eyes as he asked her, "You said you've talked to spirits - they say anything about why there's so… few Long Yumao-aligned Dark Spirits out and about? Or the other bad guys?"

Poallu nodded, Desna laughing at the enemy's hubris when she said, smiling, "They really don't like us, to the point of stupidity - according to Fuzzywing - looks sort of like Nunasiluqwhen he's cute but with blue and white puffs for wings and a lot smaller - whenever a spirit decides Long Yumao's the way to go, they leave our world out of disgust of sharing it with even a single human," Poallu looking a little miffed when her brother said, "Sis say…spirit… mad after! Regret… decision! Right words, sis?" Still not sure how that had anything to do with Vaatu-aligned spirit's absence, Desna realized Poallu likely had more than one spirit friend, everyone in their family's eyes widening except Suka when he said, "Tell you what, Poallu - you seem to know a lot about spirits, even have spirit friends, just like Jinora did. And does… I want you to stay behind and help my sister with spirits - Nini, Iluq, you too, but with people. Work with my mom, make sure the people who stay here are ready to fight. My sister will explain more," Desna's heart sinking slightly when Suka asked haltingly, looking confused, "Why no… you mom… with you? Not get." Desna forgot himself for a moment and said, "I've got someone waiting for me in Republic City - I'll be fine," groaning slightly when Nini's eyes sparkled, giggling, "I hear Narook's the closest you can get to real Water Tribe food there, whatever or… _whoever_ you're meeting."

Looking at the family in front of him, Desna smiled - realizing he was starting to achieve lifelong ambitions, thanking them by saying, "Any Chief who does not rely on his people is missing out on a lot," chuckling lightly when Suka asked innocently, "Ever bad Chief?"

Bowing politely, sure he'd see them again sometime soon and not wanting to explain his father to a two-year old, Desna noticed the "Troublesome Twenty" sitting around aimlessly, purple badges on their shoulders. One Desna recognized from earlier, the young woman, said, sounding off slightly, "Well, crap, mom, if everyone's going to treat us like this just because we don't dig chicks on chicks, or, well, I don't have to say it - but it rhymes… what do we have to lose?" The color draining from his face, Desna noticing Nunasiluq shifted uncomfortably as Desna looked at him, Desna made an ice wave, bending himself over, yelling, "Wait, no, stay! I'm not the best with faces, so the patches are just to help keep track… Treating you like what, exactly?" The woman who had spoken shied away, saying, "Why should I tell you- not like you care about us 'monsters'! Even had a special patch made for me and my mother…" Desna sighed, shaking his head as he said, "Look, I'm just trying to make sure nothing bad happens to our tribe," adding as Nunasiluk hopped down and onto the peeved "ringleader's" head, the man mumbling about invisible weight, "Human and spirit alike. Go on, tell me what happened." The woman sighed, saying, "Whatever - it's these stupid badges' fault! It's been, what, five minutes, already got people making blue and white badges for themselves, taunting us - thinking we'd sell our soul just because we don't like… well, your cousin, your decree, all that crap." Wondering aloud how the decree hurt anyone, Desna burst out laughing when the ringleader claimed, "Y'see - when you let a man and a man get married, a woman and a woman, it makes my marriage less valuable, and mocks the - why you laughing? What do you know about marriage?" the man grumbling in resignation when Desna said, "I know what it's like to be the product of a bad one, that's for sure - and as far as I know, my cousin and Asami are the only 'deviants' to ever have kids, period! And will probably raise a better kid than you!"

Hearing the man grumble about favoritism, Desna didn't know what to say, the only reason the "Troublesome Twenty" didn't run off or try to fight being that Desna screamed at the same time they did when Nunasiluq decided to weigh in, saying in translated reptilian barking and light hissing, "From what little I know, Raava does not intend it to be favoritism. One day - after Long Yumao's put down, I may add, in case you're really thinking about betraying anyone - she hopes anyone not naturally able to have kids will be able to do so. Infertile, and what you call 'undesirables' alike." Nunasiluq getting multiple demands at once, the spirit simply barked, "Love finds a way" and shrank to normal size after, Desna saying quickly, "Uh- see? No favoritism there - anyone can have kids post Civil War!" throwing his hands up in the air like a fool, saying "Yaaaay!" nervously, wondering if this would win over the grumpy looking older woman. Glad to see the man and everyone except the young woman and her mother look less grumpy, smiling slightly when the "ringleader" said, " 'Least they'll contribute to society, and the… 'human-y' population, way that kite would say it." Desna listened as the young woman interjected, getting the sense she might be playing a part in some small way given her tone, "Whatever - still think it's weirdo, wrong - but I shouldn't have to wear no damn patch for my opinion! Single me out for my… feelings! Specially not this **special** patch with … Long Yumao's beak on it!" looking like she might cry towards the end, playing nervously with a hair loopy.

Desna never having heard Nunasiluq squawk quite this loudly, he got the impression they had staved off something very bad, the "Troublesome Twenty" rubbing their eyes as something they couldn't see and could rarely hear removed the purple patches. Asking the woman again, swearing she was looking at Nunasiluq, Desna said, "That better? Not sure why my spirit friend here freaked out, quite honestly," Desna laughing loudly when the ice in front of him deformed, characters reading, "Yue here, AGAIN - don't think I can't catch you if you try and do something stupid in the North," facing the Twenty, Desna's eyes widening when he saw the English letters that spelled out, "Nunasiluq doesn't have a connection to Raava strong enough currently to disseminate the… intricacies of everything. Ask him for more out of earshot of these people."

Not having been told about this broken link quite so directly, Desna erased everything but the warning to the Twenty, noticing the woman from before looked conflicted as Nunasiluq tapped his shoulder with one thankfully clawless foot after landing again. Desna realizing the patches brought out bad behavior in people, Desna asked the young woman, "My spirit friend here took your patch off. What's wrong?" The woman shook her head as though his voice was that of a "demon", saying, "No, no… go away… I don't… I need time…" Desna saw the other members of the Twenty were giving her a funny look, mostly sympathetic, except for the only other one who had worn the beak patch - her mother. Noticing the daughter looked very ill at ease as her mother stared at her, Desna drew up some water quickly, holding it around the woman to shield her from any potential attack as Nunasiluq hopped off his shoulder, apparently shifting forms given how he heard reptilian barking translated as, "This human's energy appears to be truly mixed… the daughter, that is. I saw her looking at me… I'll watch them, Desna," the spirit managing to add in very strained raspy English, "slipping" into its own language towards the end, "The… search for… spirits can… wait. Talk to… her. Human and… love most… important. GAEERCH. No… more… speech."

Out of range of the… Nineteen, noticing the mother looked absolutely livid, and not just because a powerful spirit was currently pressing a hooked claw she couldn't likely see against her jugular, Desna sat down with the daughter. Desna noticed with a last glance the Nunasiluq wasn't the only spirit taking an interest in this conflict, constantly refreshing ice having formed around a few of the Nineteen - including the woman's mother, still under very close… "watch" by Nunasiluq. Desna smiled slightly to see the ringleader ranting about how "It don't matter if they can ree produce, you stupid old woman! I just gotta own my own bad marriage I guess - hush!" swearing the young woman's mother was mouthing a threat at the "ringleader". Given how Desna saw Nunasiluq bare his many teeth and hiss for the first time, something had been said. Looking at the young woman up close and personal, having been distracted earlier, he noticed she was striking. She was husky yet strong-looking, having gotten the sense from Nunasiluq the spirit thought she and her mother were exceptional benders somehow. Looking at the young woman, Desna realized with a sinking feeling in his stomach she had likely been restrained by emotional shackles, her mother not looking a match physically for her at all.

Taking this all in, thinking about possible things they held in common, a part of him thought, "Wow - if I didn't think what I think about her being, I'd… be tempted to ask her out, if I weren't going to see Ursa II," saying as the woman's blue eyes watered, "You seem strong to me – just like my sister and I thought ourselves strong, before our change recently. Maybe even when we were following father…" noticing she looked away from him as he continued, "You seemed to be playing a part earlier. Saying things you didn't really mean. I've heard of this before - someone who is really one thing acting like they're something else." The young woman looking away still, she flinched slightly as if from an invisible slap when Desna said, "The way you acted earlier, torn between keeping up some hateful charade, showing what you really felt at times with your face and body… I think you've been playing a part for someone for a long time – just like one of my personal heroes."

The young woman broke down and buried her head in her arms, hair loops, watering eyes and all as soon as he said the name: "Asami Sato."

Noticing she still looked confused, hurt, conflicted, self-hating, Desna found himself reminded of his cousin as well at one of her darkest points, the young woman's free-flowing hair on the back of her head the only part of her that seemed free – some kind of raw power, untapped, unused against her _likely _abusive mother restrained as well. As his father had once restrained him and Eska… but likely worse. Feeling empathy and sympathy at the same time, having had a terrible parent himself, Desna began telling the woman both Asami and Korra's stories, and how Asami's opening had helped himself, finding he felt better himself as he did so. Desna even relayed one thing he had not gotten the full details of himself - something about Korra healing more fully after interacting with a _representation_ of her past self, Desna having the sneaking suspicion no one but Raava and all her spirits, Asami and Korra herself would ever really know what went on.

The woman finally spoke, lowly at first, "Thank you… Chief. Your father… I've heard who inspired you to change, but never her story. I never thought someone so powerful would… care," beginning to stand up as she said much more strongly, practically yelling by the end, "I'm afraid there's something I need to do before I can talk much more. My name… is Tatkret. More than just a name, Desna… my mother wanted me to do 'great' things, my name, a reminder. You may have wondered how my despicable mother, over there, has controlled me for so long - **even got me to hate myself**. Every part - what I want to do with my life, who I want to see… Well, I'll tell you everything - as you have told me… after this," adding with slight hesitation, crying a little, "If I can handle it…" Desna looked to her mother, seeing her eyes were wide…

Unnaturally wide.

No sooner had Desna noticed the mother's huge whites, tiny irises and pupils than an icy, terrible and great pain seized his being, hoping, "praying" this bloodbender had never heard about the technique his cousin used on the shark whale... Desperately wanting to see what was going on, he heard Tatkret yell, Desna feeling as though someone were fighting to keep him awake and not blacked out, "MOTHER - twenty three years of life, fifteen years of training, TEN YEARS of mental torture after you found out who I really was…You're trying to bend my 'blubber'? I remember every insult, every mocking – especially what you told my brother… Watch - HAH! Trying to bloodbend a spirit - trying to bloodbend ME. I just broke from your little hold… I can see that spirit's clawhold on you - and you can't even see him. DEAD inside! You're pathetic. Hearing how a tyrant, just like you but stronger - hah, even have unusual power over the same substance - wanted to… to kill people like me, in some sort of great show, for _dinner entertainment_… mocked for supporting a spirit I have every reason to want see DEAD - just like YOU! The first man to ever care about me enough to be vulnerable and be open with me my Chief. Telling me about my other new heroes. Even if that spirit's telling the truth, I can have kids MY WAY someday… forget you and your stupid line of benders. You, cousin of Yakone, myself, my brother who you abused for different reasons, part of a long line of 'great' waterbenders or not… It's all ending here," adding bitterly, "The way you saw it, it had already ended, if you couldn't manage to twist me into 'normal' and my kind-hearted brother into 'a proper bloodbender' in time before your pathetic life ended. Wanting an 'heir'… to a pathetic 'dynasty'!"

Tatkret paused, Desna hoping she really had changed her mind on killing her mother as she continued more stably, "No - death is too 'kind' a fate for you, and killing you - I'd only be doing what you trained me to do," Desna hearing what sounded like a relieved hissing sigh from Nunasiluq after. Immediately after Tatkret said, "Let's see how you like this - disobeying ALL of your teachings, mother," Desna felt as though someone else were in control of his body fully now, finding him forced to face and see what Tatkret wanted to do to her mother, what Tatkret thought worse than death. Desna saw everyone but Nunasiluq and Tatkret's mother blacked out, scared people in the distance. Given how he saw a few Chieftan's Guard blacked out in a circle, they had tried to come to his aid – only to be overpowered by this cousin of Yakone. Tatkret's mother floating up and away from Nunasiluq, the spirit hissed in confusion, Desna thought at first that Tatkret had chosen to go back to death, the impression only strengthening when Tatkret said, "Now… to take what you hold most valuable, mother. More valuable than family – the only reason you HAD a family."

Desna listened in horror as Tatkret's mother said, floating just out of a flustered Nunasiluq's reach, Desna not sure what the spirit wanted to do exactly, "What - NO! NOT MY BENDING! The gift… I'd rather DIE than you take my bending away!" feeling as though someone else, hostile, had taken control of his body again as Tatkret's mother howled, "I'LL BEND YOUR BLUBBER, unnatural husky wretch! I'll do more than that later… Do not disrespect me – or your brother will suffer! I'm still stronger than you - trained for over twice your deviant lifetime!" Desna found himself moving as the woman cackled, "Overheard a bit of your **blubbering**, with the 'Chief' - you say Korra and Asami are some of your heroes now, instead of the **man** I wanted you to honor - Yakone? Want to do to me, what this pathetic current Avatar's predecessor did to him?" Desna began sweating as she continued, wondering just how she intended to keep a spirit still as she said, "I'm sure your precious Chief's throat will find one of this spirit's claws I felt on my neck earlier sooner or later!"

Hearing a loud, confident young feminine yell, followed by the sounds of crackling ice, Desna found any hold over his body lifted, kneeling on the ground out of exhaustion, saying, "Never… been bloodbent before… awful…" adding as an afterthought, "Wonder if… cousin's form is any…. different… feeling," feeling faint afterwards…

Not entirely sure if he'd wake up again if he blacked out, Desna tried waking himself up with super cooled water, finding the freezing sensation like life's kiss after being bloodbent for so long. Hearing a woman's whimpering, Desna feared Tatkret had lost, but felt nothing tugging on him. Standing up again, Desna turned to face the sound's source, seeing Tatkret holding her mother in a firm lock near Nunasiluq, Tatkret saying, "You said you'd rather die than lose your bending. If that's really what you want, mother… I'll do for you what you never did for me. Forcing me to learn bloodbending like you've forced my little brother, EARLY at that, a whole year sooner than me, forcing me to act 'normal'…" her mother screaming after she said, "I know for you the ultimate 'punishment' would be kindness, in any form. But I won't be the one to fulfill your sick wish… something you'll never see coming will."

Remembering in a rush Kuvira's father, what Raava had wanted to do to him for his crimes, the shattering, not fancying a bloodbender running around the strange new inner dream world, Desna said, "WAIT! Don't - keep her there, Tatkret. I need to talk to you for a second, Nunasiluq." Nunasiluq barked, walking over and gesturing towards a group of running Chieftan's Guard and military men, Chieftan's Guard and citizens closer to him now back up from the short bloodbending duel. Not wanting anyone to get hurt, Desna yelled, "Wait, no, don't get too close! Get back down!"

Relieved to see none jerked around once they were in range of Tatkret's mother and that the Chieftan's Guard who had come to his aid earlier were now stirring, not sure why people didn't hug the snow as he had asked, Desna quickly explained the shattering process and Kuvira's father's antics to Nunasiluq in English. Given the spirit's quizzical looks, Nunasiluq's link to Raava must have been weak, feeling lucky it knew English. Stating the obvious, Desna said in English, "This woman cannot be killed outright - who knows what her spirit might do away from her body," Nunasiluq sighing before shifting to a cuter form, Desna frowning to get the impression the spirit didn't want to talk anymore - or kill anyone, given what Desna had just said.

Seeing Tatkret was still holding her mother in position, crying quite a lot, Desna had no clue as to why she had allowed her mother to speak, his eyes widening to hear the last part: " - take over. You can do whatever you want - but it is the power that must go on. I've seen what you'll do to protect your brother… You are strong – your brother, weak. Perhaps you could hold the Avatar's cousins as ransom for this… assistance having a child."

Desna had gotten the impression Nunasiluq was done, but was surprised when the spirit flew over to the twisted mother's face, pecking her madly for a while and appearing to laugh before shifting, barking and hissing as he brought a claw to the woman's throat for what might be the last time, "Utter one more word, other concerns or not - you are dead." Desna wondered if the spirit was going nuts given how part of its head was shifting colors and shape as it said, "I have heard legends that Koh only stole faces to punish, have heard this is a most… gruesome fate. A terrible thing to live after. I once saw a brother and sister, Misu and Rafa, on my mountaintop to the north many years ago - unable to do anything for the brother, punished by Koh for _stealing_," Desna noticing the scaled crest that had appeared on Nunasiluq's head was white and blue with relief as the spirit continued over the woman's muffled screaming, "It appears to me you have _stolen_ most of another brother and sister's lives - and even if Koh is against us as a whole… I am sure he cannot resist a face. And this punishment, along with stripping of bending, can be reversed… unlike death, or what Desna told me of. That I cannot speak of…"

Desna nodded, saying gently, "I know this is a delicate subject, but… Tatkret - like 'he' said, we cannot exact a top-secret punishment I think you and… if he is still alive, your father, or any unseen siblings of yours, would find most appropriate for your mother. We want to make sure she cannot harm anyone, and I do not know if someone can bloodbend without sight… so even if she is faceless, we would still need you to strip her bending. The choice is up to you."

Tatkret remained silent for a long time, eventually answering by way of action, saying lowly as she moved, "Without your 'special' power… you are weak, mother. The emotional grip… broken, like you," Desna watching in fascination as she placed her hands on her mother's head and neck as he had seen Noatak train his cousin to do by proxy, wondering if any waterbenders could do so under a full moon idly. Tatkret said cryptically, her mother crumpling, "Leave her be. The only reason I did that… is because of what I am going to do next… and I am sure I can convince my brother to do the same. Without violence – only words."

Her mother on the ground, now twitching slightly, Desna watched in horror as Tatkret placed one hand on her own forehead, hesitating from putting her other hand at the base of her neck for just long enough for an unseen male voice to yell, "Tatkret, NO! Don't!" Tatkret did stop, Chieftan's Guard and military soldiers alike remained wary of her as what must have been her father ran closer, the husky man looking frantic to get to his daughter, Tatkret asking, "Strip myself of my terrible bloodbending gift… Why should I not do it, father? And you… You never stopped my mother, dad - from training me…. In both senses of the word. Blood, and boy… You didn't even stop her from abusing my little brother, trying to make him mean! I know one thing about myself I want to be rid of, the last reminder of my mother's tyranny and her precious lineage, after I find someone…" Desna not entirely sure stripping one's own bending was possible. Tatkret broke down and cupped her face in her hands when her father said, "Don't - for me," Tatkret kneeling in the snow and her father hugging her, saying, "It's all right, sweetie – it looks like it's over. I hoped you'd do it someday," her father continuing after a vaguely hostile grunt from Tatkret, "I know you might see me as a spineless wuss, a softy - averse to conflict, only offering words and not action, controlled like a puppet by your mother anyways, literally… but I've heard rumors. Rumors bloodbending can be used for healing," Tatkret uncovering her face and smiling weakly when her father added, patting her shoulder, "Something I know your mother refused to teach you, though you asked time and time again - and bloodbending healing is extremely powerful, from what I've heard."

Desna chimed in, saying, "Yes - my cousin used it to completely heal wounds easily recently from what I have heard," surprised to hear Eska's voice say, "I've heard over the… telegraph that my cousin had a surgery of sorts, and that the wounds were almost all gone after bloodbending healing," from near some nervous looking Chieftan's Guard, Desna vowing to try and instill some more bravery in them if they were this petrified of a bloodbender… not entirely sure if they'd ever face someone with similar powers.

Jinshu Kuangmai.

The name bringing to mind the other reason the shattered-looking young woman in front of him was special, Desna didn't know exactly what to say when her mother pleaded, "You - you already took away what makes me ME, threatened to do the same to yourself, worse than 'Amon' ever did… doing that to yourself, 'bending suicide'…. I'd rather lose my face a thousand times than see you do that!" Tatkret looked at her mother with disgust, saying, "Very well," the woman moaning slightly, Desna pretty sure she was insane when she reacted so strongly to Tatkret saying the obvious: "I listened to your babble about seizing power just to remind me how pathetic you are, mother. I would never betray the man who helped get me out of your grasp - fear's grasp," Desna genuinely surprised when Tatkret coughed, saying, "Chief Desna – I owe you a great debt. Where you go, I'll go. Whoever you're fighting - I'll fight," Tatkret smiling broadly as she added, "Whoever you're trying to help, I'll help - if bloodbending can really be used for healing."

Seeming to remember something, Tatkret did a double-take, saying with a slight blush, "As friends, of course - you already know which way I flow, so to speak," Desna smiling when she added, "Maybe I can find someone - maybe make a new life in Republic City with my father and my little brother Shtiya. Sort of like my distant cousins did… but for the right reasons, not the wrong ones." Remembering the prison camp had a lot of "sexually interesting" prisoners, Desna said, smiling to see Tatkret's expression brighten after he was done, "I know there's a lot of people in the Southern 'Earth Empire' who'd love to meet someone like you - especially someone who has dealt with darkness and heartbreak before. And not come out hateful for it." Tatkret sighed, Desna noticing the soldiers around him jumped slightly when she got to the "offensive" part of what she said next, saying, "Healing… I want to learn. My little brother will probably too. He… he always did want to try and help the animals mother forced him to practice on after… Maybe we can even learn from your cousin Avatar Korra how to bloodbend heal - if she's done it…"

Desna knew his tribe had changed since Yue's time, but was still surprised when one of the nervous male soldiers raised his hand, saying in an incongruously deep voice, "I - uh - took lessons from my mother before joining on healing," Desna frowning slightly to hear perhaps they hadn't changed as much as he would have liked when the man continued, "Some of my fellow warriors think I'm gay or not manly for knowing how," glad the man could laugh about it when he finished, "They shut up after I patched myself in service a while back. Healed up the damage Bumi did to the people in that camp around the Southern Portal real good," Desna not liking to be reminded of his own role in the Water Tribe Civil War… How his father had used them as pawns…

Vowing to not do the same, some part of him vaguely hoping for a chance to prove himself in battle, Desna said, "Enough talk about the old. Let's do something new - be a beacon of hope for the world again, like in Yue's days." Hearing cheering, not sure he or anyone else would ever "get" humans truly when he heard a voice say, "Yeah - we got a damn bloodbender! Maybe two!" when people had been terrified of Tatkret and her mother not that long ago, Desna realized there was still a lot of explaining to do. Desna began, saying awkwardly, not sure how to avoid "bursting someone's bubble", "Uh - what we might be fighting, that won't do us a ton of good," continuing after asking Tatkret to demonstrate her inability to bloodbend spirits on Nunasiluq, Tatkret doing so reluctantly, "You forget that _most _spirits do not have blood or anything inside them to manipulate. As far as I have heard from cousin Korra, only the most 'human-y' spirits have actual blood, such as Iroh, the Painted Lady, or… one of… who knows how many of Jinshu Kuangmai's allies. 'Vaazula'."

Noticing his generals and admirals were present, Desna said in English, "Nunasiluq - make sure no one is around who shouldn't for this next part," Desna beginning to explain more about their mission and what his cousin was facing - and had at her disposal. As he expected, the Chief's Admiral was the first to speak, saying, "What the - wow. We can't even make our own warships and mechatanks, the old models from three years ago off Future Industries - and your cousin, the Avatar, can just… up and _make_ something bigger than the monstrosity that attacked Republic City? THAT FLIES? When are we going to get any of that stuff? I remember what my colleague Chief's General Sangok said about Unalaq berating his predecessor for letting an airplane get near the Spirit Portal – we need an airforce! I'd be a lot more comfortable leaving the North to help Republic City if we had a 'Raging Shark Whale'… thing to guard home. That thing makes biplanes sound like children's toys." Desna shrugged, saying, "My cousin is currently trying to figure out how individuals other than herself can replicate this 'synthesis' - but I'm afraid any success will require all four elements, and that aircraft pushed her to her limit," Desna not entirely sure what to say when the Chief's General asked, "Chief Desna and Eska - it sounds to me like all the Air Nation's either on that… massive thing your cousin made, or with Raiko's reinforcements. The only other airbenders – in Omashu. We get to Republic City - meet Firelord Izumi and her daughter. Where's our airbenders for this synthesis thing, exactly? Or 'transformed' spirit vines, 'Lipowder', all that new stuff, for that matter? And what about home - nothing but waterbenders for ages!"

Tired of talking, Desna elbowed Eska, saying, "Your turn," Eska saying as Desna thought contentedly about meeting Ursa II, "Hmmm - transformed spirit vines. Give me a quick show of hands - how many of you can see the spirit next to me?" Desna was surprised to see so many hands go up, not having "cleaned house" after his father's defeat too much, half expecting anyone who had served as one of his father's soldiers to not be able to see what he could. He had replaced both the Chief's Admiral and Chief's General, their hands also raised. Now recognizing a few faces from three years before, defending the Southern Portal, Desna finally realized that sides did not dictate good and evil at the individual level, Earth Empire and his father's Northern Water Tribe alike. One voice spoke up, a woman, saying, "I can see that spirit just fine - the only reason I served for your father was because I had a family to feed, and keep from execution," Desna's eyes widening for a different reason.

His father had never mentioned "on pain of death" type methods being used… that was something he figured the old Fire Nation or Earth Empire might have used.

Realizing the military might know of hiding places he did not, given he didn't even know of what this woman soldier had said, Desna shot his still shocked sister a glance, saying in English, "I did not know of this practice… and given how you look, neither did you, sister. I think people in our military might know hiding places for my father's things, given our mother has yet to find anything, given you aren't carrying anything… what do you say? Spill the beans?"

Eska's answer was interrupted when the Chief's Admiral coughed, saying, "Enough with the barking tongue. You think you can't trust us, Chief? Men and women you're asking to possibly fight and die?" Desna frowned, saying, "I won't be a passive leader anymore, I will be there as well, right alongside you. You are more than pawns to me," continuing after a nod from his sister, "Chief's Admiral Sangok, Chief's General Chulyin - I did not intend any disrespect. Given there were things done by my father that I did not know of - such as conscription on pain of death - I need you to ask all your men and women, especially those who are veterans of the Water Tribe Civil War, if they know of any places my father may have cached personal belongings of his. Things he did not want others to find."

Desna had not expected such a quick answer, much less from Chief's Admiral Sangok, Desna's eyes widening when the man frowned, looking disturbed as he said, "I think I know one thing – a whole huge room. My own flagship… with a room I've never been able to get into. A big one too, with a big lock. The blood red, dark black gem on it, a slight… smell… Creeps me out, that place. Especially the gem. The whole place directly beneath the helm, at that, overseeing the whole front deck," looking genuinely frustrated, admitting, "No matter what combination I put into what I think is a 'waterbending lock' - can't get in," looking less frustrated when he continued, "My predecessor who you fired said even he didn't know what was inside - just that your father ordered everyone off the boat and surrounding docks for a whole _day_, doing something before Harmonic Convergence. Before your cousin opening even one portal… Nobody here can metalbend, and the whole thing looks to be made of the same metal that our mechatanks are anyways… so I do not know if even the Avatar would be able to breach the room." The admiral looked sheepish when Chief's General Chulyin laughed, saying, "Uh, plasma saw? Let alone this thing Desna was telling us about – plasma-edged weapons! That'd make short work of the platinum," Eska interjecting, "There are sufficient power sources in Republic City - tuber-vines. Twenty-six, I believe - but 'unempowered', and I do not know what could split them aside from Raava or my cousin either. Future Industries, unless the reinforcements totally 'looted' the place, should have some regular plasma saws as well. As soon as we get into Republic City, we can crack the vault."

Desna jumped slightly to hear Nunasiluq's reptilian barking and growling from his side, hearing the spirit's speech as, "No need - I can simply turn incorporeal, and go inside the flagship's room, and open it from the inside," swearing the spirit's barking sounded smug as it finished, "Bet your father never thought about spirit security - and it's not like he would have had spirit vines or anything else to create an exclusion zone, like you mentioned to your armed forces around Zaofu..." Desna nodded, saying, "I do not know if you can see the spirit who just spoke, but I am sure you heard him, given how you jumped. I believe he is right," noticing the Chief's Admiral seemed to appreciate being called by name, "Before we go to Chief's Admiral Sangok's flagship, I need your help looking for other areas my father may have stored his personal things," admitting, "This is something we should have been doing three years ago. Oh well."

Desna was glad to know his own family hadn't been the only one cowed beyond death by Unalaq, the woman who had spoken before admitting, "If I hadn't heard the rumors about what happened earlier, you showing a softer side… I probably would have not said anything."

Soldiers and Chieftan's Guard scattered in all directions after Desna said, "Let's see what we can find!", he noticed that Tatkret did indeed follow him, Eska, and Malina with more vigilance than even the best of his bodyguards. Eska asked, "I guess you really did mean what you said earlier, huh, Tatkret?" Tatkret nodded, saying, "Yes. In case you're wondering about my past… I still don't feel ready to talk about it all just yet, and my little brother Shtiya… he'll need even more help," Desna feeling relieved when she finished, "As far as I know, Yakone and my mother Ublaraok were the last of their line," frowning when she added tearfully, "It certainly explains why she was so horrible to me and my brother these past four years, more than any other. Little brother starting a year earlier at eight on his training… I don't know why she, my mother, continued hating me, even after hearing that I might get to have kids someday. I do know she considered my brother Shtiya 'not strong enough.'" Pretty sure he knew the answer, Desna said carefully, "You broke loose of her **power** \- evil, dark people hate that more than anything. Even if you had 'cured' who you are after your confrontation, done everything she wanted you to… she still would have hated you. Especially what ended up happening in the end… you, overpowering her."

Tatkret looked devastated at first, eventually admitting, "I guess you're right," sounding guilty when she said, "Had I been strong sooner… maybe my brother would have been spared half of my own 'treatment'," looking a little better as she continued, "I have heard you did not mourn your father's passing - so I shouldn't mourn the passing of my mother's bending. My father, when he could, would give me little re-assurances, and my brother. Tell us both we're fine the way we are, 'sturdy like papa' – though I didn't really listen at the time, my mother having convinced me and my brother early on we were… 'soft seals'. Enough about Ublaraok, my mother… My dad… much rather talk about him." Desna didn't understand all these insults. Remembering there were plenty of other Water Tribe women and men with better insulation than himself, having cursed his own rail-thin build at times in the past, Desna gave Tatkret a quick look-over, seeing she looked within the range of Water Tribe normal to him. From what Desna had seen of him, Tatkret looked like her father in many ways – a polarbear dog build with apparent strength, "chubby" at the most uncharitable, Desna just seeing her as bigger than cousin Korra – nothing else.

Desna idly wondered how "good" at being "bad" Tatkret's mother was to convince her Water Tribe daughter that looking Tatkret's "Water Tribe" normal was worthy of scorn as Tatkret continued, "Tell me I was okay, and it was my mother who was the problem, 'wrong' from birth like Azula was rumored to be, my brother, that he was… strong, to resist the training." Deciding any comment on body image might be inappropriate, given Tatkret's orientation, Desna said, "I've heard it said if you're bothered like Azula was, hallucinating, there's something left inside of you - but from what I saw of your mother, she wasn't bothered by anything except you breaking her control over you. A little disconnected from reality herself, thinking she could use Nunasiluq to slit my throat…" only making Tatkret sigh deeply.

Desna felt like smacking his sister when she cluelessly interjected, "Speaking of horrible parents - let's go find more of our dad's stuff!" Tatkret merely responded, "Okay," Desna glad to see Tatkret was well enough to make a jest, Tatkret saying, "Let's hope your horrible parent's secret room is as easy as I heard Azula's was to get into - just firebend into a wall…" Not having remembered this detail himself, despite having worked with Zuko some himself on secret matters - the Red Lotus, an organization Desna hoped was either "dead as a doornail" or not stupid enough to add a _fourth _side to all this fighting, things chaotic enough already - Desna idly asked as they approached the first of a few destinations his mother wanted them to explore with bending's help, "Have you studied her much - Azula? I worked with her brother Zuko to contain P'li, yet I have never heard of a secret room of Ozai's."

Tatkret did not answer at first, nervously playing with a hair loopy, finally admitting, "Some. Well, more than some - after hearing the legends, and reading some facts, I read up on her life when I could. At first, given what my dad said, I thought I might find why my mom was so… evil, but only found more questions than answers in the end. My little brother reminds me of 'Zuzu' in some ways – not wanting to do the cruel training my mother used emotional abuse to force me into, her… threats to kill something in her grasp if Shtiya didn't 'break it free' with bloodbending." Tatkret teared up, asking no one, "Did Azula's mother Ursa calling Azula a monster make her crazy - or was Azula born that way? Did someone else shape her and threaten her, train her, her father, like my mom wanted to do to me, and my… my poor brother Shtiya. Do what Yakone did to my two distant cousins, except successfully - like Yakone did in the end, given when Noatak and Tarrlok ended up doing? Where did she go - did Azula ever find peace?"

Desna found they had stopped, seeing characters appear beneath his feet in the ice and snow right outside the door to the hut Malina had led them to: "Come to the Spirit Oasis. I **might** be able to help on Azula." Desna heard excitement in Tatkret's voice as she said, tugging on his hand, feeling her physical strength first-**hand** for the first time, "Wh - is that Yue? Does she know something? Come on, Desna - let's go! If I feel better… I might be able to help my brother too." Desna felt torn between helping this conflicted soul and his own surviving family.

His mother turned around, saying, "I'm sure Eska and I will be fine," Nunasiluq landing on his shoulder after his sister added, "I can't see much in here besides that metal chest there. It's just a metal box - we'll be fine - take Nunasiluq with you, in case Koh decides to make a visit. Tatkret – we'll keep an eye out for your father and brother. Good luck, all… three of you." Desna nodded and turned to Tatkret, joking, "Forget what your mom said about being 'too big' – if anything, you're too strong! Now quit 'pullbending' my arm so hard - you may as well bloodbend me where you want me to go if you're going to tug that hard! At least you won't dislocate my arm that way!" Desna smiled to see Tatkret smiling at a joke he had initially though would offend her after the fact, Tatkret even smiling slightly as she said, "Th-thank you. Again. Never had anyone outside my father say that," Desna frowning slightly when she admitted, "Being bloodbenders, my mother took us away from the 'big city' often for training for long times… I didn't get a chance to form many friendships. Just like you, apparently, from what you told me."

Making their way towards the Spirit Oasis, Desna didn't even really think why he needed the little spirit on his shoulder, too busy caught up feeling something he hadn't really all by itself before, the only time he had felt it being earlier with Ursa II.

Friendship. Beyond that – kinship.

* * *

Long Yumao hissed, cursing his decision to "rally" spirits inside "his" realm with every new spirit that popped up from the outside world, wishing they would stay outside to cause as much ruckus as possible. Long Yumao circled around the Tree of Time, his small victory in clearing the Tree's vicinity feeling empty and hollow somehow. The accursed barriers - still there. Spirits still randomly defecting to Vaatu's side after whispering from the accursed fish-man spirit that called itself "Wipfis" – an irritating illiterate troublemaker.

He needed a way out - a foolproof way out. Out into the Physical World, beginning to feel as trapped as he knew he had made Zaheer feel, not having seen the foolish airbender for a day or so. What he needed - a swathe of "land" that crossed between physical and spirit realms so wide, so large, that even a hundred Dark and Light Avatar working together couldn't possibly cover the whole region…

Long Yumao pondered where he could find such a place, the Spirit Oasis obviously not an option given the presence of La, and the Swamp now an immense blight in the middle of his other enemy's heartland, even Long Yumao having given up trying to send spirits through after seeing what the tree… did to them. Feeling like he might know the answer, it was at this moment his… periodically useful ally Koh the Face-Stealer chose to start climbing the Tree of Time's side, sighing then laughing as he went, "Hello, Long Yumao. Why the…. Long face? Ahahaha!" Not getting the joke at all, Long Yumao hissed, "What do you want?", continuing mockingly, " 'More faces'? Hmmm?"

The centipedal spirit laughed, saying from the face of a howling monkey with long fangs, "I _was_ recently promised a face by someone - someone who can deliver," Long Yumao sighing with disgust as Koh taunted, "Near my other 'home', and haunt - the Northern Water Tribe. Only human mercy and softness prevented the _punishment_ from being carried out," Long Yumao hissing in alarm when Koh finished, "A spirit far older than yourself, on Raava's side, made the 'offer' - and given I still have a job aside from _you_, I would have taken the wretch's face anyways - and I won't touch her daughter or new friend."

Losing his temper, Long Yumao swiped at Koh, the other spirit handily evading him, speaking in a tongue he could not understand, getting the sense it was… very rude in nature. Remembering the Tree of Time was ancient, Long Yumao decided to play Koh's little game, saying, "It is not as if I have anything better to do, now that the Tree of Time is 'ours', the opposition off somewhere else. Bunch of cowards. If you have something to say, you can say it however you like - as long as I can understand." Koh laughed, boasting for Long Yumao didn't know the whateverth time, "As I am the son of a spirit almost as old as time itself, only Raava and Vaatu predating the 'Mother of Faces', I can see and know things you cannot - such as the language I just mocked you in."

Starting to connect the dots, Long Yumao hissed, losing an earlier train of thought, "It's that 'Engriss', isn't it? I have heard the Avatar speak it!", Long Yumao not entirely sure why he put up with Koh when the spirit mocked him with a human's face, "Yes, is Engrish! Rong Yumao not good speaker - need ressons rong time!" With the next word, Koh reminded him of why he kept him around, Koh saying as he waved some of his upper appendages, "The ages… I can see more than 'Engrish' here. Finally - on a tree. And not merely my tree - the Tree of Time, able to know beyond 'our' Spirit World, even beyond our plane." Not really caring about two human brats visiting the Spirit Oasis, Long Yumao asked condescendingly, "Oh great and knowledgeable Koh, knower of 'Engriss', temporarily most likely given you've never said a word of it off that tree - can you tell me what that pitiful spirit 'Wipfis' was babbling on about? 'You be sorry no come easy' - implying his, ugh, human master might have something that could threaten US?"

Now at the top of the tree, nearly within snapping reach, Koh moaned, "No, I cannot. Even the Avatar and Raava cannot penetrate whatever seal Jinshu Kuangmai has created on Zaofu and most of all, his mind - similar in strength to the seal the Avatar placed upon herself and her _looooover_ against someone from 'another slice of bread'." Pretty sure Koh was just messing with him now, Long Yumao snapped at him slightly when Koh said, from the face of a four-year old human, acting like the face's brat might have, "Girl at pool 'yucky' to you - she likes girls! Not steal face even though I could," Koh changing his attitude slightly as Long Yumao produced a ball of pure spirit hate energy, saying with "his" face, "Well, part of it is they have a spirit bodyguard - one older than you are by far," Koh still adding, "It is her mother that was to be punished and not her - so unless she let me, showing emotion around me, I wouldn't take Tatkret's face anyways."

Long Yumao's general vicinity to the tree letting him see slightly more than normal, he felt alarm for some reason, asking, "Koh - what are they doing? Tell me - NOW!"

Long Yumao felt what human insects called "terror" when Koh responded, "Everyone has 'their favorite prisoners'. And from what I can gather, a _powerful spirit_ is about to help them with one of _your_ favorite prisoners. A woman."

Long Yumao hissing, having at least two favorite female prisoners, he felt tempted to dig into the Tree of time as he had before - what he guessed was "Hatred" had not specified exactly how big a victory he needed to receive more power from the universal constant, and Long Yumao fancied clearing the Tree of Time of enemy spirits warranted a "raise". Sticking his bladed tail into the trunk, Long Yumao screeched, all he got was pain and a loud "NO!", puzzled when the genderless voice he had heard before, Hatred, hissed, "Victory alone is never enough. You must think outside the box, act outside it, achieve things outside of it to receive anything else. Anything greater," Long Yumao's tail forced to move as the voice hissed, "You are wasting my time. Time I do not have to spare. Now scram!"

Long Yumao turned to Koh, asking, "Do you have any clue what those stupid mortals want with _her_? And … do you know which one, exactly?" Koh merely answered, Long Yumao hissing in a mix of resignation and anger, "I cannot tell exactly what, or even who - but only that allowing these snoops to poke their noses around and find more will only encourage bigger game to come looking," Long Yumao beginning to cackle loudly when Koh said, "The Avatar herself, regardless of which two favorite female prisoners it is - though one sooner rather than later. Forget the Tree of Time - when the time is right, Korra does the inevitable, you may get your claws on the biggest prize of all if everything goes right."

The single word Koh said next was music to Long Yumao's ears.

"Raava."

After the glorified blue and white kite's swarmed demise, nothing else would really matter. Humanity - powerless, Vaatu exposed and vulnerable following Raava's demise like the insect he really was, consorting with _humans_ three years ago to attain his goals, Unalaq as equal as Korra was with Raava - much less Vaatau's recent changes!

Change reminding Long Yumao of something else, besides how he saw the past so much more clearly now, wondering why he had not acted sooner, he asked Koh, "Can you see when the first shipments might leave? Particularly the one containing secret entrances to…?" Koh responded with a sigh, "Do not say. You never know what spy of Raava or Vaatu's is around. Patience. It was arranged a relatively short _time_ ago. Time flows differently for us, than…" Long Yumao's mind wandered back to thinking outside the box, he remembered something Koh had told the Avatar, one of his cryptic hints and likely a product of his ability to see beyond, at the time Koh assuming the humans would be the actors: "Reciprocity is coming."

Thinking back to the straw - or rather, spirit vine abuse - that broke the camel yak's back, enough for the final twin blow of Raava's outright favoritism - Atokara, euch, just thinking the name made him retch, and what the humans called "tuber-vines" - to drive him to do something, lest the world truly slip from spirit's grasp forever, irreversible, Long Yumao closed his eyes, lightly touching the Tree of Time's trunk - but not penetrating it.

He didn't want to push his luck.

Seeing an image he had never seen before, the inner workings of a spirit weapon, the strange capsule and captive vine, countless wires, the workings of so much more as well, Long Yumao had a brilliant idea, cackling madly as he saw _his_ idea take shape, "An untapped power source… If I pull this off, victory will be mine! Let's see how humans like…"

Even as he thought of how to make his vision, no, _dream,_ a reality, Long Yumao felt for some reason he had chosen the much more annoying and difficult of at least two ways to think outside the box, hissing, "Bug off, mind," to Koh's mild amusement.

* * *

Finally arriving at the Spirit Oasis, Desna paused for a moment, taking it all in, finding it wonderful. Seeing Nunasiluq walk up to the water in his larger form and open his toothy mouth, Desna panicked at first, relaxing when the spirit barked, sounding as though it were chuckling, "I am here for the water - not fish in the pool. I am not stupid," Desna jumping to hear disembodied human laughter after Nunasiluq added, "I was not a _relatively_ stupid animal like Momo, after all."

Looking above the pool, Desna's eyes widened, remembering what his father had wanted to as he asked, "Y-Yue? What?" remembering an earlier more specific concern as he added, "You said the first time was… unique, when my sister and I talked to you earlier here, on more… personal matters. If you can just… appear… are the Spirit World and Physical World so interlinked that… that a Dark Avatar could be created at any time? Anyone, any time – do what my father waited years and years for?" Yue shook her misty head, Desna feeling unnaturally soothed as she said, "No. I cannot foresee any circumstance that would allow for that - it is not a valid worry. Great spiritual power, as well as great alignment between the Physical and Spirit Realms, is required for that. Just let it flow from your mind…"

Desna closed his eyes, attempting to do so - seeing a bizarre image fade as he let go of the concern, unable to remember anything about it other than it felt as real as an "alternate" from another plane might, but just as irrelevant. Opening his eyes, Desna was not sure why Yue looked concerned, Yue saying, "Or perhaps not. But that _may_ be far in the future - and is only a possibility."

Desna about to ask what it was, Yue crossed her arms, shaking her head as she said, "I can see the curiousity in your eyes. On this… Uh-uh. No. Given how Raava's acting after her human-y change, I won't even tell her all I could of it – the gist," Yue looking slightly annoyed as she continued at first, "When she's available, that is. Sokka was worried about there here and now when I met him - and from what I saw of him later until Ozai's defeat, he was too focused on the future at times. Schedule this, schedule that… Guess you're a bit like him," Yue groaning slightly when Nunasiluq corrected her with a few barks, "No - all humans are like one another, even like other animals," Yue smiling again when he finished, "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here - immortalized like Iroh or the Painted Lady." Nunasiluq sat down beneath the arch near the pool's waters, Desna getting the impression something he wanted from the water wasn't there as the spirit shifted to its smaller form, his displeasure linked to not being able to communicate with Raava.

Nunasiluq now perched on top of the arch, appearing to be asleep, Desna found his eyes drawn to "Tui" and La, wondering why a portion of the Spirit of Water would choose their planet to make its home. The black and white fish turned to face him for a moment, letting out a few bubbles before continuing to circle something that was not as it once was - Tui. Apparently, La had "said" something, Yue coughing after a splash of water hit Desna in the face, "You forget the whole reason you came here, Desna?" seeing the English words, "That past's specifics not known and IRRELEVANT" form and then disappear on the water's surface.

Turning to see Tatkret looked annoyed with him, to say the least, Desna jumped back slightly, remembering she was a bloodbender, saying, "Y-yeah, I was just… thinking about Azula!" Tatkret laughing dryly, "Sure. Didn't see her mentioned on the funny simple characters just now… And I wasn't the one who splashed you," Desna grumbling when Yue giggled slightly. The misty image of his distant relative stuck its tongue out at him blushing slightly when Desna said, "All this splashing… I look forward to seeing what you do when your 'boyfriend' Sokka visits 'in person'," disappointed she didn't respond.

Sokka reminding him of the Hundred Year War, Desna asked, wanting to be on the same page as Tatkret, "Before anything else… Can either of you tell me more about Ozai's secret room - or when Azula was last seen?" Desna listened to the story of Azula's dissapearance, getting the feeling he was getting a very… concise version, noticing Nunasiluq stirred towards the end, re-burying his beak under a wing after a moment.

Seeing Tatkret looking at him impatiently, remembering she had a little brother to help, Desna realized there was something she didn't know that he did.

Azula's own hidden story.

Desna took no pleasure in telling Tatkret, realizing as he was speaking that Azula was, in a way, "under pain of death" for every moment after the "accident" – though Zuko never would have told, Desna was sure Azula saw it differently, thinking her own mother conspiring against her. Seeing the sadness in Tatkret's eyes, Desna told everything he knew, including more about "Vaazula" and Azula's soul's current whereabouts, having not said anything he hadn't told his commanders out of concern it would push Tatkret over the edge. Desna waited – saw she didn't break, nodding in agreement when Tatkret said, "The deal… That sounds… stupid, and just wrong. Especially considering what Jinshu Kuangmai wanted to do, and what Azula _was_. I hope your cousin knows what she's doing," Desna admitting, "You heard what I said earlier about a 'Catch-22' - and in a way, we're in one with Vaazula herself. Give her bending, or the prison camp - the 'hostage' - gets 'executed'. They have some kind of long range weapon - claim it could turn the camp to ash with one shell."

Tatkret began crying, saying, "Wh - no… all those people," sighing as she said, "Maybe my only chance, too, on top of that. I know my mother was probably lying, but… she said 'deviants' like myself are very rare," Tatkret sobbing again when Yue interjected gently, "At most, about one in ten. Desna - you don't need my help to depress this poor woman. She's got a little brother to help later. Let's keep it relevant." Desna felt embarrassed, apologizing, "I did not mean to make you feel bad, Tatkret, or waste your time, Great Moon Spirit," glad to hear Tatkret say, "It's okay - feeling sad is better than feeling nothing, or hating yourself," getting a light hug after she finished, "What I did - before you helped me. What I want to do for my brother. He's going to need it…"

Something Tatkret said struck Desna. Feeling nothing. What he had, for the most part - until very recently, inspired by Asami Sato's story, to break his own chains… and helping his sibling after.

Nudging Tatkret, the hug broken, Desna said, "I guess what Nunasiluq said earlier was right - we really are very similar to one another," not knowing the answer when a thought popped into his mind: "What made _Tonga Beifong_ go bad, exactly?" Figuring the answer was something the tyrant and his mother Toph - possibly both - would likely take to their graves, finding Toph's explanation… lackluster, Desna listened as Tatkret said, "You're right - from what you told me, you felt nothing for a very long time, Desna," crying slightly as she added, "What my little brother began to feel four years ago… after the 'training enforcement' time that followed Tarrlok's death. The darkness in his eyes… I don't even know if he knows how to feel attraction to someone, despite being the same age I was when I first 'found out' – twelve." Tatkret stood up and bowed as she continued, "Mortal antics… I do not mean to waste your time, Yue," Yue interrupting, sounding sad, "Wasting my time with the stuff of life? You can't do that… I was human too once! Wasting time… No - you aren't, either of you," rubbing her forehead slightly as she said, stiltedly, "Tui and… La crossed… over to here… to help humans after… one… inspired… 'us'. Greatest… change." Despite being made of mist, Desna got the impression Yue wanted to throw up, wincing when some white "fog" left her mouth, saying after, "Ugh - that tasted horrible … and I can't even taste now! You happy with that… inadvertent answer for now, Desna? To why here, and not somewhere else?" Desna nodded, saying, "Yes," finding himself adding, "Wait - what? Way I've heard it, Tui and La - here on our plane before Wan's time. Who could have inspired greater change than him?"

Desna had never seen La leap out of the water before, the fish wriggling in the water after as if trying to shed something unpleasant, getting the impression from Nunasiluq's loud squawking that it had everything to do with the odd memory gap. Desna gasped slightly when Tatkret asked, never having been told of such a thing, "What… what memory gap? What's going on?" Desna sighed, finding himself the one diverting back to Azula now, saying succinctly, "Even my cousin Avatar Korra does not know, or her 'boss', Raava. Six Harmonic Convergence's worth of history and time near a key point in history… muddied or lost. But it has nothing to do with Azula," glad to see Tatkret was more interested in Azula than anything when she nodded, asking Yue, "You, along with La, seem to know about things older than the Avatar, if what my friend here said is true. What do you know about Azula - beyond what anyone still alive knows?" Asking some the same questions she had asked him earlier, tearing up slightly, Tatkret asked, "Is anyone _born_ evil? Is what Desna said about being disturbed true - that it means there's something still inside you that's good? That's fighting? Do you know if Azula was twisted and warped by someone else into what she became - or warped by the possibility of death at her father's hand, for being… the real her? Like me?" sobbing when she finished, "I know her soul's in the Fog of Lost Souls now - but I also know there's more ways than being bad to end up there. I've heard rumors of people tossing others into there as punishment… Did she ever find peace – someone or some_thing _else the reason she's… there?"

Remembering the English word "hell" and the concept attached to it, as well as his own father tossing the innocent Jinora into the Fog of Lost Souls, Desna thought, "Forget what I 'heard' about their plane being 'worse' - from what I understand of the word 'hell', at least nobody good goes there!" Another two names coming to mind - Aiewei and Zaheer - and remembering his cousin telling him after Harmonic Convergence about Jinora's own ordeal, barely kept alive by Kya for near a week while trapped, Kya having to make Jinora's body function, despair flooded over Desna.

Realizing Azula was dead.

Unless some sort of miracle had happened, there was no way Azula was alive. His cousin might be able to free her spirit, sure, if Azula was willing to come out - but just like he had read of Aiwei, her body would have died and decayed, not even kept alive for the ten or so days Kya had kept Jinora alive…

Azula. Nothing but royal bones, in the middle of the Forgetful Valley inside the Fire Nation, ages away…

Desna had great confidence in his cousin and Raava, but he didn't think even they could raise the dead, or even give Jinshu Kuangmai what he **demanded **without being able to "give" Vaazula the most critical part - Azula's life and experiences.

Not having noticed what he was doing, so lost in thought, Desna came to, finding himself rocking back and forth, muttering, "Azula is dead… deal is useless…" over and over. Stopping himself, explaining his thought process, Tatkret burst into tears, feeling icicles in his heart when she asked him, her eyes flaring in anger, "That stupid deal… is that the only reason you want to know?! What about _her _\- even 'merely' freeing her spirit would be great!" Yue admonishing her slightly, "He's upset his cousin didn't think things through enough - made a deal that's bad all round. Might _hurt people! _Yelling isn't going to solve anything," Desna nodding mutely when Yue added, "Though that was rather cold-hearted, Desna."

Still depressed, Desna forced himself to listen as Yue said, "To answer your questions, Tatkret - I don't believe people are born evil. While Desna was in misery, you said yourself your brother seemed to be born good – but that's the default state. Babies laugh, smile, babble… Things happen to them that can twist and warp them - and even the best of us have the occasional bad impulse. Someone I knew in my lifetime, Katara, once thought she needed revenge for her mother's death - something that would have stained her soul," Desna's eyes widening slightly when Yue continued, "I do not know if they are known, not having read in over seventy years, but there are actual illnesses of the mind that can make _being good __**difficult **_. Tatkret… it could be possible your mother or Azula had one of these," Desna wondering if his father had one of these until Yue continued, "From my own life, not even counting what I know as being the Moon Spirit… there are some people though who simply end up wrong. At some point, illness or not… they cross the threshold of little to no return. The how and why doesn't matter - they just need to be taken out. Zhao comes to mind - killing my spirit predecessor," Desna finding himself adding, "My father - consorting with the spirit of destruction and darkness, wanting to become a 'Dark' Avatar." Desna looked up to see Yue nodding, Yue stating simply, "Humans - and any intelligent being, I can hear that squawking, Nunasiluq - are too complicated to boil down to 'You have this mental illness' or 'Your mother whipped and abused you'. There are children from loving homes that end up monsters, and children from the worst circumstances imaginable who turn out to be loving people. **There is no accounting for free will** \- as I showed in my lifetime, robbing Zhao of his sick 'victory' and making my father proud by deciding to give life back to the Moon Spirit, after it gave life to me - my father's vision of 'fate' or not," Desna hearing Yue sob slightly as she added, "I felt something inside me, other than the Moon Spirit's energy - something that made me want to do it, demanded I did it. Love," smiling slightly as she said lowly, "My humanity."

Yue sniffed, continuing, "Humanity. From what I know after death, of Azula - the fact that she saw her mother, the fact there was a struggle at all makes me think two things. One good, one 'bad'. There was something good left inside her. But given her struggle, there was something bad within as well - and darkness does not give way to light easily, no matter if that darkness comes from within, or a seed planted from outside. Knowing Ozai, Ursa, and Azula, as well as her secret - I'd guess there was light _and_ darkness from within and outside, tearing her apart."

Yue beginning to fade slightly, Desna thought Yue was leaving, relaxing when he heard her voice say, "That was everything any wise living person could have told you with enough information. I heard your concern about the 'exchange' being in vain, and while I cannot track a life-force like your cousin might, still being alive and fully connected to the world… I might be able to see if any other great spirits know anything."

After a few minutes, Yue's form returned to "normal" mist, frowning slightly as she said, "While I did hear something **very** encouraging… it's a bit of a 'Catch-22', in a different way. Nothing can be done, or known for sure until Azula is freed from the Fog of Lost Souls anyways." Tatkret asked, sounding hopeful, "What is it - what did you find?" Desna grimaced when Yue shook her head, writing in "code" for a portion upon the Spirit Oasis' waters below her in ice, speaking the rest, "Desna - I am sure you remember the **bending pulse**, the secret, and your cousin's reservations telling people anything about something that may or may not happen," erasing the letters that formed the two sensitive English words, continuing in normal speech, "Myself and another powerful spirit have similar reservations about what we discussed, and nothing more will come of it until Azula's soul is free of the Fog," Desna smiling slightly when Yue said, "Tatkret, what I wrote in ice - secret stuff, sorry. I said normally what you both need to know – I do not wish to make promises that end up being not true. I do not wish to break anyone's hearts. To both of you - if anything else, if it works out as we hope it will… it will be a nice surprise."

Desna did not know Tatkret well enough to know what she would think of this… feeble response, smiling when she said, "Everything about today was surprising, in the best possible way - I can wait."

Feeling they were done, Nunasiluq flapping over and sitting on Tatkret's head, Desna understanding why his sister had been slightly jealous before, they waved goodbye to Yue. Yue vanished before they could turn around to go back to Eska and Malina. Remembering something vaguely from Korra's first infobending of them, Desna smiled slightly, saying, "My cousin, Avatar Korra, symbolically calls Zuko's uncle, Iroh, 'Uncle' Iroh - I believe because she wanted a _new_ uncle, given my father was… not very nice to her," not entirely sure the reaction he would get when he said, "Just like you and your father, I have my problems with my mother, having blamed her for being 'weak' - but I still love her. What do you say – as a symbol of change, you and your little brother Shtiya call your mother 'Ublaraok'… and nothing else?"

Tatkret stopped, sighing as Nunasiluq pecked Desna after landing on his shoulder, getting the sense the spirit thought he had been a fool, Nunasiluq squawking loudly in surprise when she responded, "I don't know. Maybe… though my brother will be… hard…" Desna's eyes widening when Tatkret said, "We'll have to see what my father Hakoda has to say first - he might even want in on the deal. My mother has not been kind to him either," Tatkret adding, "Forget symbolism… maybe make it real."

Desna simply stayed silent, much as Nunasiluq was, the random thought passing through his mind of, "Mother did say she wanted someone to love… and Tatkret's father is probably hurting just as much as my mother is, after who knows how many years of… that." A part of Desna found it ridiculous - two "weak" people, learning life again together?

Remembering how similar he and Ursa II were, aside from the whole… parents thing, Desna finally responded to Tatkret, simply saying, "I'll have to think about it."

Finally back with his mother and sister, Desna took turns explaining what had happened with Tatkret, parts of it in English and for his sister's ears only – specifically, the possibility of some great truly ancient human _before _Avatar Wan, and Yue's logic behind staying silent. Desna assuming they were finished once Eska put the shrouding of Yue's find into words that Tatkret could hear without spilling the bending pulse, Desna groaned lowly when Tatkret said suggestively, sounding like she was playing a part again, except this time as an innocent babe and not closeted homosexual, "Hey, Malina - have you met my dad yet?" His mother shook her head, saying, "No - though from what Desna just finished telling me about you, you poor thing, your brother … maybe I should meet him. What's his name again?" Desna and Eska both groaning slightly when their mother blushed after Tatkret said, "Hakoda."

Tatkret and Malina leaving to find Hakoda and Shtiya, Desna busied himself with his sister, bringing Nunasiluq along for translation duties. Desna caught her eye, Eska saying in English, "Okay, great - so you come back with more stuff for cousin Korra to do," Desna gesturing at a pile of unopened shiny metallic boxes, swearing he saw them… pulsing intermittently as he asked in English, "I got something, at least! What are we going to do with a bunch of unopened metallic treasure chests, exactly - fling them at Dark Spirits here or in Republic City with antique Fire Nation catapults?" Eska laughed dryly, Desna noticing Nunasiluq taking great interest in the boxes as she responded sarcastically, "Yes, that's the exact use I had in mind for them!" Desna cursed when she continued, Nunasiluq pecking at one of the larger chests, "There's a waterbending lock on every one of them, all of them look the same. From what I've heard from Sangok, same metal as the stuff on his ship - except _not _platinum, according to a visitor from the city whose name is stamped on everything. Man called it 'blendmetal' – claimed it's an obscure metal he's worked with his whole life, but never seen any act like… this," one of the boxes pulsating an unnerving purple momentarily after to underscore Eska's point – as if it could hear…

Desna had no idea why his sister sighed so deeply when she said, "Yu Dao. Wait – maybe it was money… changing hands… Those two books Nunasiluq brushed off earlier weren't nothing after all." Producing said two books from her robes - revealing ones with shorter sleeves and shorter coverage overall, even one with a "V" cut neck, but robes nonetheless, Desna sure he'd never wear another damn robe again unlike Eska's choice - Eska tossed them at Nunasiluq one after the other, yelling, clearly frustrated, "Catch! GAH!"

Eska sat down on the floor, crying in frustration as Nunasiluq pecked her from on top of her head, Desna getting the impression he did not like being bombarded with books, "You find a bloodbender, no, two with Shtiya, talk to Yue, find a lead on Azula - and I just find a bunch of these stupid boxes! I tried everything - bending in water around the lock and expanding it to burst them open, making a water cutter… ugh! This 'blendmetal' is impervious – way stronger than platinum!" Nunasiluq no longer pecking, flapping off to go read, Desna sat down beside her, noticing his mother, Tatkret and her father were talking animatedly outside, Desna said, "Whatever is in those boxes, it must be valuable," asking, "You get all these together yourself, or did our military prove useful?" Eska nodded, saying, "Sorry - to you, and Nunasiluq. I'm just frustrated. This was everything everyone could find - about 15 boxes in all, all stamped 'Product of Yu Dao' and 'Blendmetal' on the bottom," continuing with a bit more light in her voice, "Don't know if you noticed earlier today, but mother helped me make some of my old clothes wearable again," Desna shifting away slightly when she asked, "Do you like it?"

Having chosen to wear something closer to what his uncle might wear since returning from the Fire Nation, Desna shrugged, saying, "It's still a robe - and why are you asking?" Getting a slight push from Eska, Desna rubbed his head after it hit one of the stupid boxes while she said, "Oops, sorry," chuckling lightly as she said, "Bet you would've liked some waterbending hazing better than that," continuing with a less cheerful tone, "What I was trying to do… distract myself from our 'failure'. Well, mine anyways," Eska saying after a pause, "Wait - there's one technique I didn't try. Got any dirt?"

Desna gave her an odd look at first, realizing halfway through asking what Eska wanted to try and do, glad to see Eska not so down when he said, "Atokara's muddy water cutter - great idea! And I think I know just where to get dirt, too - the Spirit Oasis! Help me take one of the smaller ones there."

In their haste leaving the room, Desna and Eska bumped into their mother, Tatkret, her father Hakoda, and someone who looked a lot like Tatkret that they hadn't seen before, what was likely Tatkret's depressed-looking younger brother Shtiya looking down at the floor in a deep depression. Some crude part of Desna's mind noticing Shtiya was just as "robust" as his older sister, a slightly pronounced gut just like his father's, Desna pushed such rude thoughts from his mind, hearing Shtiya ask seemingly no one, "What's… what's wrong with my mother? How…?"

Wondering the same question himself with his eyes closed, Desna felt a familiar sensation again… actually seeing what must have been his "inner orb" darken temporarily, blackness receding and shrieking when he heard his sister's voice say, "Really… there's no _reason_ some people are evil. They just… are. And to know and accept the answer they've chosen as why what they do is acceptable… you'd go mad yourself." Opening his eyes, Desna saw Shtiya was no longer staring at the floor, taking Tatkret's word for it when she said, Shtiya's eyes still looking dead to him, "He looks better than he has in at least a few years. Thank you, Eska," Shtiya looking a little better after he said, "All those insults – 'soft-hearted blubber bum', 'limpet gut'… I wondered where she got them from, how… she could be so mean… guess I don't want to know."

Swearing he heard a low growl from behind him, getting the impression it was not Nunasiluq, Desna pointed back towards the pile of boxes, saying to Shtiya, "We have no idea what's in those things," the twelve-year old still looking dead as Desna said, something telling him what they wanted to do next would not sit well with the already depressed Shtiya, "We're going to try and find out. I'll be back in a little while – you stay here with your family and my mom, talk to each other. My sister and I are going to see if we can open one of these boxes." Shtiya nodded, saying lowly, "Okay, Chief," smiling slightly after adding, "Something tells me mother won't be around here for a while. I look forward to talking with my sister, father, and your mother."

Setting about their work, Desna finding himself unable to carry the box it disturbed him so much, he tried to shake from his mind how much Shtiya's attitude and demeanor matched his own before his own recent awakening. Nearing the path to the Spirit Oasis, they found themselves bumping into Chief's Admiral Sangok and Chief's General Chulyin on the way, Eska carrying the box. Desna finding himself wanting to know more about Tatkret's brother, wondering if Eska could do this by herself, he snapped back to who was in front of him when Chulyin said as he bent up an ice wall behind him, "Whoa there, slow down! With all due respect, Chiefs, we may have a lot of time to get to Republic City, but even aside from all these accursed boxes… something tells me you have stuff you need to tell your cousin Avatar Korra," Chulyin facepalming when Sangok said, "Like 'I didn't get killed by a crazy bloodbender!' or 'My father's hidden a bunch of boxes we can't get into!' or…"

Getting annoyed, Desna said, "ENOUGH, Sangok!" Eska saying with similar irritation, "Your co-worker does make a good point - but I'm sure it can wait five minutes while we crack the first of these boxes open!" Chulyin nodded, Sangok saying, "Like to see that," Eska laughing, "Okay then - come and watch. This technique was invented by my cousin's daughter," Desna and Eska laughing loudly when Sangok's face drained of color, asking, "Wh-the … how? They… Asami and Korra… 'did it' all of a week ago, and you've talked to…? Whaaa?"

Desna had never really gotten the chance to razz or string people along during his youth, shielded from the "commoners" by his father and told to not play with his sister. Realizing with a sigh there were certain things one shouldn't do with one's heads of the military, realizing being able to see Atokara in the "inner dream world" played into the decision to not kill Ublaraok earlier, Desna and Eska took turns explaining more than they had earlier on the way to the Oasis. Though his voice was tired, Desna found himself not "missing" infobending one bit, hoping his cousin wouldn't abuse it and the Raava-enabled "judging" too much.

Now back at the Oasis, Yue appeared once more, Desna expecting her to ask what they were back for, surprised when she said, pointing to the box, which was… moving slightly?: "That box is not as it appears. I can see what you can't. You might break into that thing, but you won't get what you want out of it - probably get something nasty instead." Sangok sighed, saying, "Nonsense - now how do you do the water cutter again?" yelping slightly when Yue insisted in a much louder voice, "Brute force is not what you want," Eska corroborating it when she stated, "I believe Yue is right. Handling these boxes, especially the biggest ones… Sangok, you said that room on your ship gave you the creeps? A little bit of the same thing." Sangok nodded, saying, "Fine," Yue groaning when he said, "If there's something nasty in there - let's see how it likes Spirit Oasis water!"

Nothing happening, Eska swearing someone had bent the water back, Sangok sat down as Yue said, "No oasis water. I don't think that's a good idea. Desna, Eska - try the lock again before resorting to bending."

Inspecting what Eska said was a lock, Desna groaned, saying, "I don't see any dials or… anything!" feeling foolish when Eska said, shoving him aside, "Wh - brother, it's a waterbending lock!" thinking after she asked, "Our father… if these are from Yu Dao… there's no way he could have used _his _code. The weird hateful symbols… It'd have to be something relatively innocuous - already tried putting in 'Vaatu' and a whole bunch of variations of it," Desna sitting down and running his fingers through the Spirit Oasis' grass and looking up into the glaciers around it as Eska wondered aloud, " 'Some good in everyone'… my father wanted us to share the world with spirits, though he and the rest of the Red Lotus took it too far in thinking Vaatu needed to be free for 'balance'. Much less a Dark Avatar. Maybe it's really simple…"

Desna watched as Eska stood up, walking over to a nearby glacier wall, bending off quite a bit of ice, saying, "Brother - 'Spirits and Man - Together as One'. Does that sound like a possible code to you?" Desna nodded, saying, "Sounds relatively innocuous… Yes - and it's what cousin Korra wanted in the end, and still wants…" asking, "Is this box special? I think any lock would break after too many attempts… especially with contents so secret." Eska yelled, carefully forming the characters required from water, "Haven't tried opening this one yet, so yes," saying before pressing the water into the "lock", "Let's hope whatever is 'in' the box doesn't come out if we give the right combination…"

Desna stood up, everyone standing back as the characters slid into place on the container, Desna drawing some water from the Spirit Oasis in case he needed to fight, noticing Sangok and Chulyin had done the same.

Water flowing in, the box produced an audible clicking sound. After a long series of grinding and whirring, the lid opened up, Desna half expecting to see a Dark Spirit inside.

Peering in, he found nothing other than some scrolls with the same strange writing as on the original scroll. Reaching for a scroll, Desna leaped back after the metal of the box pulsed purple, hearing a low animalistic growl.

The same growl he had heard earlier.

Though his father had never taught him the technique, Desna remembered there was a way to cleanse a Dark Spirit. Not sure "how" his father did it, though he had seen the form of the water used second hand from cousin Korra, he began to form twin helixes around the box, trying to think of what he'd say once the spiral was complete…

Noticing his sister had started at the same time he did, Desna settled on what _he'd_ say to a Dark Spirit, remembering multiple individual's struggles of late as he said, "Troubled spirit, **come** to peace," noticing that the box's sides did pulse erratically, realizing after the fact Eska had said the same thing.

Desna frowning to see the box's sides flash red and purple momentarily before feeling the spirit leave, Eska sighed, "Going with Long Yumao… I guess any spirit my dad decided to stuff in a box and keep enslaved would make that decision. Let's do the others," Sangok agreeing, "Yeah - lock me in a box for three years, probably after telling me I'd be out 'soon' to help rule the world or whatever garbage your dad said - I might be just a _little_ mad with people!"

The pile of unlocked boxes growing steadily with the help of others until all 15 had been opened, Nunasiluq keeping his distance and translating scrolls and tomes as they went, Desna found himself oddly relieved when a few "box spirits" did not flash red and purple, but red and black instead, one of the spirits saying, "Inevitable conclusion - go easy," before it was encased in Spirit Oasis water turned to ice by himself. Looking at the handful of icecubes they had, the spirits within looking incensed but oddly enough not in pain, as Desna might have expected given their spirit water prisons and Yue's warnings, the human turned Moon spirit oddly silent ever since the first spirit was imprisoned. Not wanting four more "Vaazulas" on their hands, Desna asked Eska, "What… what are we going to do with them, exactly?" his sister responding after smiling deviously, "Keep them 'iced' for now - if spirits that big were in these simple boxes… we might need whatever help we can get against what's on Sangok's ship. Who knows – they might assist, given the old Vaatu's… different than the new one," being redundant in adding, "I can't imagine father's Vaatu would like Jinshu Kuangmai's - at all." To Desna's surprise, he heard one of the encased spirits say, "Spirit in ship. That one not like us at all," Desna growling in frustration when it refused to say how, exactly, the same spirit hissing when its crystalline neighbor said, "All know is Unalaq very happy to find that spirit. No one see or know anything else."

Remembering they were technically north of Republic City, somewhere potentially invulnerable snoops would be a very bad thing, Desna said, "We need to try and either convert or wound these spirits," Eska reminding them out loud after two hissed defiantly, "Things are different from when my father was running around. You might have blood now, and... 'If it bleeds, we can kill it.' We never did find out what would happen to a spirit if it bled out… if you won't support people and spirits living together _nicely_, no power abuses involved, we might have to find out, see what happens on you." Desna noticed two of the spirits immediately hissed, black replaced by purple before they vanished, only two staying behind, pulsating with indecision.

Rather than turn any particular color in the end, both spirits shrank inside the ice to less threatening forms, the one that resembled a bipedal shark with an odd, crescent head saying, baring some sharp sharkwhale-like teeth, "Do not know what want now. You threaten - just like father when put us in box years ago. But Jinshu Kuangmai worse," appearing as though it wanted to say why, suddenly silenced. The spirit cursed in gibberish, steam coming from its mouth that partially melted the ice around it, saying, "About to say why he worse - but something made forget," the other crystalline vaguely wind-chime shaped spirit saying in a ringing voice, "Same. Neutral - no side. Like many spirits in Republic City human place."

Not entirely sure he could trust these spirits, Desna thought of someone who might be able to win them over, saying, "Very well - you can stay here, protected by Yue as well, on one condition. As well as talking to Nunasiluq at some point - the spirit currently translating what was in your boxes, no, prisons - there is a little girl I want you to meet. Talk to each for at least thirty minutes. Her name is Poallu," Eska continuing as Desna sized up both spirits, finding the shark one reminded him vaguely of Sharktar in another way as steam came out of its mouth, "And you will give Poallu the same respect and attention you would a fully grown adult human. If you don't… you're staying in those ice tombs until my cousin can come to you. And Raava." Both spirits appearing to agree, the crescent-head shark spirit seeming reluctant compared to its companion, Desna said, "Yue - keep an eye on them. I'll get a few Chieftan's Guard to stay behind - look after them, especially while they're talking with Poallu. Everyone, come - let's see what Nunasiluq has found."

Walking over to Nunasiluq, Desna expected him to look tired, surprised the spirit looked better somehow, barking, "Spirit water was of no help feeling any better - but service was. I could possibly assume my full size now - but no link to Raava. Perhaps your cousin can help with that later somehow." Raava likely fighting a _very _hostile sea spirit, Desna asked, "Find anything unusual?" Shaking its head and flaring the strange blue and white nasal crest, the spirit responded, "Some things – in the biggest box, I found references to discussions about unnamed 'Pre-Avatar Spirits' and even 'Pre-Human Spirits' logged elsewhere. A whole other class of spirits, referenced only passingly… that seemed familiar to me somehow. Everything was readable, including a few cryptic references Sangok and Chulyin's predecessors might understand better than me… but everything of interest to us referenced a 'Master Library', including the 'Pre-Avatar Spirits', 'Pre-Human Spirits' and the vaguely familiar spirits," Nunasiluq hissing before continuing, Sangok and Chulyin joining Eska and Desna's side, "The 'Master Library' is likely the 'creepy room' on your ship, Sangok – probably better protected than even these boxes were. I looked through the 'ledger' books again – all the purchases of boxes were made long ago." Desna's heart sank when the spirit specified, sounding disgusted himself, "A bit over sixteen years ago for the first purchase, staggered across the years," Eska interrupting the spirit's barking speech to say, "Over sixteen years… That's _before_ Zaheer and the Red Lotus tried to kidnap our cousin… Wow – so father planned to betray them all the way back then," smiling slightly as she added, "I bet Zaheer would love to hear that 'wonderful' news."

Thinking more about their own dilemma, Desna said, "Let's try and figure out more as we go. Sister, help me grab all the papers, Nunasiluq… try to read over our shoulders, Sangok and Chulyin – let everyone know we might have a fight on our hands later." Nunasiluq shrunk in size, Chulyin deciding to stay by Eska and Desna's side as they made their way back towards the telegraph station after a gentle reminder from the general.

Chulyin stopping for a moment, he asked for a few of the most important pieces of paper, including the piece of parchment that had kicked everything off. Working silently, Desna not having a clue as to what Chulyin was doing, Desna watched intently, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that they had welcome company.

As Tatkret's family and their own mother joined them, Desna realized someone present might know more than he did, saying, "Mother – apparently, father planned to betray the Red Lotus even before Zaheer's kidnapping attempt sixteen years ago. You wouldn't happen to remember anything about back then… would you?"

After a slight pause, his mother gasped, saying, "Wh – look! The papers! Your military man sees something there… and I do too. From almost two decades ago, when you were just a toddler. I seem to remember Unalaq working on something on and off while you were young – and he'd tell me to leave whenever I spotted him working on it." Malina helping Chulyin re-arrange the face-down scrolls and papers, Desna watched as they took on a distinct form as exposed symbols were matched with one another.

That of Vaatu, rendered in crude edges, the edges of the paper black and red at key points.

The last symbol near Vaatu's "head" overlapping, strange lines appeared on the paper's backs, forming rough stylized drawings of what must have been spirits, the spirit's labels all in the alien script as the paper's other side. Even not really knowing what he was looking at, Desna felt dread, many of the rough spirit's forms reminding him of Nunasiluq in one way – they all looked primordial, like no creature or spirit he had seen before. Desna was dismayed to get the sense from Nunasiluq that the spirits were familiar somehow, some seeming older to Nunasiluq than himself based off what else the spirit could remember, particularly what appeared to Desna to be an Unagi with horrible pointed, crushing jaws, strange bony plates covering the rest of the body. Equally frustrating was that the names were in some sort of double cipher only Raava or Korra could read.

Zoning out, staring at the papers blankly for a while as he heard the sounds of wind and someone sketching, Desna's face drained of color when he read the only thing he could read on the "meta-sheet" of paper, seemingly a note to Unalaq from himself on the back of the sheet Desna recognized as the one his mother had found: "These two on this sheet… all I can remember from my first meeting with Vaatu, my mind, taxed beyond limit – I will write down more later," the characters continuing in a slightly different writing style, as though years later, now spilling onto other pages, "Same ink – much later. I have drawn much. These… are barely remembered spirits from before the age and corruption of mankind, others the products of mankind's hubris and cruelty over eons, all able and likely willing to see the tyranny of man's rule end, thirteen years from when I write this. Together, we will succeed where Vaatu has failed before – restore balance between man and the world. The balance man upset, even before Wan. Man giving the most, the world taking back for those who cannot, those who foolish man has stolen from. Spirits and nature alike. All man will have – the darkness he came from. I will have to work with Vaatu closer to find them at their haunts on the edges of the Spirit World or their 'resting place' in the Physical World."

Reading how his father thought, more insane than Tatkret's mother, Desna felt his stomach sink, feeling a bit of despair when his sister said the obvious, stating as others read what they had finished reading, "That… sounds an awful lot like what Long Yumao wants, except with less slavery. Had I known, we known… After he… fused with Vaatu, I heard father say 'Now 10,000 years of darkness begins!' but I didn't know he meant it even _before_ becoming a literal monster…" choking up slightly when she asked, "Now it might happen all over again – likely with these same spirit's help. What… what did humans do to deserve this?"

Desna felt a strong hand on his shoulder, what he recognized as Tatkret's voice saying, "I may not be talking about the end of humanity… but I often asked what I had done to deserve my life," Shtiya's voice saying, "M-me too," as the twelve-year old grabbed Eska and Desna's free hands, continuing, "Your mom said… she did nothing to 'deserve' Unalaq," adding with a sigh, "The world sucks," Desna smiling slightly when Tatkret interrupted her morose brother, saying, "But not all the time. Sometimes, all you need to do is wait something out…" nodding in agreement when she finished, little brother crying slightly, "Today – it's a start, and I'm sure there's a lot more bumps on the road… but as you told me, more importantly, showed me, Desna, it's that start that really matters."

Desna heard a loud coughing, what must have been Sangok reminding him, "Hey, Chiefs – don't mean to sleet on your festival or be rude, but I just finished looking at the garbage your father wrote. So we probably got a boat with a big nasty spook on it guarding the rest of your father's stuff – probably one of those thinguns on the sheets. Let's give your cousin that update she needs – cryptic style, how Chulyin wanted it – then go see exactly what we've got to fight to find out more," adding after shivering, "Some of those drawings give me the same creeps that room on _my _ship does – and I don't want no creeps on my ship, human or spirit. Let's get this done."

Finally making it into the telegraph room, Desna closed his eyes, recalling his geography as he said, "Get ready to send a telegraph to the Western Air Temple. Tell them to relay the message to the Fire Nation via radio, then to my cousin on her… we need a new name for that thing, like, a whole class." Opening his eyes and seeing the telegraph operator looked clueless, Desna said, "I guess I'll need to make sure everyone is on the 'same page' after this," giving the telegraph's contents after a nod from the operator, Desna feeling like a savage, unable to use radio due to the North Pole and Spirit Light's influence: "Have found new spirit ally. Stop. Requested gathering going as planned. Stop. Your action on pressing issue required before further development possible. Stop. Father was worse than anyone thought. Stop. We do not feel comfortable saying anything else over telegraph and radio. Stop. Projection required, infobending if possible. Stop."

The telegraph operator had a bit of trouble with the word infobending, scratching his head as he said, "Got characters here for energybendin' – nothin' for 'infobending'," Eska sighing slightly in irritation as she said, "Just call it information bending," Desna adding as an afterthought, "And 'energybending' – we might need that as well if our first attempt goes badly." The telegraph operator looked nervous, saying as he carried out the order, "First attempt at… what, exactly?" glad to hear Chulyin say, "Nothing that concerns you… but put out an order to the Capital Crier stations. 'Everyone who doesn't feel like a fight with something big and bad, step away from the naval dockyard. Stop. Help greatly appreciated, but preferred if civilians stay away, and strongly encouraged to stay home and not participate in reinforcing Republic City as well. Stop."

Desna found no problem with the orders at first. Remembering there might be spies literally _anywhere_, Desna protested after the second order was already out, saying, "Wh – if Jinshu Kuangmai knows that we're concerned about Republic City, that might be bad – make him think the Spirit Civil War is heating up!" Chulyin grinned, saying, "I remember you telling me that fool planned to invade Republic City with three battalions of troops, two conscripts at that. Maybe if he hears that, he'll write off the idea of an invasion entirely for now," Desna not entirely sure if that was a good or bad thing. If Toph's wayward son threw troops at Republic City, the evacuation would be easier…

Although the prospect of pursuing war balloons with spirit engines and empowered spirit cannons ripping into slow war balloons carrying civilians back to Republic City didn't appeal to Desna. Maybe it was best if the Earth Empire forces stayed in one area after all.

Satisfied official business was done with, Desna left the telegraph station, stopping when he heard the operator yelling, "Chiefs, wait! We've gotten a response during your delay from the Western Air Temple… not a good one either. I thought Air Acolytes were supposed to be polite, courteous… Come here, quick!" Desna sighed, returning to the post, seeing the response read, "Will not relay message until you tell me why every damn monk and nun here has had the same kind of dream. Stop. Total chaos, have heard the same from other temples. Stop. Dreams of airbending this, flying that – some people seeing departed friends, younger Air Acolytes who still are attached to family, their departed family. Stop." Desna sighed, not appreciating the stares he was getting, least of all from Tatkret and Shtiya, remembering they were friendly but still bloodbenders as he said, "Tell the good Abbot that the sooner he relays the message, the sooner he may or may not get an answer to his demand for information. And that his behavior is most decidedly not 'old-style' Air Nomad!"

Waiting in the crowded telegraph room for an answer, Tatkret asked a question Desna would have rather not heard, preferring to spill his guts over the bending pulse than answer when she asked, "Desna, Eska… I read that writing by your father. I know I'm not one to speak, my epiphany having just been today… but I need to know, for my sake and my brother's. After reading… did you feel like you had 'slipped' any – backwards? You mentioned 'getting over Unalaq, and – "

Eska interrupted, saying tersely, "I'd rather not talk about it," Desna saying, "And I'd rather not talk about it either."

Standing in silence for a minute or two, it was Desna's mother who broke the silence, saying, "If they don't want to talk about it… I've heard rumors about Kuvira's own struggles," Desna speaking up after actually looking, seeing how concerned Tatkret looked, "I'm sorry. It's a difficult issue for me… and speaking of Kuvira. If you're afraid of backtracking, continued struggle… it's all part of… moving on. I don't feel like explaining how, my sister Eska the only one who knows that, but I saw Kuvira's struggles – the first night, **and **last night." Tatkret looking devastated at the implication, Desna unable to see any change on her brother's face, Desna feel a brief peace when he was totally frank, saying, "Kuvira's last struggle was hard – but she won, with help of new friends," reaching out to hug Tatkret as he said, "She was a few atrocities and a date with Vaatu short of my father – we're just wounded souls, like Asami." Feeling the moment ruined slightly when the telegraph operator piped up, "Uh, technically…. you and your sister helped your father; Asami didn't," Desna groaned, "More job, les interrupting, please," sighing when Tatkret herself said, "That's… that's the whole reason I asked."

Everything made sense when Tatkret continued, her younger brother weeping slightly and her father hugging the poor boy, "My mother was more than mother – she was our controller, our life, our trainer in her sick art, the family tradition. My mom… she got me to do horrible, awful things to animals, threatening to kill my brother if I didn't, spewing out hate and… deeply hurtful insults about…" Tatkret looking relieved when she finally said the word out loud, "About me being a **lesbian**, my 'unacceptable' weight," her brother sniffling, "Me – my weight, my 'softness', the only way she could get me to train to make me save… the animals." Desna had expected Tatkret to speak next, but Shtiya surprised him, saying, "I think what my sister wanted to know was… will we ever truly be free of our mother? Even after more struggle?"

Not having had experience with "ending" a struggle himself, Desna listened as Tatkret's father Hakoda said, lifting his son into the air and hugging him, "C'mere – such big questions, for someone who wouldn't even talk yesterday," looking slightly sad as he continued, "I don't really know the answer to your question, son, your mother having dominated me as well," breaking up and pecking his son on the cheek lovingly before he said, "But I do know one thing that will help. That – love. I've heard it said that time heals all wounds, and while I hope it's true… I'll 'settle' for being so busy with a new life, that you forget all about the old. No longer haunts you every day – a distant memory."

Desna had been so busy listening he hadn't noticed his mother slowly walking towards Hakoda, the big burly man blushing slightly after Malina said, sure of herself, "Desna, Eska… I… may have found the man I need."

Desna had found himself embarrassed earlier at the prospect. Closing his eyes, needing a little time to think, all he could see was a rough image of himself in a restaurant sitting across the table from a laughing girl. Golden eyes shining with life… The light of the sun.

Opening his eyes, seeing a similar light in his mother's eyes, Desna smiled, saying, "Whatever you want, mother," laughing when Eska interrupted him from saying anything about Ursa II, Eska agreeing loudly, Hakoda still blushing slightly as he said in his deep voice, "Well – you two are our Chiefs, after all," smiling as he finished, "So I imagine the divorce should go… smoothly now."

A beeping coming from the telegraph machine, the operator said, "Still have no clue what that was all about – I'm sure I will, or won't, hear all about it in the papers here. Anyways – got a response from the Western Air Temple. 'We passed on the message as soon as we originally got it. Stop. I apologize for the bluster and rudeness – I am simply very stressed right now. Stop. Everything is most definitely not peaceful. Stop. If the Avatar wishes to wait to tell me more, she can do so at her discretion. Stop. It is the most I can do to honor her, and her predecessor Avatar Aang. Stop. Regards, Abbot Dainei of the Western Air Temple. Stop.' Hmmm… that's odd, we're getting a second telegraph just now from the Western Air Temple. But not from the Abbot, it seems. Please stand by."

While they were waiting, the possible new merged family exchanged hugs, even Shtiya looking somewhat alive by the time the telegraph operator said, "I can't make sense of half of this telegraph – and it seems to be written that way intentionally. I'll read it anyways… 'Zuko here. Stop. Just wanted to let you know it seems someone other than Izumi worked a miracle on my granddaughter, Ursa II as she prefers to be called now, even if she won't say who outright for now. Stop. My own daughter has had a large change of heart. Stop," Desna too happy to know Ursa II was well and happy after their brief interaction to react when the operator continued, "We have much to discuss. Stop. In case in interception, I will keep this brief – a code for our code via telegraph would be good. Stop. We are in possession of a single 'tree' seed, as well as other unexpected things. Stop. Just like the tree seed, they require outside input to use the most effectively. Stop. I hope anything you find that's unexpected is as good as my Uncle. Stop. We have already talked with Avatar Korra briefly, and we need your consul as well as a massive exchange of events in a secure location. Stop."

Desna asked the operator, "Hey – think you can send back a message that says, 'Desna here. Stop. Ask how Ursa II is doing, and there's something we need to take care of before leaving for Republic City – cannot say over unsecure connection. Stop." The telegraph operator said as he worked, "Tree seed, unexpected finds… Would you mind telling me what that stuff means?" Desna being mostly honest when he said, "I know just as much as you do," vaguely jealous that the Fire Nation was apparently in possession of yet _another_ potential "lovetree" like the one his cousin had inadvertently planted on Ember Factory Island.

No sooner had the man finished typing out the message than Desna heard an excited scream from outside, only recognizing it as Tatkret's voice when she yelled, "Wha – it's the Avatar! Wow – I… so much I want to ask you!" Desna running outside, Korra smiled, saying apparently to Raava, "So I lied – Omashu wasn't the last stop. Hmmm – a spirit. Must be the new ally I heard about." Tatkret yelled, "Hello?" Korra responding sheepishly, "Oh, uh, hello to you too – you first. You look like you've been through a lot… care to tell me more?" Tatkret started eagerly, Korra holding up two hands after about thirty seconds, saying, "Whoa there, lady buddy – slow down," Tatkret looking dissapointed until Korra said sadly, "What little I heard of your story, I'll want to hear it all by itself for sure – and so will Asami Sato. I'd prefer face to face – maybe even infobending. If a trick I used with Jasmine at the prison camp works again in a while, I'll get to see you all in the Spirit World."

Tatkret now grinning ear to ear, apparently satisfied for now, Desna tried getting his cousin's attention, eventually getting it by yelling in English, "COUSIN! I think my 'Chief's Admirals'' flagship has a really important room in it – chock full of stuff my father got from Vaatu!" Now having Korra's attention, Desna helped Eska, Chulyin, and everyone else explain what they thought might be in the "blendmetal" room.

Looking disturbed, Korra finally spoke again, saying, "That's… not good. Not the spirit in the ship – I'm sure you can deal with that. What I'm worried about, after hearing from a friendly spirit about something in the Spirit World… all those drawings of likely hostile ancient, possibly pre-human powerful spirits your father made," Desna nodding in agreement when Korra finished, "I just hope there aren't even _more_ spirits in that 'Master Library'." Looking uneasy, his cousin admitted something that made Desna's blood run cold, Korra sounding pained to say, "According to Patta – you might know… it? have no idea what gender it is… better as the spirit that warned me about Long Yumao's new power. The little white dog. Anyways – Patta says there's no human-allied spirits anywhere near the Tree of Time – not even Jinshu Kuangmai's 'friends'. And I recognize that red and black gem as a form of what Yangchen called 'spiritmetal' – and it does have special properties in all its forms. The red and black version – we've decided to call Vaatite." Taking a deep breath, Korra said hopefully, "I'll tell you more about that later. Omashu and the prison camp are doing well – Omashu was the last place I projected to. On the spirits… Maybe they retreated for a reason? Whatever – it doesn't look like I'll be checking the new portal anytime soon," continuing with a slight frown, "It's not good news – I need something to cheer me up again, even after seeing Omashu. Spirit – mind introducing yourself?"

Tatkret looked a bit miffed as Nunasiluq put on a show, his cousin appearing to understand the spirit's speech readily. Desna guessed the reason why Tatkret looked sour, saying over top of Nunasiluq barking something about links, "Time for a spirit, and not you?" Given Tatkret's nod, he had been right, Korra saying, "Sorry – your story's something I'll want Asami by my side for – hopefully in a bit," Desna's cousin looking business again as she said, "The faster I check on that room, the quicker we can meet 'for real' hopefully, and possibly restore Nunasiluq's partially severed link," Korra joking, "If what Raava's been telling me is right, I'll need to expand the meeting area, just like she did my 'house'." Eska and Desna nodded, knowing what Korra was talking about, everyone else around them looking confused and lost, Sangok saying, "No clue what you said – but here's what you need to know about the... 'energy' of that room," giving his cousin a quick description of the room's appearance beyond what he had mentioned already.

The "Vaatite" gem inlaid handle.

Before Desna could say anything else, his cousin vanished briefly. After all of two or three seconds, her image returned, his cousin saying with a mix of anger and horror, "Damn it! Can't get in. As strong a block on that place as on Zaofu or Jinshu Kuangmai's mind…" Eska, Desna, Chulyin and Sangok groaned when Korra said, "Maybe you should just… leave the ship behind. Set up a quarantine. We're spread thin still, and we need to pick our fights wisely," Desna finding himself saying, "No – we NEED to know what's in there! What we might be up against in Republic City, or here, or your childhood home, should your handiwork fail!"

Korra sighed, smiling slightly as she said, "Never thought four years ago I'd be counseling someone to back down from a fight," continuing with a deep frown, "I'm afraid it may already be failing," the color draining from Desna's face when Korra asked, pointing to him and his sister, "Did you notice any odd cracks on the barriers? ANYTHING – even what looked to be scratches?" Desna nodded, his sister Eska speaking for him, saying, "Yes. Barely visible scratches, I thought they were natural, maybe an animal… why do you think they might mean anything?"

Korra looked sick, waving her hand slightly and saying, "Let's just say someone with very sharp eyes noticed something on the Republic City barriers that I found disturbing." After a pause, she explained, "That spirit I mentioned before, Patta, told me about what another 'Ursa' found in Republic City far before the spirit's most disturbing discovery," Korra finishing, "Two of three barriers, already affected… we're going to need to know what we will **most likely** be up against," Desna not knowing what Korra meant when she said, "Cracks around the Earth Empire… eugh." Looking up, Korra said in English, "I've heard of _new _new airbenders to be in Omashu – even new other benders. I know you talked to the Western Air Temple – any news from them? I tried asking about dreams obliquely, but… Abbot Dainei acted like I was crazy."

Glad to give his crestfallen cousin some good news, Desna said in English, "If Abbot Dainei was right about the other temples having similar dream 'issues'… the Air Nation may end up reborn in a very big way," his cousin saying with audible elation, "J… just a minute," Korra re-appearing and smiling broadly, saying, "Jinora, Pema and Tenzin were so happy they fainted," Desna and Eska chuckling together when Korra said, "Meelo wasn't quite as happy, upset his 'special talent' wasn't going to be so special anymore, and - "

Korra suddenly stopped, sighing, "That was close. This is something I need to leave alone for now – I'm a bit of a mess, especially after hearing about the reinforcements from Republic City, _and _this news about a 'Master Library' of hostile spirits," Desna surprised when his mother spoke up, saying, "It's not all bad – my husband wrote about 'potential enemy' spirits too, and I bet they're listed as well in that room. His enemies – our allies."

Korra nodded, saying, "Thank you," Desna surprised when Korra continued, "Who knows – maybe some of the spirits Raava exhausted herself 'helping' earlier are on that list," smiling when his cousin finished, "We can't afford to delay, coming to you, and can't afford to wait to know more. I'll need you all to find out – with some help from your own spirit friend. If there were spirits inside small boxes… I cannot imagine what might be inside that room, that red and black spiritmetal gem… Vaatite. Ugh – I hate saying the name. Eska, Desna, any other waterbenders that have the least bit of spiritual inclination – I'll need to teach you what my uncle taught me. How to cleanse spirits," Desna remembering his attempts earlier hadn't been quite successful and realizing he could use some pointers as Korra finished, "And you, Nunasiluq – you're going to need to fight," smiling as she asked, "I'm sure Raava wouldn't mind one more, given what she said earlier… How'd you like to fight with air, earth, metal, and lava?"

Making Desna feel like a timid artic hen, Nunasiluq barked, "I would fight to the 'death' for Raava with nothing more than I have now – what I had, three years ago against the swarm." Nunasiluq shifted after prostrating himself before the Avatar, Desna getting the sense he'd find out more later after, the spirit squawking… contentedly?

Korra smiled broadly, saying, seemingly quoting someone, "What you said… it reminded me of someone else. 'I do not mind the pain, this… indescribable ache. For this, I would 'die a thousand deaths'… It is a pleasure to serve the universal constant – love,'" Desna's eyes widening when his cousin said, "Raava said that earlier. You think you link to her is weak, ancient spirit – I say it's stronger than any other one I know of, in the way that matters the most," shimmering slightly and vanishing after saying, "I will see you all soon, after an… interesting radio call. For this other meeting… don't hesitate to bring anyone and everyone you can think of. Goodbye."

Korra gone, Desna was pretty sure those around him wouldn't be the only ones going with him, should his cousin's plan to draw people to the portion of the Spirit World that housed her and Asami's chakra pools, Eska saying the name before he did: "Poallu."


	55. Chapter 55: Leaves in the Wind

Chapter 55 : Leaves in the Wind

Staring at the ceiling idly beneath the covers, having just recently woken up and been told where her father was, slightly tired for reasons she couldn't understand after having gotten to bed early the night before, Ursa felt frustrated with something other than her body for once - still ignoring her self-imposed hunger. Remembering how she had tried, tried so hard to remember what her dream was, trying to figure out why her mother couldn't wake her in time to leave, Ursa grew even more frustrated, yelling, "Stupid dream I can't even remember - I wanted to go with dad! Do something, against… him! Do something that matters!"

All her life, she'd brushed up against chances to help people, and had almost always done so, to the best of her ability, even if she felt like it was never enough, she wasn't enough, hoping to find validation by having a much bigger impact - but this opportunity seemed to her by far the most important. Helping her father, the vast majority of the rest of the Republic's military, and the band of misfits against the Earth Empire - even including Equalists, of all people - Ursa felt like she'd missed the chance of a lifetime. The rumors she heard about Jinshu Kuangmai - both official and unofficial, her father Hideki being more in the loop than anyone not in the United Republic Army, much less an officer in it - made her skin crawl.

She had been up close and personal with evil before, from pleading with Amon face-to-mask as a scared twelve-year old girl four years ago, wanting to keep her bending, some part of her thinking with self-disgust, "That's not true - don't you remember? Anything, at all?" Shrugging the errant thought off, remembering her attempt to help back then as just pitiful floundering, she returned to her original train of thought. Evil. From Amon, to - along with the other evacuees under a week ago - watching Kuvira stomp around her home in a giant metal monster from the safety of the mountains, hoping her father wouldn't get hurt and that there would be something left to go home to. Just an ordinary citizen, Ursa had been powerless to do anything but watch… hoping that home would be free when she went back - not under a tyrant's rule. But listening to a tearful Shiro Shinobi announce his likely permanent retirement from radio announcer, wanting to help the great technical minds of the world in any way he could after his family's likely grisly demise, punishment for not committing suicide at Jinshu Kuangmai's sick order and vanishing quietly into the night, then listening to Avatar Korra's press conference the next day, how Jinshu Kuangmai had killed his unnamed inner child seemingly…

At least Amon had wanted equality between benders and nonbenders. But Amon had gone about it in the wrong way, ignoring other inequalities along the way - such as between the rich like his ally Hiroshi Sato, and the poor, like Mako and Bolin. Unalaq had wanted the spirits to return to their world - Ursa liking to think he had been corrupted by Vaatu, not wanting to try and fathom a human selling their soul to such a being willingly, actually aiming to become a Dark Avatar. Zaheer had wanted freedom - and anarchy, willing to kill to get them both, and not caring about the fallout after, or what he did to Avatar Korra. While the Avatar was incapacitated , recovering, Kuvira had wanted to restore stability and order to the Earth Kingdom - only to do it in the most horrible way she could have, the only person of the four to have "pulled a Zuko" partially to Ursa's knowledge. Thinking a little, Ursa realized she wasn't entirely right - Hirsho Sato, while a traitor to Republic City four years ago, had still given his life for Republic City in the end. The others, however… Amon and Unalaq - dead, likely both in the Fog of Lost Souls. Zaheer - the sole unyielding survivor of the superpower that had been the Red Lotus - or so Ursa hoped, media coverage about the mop-up after Zaheer's defeat having seemed… odd and scant to her. At least Zaheer had helped Avatar Korra overcome her block on his attempt on her life in the name of stopping a shared foe, Kuvira. But what she heard, read of Jinshu Kuangmai… there was nothing redeeming about him.

Zuko's name bringing to mind her own namesake, Ursa of the Fire Nation, and Jinshu Kuangmai's possible nature, the first Ursa's brat and wannabe tyrant daughter Azula, Ursa found herself wondering if the citizens of the Earth Kingdom had "deserved" what Kuvira did - a punishment for their… **beyond** animalistic behavior three years ago. Rioting, looting, killing… Ursa mused out loud, "Azula. I wonder what was her problem - or if she was just evil, like I think Jinshu Kuangmai is. Wanted to have a miniature genocide for a dinner party…" grumbling, "Stupid dream… UGH, I wanted to go help stop him!" adding, "I… I still feel powerless! Not even a leaf in the wind - dust. All these people running the world, or those with exceptional skill and talent, granted gifts like blood-iron bending and wasting them… the world's not fair!" Trying to think of something positive - which was usually not very easy - Ursa was surprised when an answer came quickly, saying, "I'm just glad Avatar Korra and Raava didn't accidentally start the Spirit Civil War back then after the Earth Queen's death," returning to "normal" by thinking glumly, "Jinshu Kuangmai's not the only villain running around - Long Yumao. If Raava had given her little gift back then… I'd probably be dead, or slaving - "

Ursa shook her head, sitting up slightly and looking at two of her favorite objects, saying as she remembered a little bit more about her past, "No - I'd never be a slave! I fought once. I'd rather die…" With pride and a slight smile, she looked at her one-handed yanmaodao sword hanging from the large spiritvine that ran upwards through her room. Or rather, leaning against the vine by the sword's tip, handle and glacier blue and bonfire yellow tassels attached to its end touching the floor - she had tried putting tacks into the vine soon after it had "joined" the family and her middle-class apartment complex a few days after Harmonic Convergence; the bruises on her dark skin from the vine reacting like a living being had taken a week to go away. Some irritating part of her thought, "Those bruises… It'd probably have been worse if I didn't have so much 'shielding' and big bones! If I wasn't me, that thing would have broken my arm!"

Ursa laughed, thinking, "Wish I could just… shut these things up!" Remembering the last time she had tried shutting a part of herself up, except much more justifiably but obsessively, Ursa re-focused, saying, "Then again, maybe not. Don't want a repeat of two years ago," thinking, "At least I came out better for it, and learned not to push my luck." Remembering her earlier derisive thoughts towards the people of the Earth Kingdom and how she thought they needed to be taught a lesson for their rioting and looting, having wondered why they did it in the first place, she remembered something else - her parents and Nana telling her she needed to stop her quest for self-purification a few years ago. After a deep sigh, Ursa finally realized the meaning behind something Nana had told her, when Ursa asked her why she had to learn things herself - "It doesn't matter how many times other people have learned it, sweetie - some things, we just have to learn for ourselves, through pain and suffering. And even after you've learned it, the 'problem' never really goes away. Everyone's set of 'problems' is different - they're a part of what makes each one of us unique."

She'd learned herself that humans were yin and yang; to try and get rid of one half or the other was a fool's errand. She had thought she could crush yin, darkness, like the bug it was after winning "enough", and be done with it for life - but she was wrong, finding some solace when she thought, "Even Raava cannot crush Vaatu." Remembering how Kuvira's transformative experience had been described by Avatar Korra at the press conference, Kuvira shattering her doppler into a million metal shards with "brute force", Ursa found herself hoping Kuvira knew this truth Ursa had learned the hard way - the former dictator was unlikely to be free from struggle yet - and possibly never would be.

Returning to the present, Ursa smiled to see a more palatable representation of yin and yang - instead of a symbol of the inextricably intertwined nature of light and dark, instead as two parts of one whole, complementing one another. Just as the blue and orange yin yang symbol near the handle of her yanmaodao's blade did - reminders of her dual heritage, fire and water, lightning and ice. After one last look at the Fire Nation accurate sword her father had helped her make after the Equalist crisis, wanting to be able to fight even without bending, Ursa said, pushing down some unpleasant memories, "If Raava and Avatar Korra had started it… and lost the Spirit Civil War, back then, when bandits and Kuvira ruled the Earth Kingdom… I'd probably have gone down defending someone," as she looked at the Water Tribe style shield her mother helped her make shortly after her sword. Though, like the sword, the shield was modified from what a "normal" woman warrior of either culture might use - she was taller than the average woman by a good three to four inches, realizing with a smile she was an inch taller than the Avatar, Avatar Korra clocking in at five foot seven. Ursa was… a bit of an Avatar admirer, making it her business to know as much as she could about Avatar Korra and the Avatar in general, having been overjoyed to learn all the Avatar's past lives were back - wondering for a brief second if any of Raava's past human "partners" had been like Ursa. Dancing around thinking it, some part of her said, "You're just plus-sized - and I'm sure an Avatar was too!" grumbling lowly, saying out loud, "Goody-two shoes is almost as annoying as the other one," crying a little in frustration when the same part told her, "If you wouldn't be so negative… your CONSCIENCE wouldn't be annoying!"

Internally knowing her conscience to be right, Ursa pushed the goody-two shoes off - as she almost always did, when it nagged her to be nicer to herself. Thoughts of the Avatar bringing up an old desire, one in direct contradiction to the small messages to accept herself, Ursa still wanted to look like _her, _suddenly not caring if there had been a "big-boned" Avatar anymore. Ursa sighed, remembering something else she had in common with the Avatar. Even if Ursa was too big, her fat and occasional folds still hid an immense physical strength - along with her bending, strength she had used before to defend the weak, never lashing out at her own bullies.

Some part of her was tempted to get up and play with the two weapons. She smiled slightly, but stopped after she thought dejectedly, "What's the point? People told me I was crazy for wanting them given I'm a firebender - and people running around with spirit weapons doesn't make it any better! The mocking on about her " truly useless" weapons the way back from the refugee camp was especially bad, after Kuvira used her thing, to…"

Looking away from the weapons, Ursa sighed as she imagined a small spirit weapon beam reducing both her sword and metal shield to slag - as the explosion had done _very_ close to home; a few more blocks, and her apartment complex would have been toast, a few minutes of walking and flamejetting around enough to bring her to the crater. Ursa frowned, saying as she thought again of her more unique belongings being useless, "I've been able to stop little bad things from happening - but never anything really big," grumping, "Wish I had all four elements, or a big corporation to do stuff with," saying as a tear rolled down her cheek, "I guess I never really never totally got over my depression. Still feel like I'm just a drop in an endless sea…"

"So negative. Feel like the insignificant gnat you are. Hah… maybe I'm not so down after all. Keep on ignoring that other little voice - you'll never get the body you want if you listen to it."

Ursa's eyes widened, not daring to speak in case her mother, little sister Buniq or Nana were snooping, thinking with concern, "That thought… her. Oh, man… I haven't heard… that in a long time!" Flopping back down onto the bed, noticing on her bedside clock it was still very early in the morning and feeling tired, Ursa reminded herself of something else she had learned before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. Something she had learned trying to figure out why people were bad at the young age of twelve after her brush with Amon, his hypocritical words and ideology disturbing a powerless twelve-year old, the start of her own relatively mild spiritual journey: "Sometimes, when light is coming, darkness interferes," smiling as she remembered aloud, "The dying gasp."

As she fell asleep, randomly wishing she were normal, thin, a stray thought passed through her mind: "A spiritual journey that started when you were born, started in earnest when you beat your depression - a journey that will continue forever, just like Kuvira's - but so much further along," too tired to protest internally - knowing deep down the "annoying" thought was right anyways. As they usually were - almost like an internal version of her parents and Nana…

Dreaming of what life would be like thin anyways, not questioning the dream's internal logic when it showed her eating as she usually did, the good feelings only heightened when an unseen person said, "I wish I could eat like that! She's always had such a fast metabolism!"

Hoping the hazy dream would never end, Ursa idly noticed her hands and then the rest of her eventually returned to normal size as she ate - though in this strange dream, she didn't feel full. Only pleasure. Ursa felt a deep peace suffuse her being when she heard what she assumed was an older version of herself say from behind her, "You're still beautiful - we're still beautiful. Please. _Love yourself_."

Deciding to follow the direction, inhibitions not present, the peace intensified as something about the dream shifted, almost feeling real somehow. Ursa REALLY wished the now clear dream would never end. It wasn't the food she liked the most - it was this… sense of peace, contentment, noticing it remained even when she… chose to go do other things? Ursa had never had a dream like this before! It almost seemed like she was in control of her actions! Visiting the table again, sitting down after feeling hungry, she noticed she didn't change any after eating more, eventually feeling full and stopping - not having felt any sense of fullness before while asleep. Ever.

Resting her hands on her stomach, for once not feeling ashamed of it partially blocking her view of the rest of her body, she actually strummed her fingers on her stomach, smiling as she said, "I wish I could feel like this all the time - peace. Contentment." Leaning back, she didn't mind the chair's creaking protest - this feeling…

She recognized it as the feeling she had fleetingly felt while fighting her internal strife, but… so much more at the same time. Love. Except not for others - for herself.

Something that was to her not even a faded memory…

Time passing seemingly without meaning, the dream eventually did end when the extra uneaten cookies in front of her morphed into angular, metallic United Republic of Nations insignias. Shortly after, the partially eaten VarriCake in front of her morphed into a radio. Ursa nonsensically heard her father's voice come through the radio, Hideki's voice saying from a spot that had a second ago been frosting, "Hello, this is Paternal Unit One, over. Uh, hello - you usually find that funny! Ursa, can you hear me? URSA? Are you okay - we never did figure out what was wrong with you - why you wouldn't wake up! I hope Nana was right to say just to let you be…"

By the time her father's voice had finished, Ursa's eyes were open, suppressing an urge to go and look in the mirror and see if the first part of the dream was real when she heard her father's voice ask, "Am I just overreacting? You asleep, Big Bear?" over an actual radio on her bedside. Feeling slightly cranky, the dream's feeling not having carried over to her deep disappointment, Ursa responded "YES" without thinking, apologizing, "Uh - sorry, dad. Didn't mean to yell," adding indignantly, "That's not to say I'm not annoyed. Can't you just call me, I don't know, Strong Bear? You know I hate that nickname! Kids at school called me 'Bear Butt' because of it, and, well… you know." Ursa grumbled when her father laughed, "You know as well as I do it's not about your build, rather about your heart," smiling when his voice continued, "Didn't know you could sleep talk - technically you told me you were asleep earlier. Well, anyways, I'm glad to know you're well enough to be snarky," her ears perking up when he finished, "We're just now leaving United Republic Territory, and should be arriving at the Great Divide in about an hour. Maybe more. Still can't believe our commander in chief President Raiko came with us. Never really struck me as a war leader… Enough about him. You feeling better?"

Ursa finally got up from her bed, reminding herself there weren't any prying eyes in her room to see her without clothes on as she picked up the receiver, saying, "Pretty much." Able to remember her last dream a lot more clearly than the ones earlier, Ursa told her father the basics, still adding at the end, "I'm not telling mom, my little sister Buniq or Nana though! They'd never let me hear the end of it." Ursa admitted with sadness in her voice when she looked down, automatically feeling like a horrible failure just because of her big belly, oversized thighs, and well… everything else: "Not to mention outside of there I don't feel that way yet…" letting out a half laugh, half groan when her father joked, "Then why'd you tell me then? You got my hopes up." Remembering her father might see combat, possibly against people with spirit weapons, Ursa tried to remain strong at first, saying, "Forget my dreams. There anything I can do, dad? I missed the reinforcements leaving," breaking up when her father said, "No, no - don't forget that dream. Hold onto it - build from it. Please. Maybe there is something wrong - normally you'd be obsessing over it, analyzing it," Ursa sniffing as he continued, "Just… be you. I know you're smart - that you know this might be the last time you hear my voice. Just remember - you'll always have me inside."

Sadness still welling up inside her, as well as rage, Ursa said, "O-okay… just… be careful, please!" adding, "I love you!"

Her father returned the sentiment over a loud voice saying, "Hideki, get over here, please! We've got refugees incoming - wait - is that a defector?! What in the name of… holding BLUEPRINTS? Looks like a whole family…" Sounding much more urgent now, the voice continued, "Officer Hideki, your General needs you. I'm sorry, but your daughter can wait!" After a slight protest followed by a long pause, what Ursa now recognized as General Iroh II's voice said, "I know the importance of family - but I need you over here, _Officer_ Hideki. I needn't remind you how you earned your position - humble, like your daughter, except less extreme. You're paid well for a reason, after all. Even the Earth Empire defectors can hardly believe what our new friend brought, Baatar Jr. the only one getting it," the radio falling silent after.

Deciding that her father could handle whatever it was and that more defectors could only be good news, she decided to examine the dream - wondering why she hadn't before. More than the peace that came along with letting go of inhibition, something Ursa knew she couldn't do entirely - she did have a weight issue she needed to keep under some control, after all - Ursa remembered the mature Ursa's words: "You're still beautiful - we're still beautiful. Please. _Love yourself_." Puzzling over part of it, Ursa asked no one, setting the radio down, " 'We're still beautiful'? Huh? **We**? What in the blazes is THAT supposed to mean?" Remembering how the dream had been downright bizarre towards the end, Ursa almost able to direct it somehow, realizing she had gotten "full" in the dream at the same point she might have in the real world, she shrugged, saying, "Probably spirit shenanigans. Just like this vine here," frowning as she added, "Spirit shenanigans. Just like Warmwings leaving town a few days ago," smiling again when she realized something, adding, "With the blue lines on her wings, white spots on her fur… she must have been going to fight Long Yumao, just like she said!"

Ursa sighed all the same - even if Warmwings was with the other resident dragonfly bunny spirits helping in the Spirit World… the spirit was still one of her only friends, and she had missed her over the past few days. Some mystery version of herself and her family might be telling her to love herself… But the way she saw it, what she remembered… Aside from her family, Warmwings, a shared family friend Renshi - who was also not with her father right now, being one of the metalbender cops asked to stay in Republic City and uphold the law - and her own personal friend Lee-Lee, most of the world had a… different message for her. That she wasn't enough, different, an outsider, an object of derision. Some had called her what was wrong with Republic City - for two different reasons. The first group much smaller than the others - at least people were open-minded about different cultures here, even if Ursa herself was… unusual looking. Being a firebender, jet black wavy hair and golden eyes and all, along with having the dark skin of someone from the Northern Water Tribe like her mother Panik and her grandmother Nuniq - though everyone in the family called her Nana - would have been enough reason for kids to tease her…

Without her body.

Her body, or rather the fact there was way too much Ursa on it, just sealed her fate on the Republic City schoolyards and classrooms. Now that she was legally an adult, 16, no longer in school didn't help any at all - she still got the assorted nasty calls on the streets. What some called "decadent and disgusting," some people guilt tripping her for "stealing food" during the ongoing crisis in the former Earth Kingdom.

By now having worked herself into a thorough funk, Ursa passed by her sword and shield, grumbling under her breath, "Even training with those has only helped so much," remembering that before the Equalist crisis motivating her to learn to fight without bending four years ago, she had been what her mother called "adorably chubby", Nana swearing up and down that's what she looked like when she was young. Ursa groaned when she remembered Nana's nickname for her, her grandmother thinking "Little Seal" was a compliment. Looking around her room, she spotted a school photo dating shortly before Amon's temporary rule of Republic City. Ursa picked it up, looking at her then relatively heavier form, ignoring the fact that she was smiling in the photo as she said, "Twelve. Just look at me. Two years into puberty, and I had boobs bigger than some of my older classmates - but not in the good way." Remembering a time her Nana had simply called her "My Sad Seal", Ursa looked at a younger photo of herself dating two years prior, saying, "Ten years old, and I was chubbier, trying to eat away depression. Seal, indeed. Wow - I guess I have made some progress," frowning as she rubbed her overly wide hips, saying as she looked at her ten year old self again, "Not that I don't want to lose more - but I don't want to know what I'd look like now if I hadn't started training two years after… that photo."

Still looking at the photo, vaguely remembering there was one photo that fell chronologically in between was missing, Ursa sighed deeply, putting the photo she did have back on her shelf. Not having a clue if her little sister happened to be up at almost 5:30 in the morning, she decided to try and stay quiet - she loved her little sister a lot, probably more than she loved herself, but one of the ways Buniq had of showing concern for "Big Sis Ursa" annoyed her to no end, and was not in the mood for a lecture from Nana or her mother.

Looking back at the photos for some reason, Ursa's eyes wandered back and forth in time, her eyes settling on the most recent photo showing her celebrating the end of school and, at the time - she thought - bullies with her close friend Lee-Lee. Smiling at the irony, she picked up the photo, saying, " 'Bear Butt' and 'Lee the Lanky'… totally different, but so much alike." Ursa was fairly overweight to be charitable, what many called obese, the ruder girls pointing out she was far away from just overweight. Obese. Just thinking the word made Ursa cringe, remembering it was something her classmates had always made sure to point out was a "new class" of weight invented just for "Republic City richkid fatasses" like herself by doctors. Doctors unfamiliar with the "full range" of Water Tribe body builds or even their historybooks of other nations, according to her grandmother - who her own mother sometimes reminded Ursa she was a lot alike, "Water Tribe" body build and all. Looking back at her ten-year old self, she smiled sourly, saying, "Sorry, Nana, mom - 'they' were definitely right about that one. That wasn't healthy," giving a photo of her grandmother a quick look, idly wondering to herself how someone who was heavier than herself had lived to 75 - old enough to have seen Sozin's Comet, though just as a baby. Nana did remember seeing some of Firelord Ozai's use of Sozin's Comet as a little girl decades ago when her parents brought her from the Northern Water Tribe - Wulong Forest's still charred remains, the scattered wreckage of the airship fleet intended to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground…

Pretty sure she'd hear Nana's voice start babbling about "natural Water Tribe insulation" in her head if she looked at her picture any longer, Ursa looked back at her own picture - her celebratory, definitely not romantic night on the town with Lee-Lee. She smirked, saying bitterly, "Mix the two of us, you'd have someone normal - too bad we never worked out." Lee-Lee was an extremely wiry nonbender technophile who, while he did have a hidden physical strength just like Ursa, never defended himself against bullying in school, even though he was taller than normal. Again, much like her - but yet, totally different. He was currently just a little shorter than one of his two idols, Tenzin, and Ursa wasn't sure if Lee-Lee was done growing just yet either. Or herself, for that matter - though the only growth aside from more fat she'd likely get was in her legs, mumbling, "Yeah - like that'd help all the me up here," gesturing to her upper body, some crude part of her thinking, "At least the weight makes my bust big." Ursa smiled slightly as she said out loud, "Well, _bigger_," remembering Nana had once commented she hadn't looked as good as Ursa did in her youth there. Thoughts of Water Tribe bringing someone else to mind, Ursa remembered that Lee-Lee's other idol was Varrick, even though he had met the magnate once and he hadn't given Lee-Lee the time of day for one of her lanky **friend's **many ideas. It was a stark contrast to the time he met Tenzin, who had told Lee-Lee he thought the younger boy had the heart of an airbender after hearing a little about his schoolyard days. Long after the new airbenders came around, of course - Lee-Lee not having gotten anything, Ursa half wondering if it was "because" of something. She had been very sad when he didn't get anything, much more an airbender at heart than that madman Zaheer… Thinking of such things, she remembered that even Tenzin's wife Pema had not gotten anything, saying, "Guess the Universe isn't just unfair to 'little people' like me and Lee-Lee," some nasty part of her thinking, "You - little? Hah! Lee-Lee's the skinny one."

Ursa sighed, remembering that she and Lee-Lee were friends - nothing more. They had met when she was a year younger than her "heaviest" - which Ursa now remembered with a frown was the product of her first brush with depression. Lasted a whole year, maybe more, as far as she could remember… Looking at the photo again, she felt disgusted with herself. A lone tear ran down her cheek, crying as another joined it, "Maybe Buniq is right… I was just ten, trying to fill something… I am being my own bully," feeling a little fleeting bit of what she had felt in her dream as she did so. The self-love… Looking away from the photo, Ursa smiled when she saw how happy both she and Lee-Lee looked in the photo, remembering how they met.

When she was nine, already having put herself physically in between bullies and their prey, she was just starting to master the finer points of firebending, including lightning generation under her father's tutelage. Lee-Lee was being bullied by someone twice his age who had escaped his special remedial section, one of the Republic City school system's "holdbacks" - students with behavioral problems, or who couldn't - in some cases, wouldn't - answer what two plus two was correctly. The bully, an 18-year old defiant muscular earthbending and metalbending hunk of anger named Xin Fu after what he claimed was his "awesome" ancestor, was getting exceptionally rough with Lee-Lee, even the schoolyard monitor _and _security unable to break him off. At that point, Ursa hadn't tried zapping someone with lightning - yet. She had known she wasn't a match for the towering delinquent physically - but she had something he didn't. Lightning.

Remembering what her defense of Lee-Lee had earned her, even though the hypocritical schoolyard monitor had been yelling for help, Ursa looked at her framed first detention paper with a smile, chuckling, "I didn't get any more papers after that - not that I stopped doing it, though," saying with a grin, "I was just a lot smarter about it." Vaguely remembering something else she had earned, something Ursa did not have framed, she returned to the present - or rather, thinking about the past. Xin Fu twitching slightly for a whole twenty minutes before recovering had earned her something she didn't know she'd need later - a degree of respect. After another bully "stuck his finger in an electrical socket trying to fish out a yuan stuffed in it" after the next time another "weakling" was being roughed up, nobody threatened herself, Lee-Lee or any other outcasts physically when she was around…

Remembering what kind of hurt still came through, emotional hurt lingering far longer than any bruise, Ursa sighed, doing a double-take after the thought, "Long Yumao. Maybe humanity does deserve enslavement… or some of them, anyways," drifted through her mind, reminding herself internally, "I cannot control what I think - all I can control is what I do."

Looking at the photo of her and Lee-Lee having the first drinks of their lives in celebration again, she frowned, saying, "And I certainly can't control what others do, or don't do. Sometimes, I can't even control myself," laughing bitterly, "Though, big as I might be, not as bad as I have heard Admiral Zhao was. Rather overeat than _burn everything_. Hotheaded idiot…" She had first started dating Lee-Lee when she was fourteen and him the same age, after overcoming what she hoped were the last of her personal Dark Spirits, but she had eventually broken up with him on as good as terms as possible, their last date a bit over six months ago. Really, they were both to blame, when she was honest. Even scheduling, one out of three dates, he'd decline because he was either close to the ever-elusive breakthrough on his tinkering, or wanted to eat somewhere else to try and bulk up, somewhere Ursa and even the rest of her family had declared off-limits to themselves, her father joining out of solidarity - a buffet. One out of three dates she'd decline because she either felt like she was _thiiiiiis_ close to coming up with a foolproof diet and exercise regimen, or was feeling particularly self-conscious that night for whatever reason, her mother chalking it up to nervousness and the hormones of puberty. Lee-Lee had been most annoyed when she komodo chickened out because she was afraid of what people would think of her; she had been most annoyed when he was clueless and suggested going to a buffet.

That still left a third of their dates, though. The dates they had gone on were good, but at a year and a half, it was obvious they were just meant to be friends. Both his and her mother and father claimed at the time they both needed to work out their own issues before finding romantic love. Remembering one of her other idol's mishaps with love, Ursa found herself doubting this, saying, "Asami Sato wasn't 'over' her problem when she talked to Avatar Korra!"

Looking at her family and memorial pictures, Ursa found her eyes caught by her earliest photos - her first, second and third birthday photos especially. She had never really paid them much mind - just something her Nana had insisted be in every room, along with pictures of Ursa's younger sister, Buniq. Looking at what she thought was a picture of a three-year old Buniq, Ursa oohed and awed, finding her little sister's pudginess cute and adorable - unlike her little sister's water splashing harassment and unconnected tattle-telling whenever she overheard Ursa "being her own meanie".

Looking at the picture again, Ursa noticed something was off about Buniq's hair and possibly the color of her eyes as well. Ursa wasn't sure at all why Buniq's eyes looked light, or why her black hair flowed like Ursa's own and not straight like Buniq's. Her sister Buniq Water Tribe through and through, bending in line with appearance, Ursa was confused to see the symbol for Fire behind her sister.

Ursa's eyes darted down - nearly fainting when she saw a metal plaque on the bottom of the frame that read, "Our first child, Ursa, age three - our world. May good things come your way."

Feeling a sensation she had hoped she'd never feel again, a familiar electricity gripped Ursa's forehead, the nasty thought, "NO… Ignore that! Both of you - err, us, fat freaks!" skittering through her mind, accompanied by the same pain she had felt two years ago - also, four years before that when breaking out of her depression...

Knowing she'd accomplish nothing by worrying anyone - for now - Ursa screamed internally, "I MIGHT NOT LOVE MYSELF, BUT NOBODY CALLS MY LITTLE SISTER FAT!" feeling chilled when she got an actual response, though only as a concept, again much like years ago: "Goood."

Looking back and forth between her own toddler picture and Buniq's, Ursa broke down crying, feeling faint, thinking, "I… I've let them…" her thoughts cut off by a painful surge.

Blinking her eyes open, feeling a strong peace, Ursa felt confused when she heard something out of the edge of her vision hissed, "All I wanted gone - so little. My master says it worked on Korra - why not you?!" feeling as though something vile had crawled back into her a split second later. Some memory returning, as well as memory of something that felt completely bonkers as well, Ursa grasped at straws, successfully catching something: her theory about a "dark half" you could interact with was not a theory. She knew this much from the press conferences. What she hadn't known… the Avatar herself had dealt with something similar too, besides the recent stuff with Dark Korra! Except… her memory had been _wiped_? A while ago…? Glimpsing a little more, remembering her own past fights, Ursa actually laughed, saying, "Whatever happened to Avatar Korra, it seemed like a first for her… I've dealt with this kind of crap before. Go bother someone else," feeling like a fool when she remembered it was _her_ dark half - and could bother no one else.

Still smiling, glad to not hear any patter of feet, Ursa stood up from the floor. Trying to remember what she wanted to say, she clenched her fists in anger, breathing heavily after something passed through her mind that came off as some kind of small gloating. Small, but still gloating. Looking at the floor, seeing both her and her sister's three-year old picture lying face-down, Ursa picked them up, saying, "No, no! Don't be broken - well… at least there's more of them," noticing with a smile that neither one was damaged. Looking back and forth between the two, Ursa smiled slightly, saying, "We look a lot alike," actually intending to stand in front of the mirror to just look at her body - not judge it.

She wanted to know better what her sister might look like someday, after all.

Feeling the pain return with a vengeance, Ursa gritted her teeth, thinking, "Need Avatar Korra's help again - if she has time for me. Restored my bending four years ago - maybe she can help here," something that wasn't fully her yet very familiar continuing, "If she has time for just some random person like me…" Walking over to the mirror in her room, she stubbed her toe on something close to it, grumbling, "Mrrgmfrrfmming square hard thing!" once she recognized what she had hit her foot on - the scale. Her second-most hated foe behind her… _annoying_ half.

Remembering she had been subsisting on refugee food for a little over a week and a half, having only returned to Republic City three to four days ago, busying herself with firebending and sword and shield training, Ursa stepped on it. Not out of wanting to beat herself up - more out of curiosity, reminding herself, "Muscle weighs more than fat". Looking ahead at the wall, she rolled her eyes slightly at her weight log, chuckling more out of laughter than bitterness, "I guess it is sort of pathetic - my height's not changed from 5 foot eight, obviously - didn't bother recording that after my first period recently. I did have a long run, growing up **and** out, but… I'm probably done now with the up. Unless I'm really lucky, no more growth up for me, maybe in the legs a bit… but the other part? My weight's not changed from between 265, 270 pounds for almost a - "

"Hear say 'pounds'… Big sis? You being meanie you? AGAIN? Bad! Tell Nana!"

For once, Ursa could answer he little sister Buniq truthfully, saying, "No, I'm not," finding it a strain to speak normally when she said, ignoring a pain surge in her head, "I'm just laughing at how stupid it was of me to record all this for so long." Getting nothing but silence, Ursa said more simply, "Laughing at weight chart," managing a weak, pained smile when Buniq said happily, "Okay!"

Hearing the door creak slightly, knowing her little sister had likely just entered the room, Ursa made to shoo her out, instead turning to her and asking, "You're up awfully early. Is momma up?" Buniq shaking her head, her little sister said, "No, momma not up. Not Nana either. Woke up, not know why," looking sad as she finished, "Had dream Big Sis Ursa have trouble," Ursa beginning to lose her composure between the pain and what Buniq asked next, saying innocently, "Big sis look in mirror. Even stand on bad thing. Thing that tell you you 'too big'. That mean you… think you pretty? Like body?" Buniq's eyes lit up when she added, "Like what momma and Nana. Do you say. Say we both pretty?"

Not knowing the answer herself, Ursa stepped off the scale, hugging her little sister as she said, "I think you're beautiful. Myself…I don't know," Buniq seeming to understand when she said, "People were mean to me for a long time. I may have made a start. But to answer your question - I don't know yet."

Remembering from past experience the Ursa that was kneeling in her room hugging her little sister, the one living and breathing on earth, was as much her soul's dark half as the light half, yin and yang, Ursa only able to push it more one way than the other with her actions, Ursa arrived at a paradox. Feeling the fury of the electrical storm fade from her mind at the same time feeling an immense peace temporarily, Ursa felt she had managed to "appease" both halves of her at once - by being realistic in her assessments. Ursa said, still upsetting Buniq slightly, "I think I know the answer now. Little sister - I used to HATE my body, and according to our parents, be too hard on myself and not appreciate what good I've done. Not love me. Now, I just really dislike my body, and when I'm honest, the other is the same," tearing up as she finished, "Even the love part. I don't know why… Don't look sad, little sis. I have made a big advance. My mind's more open now, and I think I might be entering a new stage of growth."

Remembering what had inspired much of it, Ursa smiled broadly, saying, "Believe it or not, little sister, you were sort of the one who helped me. I was looking at what I thought was your most recent picture, saying it was cute, adorable - only to realize it was my picture," Buniq now smiling broadly, frowning slightly when Ursa finished, accentuating what she said with a deep hug, "It made me realize we're a lot alike - and I hope someday I'll love myself as much as I love you," sniffling slightly - remembering that what Ursa thought was her more mature self told her the exact same thing in the bizarre dream earlier.

Buniq crossed her pudgy arms after shoving Ursa away, Ursa sighing when Buniq said confidently, envying her innocence, "No - you need listen Nana, momma, dada! Love self! No understand not like self. You like me self. Love me. Why not like you self? I never not like self! Ever! World not change me! I change WORLD!" Ursa felt tempted to tell Buniq, "You'll understand when you grow up and meet more people - they really can be quite nasty, and even the Avatar has trouble changing things," instead smiling, saying as a tear rolled down her cheek, "I love you with all my heart, little sister - I hope you're right," ending up adding mournfully, "For your sake… I _want _you to be right." Buniq cocked her head to the side, asking, " 'Want' me be right - not me be right. Mean… I wrong?" Ursa said as Buniq looked ready to cry, trying to deflect her, "Look at this spirit vine here in the middle of my room. Remember Warmwings, before she left?" Ursa continued after Buniq nodded, saying, "Warmwings. Yaaaay!" Ursa saying, "We have Avatar Korra and the world changing _her _to thank for Warmwings. If Unalaq had never been bad, Avatar Korra changing her mind about the Spirit Portals, then there'd be no spirit buddies," feeling motherly, adding as she saw she had Buniq's undivided attention, "I'm afraid, little sister, not all change is good. As _anyone _grows up - even Avatar Korra, from what I've heard - you get these little bits and pieces of good and bad advice, good and bad people, good and bad everything. When you're young, you soak it up without a 'filter' - and if your environment is bad, sometimes in just a few ways but strongly so, you'll end up torn and wounded like I am, and… have to work through things that aren't your fault."

By now Buniq was crying, Ursa said gently, "You remember big sis bad time at all?" Buniq shook her head, saying, "No. Do remember mom and dad and Nana. Saying you had hard time. Come out better." When Buniq asked, "It true what they say. What you said. That without bad time. You not as good as person?" Ursa nodded and smiled, saying "Yes." Buniq seemed happier, saying without appreciating the irony, "Bad time can make better future. Maybe need bad time," Ursa pretty sure Buniq would get one whether she liked it or not, if she really was going to look so much like Ursa, aside from her straight hair and blue irises. Ursa hoped Buniq wouldn't have as fully bad time as she herself had - she wouldn't wish crushing depression on Jinshu Kuangmai…

Seeing more life than usual in her little sister's eyes, Ursa asked her to leave her room, surprised when she did so readily, thinking, "So cute… wish she'd start wearing clothes though. Wonder when she's going to stop running around like that," chuckling out loud, "My parents wonder the same thing about me." Ursa rolled her eyes as if talking to her mother, talking out loud, "My room - my business. Middle of the night in the hall or kitchen - whatever," chuckling slightly as she remembered aloud, "Shared hallway, running around near the elevator? Totally inappropriate," glad Buniq had stopped that, at least, Ursa blushing slightly to remember she really _was _a lot like her sister, having finally listened to mom and dad about that at the same age Buniq had - three.

All this thinking about the time before school and carefree childhood cheering up Ursa a bit, Ursa locked her door, initially tempted to throw on something and raid the fridge - all this emotion had drained her. And she was hungry, after all…

Crossing her arms over her breasts, looking down at the floor, Ursa had a weird sense of déjà vu, remembering another midnight "crisis" years before - and similar feeling of being drained. While Ursa had recently started another diet, even before the refugee camp, she still never deprived herself _too _bad, for once ignoring the stray thought of, "If you deprived yourself more, you'd lose!" - having been out dreaming and struggling with difficult things, she was hungry. Plus, they said milk was good to go to sleep on - and she had "used up" whatever extra rest she felt after waking up, hoping she'd get some sleep that was just as good as earlier soon. That dream...

Having initially intended to just go look at herself in the mirror, check and see if there was any more light in her eyes, she decided to give into temptation, quickly rummaging through her drawers, satisfied with just a large shirt and underwear, thinking, "Bra - pfft. Only women in the house right now anyways." Before leaving, Ursa turned out the lights in her room - she could make her own if needed, hoping Buniq had turned everything else off after going back to bed, Big Sis Ursa helped as best as the tyke could.

Finding herself in relative dark, Ursa snuck to the fridge, slowly creaking the door open. Looking around, she thought, "Good - nobody touched 'my' stuff tonight." Looking at her section, having subsisted on refugee food for over a week, temptation grew again - milk, VarriCake… two things she hadn't seen for a while.

Deciding if she was going to be "bad" she was going to enjoy it, Ursa spent a few minutes snacking, slowly eating her food in the darkness surrounding her after closing the fridge door, trying to savor every bite. Every drink of milk. After so long away from home, milk and VarriCake made her feel very good - not shushing herself as she might have normally done while eating, finishing her first VarriCake with a low, "Mmmm - so sweet…" licking her lips after without shame or guilt. Anything to reproduce that feeling in the dream earlier… A feeling she had managed to reproduce in a comparatively little bit, but even that small amount made her sigh in… contentment? The welcome sensation lingered a little once she finished the first cake, even strengthening as she ate more, thinking of nothing else but what she was doing - the sensations that filled her mouth, and mind…

Ursa was surprised she only felt full after finishing her allotment of milk and VarriCake, even having eating her leftovers from dinner the previous night as the last thing. Figuring her father might be gone for a while and still feeling hungry, at least now that she was looking at the VarriCake, she took one of his as well, wanting the last thing she tasted to be the cake, not "real food". Eating the extra VarriCake slowly, licking her lips after each bite and again allowing herself to make sounds of contentment and enjoyment, Ursa felt a peace - that peace seeming familiar, beyond the earlier feelings, or that of the dream… almost like one she hadn't felt since she was a child.

Immensely satisfied, Ursa thought as she shut the fridge door, licking her lips and fingers, not wanting incriminating VarriCake on her sheets, "Wow - that was good. I really _was _hungry. I guess I must have had a harder time earlier than I thought I did… and I never thought I'd manage to feel… that, out here," the feeling dimming by the time she had finished speaking - though she wasn't in the least bit tempted to get more, feeling pleasantly full. Thinking about what she had eaten, she remembered she hadn't really eaten much the previous night either - thus, the leftovers. And, likely, her hunger…

"All that hurt, the brain lightning… That was hard, little seal. You needed the food - and you never ate the other stuff in the first place. And food is always good after stress. Who knows - you **might** need the rest later. Food's cheap - you aren't. You work harder than you think, Ursa!"

Half-thinking in the early morning hours that Nana had actually talked to her, Ursa returned to her room as quickly as she could stay silent, laughing, "Yeesh - guess I do need some more rest," finding it more funny than anything. Finally realizing she had thought what "Nana" responded to, Ursa remembered what her father had told her before she said goodbye earlier, saying, "Guess I have everyone who loves me inside me to help me - even if they're 'not dead yet'." After taking her clothes off, Ursa approached her mirror, smiling as she thought, "The Avatar's past lives… Avatar Korra's not the only one with inside help. I guess if I need to 'call' on someone, just try thinking like them - or just simply listen while meditating," eager to look at her face.

Hopefully see more light in her eyes.

This time more mindful of the scale, she was tempted for a moment to see what she weighed, saying, "Nah - I literally just pigged out. The reading wouldn't be accurate," initially smiling when she didn't think anything negative.

The taste of sugar still in her mouth, a part of her thought, "That was really good… It seemed all I had to do to enjoy myself was feel no shame. Maybe I could do with just a little more - for… personal advancement!" Ursa sighed in resignation as she said, remembering someone a lot like her from school's endless hunger, the stuffing during lunch, "Trying to love myself or not… that's EXACTLY why I need to watch what I eat still!" pretty sure it was the temporary absence of shame that had made everything taste and feel so good - or perhaps that absence, just by itself… Ursa had heard other people were tempted to do things she'd never dream of doing - abusing others, physically and verbally, using others as a sink for frustrations. Remembering the Nana quote she had thought of earlier, she realized with a certain chill that for some people, things that were basic to her were their own equivalent of her and weight, food.

Finally looking at herself in the mirror, Ursa smiled slightly - she could see a little more fire in her eyes, but not much, wishing intently she could have seen her eyes after her fridge raid - or in the earlier dream. Still, she'd take what she could get - still finding herself wishing she was skinnier, patting her stomach and saying with a little regret, "If I had listened to Nana, eaten everything last night… there'd be at least one less VarriCake swimming around in here. My 'ocean of chi'… Maybe I should have just eaten the leftovers, left the milk and VarriCake alone." From experience while dieting, she knew her stomach would protest for more food, even if she didn't _need _anymore - she swore her stomach had a mind of its own. Some sort of set level… Patting it again, still frowning, unhappy that her stomach curved as steeply as it did into her belly button, though she did enjoy the full feeling the lingered, she remembered something else to do with the stomach.

It was said to be the location of the Fire Chakra - which dealt with willpower, and was blocked by shame.

Ursa turned to the side, rubbing her forehead slightly before saying, "I know I've tried before, meditating on that… but forget blocked chakras," saying as she looked at her big butt, turned slightly to see her wide hips, sighed to see her ample thighs, "My body's blocking things just fine by itself - like the view behind it!" To Ursa, the Fire Chakra was contradictory - she needed willpower… to overcome the source of her shame! The will to do an actual, long-term diet plan - to shrink herself! Completely counter to what she had just done - giving in to food, even if it felt good, feeling no shame temporarily - the submission to her urges totally opposite of willpower! The Water Chakra was equally annoying - she had thought Lee-Lee was her only shot at ever feeling anything down there without… self-assistance, yet she felt guilty at times doing that, trying to get pleasure all by herself - both pleasure and guilt the things associated with the chakra! At least the drawback of the Water Chakra made sense to her - if people were satisfied with pleasing themselves, so to speak… where would more people come from? And her experience with Lee-Lee made her think the pleasure of sex was closely linked with the other person anyways - no good loving relationship with the other person, she might as well be messing with herself.

Tiring of any spiritual thought, this thinking about "self-service" bringing other thoughts to her mind, Ursa returned to looking at her body, blushing slightly as she remembered idly that Lee-Lee might not have truly been her only chance at love and sex. She had felt aroused around him - usually when he got his strong arms all the way around her, hugging her after a hard day at school together. One memorable time was the whole reason they had started dating - Ursa having for a second felt she had a connection with him deeper than friendship, after he had consoled her after a particularly bad day two years ago. The light kiss… momentary bliss.

But she may or may not have been attracted to just boys - she wasn't sure.

She had actually felt a little bit of the same while hugging a slightly older, much skinnier girl she had helped with something she couldn't remember. That wasn't even mentioning how some of her female sketches ended up with… outsized features, much like the muscles and other things on similar idle drawings she sometimes did for fun and not any particular reason. Some ended up so lewd she… looked at them for a bit, then burned them, not sure what her parents thought about such things. Looking at her body again, remembering how much she got harassed when she was normal, Ursa said, re-assuring herself, "Hug and drawings or not, just… curious at most," laughing, "Don't think I'll ever be taking up President Raiko's recent decree, marrying a woman." Ursa said, as she looked at her contradictorily dark skin for being a firebender, "Hah, imagine it - curious-looking, fat, AND bisexual? That's THREE strikes!" Thinking about what some of her teachers had said about bullying being against the rules and her own troubles, Ursa sighed, saying, "Just because it's legal, or illegal, doesn't mean people will accept it, or not do it," adding, "Some adults… I thought I was done with children when I graduated… I guess not."

Looking in the mirror again, she realized she had been talking out loud - hopeful Buniq hadn't heard her. Deciding to give herself a once-over one more time before going back to bed to sleep, likely for a long time, Ursa chose a slightly different route - try and find things a guy… or girl might find attractive. Look at the positive - not the negative, crying slightly when she thought automatically, "Positive space - got plenty of that." Taking a deep breath, thinking, "That's exactly why I need this - finding fault constantly," she felt better - but also worse, as though she had just upset something very old, ingrained - and powerful…

Re-focusing, looking at herself, two body areas immediately came to mind - one more romantic, one more lust. Knowing she could get "lust" any time she wanted, she looked at her face, making a point to speak out loud, "My golden irises, almond eyes. My father's - I have very pretty eyes, lashes as thick as my legs," adding with pride, "Even without makeup - ever." Ursa did not buy into such things, having never gotten why other girls smeared various goops on their face, least of all some of the colors she had seen lately. Green mascara? People didn't have green skin - plants did! What, did they want to look like the new Great Banyan tree or something?

Feeling a bit tired, Ursa shut up her internal dialogue, saying, "I guess there is one thing Water Tribe about my face, aside from my skin color - what Nana calls a 'seal nose'," Ursa preferring to call it what everyone else did - a button nose, Ursa musing, "Only thing on me that's fairly small. Lips - plump and full, just like me," plump reminding her of her accursed chubby cheeks, double chin, thick neck - she even had hints of folding there! Remembering she was supposed to be trying to be positive, she took a wavy strand of jet black hair, saying with a smile, "Aside from skin color, I guess I share something else with the 'power couple' of Republic City - the other half, that is. Nana is right; my hair does look a lot like Asami Sato's." Ursa blushed slightly when she remembered one of her accurate drawings of Asami Sato would have ended up in the… incinerated "bin", were it not the only picture aside from Bolin's that her mother had caught, Panik utterly baffled as to why her daughter wanted to destroy "works of art". Hazarding a glance to where they were stored in her room inside picture frames, Ursa smiled, saying as she looked down, her belly obstructing her view, "Hmmm… milk's good for sleep, and sometimes, so is 'that', 'appreciating the artwork'," adding bitterly, "Can't see down there without craning, but… whatever."

Yawning, Ursa looked at her biggest assets, feeling good when she cradled one large, "ample" breast, saying with a smile, "I want to lose weight - but not there. That fat's good fat. Just sixteen… I'm probably not even done filling out," saying as her hand wandered to the most sensitive part of her breast, heart rate elevated slightly by now, "Ahhh - wonder… if I could please someone with just these lovely big things, ignoring the rest."

Her hand stopped moving, falling flat by her side - Ursa no longer quite so pleased, thinking of "the rest". The rest mainly being her stomach, which started curving down in its arc right below her breasts, only interrupted in its curve by a slight indent for her bellybutton, Ursa frowning slightly, not sure the last time she had seen it directly. The other main "rest" of her she wished wasn't there was her infamous big butt, not needing to look at it to remember it. At all. Ursa didn't care if some people liked that kind of thing - she wanted her "Bear Butt" gone! Looking in the mirror, she saw other things she wished she couldn't, these unable to "hide" like her rear from the front on. Ursa poked what some moron had decided to call "love handles" attaching themselves to her body like unwanted remora-eels hitching a ride on a shark whale, wondering internally, " 'Love handles'… There are really people that like this?"

By now having forgotten her original intention, Ursa put her hands on her hips, imagining herself making them smaller by pressing on them, saying, " 'Battleship hips'…. Ugh," remembering another tease from school she despised only slightly less than "Bear Butt", frowning when she remember a more recent military-related insult. "Colossus thighs"… something "clever" another refugee who was much younger than her had called her in the camp, Ursa saying bitterly, "I saw that thing from afar before it went into the city… it had relatively skinnier legs than I did!" Looking again to the mirror, at her stomach - the way she saw it, she didn't really have a midriff, just an expanse of fat - and her thighs, legs, breasts, chubby arms, pudgy hands, the whole oversized package, she smiled slightly, remembering some other big kids that were worse off than she was, saying, "It may be big, but at least it does 'go together', 'flow' from one bodypart to the next like water. At least everything's in proportion," remembering a few of her classmates who had been worse off than she was. One by far…

One person had always elicited sympathy in her, but Ursa didn't dare say anything to her, even re-assuring, unsure what the other Water Tribe heritage girl thought of her, having sworn she got jealous looks from Karpok at times. Or maybe Ursa had just misinterpreted Karpok's facial expressions, the other girl always seeming **hungry**, snacking on something… Ursa idly wondered if Karpok's looks meant anything more than jealousy, having heard the poor girl moan about how she wanted someone, anyone, even mentioning Ursa's dates with Lee-Lee with audible bitterness - then usually waddling off to start eating something before Ursa could respond. The cruelly accurately named Karpok - "hungry" - was not proportionate like Ursa was. While Ursa didn't like how much of her there was, at least she wasn't like Karpok - big, but without the increased bust size to "offset" the rest of her body, Ursa having wondered if a Dark Spirit played a cruel trick on Karpok, distorting her body. Everything Karpok lacked in the chest went to Karpok's stomach, butt, extra-wide hips and especially big thighs and calves, and then some, making her a literally bigger target than Ursa, even without Karpok being bigger than she was. Smiling bitterly, though not for her sake, Ursa just now realized Karpok had never moved on from the "food as constant salve" stage as Ursa had, Karpok having had a bad home life as well from the few times she made idle conversation with the girl, now that she thought about it.

Looking at herself with a changed slant, appreciating the good things she did have a bit more, especially family, Ursa smiled, saying, "It could always be worse," admitting something she'd never say around Nana, lest Ursa never hear the end of it, putting her hands on her thighs briefly: "For what I am, big… I guess I am pretty good looking." The good feeling vanished quickly when a part of her thought, "I should have seen it earlier - helped Karpok. Something about her that I ignored, too - never thought about it, really. Didn't want to. I wonder where she is now…," saying out loud with a grimace, "That was one opportunity to do good I never took. Ugh - failure. Not her - me. I should have talked to her. I was just too afraid to do anything." Ursa wasn't sure why she never said anything - was it just the awkwardness of being something someone else wanted to be, maybe not wanting to make herself be an even bigger target by associating with the admittedly messy Karpok… or even the way she now remembered Karpok looking at her with desire inexplicable just by envy alone?

Remembering there were at least three million people in Republic City, probably more, soon to be much larger if the evacuation succeeded, Ursa felt sad, figuring her prospect of ever finding and talking to Karpok bleak. Looking back at the mirror, scorning herself for a reason other than the usual one, Ursa said, "Should have… Wherever you are - I hope you find happiness," feeling better to send out well-wishing than mope about the past - things she couldn't change.

Beginning to feel tired, thoughts of Karpok bringing to mind the fact that Ursa wasn't the only one who wished she looked like someone else, having once heard her wish she had Ursa's body, Ursa closed her eyes, imagining who she wanted to look like as bare as she currently was: Asami Sato. Trying to imagine _herself_, if she ever managed to lose the hundred-thirty some pounds she'd need to, to be a normal weight, the image didn't shift much, aside from now having golden eyes like her own father, her mother's button nose, no makeup at all, and her little sister's and her own dark skin.

Looking at the product of her imagination, Ursa felt torn - part of her believing the only way she'd ever be happy long-term was to look like _that_; the other part of her believing the only way she'd ever be happy was to buck the world's opinion, and accept herself the way she was, right now, as beautiful. To do what she had done on impulse earlier - just be, and not think, or judge. Enjoy as she had before - not examine and critique, as she had just finished doing. Be present and enjoy things as they came - like food, or a better than normal day. She had stopped eating earlier, after all - and her stomach had felt almost totally full, but in a good way...

Remembering something her Nana had told her many times, Ursa wondered if the old, aged waterbender was right - that true beauty lay within, not manifesting itself by way of someone's body, but by what they did - their actions.

No sooner had she thought this than a shrouded, slightly taller figure joined her skinny image's side, Ursa unable to tell if it was heavy or thin, saying as the representation of herself returned to normal, "Beauty is only skin deep. Character pervades every ounce, every pound of your being. It is what is inside a person that forms the basis of any relationship - be it the various forms of love and hate that exist in the world," Ursa feeling an urge to go lay down and sleep when the voice finished, the image of herself smiling as broadly as Ursa was now, "The Universe judges people based on their actions - not what they look like, or what they say without backing up words with action. It is the doing that is most important - and most appreciated, even if… we do not currently appreciate it enough. And, as you did earlier, showing willpower by _blocking _shame temporarily so you could enjoy what you were doing, sometimes, it is the things we do not do that are most important. Not everyone gets to do as great of things as the Avatar - not everyone is asked to do great things. All the Universe asks is that you do what is 'asked' of you. And you know Avatar Aang's story - not all those who are asked to do great things want to."

Again - this "we". But… different this time, somehow.

This shrouded figure might have been done, but Ursa wasn't.

Apparently, the shrouded figure could somehow read her thoughts, Ursa surprised when it said, "I am you. 'Half' of you. But not the other half that you have fought before - and will fight again. I am the half you have been fighting for." Wondering what this half of her looked like, she heard a deep belly-laugh, hardly able to believe her "eyes" when what must have been her light half revealed itself, the visage of her actually looking not only older, but actually a bit _heavier_ than her, despite being a little taller in the legs. What must have been her light half said with a frown after Ursa wondered how much "she" weighed, wished it looked like her earlier modified self-image, "In the dark earlier, at the fridge, you saw better than you ever have on the sunniest day. You felt what you felt in the dream - concerned only with current pleasure, not future pounds. This obsession with body and weight blinds you. I could have appeared any weight, any age I wanted… I had hoped you would see me, this _motherly figure_ \- and see the mother you've shown yourself to be many times, despite not having had kids yet," Ursa feeling like she _was _being lectured by a motherly version of herself when her light half said, "Internal beauty, even internal age, also known as spiritual advancement - they are what is most important. Not appearances," her light half beginning to shimmer as it said, "Maybe you need a reminder you're not big in only one way - and that you're 'bigger' in the more important ways than you realize," sounding a bit annoyed for part of its final words, "Wise beyond your years… even if you _do _insist on being your own meanie. Sleep - and I will help open your eyes."

The representation of her light half and older self now gone, Ursa opened her eyes, seeing a bit more fire in her eyes than she had before this experience. Worried she might lose or forget the experience, already having trouble recollecting just how much weight her possible future, apparently mother self had gained relative to now based off her brief glimpse, Ursa was baffled to hear something intone, _Love is never truly lost_. Ursa was not entirely sure if it was the woman's voice from the earlier dream, or her own, slightly more mature voice from this… thing just now. Remembering her desire to talk to Avatar Korra if at all possible about her less savory experience since waking up at whateveroclock in the morning and the fact the Avatar might be able to take the experience from her, based on what she knew about this infobending Avatar Korra had perfected, Ursa walked away from the mirror - having a gut feeling she'd be seeing the Avatar.

Slipping under the covers, Ursa put her hand on her pleasantly full stomach, laughing in a moment of no self-consciousness, just as she had been earlier, "And with a gut this big - it's usually right!" Ursa felt at peace as she turned out the light, closing her eyes, hoping she'd have another wonderful dream like earlier.

Feeling like she was falling asleep relatively quickly, Ursa didn't know what to expect, her thoughts wandering as sleep took her, holding herself tight. Her own bed… after well over a week, closer to a week and a half, of sleeping on a cot, her only reminders of home her family and the two objects she had chosen to bring, her soft bed felt luxurious, mumbling, "Tired… might sleep till twelve tomorrow. Especially if I have a dream like that again. Mmmmn…" Still not asleep, Ursa thought of the reason she had chosen sword and shield over anything else - a reason she hadn't really liked to think of much.

To her, the sword she and her father had made, even re-made as she had grown taller than her twelve-year old self when she first wanted it and physical training, was one of her two reminders of her dual heritage and life in Republic City. Even if she found some of the people that lived there vile, hated what they had said to her… she still loved her city, having lived through some of its most turbulent times, not really knowing of any place else she'd rather live. Loved it enough to put the United Republic of Nations symbol on her shield's center, the other reminder - her "extra large and wide" Water Tribe style shield fashioned from metal, Ursa able to lift it easily with her… beefy arms. A shield whose unique central large shield and smaller flanking two shields emblazoned with the symbols for Water and Fire she had designed herself… and when the evacuation came, she couldn't think of anything else she wanted to bring.

In case they had become mementos of an extinct way of life, had Kuvira won - and she nearly did, were it not for Hiroshi Sato's sacrifice… the poor man hadn't even had a proper funeral yet, his remains just recently… collected from the smashed hummingbird mechasuit he had used to help save the city along with his only daughter. Seeing a flaw in one of her idols, Ursa wondered what kind of daughter would put off her father's funeral, not really caring about all these rumors of ever-demanding crisis she had heard.

Finally drifting off to sleep, she found herself in a familiar "place" - standing in front of the same table she had sat at before, food and all, fondly remembering leaning back contentedly, wishing the feelings of self-love would never end.

Feeling an odd disconnect, the table in front of her shifted to a mirror, the dream seemingly taking on a fantastical element as she heard her own voice in the far distance saying things she couldn't discern. At first more concerned with trying to decipher what… "her" voice was saying, Ursa only ended up noticing something was off about it before finally looking in the mirror, gasping at what she saw, failing to remind herself this was a dream.

She… she looked NORMAL!

Hardly able to believe her eyes, Ursa waved her hands right above the skin of her small stomach, wondering if she'd run into flab at the last minute, all this some sort of cruel trick. Elated when she didn't, she ran her hands over her body, just to see if the rest of her had changed, crying happily when she found that she didn't have any fat or flab on her - vaguely confused to find she didn't have any muscle tone either. She didn't like that at all! Trying to lift a nearby rock she normally would have been able to heft without a problem, Ursa couldn't, crossing her arms and saying, still enjoying the fact she could see most of herself, "Where's the inner strength?"

Feeling an odd sensation run through her being, something told Ursa to try lifting the rock again, finding herself able to chuck it much as herself or Avatar Korra might have been able to without earthbending, hearing her own voice say from behind her, "This is nice, isn't it?"

Turning around, Ursa saw a similarly skinny double of herself, finding herself nodding and saying, "Sure is! Just what is this place, anyways?" the double smiling broadly when she asked, "This wonderful body… Know any way to make it permanent?" The other her walking a little closer, Ursa feeling a little disquieted at first, the ill ease vanished when her double spoke again, saying, "This is just a 'new' place Raava's changing nature has created, used only a few times before recently - the 'inner dream world'. It has been your host before. But not all inner dream worlds are dreams…" As if sizing up her reaction, or rather, lack thereof, her double smiled, saying, "Hmmm - strange. Would have thought… No matter," her double grinning broadly as began playing with shapely but attractive hips and legs, moving on to her - no, their - shared impressive upper and lower assets. When her butt was skinny… Ursa actually thought she had a nice one!

Ursa swearing the doppler's eyes flashed a slight color for a brief moment, it said, "I can see you're impressed with what I have to offer, looking at me like that… having done much the same with your _new _body earlier by touch," walking closer still after saying, "Raava can sense a lot more now than she could before - has seen your life. She and one of her past incarnations, human partners, know of a spirit who can give people new faces." Pausing dramatically, her doppler ran a finger over Ursa's body, feeling happy that there was less of her as her twin did so, Ursa saying with a contented sigh, "It's… like I actually lost the half of me I think I need to to be happy for longer than five minutes!"

Her doppler nodded, hardly able to believe her ears when it said, "Raava has let me in on a little secret - following the strengthening of ties between Spirit and Physical worlds… the Mother of Faces… can now grant new BODIES." Ursa's mouth agape, her doppler nodded sagely, saying, "It's hard to believe, I know - Raava told me herself. Raava believes you have suffered enough, and are deserving of a new life. Free from fat."

Half-remembering something about Avatar Korra, Ursa asked, "That sounds great! But… can I talk to Avatar Korra first? Or Kuvira?" remembering more as she continued, over a building sense of unease, her doppler not looking pleased, "If Raava really wants to vouch for me, get me this body outside of here with the Mother of Face's help - who I already knew about, by the way… I want to talk to them first. I've got a lot of experience fighting - internally. Maybe Avatar Korra can help me - maybe I can even help Kuvira. I know - one transformative experience isn't enough. Where there's one, there's usually more."

Ursa noticed the doppler's face momentarily showed a terrified expression - as though reminded of something unpleasant, Ursa getting the vague impression it may have already happened.

Ursa hadn't thought this doppler was bad, but her… **gut** was telling her something was off, saying as she felt more herself somehow, pointing a pudgy finger at the still-skinny double, "Yeah - I remember more now. Heard some vaguely familiar voice earlier, in the real world. It talked about… 'All I wanted gone - so little. My master says it worked on Korra - why not you?!'. Managed to snatch information from it as something returned to me," Ursa's doppler looking positively livid by now.

Looking at her own body, for once glad to see her stomach poking out from beneath her large bosom, Ursa pointed a finger at what she was pretty sure was a foe now, saying, "Saw that Avatar Korra suffered some sort of memory wipe - that was the other reason I wanted to talk to her!" Looking at the doppler's expression, seeing it was one of pure hatred, Ursa laughed, saying as she pointed to her own body, "Nice try, but not close. At all. I think you wanted to do the same by getting me to accept whatever 'deal' you had for me - tempt me, hit me where I'm weakest," saying with more conviction than she thought she had on the subject, "Probably wanted to wipe my mind of everything else, too. Especially the dream, and how a raid on the fridge can actually feel good, without shame shame shame hanging over my head. All you have to offer, ever had to offer, lies - **I'll keep my body**," adding when she saw the doppler shift slightly, "And my sanity. Now, skinny lying bit-, you can just go and fu -"

Ursa stopped mid-sentence, noticing she was now looking up slightly, the doppler saying in a voice she recognized fully now, as one that she had heard during two separate struggles years ago, her dark half saying, "Go on. _Talk to me dirty, angry - I like it like that. _Heap all the insults, abuse you like - make me stronger," Ursa seeing vaguely familiar figures materialize from circling fog coming from the doppler. Seeing the faces of many of her tormentors, including more infamous ones like Amon, even Hiroshi Sato, Ursa listened as her doppler said, now possessing red lines outlining where Ursa thought its skeleton might have been, "Scratch that. I've got a little help. Sort of - damn Avatar Korra, and…! No - not another word to you," saying anyways, "That you shouldn't hear, that is. Foolish girl… look out around me. Behind you. See the hate, the judging stares… so many people have wronged you, yet you've never struck back, only defending others, in Amon's grasp the only time you wanted to act truly aggressively without qualifications," adding with a sharp, predatorily toothy smile, "Let's see you not hit back now. Nobody knows what happens when someone 'dies' in the inner dream world… yet. Let's find out."

Ursa felt ice run through her veins when her doppler grew larger after she scowled at it, the doppler yelling, "Attack!"

Time passing without meaning, Ursa had expected the onslaught to be purely physical, finding her doppler was the only one who did anything but speak - the speech hurting more than anything the doppler did. Ursa found her physical foe grew stronger only when Ursa did anything other than try to bring the fight to an end. Eventually unable to stand the taunting of one of her worst bullies, Ursa ignored her doppler and lashed out physically at the visage, yelling obscenities, finishing as she punched the skinny mouthy bi-, "Shut up, Sadluyok! I thought I was done with you a year ago when you moved!"

Her doppler cackled loudly as Ursa felt herself getting weaker as she grappled with her tormentor, the doppler proclaiming proudly, "No - you'll never be done with them. I'LL NEVER be done with them. Until you've had your revenge - you've seen them around the city, done nothing. Sadluyok, skinny, your antithesis - not thrown a single insult at her. Not given them what they deserve," Ursa finding herself giving into a temptation she knew was worse than any VarriCake binge… a part of _herself _feeling good to see bruises show up on her old tormentor's bony face, dark half outside her technically or not. Maybe it never could leave… Ursa wasn't sure, but she swore she could feel pain in her face - the same spots where she had injured this image of Sadluyok.

Ursa feeling a sharp poke in the center of her back, she spun around, feeling a metal blade cut her as her doppler yelled, "YES - keep fighting that bully. Sadluyok. Punch her good. 'Shoot back'. Slice into her, like this blade just did. She is me, us - all of us." Giving in to the urge to hit again, Ursa heard her doppler laugh with a slightly distorted voice, "YES. Keep on - make her feel the pain she gave to you! UNDERSTAND what it is to be a part of the endless cycle of violence." It began howling triumphantly after Ursa gave Sadluyok a hateful glare following a particularly nasty insult, saying proudly, "To hate me is to give me breath, to fight me is to give me strength. Now prepare to face oblivion!"

Turning to see her doppler, ignoring a weak physical hit from Sadluyok, Ursa's eyes widened, seeing her doppler holding Ursa's sword with two hands, symbol for Fire and Water together as one replaced by strange runes and a red and black yin yang symbol. Her doppler said, before she brought down the sick mockery of Ursa's own sword in what Ursa knew was a fatal frontal arc, "Hah - always wanted to say that, my master - appropriately quoted. Especially after what you've done to ME over the years - you were supposed to be dead! Now, prepare to lose some weight, fatty - your head!"

Remembering something the doppler had said, Ursa dodged as best she could, finding her flesh stopped the partial connection from being "fatal", saying, "Wait - no. This is all a dream," noticing the tormentors, both images and doppler froze when she said, "I'm not fighting back. I won't be part of your 'Dark Avatar' cycle of hate - dishing out what I've taken, become someone else's bully." Observing her doppler's terrified expression, Ursa said, "Forget punches, bending, spirit weapons, an explosion like the one that almost destroyed my home. They'd do nothing but make you stronger. You've got a different weakness. You… you wiped something from me earlier. Now I know what it was - and thanks to your arrogance, so much more." Giving the same bully she had been pummeling a few moments before an unexpected hug, the image vanished into gold and yellow flecks much as Unalaq's fusion with Vaatu had in reality, the same being Ursa now knew had little "servants" inside everyone, having before only thought she was fighting something confined to within herself.

Other images still frozen, Ursa said, walking over to that of Amon, "These aren't their souls - their dark halves. They're just representations of the hurt I carry around inside from them - instead of dismissing their hurtful words, actions, as the confused, anger-driven, or misguided things they are… I've let them take root. Make myself my own bully," yelling over her doppler's screaming, shrinking, morphing closer to bony wraith than human, some red bones narrowly avoiding poking through the skin, "Forgive them - the hurt goes away. Love them back while they're trying to hurt someone - maybe change someone's life." Ursa did just that retroactively for Amon, remembering what had been released and made known about his own sad childhood, Ursa vaguely reminded of Karpok's struggles with family - more bloodbending, less food and what Ursa hoped wasn't one of the worst kinds of abuse in Karpok's case, now that she thought of Karpok... She was surprised when the image of Amon spoke before disintegrating, saying, "Little brave bender girl… I have already moved on, to better things," wondering if these images did have connections to the real people after all. Just like she had a piece of her own family inside her… Remembering someone from earlier who had harassed her, Xin Fu, who had struck her as particularly twisted, Ursa said, her doppler now practically skin and pulsing red bones, the red light shining through dark skin like a sick glow lamp, "Others… I don't want to know what their problem was; to truly understand, I'd have to be like YOU."

Ursa smiled broadly to see her sword had shed its sick engravings - rune writing and foul yin yang symbol gone. It was hers now - but she wasn't going to use it.

The doppler by now sniveling, stolen and now cleansed three foot sword about as tall as the pathetic being, Ursa didn't feel mad - she felt sad, saying, " 'Deprive yourself more'… skin and bones. You're just the most extreme way I could deal with my problems. Suicide by diet…" Given its earlier temptation of her, Ursa was baffled when it shifted, looking to be three or more times the weight of her three-year old baby picture. Ursa was sure even Nana would have been worried if she had been half its weight at its apparent age of three, saying through grotesquely puffy cheeks, "Not… not the only way. You did earlier - just not eat long enough. To feel happy LONGER time. Eat enough times. Food… taste so good. Forget the bad…" the doppler's eyes flashing an unnaturally bright gold, saying, "DEVOUR! LIKE VAATU! Mmmmffg…" and crying slightly after.

Ursa remembering this thing in front of her was as much a part of herself as her light half, she kneeled over, crying herself to see the young doppler try to waddle away, managing to catch it and pick it up, finding it was still resisting her. Finally wrestling getting it under control, it let out a low sigh when she hugged it tightly, asking, "Were you listening to me earlier?"

The doppler nodded, looking pained as it said, Ursa not sure why she found it cute like her little sister once the odd red glow abated, a vague unease about it persisting in her gut nonetheless, "Yeah. Remember. Also remember work for Vaatu suck. Both us know I can't go away entirely. But… I wanna try," Ursa frowning and saying, "No - don't want to go away. I've felt like wanting to go away at times. It's no good," Ursa grumbling slightly when her doppler chortled, "Yeah, know - was part behind that! Not just puberty and family history on father side!" Ursa sighed, wishing that had been one of the many things she hadn't inherited from her father, saying, "Whatever - I'm stronger than you," admitting, "I guess I do have a lot of willpower. Anyways… You were trying to get me - the sum of light and dark - to go 'insane'. Go backwards," smiling as she said, "For bad people, 'going insane' is going good - just look at what we've heard Kuvira went through. For 'you' - go back, is going forwards."

Her doppler appeared to mull it over, finally saying through puffed cheeks, smiling slightly, Ursa reminded of an actual seal vaguely, though still more of a leopard seal than one of the meeker shelled ones, "Like this. Wish could go 100-0, good bad. Part me will stick around - part you can never get rid of. Rest…" Her doppler paused, looking like it wasn't supposed to say, Ursa smiling, not entirely surprised by what it managed to say, "Rest of power I had… from you! Whole Ursa's flaws… So… You beat lot of me. But me… I want go 'insane'!" Ursa laughed when it added, before vanishing into her chest, "Hmm… like fat better than skin and bone actually. Vaatu wrong there. Do what did earlier. But more. Feed us good. Lots tasty things!" Agreeing internally, wondering if she could replicate her earlier experience at the fridge when she was done, Ursa nodded her head - swearing she could hear something inside her laughing with glee when she decided she might try and find out.

Just as it had said, **part** of her dark half remained outside - larger than what Ursa would have liked, the skinny four-year old with red-glowing bones under her skin saying from in front of her, "You might have made the first blow against that problem… holding old hurts inside you. But you aren't done yet," it cackling, "Not if you listen to that bad side - eat 'lots of tasty things'! Fatty," gloating, "Which I'm sure people will still call you. Especially if you raid the fridge like you did tonight. And want to, again." Her doppler was proven right when Ursa looked at herself - finding she disliked what she saw just a _little _bit less, confused when the doppler said, "Reaching out… What you tried to do… guess it runs in the 'family', though she was a lot more successful," smiling slightly when it said, running off, "Damn romantic love helping! Still has some in her, though. Nobody's perfect - least of all you. See you later, lard-butt."

Love. Ursa had a bit of an out - maybe someone liking her as she was would really help after all…

Finally looking around, Ursa saw the mirror turned table from earlier was a table again, the one her doppler must have manipulated into being a mirror, trying to trick her. Feeling exhausted from the pseudo-fight, above all, the emotional stuff, AGAIN, Ursa was glad to see it was spread with a fairly large amount of food. Recognizing the figure standing nearby as her light half, Ursa laughed when it said, "Don't worry - eating in here won't make you bigger in the real world, not even in here, unless… reasons," listening as she made her way over to the same chair as before, "Anything is possible in here - your other half was right about that much." Wondering about what her inner skinny brat had said before vanishing aloud, saying, "Wish I could have been as successful as this mystery person," her light half smiled, saying, "You'd do well to remember not everyone is the same," continuing cryptically, "The person she was talking about is of only very distant blood relation to you, Fire Nation heritage in her veins, though bending is not, and had to deal with her own sorrows, overcome them her own way. Both internally, physically, and in a spiritual realm sense." Her light half surprised her by saying, " 'She' was referring to Asami Sato," Ursa laughing weakly, "Yeah - I'm sixteen, and she's twenty two. I might be mature… but there's still a big age difference there," her light half nodding when she said, "A lot of growing left to do," laughing hysterically when Ursa said, "My other idol. I may like Avatar Korra a lot… but the younger one was a bit of a hot-headed idiot!" adding bitterly, remembering something from her past, "I wish she would have come!"

Light half gesturing to the table, it said, "The past is past, Ursa - it ended up turning out fine in the end. But, here - focus on the now. Food for the spirit," for some reason reminding Ursa, "Remember - anything is possible in here, and when you wake up, you'll remember - but you won't be back here until tomorrow night most likely," light half laughing when Ursa asserted, "I - what? I'm sleeping till twelve! After all that… I'll have plenty of time in here." It sighed, Ursa somehow getting the impression her wish wasn't to be, her light half saying, "Make use of the time you have," tearing up as it said, "I… I'm sorry you didn't have more help. I hadn't expected _her _to pull a trick so early. I would've - " Ursa shrugged, saying, "Shhh. You're the good me - don't need to make excuses. It's fine - it turned out all right," Ursa's eyes widening when her light half said urgently, looking at Ursa's body, "Quick - eat something. I hope this works…" adding with a smile, "Try and enjoy the food as much as possible. Just like you did in the physical world earlier - you did good, Ursa."

Feeling where her light half had been looking, Ursa's eyes widened, feeling wet warmth on her fingers, a large gash from the earlier fight tracing along her neck - her slight dodge and insulation having spared her from bleeding out of her jugular, her dark half having apparently tried to lop her head off after all. Heart beginning to race slightly as some sort of pain block was lifted, she took a deep breath, remembering that in the physical world, it was easy to bleed out from increased circulation. Finally following her light half's instructions without thinking, Ursa ate - now realizing what a big portion of the food might be for.

Healing the wounds. Ursa wished food could have really done the same in the physical world… with emotional ones.

Nothing happening at first, Ursa "tried" again, finding she was able to force herself to enjoy the food much more easily over any internal objections she might have had in the physical world, even finding herself enjoying one of her favorite combinations - ice cream and cookies - without any guilt at all by the time she got to dessert. She felt much as she had earlier, but… there was a weird contradiction of a sort. Guilt and shameless eating had been easier to do in here, fully able to see her pudgy hands yet still enjoying herself - but the experience in the dark earlier had felt… more genuine, that was the word she was looking for. While this one felt... like someone was holding her hand to help. Remembering the reason she needed to eat, in this weird blend of fantasy, dream, and by her best guess Spirit World, she felt her neck, grumbling slightly when she found the wound hadn't healed, her attempt to see if one on her back had gone a failure as well. Or perhaps it had healed, and that was the reason she felt no blood.

Digging into a second round with gusto, now feeling much the same as she had in the real world, eating with a purpose and savoring the pleasure, checking her neck periodically, she paused when she finally felt the gash was gone. Not really feeling full in any way, remembering something her light half had advised her about the nature of this "inner dream world" and realizing the fantasy of food without calories had come true, Ursa's eyes widened, saying as she grabbed a plate of fried lobster crab, "Eat and eat, but… I'm not any bigger! Do what I did earlier with the fridge ten times over… I think I get what you were saying earlier!"

Hearing her light half's more mature voice say "Duh" derisively, time passed without meaning as Ursa made the most of the place she was in, eventually stopping, saying after finishing a VarriCake, "Wow. I don't feel drained emotionally anymore… Great," finishing, "I shouldn't eat any more than that - if I go too far overboard, all I'll want to do is sleep, living in the land of endless calorie-free food. And blur the line between here and reality when I wake up." Her light half nodded, Ursa smiling when it said, "Good - you show more sense about this place than the Avatar did," continuing and answering Ursa's unasked question, "Let's just say you stopped well away from where she did," it muttering, "Wanting to go out and live in a fantasy city, one that might not even come to pass… sheesh."

Remembering her light half had promised to help open her eyes somehow, Ursa stood up, stopping when a mirror appeared on the floor nearby, asking with a raised brow, "Just which half are you, again?" Her light half laughed, saying, "Ha ha - very funny. Before you go over there, I want you to do me a favor - feel your own body. Try doing some firebending, fighting moves - that too. See what you think." Ursa did so, noticing her body felt off slightly. But not by much. While her bending didn't feel any different, not surprised to see no blue fire, she found any physical fighting moves to be a bit more difficult, feeling more out of breath than unusual while "training" - but nothing she couldn't fix with one of her least favorite exercise types, cardiovascular. But she'd rather do running than be out of breath when she needed it most… Finishing training with some shield slams on a crumbly rock bust of her dark half, Ursa found it crumpled easily if she put her weight behind the strike - more than usual. Ursa even tried one move she sometimes loved, sometimes hated - using her bulk plus her firebending to jet up and crash into other targets, noticing they were more damaged than normal, that the impact felt… softer?

Wondering what the point of all this was, Ursa looked at her light half, the being pointing at the mirror and a set of scales near the floor mirror and itself, saying, "Stay - for now," saying after stepping on the scale and looking down, " 'I' am 300 pounds," Ursa giving her light half a funny look when it gestured towards her, getting the impression it wanted her on the scale facing the floor mirror - now.

Ursa did so, eyes widening and feeling betrayed when the scale read 300 for her as well. Looking in the mirror, seeing her light half beside her, her ears flushed when it said, "You were able to do what you needed to do just fine with the extra 'mom' weight - my weight - and didn't really feel or notice it too much until now," Ursa listening to the explanation: "I just wanted to show you that as long as you've got the fight in you and don't go _too _overboard on eating, or neglecting exercise… you can still do what you want to physically, even if you get a bit bigger. Even using food to try and soothe emotional pain or wounds - when you actually need it, like you have done in the past. There's no reason to worry as much and… harshly as you do about your weight," Ursa still skeptical. Looking at her light half, she simply stated, "I'd have to see it to believe it - in the real world. And given I still want to be smaller, not _bigger_, like you think being a mom will doom me to," finishing, "Don't see what this has to do with opening my eyes."

Her light half nodded, sighing, "You certainly still do not see. Enough on 'our' personal image issues…" Ursa nodding in the affirmative when her light half offered, "You've heard of Kuvira's partial 'life review' by now, I assume," continuing when Ursa nodded her head, "You remember your life through a skewed lens - do not see the good you have done, do not remember why you made certain decisions. Most of all - do not appreciate the hardships you have been through, dismissing them as paltry. Given your response to my attempt on body, and 'fighting the fear of fat'…It's obvious you'll need some… outside help with your other biggest problem, but I am uniquely equipped to help you with your own life," saying with a broad smile, "Given you've shown me a lot more than your other side during your life. Much more light than dark." Ursa felt creeped out when it added, pinching both their stomachs at the same time, a stomach Ursa hoped she wouldn't retain or ever have, "Shown light to everyone but yourself," nodding slightly when it said, "You wouldn't call your little sister Buniq fat or ugly - even if she had a body much heavier than this one," crying slightly when it finished, "Just like you'll never understand your dark half, I'll never understand the whole Ursa not loving herself. You've let your former tormentors steal something very important from you - self-love."

The truth hurting, this particular one more than anything her dark half had done, knowing it to be true, at this point Ursa found herself eyeing the table, noticing a lot of tasty-looking food was still on it, saying, "Doesn't have any calories…" continuing as she looked at the food with desire, "I feel down. I need support - just like you said! Maybe lots of tasty things **will** help!" walking over as she said, ignoring a part of her that thought this was totally unnecessary, "It's… like a buffet!" Remembering she might feel bad when she woke up, what she had decided she might try earlier once she woke up, Ursa added, now rubbing her stomach without self-consciousness, "A lot of that's in the fridge, and I might need some comfort food for real…Maybe even some after I wake up… I'll still be just me, after all," her light half reprimanding her, "In here, this has no calories… out there, it does. Earlier, you needed the vast majority of what you ate - having skimped the night before, and… accustomed your body to your unique feeding schedule, fridge raids and all. One you could do changing, but I'm not going to be picky about small things. Just BIG ones. Like what you did earlier, one extra VarriCake past full won't hurt - as long as you maintain self-control overall. Eat anything past that after we're done here for real, especially in the same portions… that's where even Nana would be rightfully concerned. You have experienced nothing tonight as bad as you have in the past - you even came out stronger. You do not need a crutch right now. Are you sure? And why do you want this? What hole are you trying to fill? Why do you think you need the crutch again?"

Ursa nodded, saying after she recalled just how _wonderful _the earlier experience really was now, "More food - I'm very sure. More than anything, I want to feel what I felt earlier at the fridge again… very close to the first dream. You know, feel the self-love and contentment you think are so important. And weren't you telling me food was good a bit ago?" ignoring its response of, "Yeah - but tons of it, only in here - and not often, lest you lose touch with reality!" willfully.

Ursa had chosen to ignore the most poignant questions completely - the why something she wasn't entirely sure of herself, sure her smug light half knew.

All of the food suddenly gone, feeling some sort of physical change, followed by feeling a mindset shift that made her think there was nothing different about her body, Ursa felt depressed, deserving of lots of pity, insignificant, hungry - and that food was her only solution. She found walking to the table was more difficult now, set on getting to the table no matter what, ignoring a nagging thought to fight against something, instead hoping more food would appear. Ursa smiled broadly when it did, yelling happily as she saw just how large and rich a spread had appeared, "Buffet!" Ursa ignored her light half saying, as though a mother to a child, "I had hoped you'd resist that call - listened to the nagging thought. Prepare for some tough love, if this is really how you need to learn this… Maybe you'll be willing to talk about the why after."

Sitting down in a large, heavily reinforced chair, Ursa thought of all she had been through, looking at what was up to eat. What she could consume for contentment. Everything she could have wished for was there - the choicest steaks, whole platters of VarriCake, an actual giant _birthday cake _she wasn't sure why it had the characters for 450 on it, a similarly heaping helping of ice cream, many different types of fried foods, rich-looking salads, many gallons of milk and what was labeled as sweet tea - even an assortment of traditional Water Tribe and Fire Nation food! Smiling broadly in anticipation, Ursa found herself starting to dig into the feast in front of her automatically after she remembered her earlier terror, feelings of insignificance, savoring the taste of the food, losing herself. Ursa even began feeling a certain animalistic bliss and contentment as she ate, ate, ate everything that within her reach, a small odd feeling building…

She stopped momentarily, seeing a problem as she raised a komodo chicken leg to her mouth, saying before biting in, "The food's not close enough!" Savoring the taste of grease and sweet glaze as she bit down on the leg, Ursa held it in her mouth as she tugged on the tablecloth greedily with her now-freed hands. Food now within reach, she felt something dribbling down her chin, finding herself not caring - food was at hand again. Finishing the leg, Ursa resumed eating, saying with a mouth full, "This is awesome!" letting out a low grumble when she heard someone say, "Not entirely - you know that. You can stop before it gets worse," Ursa choosing to ignore the warning - feeling the odd feeling from before grow when she did so.

The good feelings weakening when she stopped for a minute to drag more food closer, Ursa found herself grumbling before stuffing another VarriCake in her mouth, "Thought you said fridge raid was good! Even you - looking at me. Judging. Thought I was done with all that…! World's so unfair… food doesn't judge me, make me feel insignificant," adding after licking her lips, not wanting to waste any of the sweet cake, "It just tastes good." Judging the taste, she was horrified to notice that the sweet treat didn't taste as the first ones had, deciding to make up for it by eating more of them. Moving on to another favorite dish, Ursa found the same thing was true - making the same decision to eat more, crying slightly as she yelled after finishing what fried lobster crab was in front of her, "HEY! That one -the same thing, but I could taste it slipping from first bite to last! No fair. Good taste - GET BACK HERE!" Ursa heard a voice sigh, "Life is not fair," responding hotly, "Don't you judge me!" eyes widening when it interjected, "Some judgement is good, Ursa - do not criminals have to be sentenced? Do people not have to feel the effects of their own actions?"

Thinking of judgment, other, much more distant experiences flooding into her mind, finding herself commiserating with Karpok deeply, remembering now how the girl had seemed to maintain her figure, almost like a shield against something, Ursa continued to devour food. Her mind slipping, the fridge raid a happy, wonderful memory by now, not sure how she had gotten such pleasure from _so little food_ before, the only sensations she felt were taste, the conditional bliss and contentment, and a very slowly filling _physical _hole in her stomach, saying with a mouth partially full, "Shure jusht a few more VarriCakes, I'll feel all better."

When this turned out to not be true after eating many more, she felt despondent - digging in harder to compensate, feeling the same momentary, elusive bliss she had felt since sitting down while devouring what was in front of her, overlaid with a deep sense of shame she had ignored until now, shame growing bigger than the bliss and contentment. Hearing herself, the sounds of unchecked gluttony finally starting to register, she banged the table and said, by now having forgot anything but where she was, feeling in some sort of a trance, "More food! Sure I can find happiness on another plate… or ten! Just… MORE!"

Feeling another shift of the mind take place, Ursa felt even more sorry for herself than she had before, the odd feeling from before greatly magnified. Ursa now saw the food in front of her as her only friend in the whole world. Embracing it accordingly, Ursa began her "task" - taking great gusto in her eating.

Even after clearing the table three to four times, perhaps five, maybe more, finding eating itself became harder as she continued mindlessly, Ursa stopped for a moment, trying to savor the fullness, the taste. Trying to see if she could feel what she had earlier, what she could distantly remember before, her miniscule little snack. While she did feel somewhat happy, feeling like she had partially fed an endless desire, her body wanted more, at the edges of her mind realizing her hands were a lot bigger than normal, her body itself, set back from the table slightly. Ignoring an odd large, dark brown shape in front of her pushing up against the table, caring only that the feeling wasn't the same as what she remembered from before blurrily, she ate one more course, crying after the feelings of contentment and happiness again faded away all too rapidly after she had stopped eating, "Happiness, contentment… Why… won't you stay? Stay like the food and fullness in my tummy? Everything I feel while eating… it goes away when I stop. WHY?!"

Saying, "I just need to eat constantly - that's it!", Ursa didn't remember her speech to sound so… fat?

Still not caring, ignoring the odd sick feeling that had grown as she ate, Ursa tried pinning down what else she felt as she just had _one more _serving of everything - finding herself wishing for and getting things she had only heard of, her family having denied her such wonderful things such as massive milkshakes, huge sugary doughy treats by the dozens, salty-looking fried animals, whole platters of spicy komodo chicken…

Ursa began eating, having started to drool just looking at everything, valiantly trying to see if extremes of sweet, salt, spice or fat would satisfy her. Nothing helping in the long run, her taste buds and stomach requiring quantity and not quality now, Ursa continued - not even sure how much she had just eaten…

Or even _was_ eating, knowing only that if she stopped, so did the pleasure.

Pausing for breath, full intending on continuing, Ursa felt like she had never before, her stomach feeling impossibly full - finding herself wishing the table would regenerate the food again, as it had before. Finishing her current course, feeling far beyond full, practically bursting, Ursa finally felt the happiness and contentment stay for a good while after picking out the best bits of what had appeared again and eating them happily, for some reason knowing she'd need to do everything all over to get them later. Another lengthy orgy of food. One she'd partake in gladly, for as long as she needed to, the earlier sick feeling seeming right now somehow - chasing what she felt after eating so much. Contentment.

Now feeling like she had caught her breath, she resumed once the good feelings faded - actively trying to block out the unpleasant by focusing on her eating alone, taste by now seeming secondary. Even so, the underlying sense of wrongness, shame, sickness turned "right" she was trying to ignore so hard persisted, being this full and eating more - the part opposite of her that would have been content had she been… skinny? The same part that would have felt temporarily content after ending a similar binge not by sitting, but by forcing herself to throw up, as she had done only a couple of times - thinking she had done her body good to purify it of her excess?

Putting down a candied fried meat, Ursa closed her eyes for a moment. Ursa saw herself standing in darkness, hearing herself say, "Mmmm - so good…" a stark contrast to what she felt now. Relatively little pleasure - and a whole lot more hunger, feeling as though something other than her stomach were asking for food.

Ignoring a voice that yelled, "Don't think - more food! You can take it - and you should! You deserve it, poor thing!" Ursa wondered who was asking for the food - seeing a depressed twelve-year old version of herself appear, noticing it was **much** larger than any twelve-year old Ursa she knew. She half wondered if it weighed over two hundred pounds, confused when it smiled weakly, saying with a little pride, "Just hit 300 a while ago," frowning again after, saying, "Only Karpok thinks that's good - jealous. Lee-Lee's such a nag. Can't wait until I'm out of school," looking depressed again. Ursa wondering why it was sad, the little Ursa spoke, saying, "I don't like school - except for Karpok and Lee-Lee, all the kids are mean to me," Ursa feeling horror when it continued, "And so is something inside me - but it says I can't talk or tell anyone about it. Sort of like what Karpok told me once - except hers isn't inside. Mine's two years old - don't know how old hers is. Just know I'm bigger than her now."

Crying, the little Ursa finished, "I… The thing inside. I don't know what to do about it. The pain… it's too much! I… I'm going to go hang out with Karpok now - she said she managed to get some really good stuff again. Food - I can taste it now. I really wanna go, get my fair share - keep my lead on her. Only thing I can do well… Can't wait. Bye…"

This thoughtfulness partially peeling back the mental shift, Ursa said "NO!" out loud after a part of her wished for more, more, more food, to quell a depression she knew she didn't have, unlike the Ursa who had spoken to her - apparently, never sought help from family, only food, even taking a sick purpose from her gluttony. Struggling very hard to get up from her chair, managing to puff once she was up, "Endless hunger, and… devouring all that yummy food… the partial trance… of eating, eating… mindframe shifts… sick feeling turning 'right'… that I feel is very wrong… now, no, know is wrong… in my gut… what happened? Not talking… I didn't do that!" Not getting an immediate answer, seeing the partially full table again, Ursa felt weak when she saw the desserts re-appear, shaking her head, feeling a jiggle after doing so, asking in mild panic, "What… happened!" vowing, "Not another bite! No!"

She finally heard her light half speak again, her eyes widening when it said, "Remember when you stopped eating earlier while healing, despite the food not having calories then? You didn't this time. Didn't do what you just did - took that next bite. The other dark side to your relationship with food happened. The DEVOUR side. That was when you first sat down. I remember you feeling like you wanted to commiserate with Karpok while eating, after the little teaching shift… you did the rest, by ignoring me. Trying to chase the wind - your earlier, GENUINE experience at the fridge. If you act like you have in the real world, you'll never know that feeling again - the pleasure of satisfying a genuine physical hunger, not an emotional one. An emotional hunger the one you seemed to have before starting eating your many courses. The sad self you saw - what would have caused you to go down that path in real life, what you might have become, embracing food instead of family. And, if next time you don't reach out to others for help like you have in the past, or decide to push the envelope, make a habit of two raids on the fridge a night… you may still do so in the future. And you still haven't looked at a big part of the why, aside from stress…"

Wondering about the sick feeling that had turned right, Ursa cried a little when her light half explained, "That sick feeling turned right is denial of reality, living in a dream land all the time, as that young you partially did. Avoiding that unreality the reason you wisely stopped eating earlier while your 'physical' wounds healed when you had had enough. Enough - just like at the fridge, unlike at the table of endless dishes, drink and treats. Eating such things in excess… You saw yourself. Some people embrace it as they get bigger and bigger, well away from even reasonably healthy levels - taking a certain pride in their excess. I talked of being blind in regards to weight earlier - on one end of the extremes are those who are anorexic and think they are fine, the other - I'll let you see you for yourself for how that looks," Ursa's only consolation from the whole thing when her light half finished, "You talked of the sickness turned 'right' that you see as very wrong now, that you have stopped and actually thought. This is a very good thing - it gives me hope you will not do this for real, or embrace the sickness, as Karpok may have, like the Karpok that other twelve-year old you interacted with did. Sick competition…"

Ursa having felt an inexorable pull downwards to the ground the whole time, she began crying slightly when her light half proclaimed, "The table will be a mirror again soon - and away from you, so you can see. Tough love… Take a good look at what 'lots of tasty things' for ANY reason will do to you - and why you shied away from Karpok. The feeling of despair, worthlessness and self-centered injustice you felt, that led you to eat, eat, eat… There was a reason you _stayed away from _Karpok - not everyone who is sympathetic is a good person to be around, especially if they share a weakness with you. Many times, people with similar sorrows will… feed off one another, no pun intended. They both end up worse off than if they had never met. Like that alternative you. Now… why don't you take a good look at what you did to yourself. Not any shifts, sicknesses, anything else - you. And hope you never see the same Ursa looking back at you in the mirror - at that weight, you might not have very long to 'eat more tasty things'… only time to lose weight, or die early."

Ursa looked down, at the table turned mirror, screaming in horror to see her own flesh - to see what she had wrought upon herself by giving up her constant fight with weight. She had seen what unreality with her eating habits might do to her in the form of her dark half's skeletal appearance - and could see in front of her what the "other" dark half of her relationship with food **would** do to her if she gave in.

Gone was the old, proportioned - _attractive_, even - Ursa, barely able to recognize herself for all the fat and flesh. Her whole body, especially her face and front, breasts and gargantuan stomach alike - covered with dribs and drabs of food, having acted like an animal in her quest to fill an emotional hole with food, embraced the sickness. Her sight - literally obstructed slightly by her own fat, side-views problematic without turning her head, sure she wouldn't have been able to see much without the mirror's assistance. Her face - feeling like it existed only to eat yet more food, her cheeks jiggling slightly as she managed to move her head, feeling skin touching skin where it shouldn't have as she did, a roll of fat behind her head as big as her actual body's love handles forming when she leaned her back backwards. Her chin - hardly a chin, just an expanse of fat that merged with her neck. Her arms - a bit difficult to move, more like a healthy person's _thighs, _though infinitely more jiggly, elbows practically as invisible as her belly button was normally. Over her massive upper arms, her elbow was a chore to catch a glimpse of, underarms folded and jiggling when she touched them. Her gigantic, sagging breasts - blocking a good portion of her _stomach_ from view, her chest heaving as she breathed, her whole body gleaming from the exertion of standing up, Ursa feeling like she'd need to rest for five minute before doing anything else. Forget being unable to touch her toes without bending over past "normal" - now… she couldn't even touch her crotch, a massive stomach taking over everything, jutting out from her body like a fleshy shelf… drooping outward slightly, feeling like it wanted more food, getting the sense the massive thing could take it! She even had a second shelf of fat coming from beneath her chest, looking for all the world like the worst-placed, partial biggest lovehandles she'd ever seen. No - more like a second stomach, her other stomach fanning out as well, like part of a fatty "flower". Ursa grimaced to feel the fold "leading" to her completely invisible bellybutton that started at her side, not sure what was "love handle", just a roll of fat, or her hips. Worst of all, her butt - many times its normal size, the only bodypart that Ursa now felt comfortable supporting her, her feet screaming. Trying to walk using thighs and legs that would have shamed a camelephant, oddly hanging fat rolls distorting her normally semi-toned legs into pillars of weak, soft-looking flesh, standing up from a chair - both physical acts as gargantuan a chore as her body was colossal now, the only thing she wanted was to eat constantly…

Wanting out of this body, away from the horrible feelings, especially the sickness of unreality, desperately, Ursa felt self-awareness and her own, normal viewpoint fully replace the odd, self-piteous mindset that had settled over her like a shroud earlier and brought on her seemingly supernatural binge, not really wanting to know her "weight". Ursa remembered more clearly now her thoughts and actions before ending up like… this. How she had felt and what she had said while mindlessly gorging herself, trying to chase her woes away with food, drowning her persistent feelings of not mattering with tasty things that grew gradually less tasty. Ursa knew it was a simulation of what might happen, should she embrace the other way of the dark half - the one that had "entered" her. The glutton, vainly trying as she had tried to eat away her woes rather than facing them. Or just the plain glutton, overeating and taking delight in it, as the sickness seemed to - demanded more, to be as full as she was now ALL the time, perhaps fuller, seeing her form as desireable or some kind of achievement - not an indicator of imminent death. Ursa felt the same sickening sense of slight contentment layered with a shame and sense of worthlessness many times worse than she had ever felt as she slowly quoted that… thing, patting her massive, now-fully jiggling body, "Guess this is what… I would be if… I ate ate and ate… without end. Like I just did. Embraced the fat. Fed it. And wanted more… I don't know if you… heard her earlier, switching from… skin and bones to… a ball of fat, like… this, saying, 'Feed us good… Lots tasty things!'... before vanishing back inside…" crying slightly, tears having difficulty rolling down her grotesque cheeks.

Not sure why she was still stuck, she tried walking, quickly falling over pitifully. Waving jiggling arms, Ursa whined, "What in the… put me back! … This is horrible!... Tough love or not!" panting as she tried to get up, "Hopeless… helpless! Truly useless!" Finally managing to get back up, not sure how much time had passed, completely winded and exhausted, Ursa chose to sit back down on her butt, idly examining her massive body - **one that wanted more food**. Her light half said sadly, "It is up to you how soon you leave that body - and I hope you'll have a newfound appreciation for your own. That sickness you feel, a form of unreality as dangerous as the one you once pursued, trying to shatter your dark half forever, the seemingly endless hunger, the demanding and temporary nature of what pleasure you did derive from your food- remember it well. When I first simulated your desire, when you decided to walk over to that table, have an **unneeded** 'snack' later in the real world, you were 'merely' 450 pounds, as written on that cake I wish I had never seen appear. A weight dangerous by itself, before you doubled it - no, more- in your misery and unchecked devouring of food. I'm all for you accepting your body the way it is in reality, even the way it could be, a mere 35 or so pounds heavier… but 'you' clock in at over 900 pounds right now. Unhealthy, no, deadly - something you wouldn't accept if you love yourself. As you have seen, you're barely functional - not far off from bedridden, given how you prefer to sit, and the panting. The only thing you want to do, eat more food and sleep - like an enormous adult baby. Like it or not, weight is something you'll still need to balance on a knife's edge," Ursa panting slightly in frustration when her light half admitted, wondering if she'd ever find balance after what it said, "Just as too little body weight can be dangerous and too much can be as well, danger depending on how extreme… You suffer from too little self-love… but too much is just as dangerous. Either one could lead you to where you 'are' now. Too little self-love, you eat your way to where you are to try and heal an emotional hole. Too much self-love, you eat your way to where you are to try and gain, satisfy the sickness, thinking there is NOTHING wrong with your weight - not caring what others say about your health. You have to remain real."

Pretty sure the swelling urge to eat a whole table's worth of cookies and ice cream and a "garnish" of a few steaks was a part of the "simulation", perhaps even two tables now that she thought of such things, old mindset creeping back as the emotional pain increased, Ursa nodded as best she could when her light half said, "It doesn't matter if the bad place is being extremely morbidly obese and an imminent danger to your own health, being the dictator of the Earth Empire, or being an abused, malformed schoolyard bully. Over 900 pounds and gaining towards a half ton - you've told your body 'I need endless food to be happy!' The urge you feel - there, always. Easily added to, too - eating because you feel down about your weight, as we know Karpok did most certainly, you, from time to time. Dictator - you've told yourself 'I need power and adoration to be happy!' The urge tells them more is never enough - just like the cookies and ice cream, quality meat… except people's lives and freedom are at stake. Schoolyard bully - 'I need to spread my suffering around!' The urge tells them… I have no clue. You stopped hitting Sadluyok earlier - your only chance to find out the why behind the endless cycle of hatred 'wasted'. A why we don't want to know either - likely, there is none. Other people's self-worth and image are at stake - something we both know can be more insidious and longer-lasting than any empire. All these things told to the self - lies in the end. Every different kind of badness, bad place has its own things keeping those in them chained," Ursa's pudgy lips forming a smile when it continued, "You - WE - have broken free of plenty of chains before," frowning from sadness when it finished, Ursa thinking of Karpok, "Others… not so much." Ursa let out a deep belly laugh when her light half continued, jiggles reverberating in her stomach, her everything, the jiggling making Ursa feel sicker than she had ever before as her light half qualified, "Though, in the grand scheme of things, seeking to re-unite cookies, ice cream, steak and Ursa into one Kingdom-sized stomach and expand onward to defeat the Depression Empire is infinitely better than what Kuvira did. Like I said - hurting no one but yourself."

Thinking more, the odd mindset Ursa hoped she would never have in the real world fading as she faced her problems instead of running - or rather, in this body, waddling at best - Ursa panted, "But… even she turned… around. If I ever… got here… I could too. Even if I had… to clap my puffy hands… together for exercise," finishing, "The food… tasting it, but pleasure not… lingering, unless I utterly… gorged myself. My earlier fridge raid a… happy memory, one… an example of extreme restraint, compared… to this. Nothing but the worst… excess would register… make me happy. No amount of food would… in long run. Just like … Karpok. Eating myself to…. happiness is just as… bad as dieting myself… to happiness," Ursa aware that some few "heretic" doctors said yo-yo dieting was actually _worse_ than being overweight. Thinking about what her light half had said about hurting people, Ursa added, accentuating by attempting to lift her stomach, barely succeeding despite being seated on the ground, "Hurting… oh, that's heavy… myself is just… as bad as hurting… others," adding with a few tears, "This certainly feels… awful, just like being… my own meanie, but… a lot worse. Extreme weight on my… body, and in my heart. Because the meanie… still there, not loving… myself, except… I'm even worse off… than in reality," crying as she pushed her ludicrous body to stand up, barely succeeding, "Forget stopping even a… small bully. In this body… boy, if you can… call it that, I'd… be worthless in a… fight. Couldn't help anyone… like this, aside from kind… words, and even then, I… don't think I'd be around for very… long."

Her light half nodded, saying, "This too shall end - remember how I asked you to 'train' earlier?" Figuring what her light half wanted, Ursa nodded, saying, "Yes," attempting to do what she had before, finding even bending with her arms to be exhausting, much less moving from where she stood to fight with sword and shield - or even dodge an attack. Jetting around using her hands and feet - Ursa was pretty sure blue Avatar State flamejets wouldn't have been enough. Just basic firebending forms made her sweat profusely - feel like she had just tried to wrestle a Colossus, finding her old inner physical strength was gone as well. Panting heavily after trying to use her sword on a rock, her arm's range of movement greatly limited, not even connecting with it, having tried and failed to lift her shield earlier, Ursa closed her eyes, thinking about something else as she caught her breath.

The unanswered question - on her mattering or not. Dust or a leaf in the wind in a world dominated by others - not even able to help her father and the reinforcements tonight!

Deciding to put it off, Ursa envisioned herself giving in to her stomach's demands, her vision eating more as it embraced the sickness of unreality as her plain fat twelve-year old self had - growing at an alarming rate. Not one to want to watch herself swell up even more, Ursa proclaimed, Ursa in the vision still gaining, EATING above all else, "There is nothing… for me there, on that… path - I couldn't help… others like this… and I would be miserable," adding as the gargantuan Ursa in her vision stopped eating after crying heavily, returning to _her _normal body size, "Worst of all… I would only just… barely be able to… help myself…" surprised to find herself adding, "Even if I am… not the Avatar… I _do _matter. To my family… and I would not… want to leave them… before my time."

The table full of food turned to ash by the Ursa in her vision with blue fire, Ursa opened her eyes, seeing her light half disintegrate into a million golden pieces. At first Ursa panicked, by now vaguely used to what she certainly _hoped _was a temporary body, the earlier, the **tall** 300 pound model her light half had favored a fashion star by comparison with this behemoth. Ursa mustered all her might to yell, waving and puffing, "Wait - don't go… where are you…" getting her answer when the shimmering cloud descended on her, feeling herself shrink, tears running down her cheeks for multiple reasons.

To be freed from the fleshy prison, pretty sure she _wouldn't _go looking for Karpok now - not after that. Karpok could solve her own problems - Ursa might even make things worse for both of them! Also, to have made some sort of further progress on the weight issue, where she thought she couldn't - though in an unexpected direction. Ursa had worried she might forget some of her dreams; she was very sure she'd never forget _that. _She was pretty sure the image of herself at over 900 pounds, the helplessness she felt - it would stay with her forever, hoping the experience wouldn't end up serving as fuel for the other half of her body problem - her desire to get thin…

But most of all… she loved the words she heard as her light half returned, cherishing every moment as the voice said as flecks re-united with Ursa, "As far as working through your issues, loving yourself, putting in the effort, 'me' talking and telling you things, aside from things about others… **there was no light half - only you and your conscience.** **I am the true you - the you you have chosen, through much hardship. **The sum of the good and bad within you, Ursa - linked to everyone else on our planet," Ursa nodding and closing her eyes after the voice said, "It took you appearing as an outside force to accept what you have known to be true all along - the next step is to do it without the help of a spirit doppler. You make a wonderful big sister - and I am sure you'll make a wonderful mother someday. Before then… you have some things to watch. To help no one but yourself - you more than matter, Ursa. You forget a lot of what you have done - and people you think powerful and influential are just as much dust and leaves on the wind as you are, influenced by things beyond their control. It is simply the nature of the world - but just because random things blow you around doesn't mean you don't matter. You could have let depression bowl you over - but you didn't."

Ursa still not sure how what she had done in her life was so _great_, or how Avatar Korra could possibly be as much a leaf in the wind as she was, she saw an image of her light half shake its head, sighing, "It is great that you are _still here -_ not dead by your own hand, or on your way in the real world towards your earlier weight. I can sense you still don't truly appreciate much… Perhaps you should have stayed at your previous weight of… 953 pounds." Ursa's eyes widened to hear **exactly** how heavy she had been wondering why she'd been told the information, knowing at that weight the hundred and thirty she wanted to lose for real would have been chump change, listening to the response: "When you were there, you could have done nothing - except lose weight with a lot of hard work, keep eating to stay where you were and miserable without recognizing it, or - blech - try and 'go outward and onward' to set a weight record, trying to gain outside recognition for your 'achievements' that way. Making a spectacle out of yourself. As the Ursa in that vision might have decided to do, graduating beyond 'competing' with Karpok. Like that, you couldn't have been truly useful to anyone. Even kind words from someone so out of balance wouldn't do much, people rightfully questioning the words given their source."

By this point Ursa was looking down at the floor, looking up with a slight smile when her light half continued, "True happiness does not come from outside you - it comes from within, by accepting reality the way it is. Regardless, I'll say something on 'mattering' - given your obsession with it. To a large extent, how much you matter and how much good - or bad - you can do is up to you and how much **willpower** you display; the rest is up to random chance and other's actions. You just have never looked at yourself with neutral eyes - always judging. I am done doing your job - for now. Goodbye."

The voice fading, Ursa wasn't entirely sure what was next, still finding herself wherever… here was, nothing having changed, aside from being back in her own body.

Standing around for a short time, Ursa found herself looking into the still-present mirror. Feeling emotion well up within her, seeing her own body more as an old friend than curse after having directly experienced what some part of her insisted on calling an alternate, seen a 300-pound twelve year old self more obsessed with food than Karpok was but still hurting, Ursa waited a few seconds - expecting to hear her more mature voice speak. Remembering some of its last words, she realized she needed to _speak to herself_ much as it had, saying in her best attempt at loving herself, "I'm…" ending up crying, words flowing, "I'm just doing the best I can. Even if something happened, catastrophic - like the fall of Republic City - I would just be trying my best then, even if I ended up 'needing' to temporarily drown sorrow with food," remembering that while it had been futile in the short run… eating like that had given her temporary good feelings, finishing, "Eating to fill a hole… I've done it before - when I was ten, wrestling with the endless void of depression. I remember now - it got me through those dark days, until I had the maturity and knowledge to get myself out of that hole. And I'd do it again. I'd rather gain, gain, gain to live and see another day and lose after, than… give in to darkness completely, ending my story before it has finished. Or embracing the fat fully - euch, I can't even speak of that one anymore… practically suicide by food. Life, turned to death…"

Not entirely sure why talk of suicide seemed fresh somehow, herself having been badgermoled over and over by something within to take her own life to end her sorrows long ago, Ursa began crying again. Remembering further temptation at the age of fourteen, that time to slip further into obsession over cleansing herself, living in her own world, Ursa said, smiling defiantly as she imagined spitting at her skin and bones dark half, "Suicide. Insanity. The ULTIMATE UNREALITIES. Never - I'd rather live the rest of my days as a near half-ton human camelephant obsessed with food or a skinny spirit of a girl than let that part of me win." Ursa found herself not minding her arms' thickness as she raised it, shouting, "Better 'Camelephant Ursa' than 'Dead Ursa'. Whatever it takes to be alive. TO LIFE - no matter how hard it can be!"

The object of her derision actually appearing in the glass temporarily, Ursa smiled to see her doppler look absolutely livid, bones easily visible through its skin as they glowed red-hot in hatred, frustration and fury. It couldn't even speak properly, speaking in a tongue Ursa recognized from earlier, characters appearing on the screen that said, "My temptation of you… only made you stronger. I have failed… yet again! Were it that I could reach out from this pane - shatter your soul into a million shards! Extinguish you forever!" the surface beginning to boil after another incoherent, hate-filled string of speech Ursa couldn't understand.

The doppler looking miserable, part of Ursa was tempted to pile on much as she might have two years ago. Resisting the urge, sure it was a worse one to give in to than to gorge herself to the size she "was" before, that giving in would taint her soul rather than her body, Ursa instead frowned sadly when the doppler screeched, apparently upset she had decided to leave it alone. Walk away - not poke the poisonous snake as she had before.

The mirror shattering into seemingly endless shards, Ursa felt tempted to move, stopping when that issue she didn't want to talk about any further than she had already came back into her mind, Ursa saying with disgust, "Great - so I've done all this WONDERFUL stuff 'tonight', but aside from my family, Warmwings, Lee-Lee and my dad's friend Renshi… who's going to care? I'm just another out of millions in Republic City alone," whining, "My one big chance to go do something - cheated from me, because I was dreaming - like I am right now!"

A most unpleasant sensation coming over her, Ursa saw something leave her, her light self looking extremely angry and hurt once it had materialized in front of her, saying as it cried a little, "Do you not listen? If not to me, at least to your dark half!" Ursa cocked her head, saying, "Huh? What do you mean?" Ursa's eyes widened when she heard a replay of earlier from some unknown place, hearing her dark half scream as though from a high-quality recording, part stressed, "Especially after what you've done to ME over the years - **you were ****supposed to be**** dead!**" Remembering her earlier near decapitation, wondering just how real this place was, Ursa began to cry. Part of her wanting a hug, a glass of milk and a single cookie, she shook her head, saying, "No - no food," utterly baffled when her light half produced what she wanted from thin air, listening as it said, "She almost did get you - I did break the fact you were wounded to you gently for a reason, after all. Here - take this. And use it. Show that you meant what you said earlier about 'camelephant Ursa,' more appropriately, food for **necessary **comfort - it has no calories anyways."

Taking the glass and plate, sitting down, Ursa felt relieved when she felt her normal-sized bottom against the floor, having half expect to swell back to her earlier size as a result of failing this small "test". Ursa looked down at her cup when her light half sniffed a little, saying, "Wh - no. Swelling you to almost half a ton, for accepting three cookies and a glass of milk? That's just… cruel! I wouldn't ever do that to you - the first part was to teach you a lesson, and you did the rest. Not me." Pausing momentarily, her light half continued, Ursa too busy listening to bother with even the milk, "Look - I know you have an intense interest in the world. Know about Raava, Vaatu, Long Yumao, Jinshu Kuangmai - everything that's been released about them, you've snapped up. Both out of curiosity, and concern. And you also wonder why you matter."

Ursa nodded her head, saying, "Yes - I do. Aside from mattering to my family, Lee-Lee, and Renshi, and just a stubborn will to live, partially out of spite of what was in my way at times more than anything else… I didn't really have any reason to resist the depression. I'm not one of the big movers and shakers - not that I expect to be, being all of sixteen. But I still feel insignificant - small, as before a Colossus." Her light half sighed, saying with a frown as Ursa drank the milk, savoring how it soothed her more than anything else, "I guess all my talk earlier did nothing. You were remarkably strong during the evacuation of Republic City, being in the refugee camps - but I think seeing a huge spirit energy fueled fireball nearly engulf your home and much around it has had a much bigger effect on you than you think. You'd do well to remember that, until recently, the Avatar herself was just as helpless against the platinum monstrosity - only able to get inside it and do what she needed to do after the sacrifice made by Hiroshi Sato. "

Ursa still sighed nonetheless, finding herself wishing for and getting a cold lemonade to drink instead, saying after a refreshing sip, "I don't see how that's supposed to make me feel better," adding with a raised brow, "And just what do you mean, 'until recently'? What, they come up with a superweapon of their own or something?" Her lighter half gave her a stern glare, saying, "If you would be nearly as observant as the similarities between you and others, how you're better off than they are even in some ways, how they are as much at the whims of chance and others as you, as you were of minor slips of the tongue, you'd be a lot better off." Her light half the one who had not answered a question still, it sighed slightly, saying, "Sorry - don't know if I have clearance for that," Ursa immediately saying, "Wh - so you do have a link to all that!" Ursa not speaking after another glare - getting the message when her light half said with a final air, "Maybe if you talk about what we need to - you mattering, other people's lives compared to yours, see if you can get this dust and leaves in the wind out of your head once and for all - I'll tell you even the tiniest bit. We both know you're loyal to Republic City - not about to go telling Jinshu Kuangmai how to kill and conquer better."

Smiling slightly, not entirely sure if she was the manipulator or manipulatee, her light half laughed, saying, "Neither. Raava started the Spirit Civil War on accident - but she's stuck with it, for every person on the planet, from Avatar Korra to Jinshu Kuangmai. Including me, you, your whole family, apartment block - the whole planet. There's no unnecessary tricks or deception involved - want that, shoo me away - talk to that skinny bit- who tried to kill you with your own sword." Ursa simply nodding, she took another drink of lemonade as her light half asked, "Since you have an obvious block on seeing yourself as mattering - something the re-experiencing of your life later should help with, the whole reason I'm helping you with that - I want you to try and use that big shared brains of ours. Think about how your life compares to the people who make you feel insignificant, even though they'd be appalled to hear such things. See things through a new lens. See if you can see leaves and dust blowing through the wind - and not thinking their existence is meaningless just because the wind can move them from the course they'd prefer to take."

Finishing the glass, Ursa felt slightly goofy for some reason, pretending she was playing with Buniq, saying as she held the glass up to her eye, looking through the bottom, "You mean a lens like this?" Her light half chuckling slightly, Ursa knew it was time to think and be serious when it hinted, "A sister - and normal family life. A loving home. One of your blessings. I want you to think on this important subject - compare yourself to others. Leave the other part about dust in the wind for last - as the solution to what I ask you to do now will need resolution."

Thinking first of Avatar Korra, Ursa ventured, "I've read and heard all sorts of things about how Avatar Aang requested Avatar Korra's… unique childhood experience with the White Lotus," continuing with more confidence, "Found at the age of four… Avatar Korra's life has been practically nothing but being the Avatar, the Universe throwing her a dirty shot when she thought she was going to have easy going from here on out after beating Kuvira. The balance she's supposed to maintain… disrupted by Raava's unasked for gifts inciting ungrateful spirits to revolt. The Earth Empire - not dead just because its leader surrendered, a new, much worse monster ruling it." Her light half nodded, saying, "While it is good to see the famous and powerful as people just like you, feel sympathy for them… try thinking about the White Lotus' effects on her more **personally**, the Avatar as a **person** \- less on the now."

Trying again, remembering she needed to compare herself with Avatar Korra, something finally clicked in her brain, connecting unseen dots. Actually starting to cry, Ursa said, "I went to school with all the other kids - she was raised at the South Pole inside a White Lotus compound, away from her mom and dad a lot. I might not be special like she is, the Avatar - but I have something she never had, never will have. A normal childhood - as far as I know, still the Avatar first… Korra second." Thinking about what such an environment might do to someone's self-esteem and self-image, Ursa again saw her idol in a different light, considering Avatar Korra's… initially clueless arrival and subsequent actions in Republic City, saying, "For me, at the age of twelve, when the Avatar first came to my home, I already had my identity - Ursa, the big kid who does as much as she can when she can, picked on because of her size - but also a survivor, having gotten through horrible depression. **Korra **… she came here with one identity - being the **Avatar**. Aside from fighting, until relatively recently, after her changes following her uncle's defeat… she didn't know about much else," remembering how the press release after Harmonic Convergence had shown how… easily manipulated Korra had been by Unalaq. Ursa was pretty sure experience with a schoolyard bully twice Korra's age tricking her would have helped with that. To say nothing of regular contact with her parents…

For the first time in her life, Ursa didn't find herself wishing to be Avatar Korra - she could handle her own life, but wasn't sure how she'd handle Avatar Korra's…

Hazily remembering a quote her grandmother had told her when Ursa was struggling with depression, Ursa said, to her light half's great pleasure, "Just because you're powerful or famous doesn't mean you're not a person - with their own problems. I remember poor Avatar Aang - waking up after a hundred years to a world at war, just twelve and facing up against a world superpower - the same age I was when Amon attacked Republic City… I guess Avatar Korra was similarly jilted - by his protective orders, no less, then had the things that defined her taken from her by a charismatic idiot, tricked by her uncle, poisoned by a madman who wanted her dead just because she was the Avatar - defeated Kuvira, only for more threats to pop up. And people expect her to use her power to solve it all… But Avatar Korra turned out okay anyways. We're all given what we need to deal with our problems - and given I'm still here, I've dealt with mine fairly well." At the last two words, her light half frowned slightly, saying, "While that is very good progress - 'fairly well' is a massive understatement. You mentioned you being twelve when Amon attacked - but didn't mention how you acted, instead focusing on Aang's struggles. What would he think of what you did?"

Ursa felt torn - part of her remembering only that she had failed helping her father, the other, remembering that they had tried. Deciding to remember the truth, that they had tried and failed anyways but not regretted it, Ursa gave her light half a smile, saying, "I bet he'd think it was pretty cool."

Her light half smiled broadly, part of Ursa feeling a bit scared, another part, defiant when her light half said, "Good. You would do well to remember your actions back then more - maybe actually display what you earned on your person. Not to show off - but to remind yourself of the past, and that given Republic City is both the home to a -for now - walled off Spirit Portal and possibly the strongest nation opposing Jinshu Kuangmai, that you may need to act again. Not in the far future - soon."

Ursa nodded, remembering everything that was likely happening as she slept - her father, his direct commander General Iroh, Commander Raionhato having recently resigned due to… differences of opinion of a man Ursa was still puzzled had chosen to leave - President Raiko. Along with citizens who had _been awake at the time_, Earth Empire defectors inspired by a woman Ursa only knew by her name and former position - "Chief Containment Officer" Jasmine - and Equalists brought out of hiding by a desire to make sure the still-alive Earth Empire wouldn't be triumphant this time, all of the unlikely allies were heading to the heart of the Earth Empire…

To help the **Avatar** evacuate Omashu, and prevent the prison camp Jasmine was likely holed up in right now from being snuffed out by Jinshu Kuangmai.

Remembering her history of the Hundred Year's war, Ursa's eyes widened - realizing for the first time in full force that even the Avatar needed help. Then as now, formerly ordinary citizens had risen to the call to help Avatar Aang defeat the Fire Nation, no one person by themselves capable of doing it all by themselves.

Thinking about both Avatar Korra and her predecessor Avatar Aang, his predecessor Avatar Roku, his predecessor Avatar Kyoshi, her predecessor Avatar Kuruk, his predecessor Avatar Yangchen… and the man turned Avatar who had started it all, Avatar Wan, Ursa ignored her light half when it said, "Good, good - that's a major breakthrough."

What she had done for herself and Avatar Korra, trying to think about her experiences as Ursa knew them - she wanted to do with everyone else, now remembering the fact that there had been conflict ever since Avatar Wan's time. According to the stories that circulated after Harmonic Convergence, his last breath had been on a battlefield, having failed to win some long-forgotten fight.

Ursa was surprised when her light half stepped closer, asking, "And just what do you hope to gain from this?" Ursa shrugged, saying, "I don't know," her light half frowned slightly, saying, "I can see what you cannot - the likely path your thoughts may take." After a slight pause, it nodded, saying, "Perhaps it will be most impactful your way - not mine. Go ahead - but keep in mind that while the life review, being in the past, will not take real time, this will - being in a dream."

Not really caring about time, planning on sleeping until 12:00 PM in the afternoon anyways, Ursa thought about Avatar Aang's life, saying, "Four years ago, I saw my city come under attack by madmen. Three years ago, the world nearly ended - Avatar Aang's granddaughter Jinora helping his successor see the light within and win. Shortly after that, I just read about the happenings and subsequent chaos in the Earth Kingdom, Avatar Korra's poisoning, Kuvira's rise to power. And literally just over a week ago, that former tyrant attacked my home - though few were hurt, even if the physical heart of the city was lost." Finally getting to her realization, Ursa began crying, saying simply, "When I got back, everyone I knew and loved was still there. When Avatar Aang woke up from slumber inside his ball of ice… he came back to **nothing**, his people 100 years dead," exhaling before saying, "Coming back to nothing but skeletons - I would rather be myself than Avatar Aang."

Ursa was surprised to hear light clapping, hearing her light half say, "That… wasn't what I expected," cursing heartily when Ursa said, "He was powerless to stop what happened - only able to pick up the ashes, his people long scattered to the wind, like leaves…" Her light half crossed its arms, saying, "I'll just listen - not judge."

Ursa moving on to Avatar Roku, the last Avatar of her element, she found she didn't have very much to say that was personal, thinking out loud, "Avatar Roku was friends with the man who masterminded the Air Nomad Genocide in his youth and later - sparing his friend out of memory of the past, only to be betrayed by his old friend Firelord Sozin in his old age, when Avatar Roku - partially by stubbornness, partially by random chance - perished on his home island fighting a volcano… his old friend refusing to save him," Ursa starting to feel depressed when she finished, "I may have only one good friend, Lee-Lee - but one good friend is worth more than a thousand fakes. Avatar Roku had the chance to keep things in control - punished and not rewarded for his trust, unable to control what his lifelong friend did -or rather, did not do. Betrayed by my best friend - I would rather be myself the Avatar Roku."

Noticing her light half kept its promise, not speaking, Ursa moved on to Avatar Kyoshi, saying, "Avatar Kyoshi lived during another time of turmoil - doing nothing to stop Chin The Conqueror until he showed up at her doorstep, unlike Avatar Korra, who tried stopping Kuvira the 'Great Uniter' when she had literally just had poisonous mercury removed from her veins entirely. Avatar Kyoshi lived to over 200 years old - likely seeing two or more sets of friends die before she did. One of her greatest legacies, the Kyoshi Warriors, stayed true to her vision long after death - while the Dai Li did not." Ursa seeing such a long life as a curse and not a blessing, preferring to grow old and die with someone than love them, outlive them, and go further on, she said, "I would rather be myself than Avatar Kyoshi, not see my legacy ruined - and would rather have Avatar Korra as my Avatar than her. I can only hope that the spirits that have flocked to Avatar Korra's side, Raava's side - like Warmwings - do not betray humanity as the Dai Li betrayed Avatar Kyoshi's vision for them. Both Avatar Korra and Avatar Kyoshi are, or were, powerless to stop either event."

By now used to the silence, Ursa wiped a tear from her face, saying simply, "Avatar Kuruk didn't do his job - and lost his loved one's face as punishment, Ummi's face now belonging to one of his elemental successor's foes, Koh the Face Stealer," adding, "A spirit which once helped Avatar Aang indirectly - and now serves at humanity's wild-card foe's side, Long Yumao." Taking a deep breath, imagining herself trying to keep her own face, Ursa said in a monotone, "I would rather be myself than Avatar Kuruk, and keep my own face and those of the ones I love," remaining stony still as emotion welled up within her, saying in the same monotone voice, suppressing tears, "And I hope that everyone else who runs into that spirit can keep their face as well - though I do not have much faith, unsure why Avatar Kuruk did not simply kill Koh the Face Stealer."

Seeing something strange appear in the distance, she watched as a small monkey came into view. Keeping her face expressionless, she watched as it approached her - not reacting when she saw that its face was blank after dramatic chatter from it. Ursa saw a jet of blue fire lash out at the faceless monkey, hearing her light half say, "I was going to laugh and say good performance, Ursa - until this guy showed up! Hope it's just a performance… Shoo - go on now, get! Go spy on someone else!"

The faceless monkey let out a low whine after another blue fireball, running off into the distance after letting out a loud simian, "AhAAAAH!" and vanishing from sight. Ursa felt relieved, her light half saying, "It appears someone has an interest in you - though I am not wholly sure why." Trying to think about what she knew about Koh, Ursa said, "I've read about all the Avatar's lives I could get my hands on - all seven of them. Koh helping Avatar Aang, knowing about Admiral Zhao's plans… he seemed to have the ability to see beyond the Spirit World even when the portals were still closed. You mentioned guessing what I might talk about, and Koh's supposed to be _old _\- maybe… he can actually see a bit of the future now? Or what someone might do, just like Admiral Zhao intending to kill Tui?"

Her light half looked uncomfortable, admitting, "I wouldn't normally say anything, but… that chittering spy got in here somehow, so I feel like I need to. That… goes along with something Avatar Korra got earlier - Koh telling her a riddle he stumbled upon about the future, vaguely like Iroh's 'prophecies' she's mentioned semi-publically - but a whole lot denser."

Ursa had wanted to be relevant, matter, do something important - but felt nervous and confused nonetheless, saying, "So… that means he thinks I might do something? Koh? Long Yumao?" Her light half shrugged, saying, "Who knows - even the riddle Avatar Korra got was really unclear. 'For every yin, there is a yang, even between different kinds of darkness. Reciprocity is coming' - whatever that means."

Without context, Ursa had no idea what to make of it either, returning to what she had been doing before the… curious visitor, saying, "Anyways. Avatar Yangchen - she made an agreement with a hostile spirit named Old Iron long ago, and helped Avatar Aang a few times," admitting, "Aside from the fact that Avatar Aang sent Old Iron back to the sea after people violated the agreement she set up with him - into United Republic of Nations waters, now that I think about it - I don't know much about her, aside from the fact that the rebel leader in Omashu is named after her - and that she was willing to kill to preserve peace when necessary, where Avatar Aang was reluctant." Trying to think of something, Ursa simply shrugged, saying, "I don't know - I guess the whole thing with Old Iron popping up later, mad at humans for breaking an Avatar's word - it's like both Avatar Kyoshi's Dai Li ending up corrupt, _and _what happened recently, Avatar Korra - no, Raava - making a bunch of spirits mad. Avatar Yangchen couldn't stop Old Iron from coming back - now that I think about it, she tried - blocked from talking to him soon enough by some dumb decision Avatar Aang made, totally out of her control."

About to do her "I'd rather be myself" part, Ursa stopped when her light half smiled slightly, saying, "And you said you didn't know much about Avatar Yangchen," Ursa feeling like it was fishing for something. Ursa smiled slightly, saying, "I do know a lot, I guess, and can recall it well," continuing after her light half made motions for her to continue, "I don't have much to say about rather not being Avatar Yangchen - she seems like a good Avatar to me, from what I know - but I do know I'd rather be myself, 'overeducated smarty pants', than not even knowing who Amon was when he attacked Republic City, like I imagine some of my oh so pretty and 'shapely' classmates might have, were school not canceled."

Her lighter half smiled broadly, saying, "That's the kind of thing I'm looking for," snorting slightly when Ursa interjected, "Better a big gut and big brain than an air gut and air brain," saying as she moved on to what she knew of Avatar Wan's life, "Wan. The first Avatar - not a whole ton was released about him aside from how the world once was, his decision to close the portals, Raava versus Vaatu, but I got the distinct impression by what was said, or rather, not said, that he didn't really have many humans friends," Ursa crying a little as she remembered more, "His old friends, who didn't like the human status quo in his old home… ending up fighting his spirit friends, and the people losing their lives after the spirit he accidentally released, Vaatu, did something to his spirit friends. Made them give in to hate and rage, despite his pleading…"

Remembering what she had said earlier about Wan's dying breath, Ursa started crying harder, saying, "Wh- different spirit now, same thing in a way. It's like we've come full circle - bad humans causing problems, while a hateful spirit's running amok, feeding off their bad behavior and discord just like Vaatu fed. Long Yumao - not Vaatu powerful. But with Sudden Death - just not quite yet… all that spirit needs to do is catch Raava off guard while she's not in her host, teapot exposed - maybe even with Koh's help. Like the monkey that snuck 'in here' somehow… one of them spirits the teapot and Vaatu away, the now much weaker spirit Vaatu loses - the end. Ten thousand years, nothing's changed," finally sitting down, sighing, "After how many Avatars - thing still aren't fixed," alarming her light half when she said dejectedly, "Raava becoming more 'human-y' - maybe even that's dust in the wind, irrelevant. Ten thousand years of trying to restore balance - never accomplished. Meaningless…"

Feeling a familiar despair begin to creep into her, thinking as she did from time to time that nothing mattered, much more often her own insignificance, having thought of how even the Avatar's actions hadn't changed anything in ten thousand year's worth of incarnations, Ursa looked up - smiling slightly to see a vaguely familiar form approaching. Seeing it as a dragonfly bunny spirit while it was still distant, she asked, "Warmwings? Is that you?" not having remembered her cute friend to be quite that… big.

Having seen a bit more of the spirit, Ursa's eyes widened to see its form. The spirit was massive, Ursa pretty sure it could have tossed her near half-ton self around like a rag doll if it wanted, looking more like a Vaatu-corrupted dragonfly bunny spirit than her friend, not sure if the spirit was closing in on her for a hug or to kill her.

Looking closer, Ursa breathed a sigh of relief to see Warmwing had different shades of blue covering most of her intimidating form, wings, eyes, face and rings around its feet glowing a bright white. She watched in horror when Warmwings still came at her full tilt anyways, changing direction at the last moment in a flutter of the spirit's twin wings, coming in behind her.

Feeling a strong hit from a large, strong paw in the middle of her back, Ursa felt outraged, betrayed - and yet, not hurt. Almost as though she had been helped slightly, somehow…

Looking up and around, Ursa heard her friend trill for the first time since she had run off - bracing herself for more strikes accordingly. As Ursa felt more jabs on her back, more as deluxe love taps than the strong strikes that they were, she was puzzled when her lighter half said, "Again, how long this takes and how well it sticks is up to you - though this thing your spirit friend wants to dislodge is far more dangerous than the **unreality** of 'gorge-id' obesity."

Still not having a clue what was going on, why a spirit so powerful would stop fighting Long Yumao's adherents for _this_, the strikes stopped, hearing Warmwings trill sadly before her light half said, "I was afraid of this. Worse than the outcome I had guessed at earlier… Here - maybe you need it spelled out for you," adding, "I was wrong earlier - the Avatar had a relatively simple unreality to overcome - which she did almost all on her own. You… have been carrying it around inside you for _years_. Probably predating your depression, even. And, in many ways, living it. Not in here - in the real world."

Some part of Ursa screaming that what she had been told was a lie, she listened intently as her light half explained, Warmwings now a normal size and nuzzling her face with concern, "While I was glad to hear you say you'd rather be yourself than anyone else seven times, even if you never openly said it about the current Avatar… thinking even the Avatar as pointless is far beyond my worse fears for 'you' when you started thinking." Pausing for a moment, walking over to her, it said after gently brushing Warmwings aside and touching Ursa's stomach and then her head, "The first thing I touched - your stomach, home of the Fire Chakra. Home of the unrealities of both bulimia - which you have only dabbled with, thankfully, never reaching anorexia - and of gorging yourself to fill your problems as you did earlier in this dream - but comparatively, never in the real world, the extra weight you gained eating to help you through depression paltry by comparison."

Again poking her head, as though something was inside it that might reach out and attack, her light half continued, "This - your head, the throat connected to it, the brain and mind within the skull which rests atop your throat and spine - is the home of more chakras and unrealities than any other place in the body. Three of the most important as well - each more important than the last for achieving long-term spiritual enlightenment. AND happiness." Touching again as it spoke, Ursa's light half continued, saying things she knew were true but hadn't wanted to face, "The throat - the Sound Chakra - physically the source of speech, the truths and lies you tell others - and for you, most of all, the lies you tell yourself within. So often… The forehead - the Light Chakra - behind it where you store much of yourself," Ursa getting the impression she had just been given a slight reward in the form of knowledge when her light half continued, "Your actions, thoughts, deeds, everything changing and shaping the vital connections within that you have already felt as pulsing lightning."

Thinking about how people stopped functioning when hit with electricity, Ursa chuckled weakly and guiltily as her light half admonished her, "Now is not the time to think, least of all about such paltry things as that - now is the time to listen. You cannot listen while you are thinking." Taking a deep breath, repeating a few times to clear her mind of all thought, Ursa _listened _as her light half continued, "Your brain is capable of seeing great insights - and perpetuating great illusions. The human mind's superiority over other animals is a curse and a blessing - a rabbit could never master the use of metal, but does not have to worry about the world around it being really as it is. The rabbit sees through innocent eyes - no filters in place, much like your little sister Buniq. A human can master fire and agriculture, then metal - and war, one of the ultimate pinnacles of illusion run rampant. Man can see through thousands of filters - many of them leading to bad things, such as seeing your own life through a greying filter. Not seeing the color and vibrancy that is there." Pausing for a moment, Ursa sick to her stomach to hear Warmwings trill sadly, yet not in the least tempted to eat and eat somehow, Ursa listened as her light half apparently finished, "War - one of the ultimate illusions. The kind of war you wage on yourself without realizing it. In the words of a wise woman you love dearly, 'being your own meanie'. You have plenty of other illusions as well - particularly one that pertains to the wind."

Simply being for a short time, Ursa finally picked up on the fact that her light half had ignored a chakra, saying over its frustrated groan, "You said there were three - you only talked about two. What about the final one? Oh quit grumbling - I know where it is too, and what it deals with. The Thought Chakra - dealing with pure cosmic energy, blocked by earthly attachments. What kind of unreality's there?"

Ursa realizing that _technically_ one should be able to unlock that chakra by suicide, the body the most basic earthly attachment she could think of, she began crying in horror, listening as her light half said, looking conflicted, "Good - use that big mind of yours to think, gain insight - into the fact that not all that is taught is true or makes sense. Into that illusions can be passed on as insight. To answer your question - thinking that you need to detach yourself from earthly concerns is one in of itself. The Avatar, meant to be a balancing force in the world, cannot sit atop a mountaintop and just think to be effective. The Avatar needs to be invested in the world - be attached. It is his or her job to help balance it, after all." Ursa nodded, saying, "Yeah - duh," her light half laughing slightly, continuing, "You know a lot of Aang's life - his visit with Guru Pathik. He was willing to 'give up' Katara in the catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se - but would have called the man crazy had he suggested killing himself to unlock the final chakra." Ursa had considered the whole thing crazy herself - having wondered what kind of merger between supreme being of light and order and a human would require giving up _love _to go into and out of the Avatar State at will, love a feeling Ursa was sure was a better way to connect to pure cosmic energy than severing your connection to the world, as Avatar Aang had ended up doing **temporarily**. To her knowledge, the only people nuts enough to have done it for longer than Avatar Aang being "Guru" Laghima and Zaheer, when they entered the void…

Ursa wondering if doing such a thing meant thinking nothing mattered **permanently**. Tantamount to suicide, but remaining living… feeling nothing but void, all the time.

And having done so **deliberately** \- not with the "assistance" of depression.

Thinking a bit more, Ursa wondered if she'd ever unlock her chakras, whatever that might have done for her, not being the Avatar - pretty sure that if she were Avatar Korra she'd rather love Asami Sato and never enter the Avatar State again, rather than give up the thing that made life worth living and be able to glow it up as much as she liked.

Ursa's eyes widened when her light half smiled, saying, "What Guru Pathik told Aang to do is not the only way to clear the seventh chakra - letting go of your earthly attachments, or as Zaheer did, 'entering the void', are all just the same basic way to connect to the universe - and nothing else. The other two ways, however, are more 'palatable' - strengthening your connection to the universe by living and loving in it, focusing on why you want to continue living is one way, romantic attachment one of the strongest whys. The other… I'll let you sleuth that one out."

Having trouble following her light half's logic, Ursa laughed when Warmwings trilled in confusion, hearing it is, "I dunno - it's part of you! You should know! Just tell it to spill the beans!"

Thinking over it for a short time, trying to see how it might fit in with life, everyone around, _everything _mattering, Ursa guessed, feeling more and more confident as she went on, "Well, they might not care about chakras while they're doing it - but I know plenty of people, past and current, who connected to the world in a different way. Living in it and passionately hating others, focusing on what they **wanted**, wanted to continue to grow. Their power, influence… having an intimate relationship with hate. Trying to shape the world in their image."

Her light half smiled, saying, "Good," continuing after poking her forehead, "Now, use that big brain of yours to think some more - see if you can pierce the illusion that still hinders you."

Thinking of one thing from both light and dark perspectives - the final chakra - Ursa realized she had chosen to examine all good people's lives earlier - not cast a judgmental eye on people like Ozai, Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, the old Kuvira…

Realizing the whole reason Warmwings had come, what she had been trying to knock out of her, Ursa said after thinking through her words for a moment, **smiling broadly,** "Firelord Ozai - he literally had the world at his fingertips, fate not having been kind to his enemies. One lucky hit of a rock to Aang's back later, the tables were reversed - rather than being 'Phoenix King', he ended up living out the rest of his days in a jail cell while his rebellious son ruled the nation Ozai once ruled, thoroughly undoing all Ozai's work. His daughter, Azula - lost control at just the wrong moment, finally paying a heavy toll for her previous madness - actual insanity, run off into woods years later, never to be seen again." Thinking about the next enemy, she continued, "Just like Amon, they couldn't keep up the charades they needed forever, or the power - Avatar Aang stripping Ozai's power, Amon's lies stripping his own once exposed as the fraud he was, Azula's own mind ultimately broken by losing control of her two close friends. Amon had executed an almost perfect plan, was even partially right, benders in the city having too much power compared to the nonbenders - never counting on his brother spilling the dark secret he had guarded tightly to Avatar Korra. He counted on his sick ability to defeat the Avatar and take her bending without anyone seeing the incriminating evidence, make her nothing in her own eyes most likely - ending up being defeated after trying to take Mako's bending backfired and she managed to do something she thought she could never do, bending air."

Seeing her light half smiling like it had just figured out how to break both Long Yumao and Jinshu Kuangmai's power with a single word, Ursa said it out loud, saying, "Love. The wild card - from the time of Wan, until now. Ozai had Iroh turning Zuko - Amon had to deal with Asami Sato betraying her father out of a different kind of love, friendship. Unalaq hadn't counted on that while scheming - Kya keeping her niece Jinora alive even after she had been tossed into the Fog of Lost Souls, and Jinora deciding to stay in the Spirit World and help find Raava - likely not caring if she died in the process, selflessly caring only about helping the world. In the end, dissipated with his own spirit-calming technique," still adding, "In the end, both he and Amon got what they wanted - but only partially. My home changed forever for the better, twice - after the change to true democracy, and the spirit portals staying open after Avatar Korra decided her uncle was right. Avatar Wan's decision was right for his time - but not for ours, unable to stop Avatar Korra."

Feeling good, yet sick somehow at the same time, Ursa gave Warmwings a hug, the dragonfly bunny spirit trilling happily as Ursa felt its soft fur. The next part would be easier in a way, Ursa saying, "Zaheer had assembled a team of three extremely talented, motivated _and _gifted people - but ended up being foiled by both the new Air Nation's teamwork and Avatar Korra's driving will to live, not restrained by the platinum chains that bound her. The poison - removed from Korra before Zaheer's very eyes, his life's work for nothing after Suyin took out what she could. His only lasting legacies - the Earth Queen's fitting demise, the chaos that followed - and was extinguished by order when Kuvira made her way around the shattered nation. Ironically, his only further contribution was to help the woman he poisoned get over what happened so she could defeat the old Kuvira."

Ursa had intended to continue, talking about her realization that the famous and infamous alike were as much dust and leaves as she was, subject to things even _they _couldn't control - finding that random chance more often favored the good than the bad, good people not having to maintain illusions, lies, and control and overbearing connection with those under them to be effective.

But Ursa felt like something within her wanted out - wanted out **now**.

Remembering how Warmwings had been trying to get her to cough up something, Ursa gave speech a go, surprised when she managed to get to the present day with great effort, saying, "Kuvira had counted on fear to help her keep control, just like Azula did - failing when both Bolin and Varrick, even the initially traitorous-seeming Zhu Li decided to listen to their consciences instead of **her**. Her machine was flawless - except it had one problem. She could control the machine - but she couldn't control Baatar Jr., rather killing him to take out everyone around him… with the massive weapon he had helped his engaged to design and perfect. A weapon whose workings he spilled to his estranged mother… Going into Republic City, Kuvira had never dreamed she'd end up kneeling before the Avatar after being spared from death by her own weapon - or end up… GACK! End up alongside the Avatar facing off against a man she found while being the 'Great Uniter' - and finally… UGH, yeesh, almost done… finding what she really needed. Family and peace. All someone can really ask for - and need, all the 'mattering' in the world not mattering… if you're unhappy. Which all things considered I have no reason to be - and… am going to work towards being happy instead. Not based on artificial goals, desires - dealing with my problems. Like I've… done before."

By now feeling something moving within her, Ursa was curious to see what this "unreality" associated with not mattering looked like - and above all, get it out of her, for the love of Raava! Ursa knew she mattered to her family, her little sister - and, that, in a way, it didn't really matter beyond that, given even the powerful were subject to chance and the whims of fate!

Feeling a coughing fit coming on, Ursa found herself saying, "Warmwings, back, please! ACK!" automatically - noticing with curiosity that her light half came over as well, producing what looked like a big cylindrical fishtank with blue and white metal ends. Her light half said, "Close your eyes - you DON'T want to see this," explaining after Ursa did so, feeling many quick strikes on her back, "Since a young age, outside your family, people have picked on you - made you feel less, like you do not matter. Six years ago, something horrible happened to you - depression. Starting three years ago, most intense two years ago, you gazed into the void - went chasing snakes. It's too soon for you to see what Warmwings and your breakthrough just now is trying to dislodge," Ursa crying after her light half admitted, feeling something leaving her mouth, "You struggled and fought against most of the depression - but not all of it. Being your own bully isn't the only thing you didn't question - this unreality of things not mattering has worked itself into every aspect of your life, and Warmwings may not be able to remove it all. Only time will. After this thing is out and in here, barring something unexpected happening or being done by you, just as earlier with the sense of peace and contentment… your sense of self-worth and importance will be at its highest and most balanced for a long time."

Part of her tempted to open her eyes, see the thing she could feel leaving her, knowing it must be massive given how long her light half had gone on talking, Ursa resisted. Ursa found herself thinking of her mom, dad, Buniq, Lee-Lee, Renshi, all the people she'd ever met and helped instead, seeing a brief flash of a much more recent event she hadn't really considered big until now, screaming internally, "I WANT TO SEE MY LIFE AGAIN - SEE HOW MUCH I'VE MATTERED! I never appreciated it before…" crying out loud, "I want to be reborn - like Kuvira was! I already live - I want to FEEL IT!"

Hearing her light half gasp in surprise, Ursa opened her eyes - seeing she had done so too soon, saying as she generated electricity, her light half looking frantic, "I was chasing nothing two years ago - but I know something bad when I see it!" Wishing for sword, shield, and protection, seeing a large blue and white form out of the corner of her eyes, Ursa said, taking in the ashen version of itself, "The endless hunger earlier… to matter, feed with food instead of power. Food just as easily power… like Kuvira the orphan did… it looks like someone tore a hole in your stomach, your mouth!" saying after she felt an odd sucking from the doppler's face and void eyes, "Endless quest for validation… so THIS is what it looks like!"

Hearing Warmwings trill, hearing it as, "Forget sealing it away - it looks bad! Kill it! Nobody needs that in them!" Ursa saw her light half smile slightly, saying as it produced two oddly familiar blue streams of fire around the thing, "Seal it away - so you can see what you can do to it later, after the life review. You will likely be stronger then than you are now. Keep in mind, this is largely symbolic - you'll still have to struggle after this formative moment," her light half looking vaguely surprised when Ursa said as it sealed the thing away, "That's fine with me - I've done just fine up until now without this whatever the blazes dream world, and remember how the stuff in the real world felt more genuine. The dream contentment and peace… big, but not real, like what I felt at the fridge," her light half looking very proud when she finished, "You talked about reality versus unreality - this dream's halfway in between, so I'm not stopping until I've dealt with it 'outside' - as I've always done."

The containment device now filled with a dark, ever-shifting gas that seemed to have volume and substance, especially given how every so often a hand would form, banging against the wall in vain, her light half said, to Ursa's surprise, "While I admire the sentiment, the work ethic… from what I've managed to gather, this inner dream world's _meant_ to make things easier, have a lasting effect outside. Your dark half was right about some things - this place, a creation of Raava." Still a bit suspicious, wondering if this was another test - temptation like that her _skinny _dark half had tried to pull off earlier, except with false promise of a cleansed mind for little work rather than new body for no effort, Ursa laughed when her light half sighed with irritation, saying, "No - I - WE don't work like that," admitting with a smile, "Though, it is always good to question," finishing as it patted the contained unreality, "Especially considering the 'size' of this thing. And, to be truthful - 'we' are not entirely sure how well the experiences carry over just yet, so you'd still be wise to keep your work ethic."

Smiling broadly, her light half said, as though remembering something, "Before your… more recent unfortunate decision to gorge yourself, earlier you showed very good control while healing your wounds, and then some. That, along with getting this thing out much more than I expected - I don't think you'll have problems with _this _unreality we're in, having dealt with it yourself before." Ursa felt… proud? blushing slightly as she said, "Thank you," glad to see her light half nod when she asked, pointing to the container, "We done with this thing for now, or what? I wanna move on!"

Recalling a promise her light half had made about letting her see something if Ursa put the work in on herself, Ursa remembering her mother telling her that work was love made visible, Ursa's eyes widened to the size of saucers when her light half smiled. It began speaking after a borderline unbelievable image appeared to its side, the being inside the cylinder shying away from the image, light half saying, "I am sure you remember the other part of Raava's gift to humanity - what Varrick called 'tuber-vines'. Hooked up to these weapons custom-designed and created with Kuvira's help for Avatar Korra, they are capable of producing plasma. Though I won't tell you how - knowing you, with your varied interests, you'd probably try to figure out how it works." Ursa guilty as charged, her light half finished as Ursa studied the strange, half sword, half fistweapon vambraces, noticing a four-elements theme as it spoke, "Far from being outdated and useless, melee weapons married to technology are a key part of war again - rather like the days of Avatar Aang. You're not the only one with melee weapons now, Ursa - I don't need to tell you why this weapon is… important."

Ursa said, "Plasma - cut platinum on any new Colossus Jinshu Kuangmai makes," anyways, Ursa smiled slightly even after the twin-bladed contraption vanished following a display of its plasma capabilities, her light half saying, "Try not to spread it around too much - just… make sure you're practicing with sword and shield like you were at the refugee camp. Also - a lot has happened in here tonight. PLEASE don't overwhelm your mother - get it all together first. Maybe drawings! Which reminds me… I believe we have a shared past to view. Warmwings will be going now - she's got a battle to fight. Goodbye - from both of us."

After a last nuzzle from Warmwings, Ursa said, "I'm ready," her spirit friend vanishing after. Her light half jumped into Ursa much as she had heard Avatar Aang might jump into Avatar Korra after popping out unasked for ever since the Restoration of Avatar Korra's past lives, all Ursa could think about for a while was how cool the weapon had looked - vaguely disappointed she couldn't share, especially after having seen how the plasma danced on the blade's edges. Remembering her own father had a habit of training with and keeping an older two-handed sword he said was a family heirloom, hand-crafted by Master Piandao, deceased member of the Order of the White Lotus, she decided to just ask her father for a sparring match when he returned - not going to say why, unless she was told otherwise. Ursa figured her father would enjoy it more without the explanation anyways - see it as just daughter-father bonding time instead, likely sorely needed after the fighting he was likely to see. Possibly involving spirit weapons…

She was glad to have seen a _friendly_ spirit weapon herself - having had a hard time believing official claims that the establishment condoned their use now, after Avatar Korra had ignored one of President's Raiko's best ideas. Fighting fire with fire, spirit weapon with spirit weapon, Ursa never to know what a Varrick, Zhu Li and Asami Sato designed superweapon would have done to Kuvira's Colossus. The caution had turned out to have been misplaced in light of the Spirit Civil War - war with spirits the most likely ramification for having used spirit weapons against Kuvira.

Avatar Korra's beseechment for help from the spirits had turned out to have been carried out with a future foe as the spirit's spoke…spirit anyways, Ursa wondering if the refusal was all part of Long Yumao's plans. Plans she realized with a small dry horror might include her, given the unwanted simian guest earlier.

Turning around and walking off, not a thought about insignificance in her mind, feeling an immense peace as she did so, Ursa found herself in an endless black expanse she had only heard of, chuckling with glee to see something she had only heard of in press releases before. Her yin yang sphere was white, almost through and through, the only problem she could see with it was some sort of obstructing haze around it - as though the light within were blocked by something.

Stepping closer, wondering if she could see what the haze was, it vanished from her perception - though the sphere still was the same slightly greyed white. Spotting something on its surface, she stepped closer, starting a laughing fit when she saw it was the remains of a VarriCake. Remembering wherever she was food had no caloric value, only taste, she stepped forward, remembering her earlier trials, a part of her thinking, "Almost a thousand pounds. So fat before… Food has no calories - except when it doesn't." The thought itself seeming warbled somehow, remembering the importance of symbology, Kuvira's other half being made of pure metal, Jinshu Kuangmai's self that he acted as the same, she reached out, picking up the remains of the VarriCake.

Bringing it closer to her mouth, some part of her pleading no, not the same part that had felt horror to be deadly heavy, yet not _seeming_ like her dark half, Ursa remembered all her failed "diets" over the years. All the temptation to eat just one VarriCake for desert with her partially eaten dinner, denying herself - then eating much more than what she had denied herself of later in the middle of the night, along with her leftovers… just as she had done before going to sleep.

Eating it, finding herself satisfied, she thought defiantly, "No more 'dieting' - just self-control. More enjoying food that I need - less guilt and shame. Mom, Nana, dad, even my little sister Buniq - they're right about my 'diets'," now glad the diets had never been serious. Remembering warnings her mother had given her about denying her body and especially her brain of what it needed while growing, she added, "Nothing but 'damage control' until I'm older," knowing that while her body might have stopped growing up in any major way, her mind was likely still maturing, growing.

Ursa nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard an unexpected, vaguely familiar voice say, "Maturing and growing so well," getting the feeling it was benevolent. The voice not speaking any further, Ursa was less surprised to see her _taller_ \- not fatter - light self appear, laughing when it said, "Good job - I hope for 'both' our sakes you can break from the cycle of phony diets, but still remain control," slightly confused when it said, "I can see what you cannot - I am sure you will do just fine, and not balloon to 'Camelephant Ursa'," finding herself skeptical when it said, seemingly reminding her, "You have a lot more willpower than you think."

Ursa shook her head, saying, "Wh - no, I ate too much from the fridge before going to bed! Even if it was good, and… felt right," Ursa's eyes widenening when her light half laughed hysterically, slapping its stomach as it said, "Wh - the mirror? Telling your dark self to go screw off - then RESISTING the urge to poke it with a stick? Working on feeling like you matter? You've got a LOT more willpower than you think - where it matters the most." Remembering something about even Avatar Korra having gone "too far" with this inner dream world somehow, Ursa nodded, admitting, "Yeah… I guess I do," finishing, "Can we do that life review… thing? See if that unclouds my yin yang sphere?" Her double nodded, saying sagely, "You could uncloud it right now, if you tried, shifted your mindset enough," finishing, "Though, just like earlier with 'Camelephant Ursa' - your nickname, not mine, I might add - and the unreality of not mattering, a bit of help never hurts," adding as an apparent afterthought, "Keep in mind it will be just as hard at points as your 'Glutton Warning' was earlier - though for very different reasons."

As soon as Ursa nodded, saying, "I can handle it - I lived through my life once before after all," the character of the space she was in shifted as her light half vanished, now hearing it only as a voice that intoned, **I will not allow you to get hurt, sliced by a sword… decapitated… I am sorry for my earlier failure.**

Feeling an urge to reach out and touch the yin yang sphere, Ursa did so, saying, "White…" realizing from what details had been released about Kuvira's first experience the former dictator's orb had also been obscured - though much more than Ursa's own. At first, Kuvira had seen only blinding light as pitch dark - Ursa saw her white yin yang sphere immediately.

Finally making contact with its surface, she heard a vaguely familiar voice intone, _Of course - she had the suffering of millions staining her soul. Your "sins" are paltry in comparison. _The voice was now silent, replaced by some of her earliest memories.

Experiencing her early life, though infinitely more clearly than she could have remembered it by herself, Ursa took in all the love and affection she had been shown as a young, unexposed child all over again - realizing she really did treat her little sister Buniq much as her own family had treated Ursa when she was "little". Feeling a wave of experiences, good things, joy and light, though not from her own perspective, she heard her light half intone, **What you give to your sister - here. Unconditional love,** Ursa feeling sad she did not feel capable of giving herself the same.

**In time - though, just as with everything else, how long you stayed at near a half ton caused by unchecked self-pity and willpower weakness earlier included… the time it takes is up to you, no one else. Though, you did move through the mattering part quicker than expected at the end…**

Vision moving from what her little sister thought of Ursa, how she had already given out in the near present what she had received before going to school, the vision shifted to the experiences of an older Ursa. Ursa knew from the press conference that Kuvira had claimed her life review and struggle was overwhelming, but found herself overwhelmed in a different, much more pleasant way as she felt all her actions during school's effects on others condensed and laid out before her rapidly yet thoroughly, her light half intoning, **From a young age, even when you yourself were under internal duress, you stood up for the weak. **It continued after the "replay" slowed down significantly where Ursa helped Lee-Lee against Xin Fu, Ursa having forgotten it wasn't the first time she had defended someone with her bending and how scared she had felt at the time yet risking incurring Xin Fu's wrath anyways, **Ursa - why don't you watch, experience the rest all by yourself, the most important parts of your life, at the speed and level you need, **feeling comforted when it seemingly finished, **I will still be here for you, of course - but if you experience it, think of the positive yourself - it will be more effective.**

While Ursa had always remembered her first time generating lightning, she had never experienced the whole situation from different people's perspectives, finding new appreciation of her actions - the appreciation feeling stronger for her other earlier efforts. Ursa wondered who really held power in Republic City, feeling the metalbender cop officer's frustration. Not frustration he'd been saved by a nine-year old girl - but that that girl had been given a detention for her actions, much less something she had not caught back then - the media cover-up of the whole affair almost costing police officer's lives. Given what she saw next, it was apparently at Councilman Tarrlok's behest, not wanting to possibly start riots over a mere "nonbender schoolboy" and Xin Fu's bullying, or how the police department had been "embarrassed" by a nine-year old girl, Ursa never having saw it that way. Perspective shifting to said schoolyard watchman and then her old principal briefly, she still didn't understand politics - though Ursa finally understood why she had been given a detention.

The lightning she had generated to knock out Xin Fu could have just as easily hit one of the police officers and their metal uniforms, Xin Fu not the only one who had almost hurt someone badly…

Feeling a bit down, not sure why that part had been stressed, she pondered it for a moment, the image of Xin Fu in platinum handcuffs and being hauled away still visible as she thought, "Maybe… to show that I do have self-control, willpower, restraint - and pretty good aim to boot." Baffled to see the image replaced by one of her drawings, Ursa having always been told she had a talent, not thinking herself anything special, she smiled, eyes still closed as her light half intoned, **Art requires a delicate touch - something you bring to your ****_artwork_****, bending, and beyond. **Image vanished, replaced by Ursa hugging Lee-Lee tightly in the aftermath, Ursa felt the feelings Lee-Lee did. Savoring them, as well as her own, her happiness not yet clouded by depression, Ursa laughed weakly when she heard her light half intone, **That is one thing you will find hard - and will be stronger than even this was, **her stomach sinking in horror when it finished, **Everything so far has been a relative gloss-over - this will not.** **Something you will be re-living directly,** Ursa pretty sure why too…

Remembering how hard that first experience had been, having an inkling why this part might have been picked out, Ursa thought, "Can we just… skip the feelings, go to me 'self-medicating'? I'm assuming that's the main poi - " surprised when she felt alien sensations interrupt her, hearing only, **The pain as well - though not at full force. Unreality of life not mattering out of you - hopefully for good - or not, you do not appreciate your own struggles, and can never hope to find peace without appreciating where you are more fully.**

The last thing Ursa managed to do rubbing her aching head, eyes wide shut by an immense force, the alien feeling gradually became more, more familiar, her last thought, "Wait… I know… what I called 'The Unnamed Feeling'…" not even able to feel the pit in her stomach. Ursa finally felt a shift to a far more dreadful feeling than anything associated with her distantly remembered "Glutton Warning" and "Camelephant Ursa" occur, fading memory of being a human Colossus seeming like happy bygone days as The Unnamed Feeling took hold.

Lifting her head up, looking at her family around her, Ursa didn't respond when her father looked at her directly, not sure why he was so concerned with someone as meaningless as her, shying away from his touch when he reached out, asking, "Ursa, my life - no, our whole family's life… what's wrong? Ever since school let out, you haven't been the same, eating more than usual… and school and your tenth birthday are coming up. But nothing out of you - not the least bit of excitement." Not responding, Ursa felt the shroud over her temporarily lessen in weight when her father picked her up, though she resisted being swooped up at first, her father saying as he hugged her tight, "You talked to us before - finally told us something didn't feel right, a few weeks ago," crying as he was now, her father continuing, "Ursa - I know what it's been like, since this darkness started for you. Even though it's only been a… nevermind. I know - even five minutes of that feels like an eternity. As I've reminded you, been there, even - as my own father did, and my grandmother before him, and beyond. I know what you're going through," saying uncomfortably, "My father fought - but in her old age, my grandmother did not. Ursa, I know you're a fighter - please. Speak. Tell us if anything else is wrong. For me. For all of us."

Feeling willing to listen, ignoring a fairly new sensation - that of lightning in her head, causing her pain whenever she "deviated" from the path it "wanted" her to follow - Ursa said with a sullen voice, "I'll try." Intending to say something about the odd pain, Ursa tried to speak again - finding this strange pain intensified, from mild-mannered thunderstorm to the electrical ragings of a violent typhoon, barely refraining from screaming.

Trying to speak again, seeing her father's concern, she failed, hearing a voice she had only once before yell, "DO NOT - SILENCE! OR PAIN, UNIMAGINABLE!"

Tears streaking down her face, Ursa was at first tempted to comply, but remembered what her father had said - calling her a fighter…

Smiling slightly, painfully, getting another new side-affect, part of her face seemingly under another's control, this part thoroughly displeased, Ursa thought strongly, "I'd rather feel pain for TEN THOUSAND YEARS than feel this - nothing!" Immediately feeling retribution, pain unimaginable ending up being just barely tolerable, Ursa managed to struggle out what was troubling her, her father's face sinking further and further, even with the basic version she had been able to struggle out - the thoughts about ending her life that had dragged her down, what she had been down about when he asked, then this… other, likely recurring thing.

Looking crushed, as though he knew something he would never tell, her father Hideki simply asked, "Is… is there anything we can do to support you… aside from the obvious - loving you, talking every day, like we have?" Lowering his guard slightly, her father admitted, "The symptoms you describe, the intensity, that… accursed urge… it sounds somewhere between what my father told me about his own experience, and my own my experience - and that of your great-grandmother." Even her "irritatingly" cheerful mother and over-accepting Nana crying by now, her father hugged her tighter, saying, "It runs in the family - back to the Fire Nation, even. I would give these golden 'noble's eyes', even my bending, to free you and your children from the curse... In her latter days, your royal namesake tried to come up with an herbal concoction to help cure or alleviate what you call 'The Unnamed Feeling', others, 'just' call depression…" admitting through tears, "For all of her herbal and medicinal knowledge, she found nothing. I simply had to live through it - self-medicating with alcohol… as you may be doing with food." By now her mother looking a bit uncomfortable, Ursa wondering in horror what she'd look like at school, knowing her father was right. Her father said, mother looking slightly better as he spoke, "It wasn't until I started dating your mother Panik when I was 25 that I ever really felt like I could stop, in control as I am today by the time you were born two years later," frowning slightly after saying, "Given you're all of nine going on ten, just now starting to change physically… I don't think that kind of 'medication' can help you. I don't know what simple thing might help, aside from what we've already given you - love and affection, the extra food," looking uneasy to ask, "Aside from what I think you've been doing subconsciously… Do you know anything?"

Ursa didn't know what was more painful - the accursed feeling in her head… or the fact she didn't know what would help her. Aside from what her father had already mentioned.

Remembering one thing she liked, no, loved, never judging her, just like her family, except she could exert Councilman-like control over something where in reality she had control over nothing except what she did, Ursa managed to struggle out, "My birthday… dad, I need all the drawing supplies I can get," adding involuntarily, as though something within her had spoken without approval, "Maybe… maybe a big cake too, plenty of ice cream. And a really nice dinner before." Thinking of getting everything out of herself through drawing, Ursa managed to crack a half-hearted joke, saying, "The food… maybe helping Lee-Lee gain that weight he wants so bad will help," half tempted to yell at Nana in anger, frustration and embarassment when she said, "It would help if you admit what you've already stumbled upon - do not shroud your intentions with false words. Own them. Poor hurt child… if you need more 'medicine' than drawing, don't be afraid to experiment. And admit to what you've already done - there is no shame in using a crutch the spirits gave you, our shared love for the good-tasting things in life. Pleasure is one of the greatest reasons to keep on living… Maybe you are as you are for a reason… to help you endure. Science doesn't know a lot of things - but people do. My son-in-law's former taste for sake, other things - something to get him through to better days. Your father managed to stop that, then master it," her father sobbing when Nana finished, "Big birthday cake, whatever it may be, even after… Whatever it takes - coping habits can be changed. Being dead can't."

Ursa nodded grimly, knowing Nana was right.

The room in front of her shifting, at first Ursa panicked, brought back to reality temporarily as the image paused on her partially successfully venting her frustration and depression through art. Looking at what she was drawing, what she now remembered calling "The Universal Tormentor", she was shocked to see what she had forgotten, likely thrown away - a humanoid figure that strongly reminded her of what Unalaq's fusion with Vaatu had looked like, except… skinnier, sharper looking. More… human-y?

Feeling as though something immensely powerful had taken temporary interest in her, at first Ursa panicked again, thinking, "If you're not nice… just fu -"

_Do not worry - continue._

Looking at the figure again, Ursa saw it was male, had black skin with red lines that strongly reminded her of Vaatu, the fouls spirit's form even emblazoned on its chest, much as it had been on Unalaq… There was something off about it though. While it did have "tentacles", not unlike what the media had dubbed "UnaVaatu" had, it only had two - above the arms, like sickening bladed wings, what appeared to be red and black metal extending from their length to form false feathers. The skin had a hidelike appearance as well, unlike anything Ursa had seen from afar during Harmonic Convergence, and the thing had ridiculous wiry hair on its head, almost appearing like it was wearing red and black barbed wire. There were barbs of the same nature at key points on its skin - as though it were meant to fight.

Wondering if this was taking any "real" time, not wanting to waste her time with looking at an old childhood doodle, Ursa heard the same voice intone, _It may be no doodle_. Ursa's own internal journey continued before she could question who or what had spoken to her, only getting the reassurance time was no issue, feeling a shift like before take place…

Looking at her latest drawing, not having a clue if it was real or not, some long forgotten spirit, Ursa felt better anyways to have drawn it - what she thought an evil being might look like. Still feeling down, she smiled weakly, walking over to the fridge, taking out some "medicine". Settling back down with she wasn't entirely sure how many VarriCakes, Ursa indulged herself, food aside from drawing one of her few comforts. Feeling slightly full but still sad, she managed a weak laugh, saying as she got up, "Can't believe I forgot the milk!" After drinking a few glasses, the milk having been lonely without VarriCake, Ursa sat down and leaned back, looking at her drawing and savoring what she had ate - feeling something close to better, able to appreciate the lingering taste of sugar in her mouth.

Ursa smiled an actual smile - being able to appreciate something after it was "gone"… that was a big milestone.

Feeling another disconnect, Ursa watched herself over what something told her was slightly under a year in a montage of drawing, eating, gain - gain in more ways than the visible, Ursa realized, growth not only upward and outward as she applied her favorite salve vigorously, but inward growth as well. This perspective let her see what she hadn't before, perhaps willfully ignored or distorted - to a big extent, whether she liked it or not, Nana was right. Ursa's curse with food was also her crutch - to help with her other, more deadly curse of depression. Should she - love forbid - ever indulge in its ultimate form, there would be no tomorrow, while Camelephant Ursa would at least live to see a reduced lifetime... Ursa remembered her own mother's talk at times of how much her father appreciated fine sakes, liqueurs in small amounts. The sped-up images stopping when Ursa had her eleven-year old pictures taken, now remembering with shame that she had burned the one in her room, having been bigger than she was at ten, Ursa only cared now that she could see some hope in her eyes.

She was more than existing, as she had during her initial depression - she was alive, vibrant, finally making the personal progress that had led her to shed her sweet "candy cane" crutch in time - and her pencil crutch to a large degree, she remembered now, recalling her mother and father's great annoyance at the latter change.

Seeing an image of herself at ten join the heavier eleven-year old full of hope, all Ursa cared about now was the fact that she had been sad, depressed - and won, where her great-grandmother on her father's side hadn't, thinking, "Better confined to bed, overfed than dead," imagining herself at her current weight hugging "Camelephant Ursa", wanting to tell the other Ursa that everything was going to be okay - not that she was an overweight shame without hope, better alive than dead.

Ursa wasn't entirely sure, but she swore she saw another figure present in the distance in what she thought was just her mind's eye - a skinny girl with eerie red light visible from beneath her skin. Hearing the figure let out a hateful hiss as she looked at it closer, Ursa imagined herself saying, "I'd hug you too," - finding the medium-sized Ursa in her vision actually spoke the same words.

The figure warped and twisted after Ursa imagined hugging it, the figure screeching as its skin let out more red light in the shape of its barely covered bones, "What - no - stay back! Get… AWAY! JUST LIKE HER!" Ursa felt vaguely sad to see it run off in terror out of sight, yelling about needing to retreat when she thought, "I don't understand you - in any sense of the word."

Nonetheless, Ursa felt a permeating peace - as though she had just taken a key turn on the twisting, winding road that was her life. Not only that - but that both her road and life mattered.

She was a survivor - and she hoped to enjoy her life fully.


	56. Chapter 56: A Model Citizen: Part 1

Chapter 56: A Model Citizen: Part 1

Seeing the mental image fade - that of her consoling a version of herself that had chosen too much sushi and cake over the infinitely worse option, suicide, pretty sure the skin and bones version of herself she had run off with love would have chosen death over fat - Ursa came back to awareness gradually. After seeing what she had already overcome, she felt good, ready to face anything - as though someone was giving her a good hug, proud of her…

She swore she was still embracing something - or someone. Realizing her vision hadn't been entirely just her imagination after a plump-sounding voice said, "I'll never understand… that side of you either. I'm just glad you… feel ready to go on," Ursa found she was doing exactly what she had been in her mind's eye - except with one difference. She was being hugged back as she deeply hugged a slightly taller and much heavier version of herself in a familiar endless black expanse - feeling like she had made some sort of major breakthrough. Still embracing what she had decided to call "Food Drunk Ursa" tightly, she chuckled lightly when her _nice_ doppler said, in a voice plump but still older-sounding than herself, "Food Drunk's certainly …a lot nicer than 'Camelephant' - and… in a way, more accurate. Wow - I certainly hadn't… expected _that_, the hug… or the other part," laughing and continuing before Ursa could even ask, "You'll find out who… that more friendly… voice was if you need to. My master." Seeing her apparent light half, though she was anything but physically light, Ursa felt a strong pity, her light half looking vaguely displeased when Ursa said, "I can console 'you', sympathize with the Food Drunk … maybe I should go looking for Karpok." Ursa nodded when it said, "That, I can only… recommend should you happen… to cross paths," sighing a little when it finished, returning the hug, "You'll still have to watch… your own weight. You seemed a bit too… interested in food as future help… compared to drawing… to me," unsure how it could peg her so well, breaking the hug, grumbling when it said before she could even think it, "We both… know why. Drawing requires a… lot more effort than eating."

Realizing she had left off at eleven years old, the following year spent "mopping up" through willpower and hard work, both on her internal depression and weight. Thinking about her new name for the much larger Ursa - Food Drunk Ursa - she smiled slightly, remembering that at some point in that year she had no longer felt the need to "self-medicate". With minimal prompting from her parents, she had put down the bottle… of milk, not booze, that is. Sighing, knowing the world events that came next that had impacted her so much, these having been only four years ago, Ursa said loudly, "That brings us to Hiroshi and Amon, the Equalists, doesn't it." Ursa glared at her light half when it said, laughing, jiggling, "Nape of the neck… Amon would have had… a hard time taking… this Food Drunk Ursa's bending," shrugging with outsized arms, asking, "Oh, come on. What - can't I make a joke?" Ursa just rolled her eyes, saying, "Yes - but not that kind…." adding with irritation, "Can't you shift already?"

Not receiving a reply at first, her light half simply shrugged, Ursa half wondering if it stayed in that body just to test her self-sympathy, part of its jiggling reminding her all too much of her _real_ own body, saying, "I am still as I am… for the reason… you just thought," finishing, panting, "Though…perhaps I should… if I need to give you… any assistance. And I did not appreciate… how _annoying_ this body was… until now. I cannot even finish… a sentence without… pausing." Ursa laughed heartily when her light half said, fist in the air, "The 'weight' rules… shouldn't apply to me!... Not in here!" having thought similar things before herself while awake.

Having wished her choice of medication didn't have any side effects like weight gain, just as her father had at one wished he could drink without blackouts, according to her mother.

Now Ursa found herself in the odd position of reminding something that was supposed to be her better half about what she needed to see, saying, "Hey - Amon, the Equalists, what he called our 'concerned citizens coalition' so derogatorily?" Her light half nodded, saying simply, "Yes - you remember… more now," continuing as it gradually shifted, reaching Ursa's "mom" weight by the end, saying, "Or rather, appreciate more… of your past now. With your poor attitude earlier, and the unreality… of nothing mattering inside you, you could not see your past fully. Haze clouding your vision - what you saw of your inner yin yang sphere earlier would have been much worse with thinking, **believing **nothing mattered inside you. 'Nihilism'. Now, with my help - and, most important of all, your attitude shift - **I hope you can see what I can in you after this. What your family sees in you - 'me'. The light half… one that doesn't surrender or give up fighting.**"

Her light half warping, as though space and time itself were temporarily distorted, the past began to take Ursa again - not afraid, already knowing the outcome.

Her last thoughts before the shift completed were simple - but important all the same. After seeing her early life, Ursa was now looking forward to seeing the past with new eyes and appreciation - seeing one of the things she had done that came close to "mattering", despite hoping she'd wake up and not care about external validation anymore... Something in her gut was telling her she'd need everything she could to make sure that the void monster that thirsted for validation from the outside and not within stayed as "dead" as possible in the real world once she woke up - one of the biggest reasons for the strange exercise.

Having woken up relatively early in the morning, Ursa had been in the modest shared room in her family's apartment for quite some time, simply sitting around, her father having received no orders for quite some time - the power structure of the United Republic shaken to its core by recent events. The time by now almost noon, no one in the room had cared what the clock proclaimed it was time for earlier, aside from the fact they would be eating soon. They had been up, talking - wondering what the day would bring. Idly thinking, in no rush to get anywhere - not after school had been cancelled indefinitely after the Equalist attack on the Pro-Bending Arena, someplace she had relatively rarely been - to observe and learn from the benders, not really having any interest in what team won, lost. Thinking again, she laughed, saying, "Well… until recently," continuing, "Avatar Korra, the Future Industries Fire Ferrets… only team I care about." Explaining her thoughts to her mom, dad and Nana after quizzical looks, her father nodded, saying, "I had thought it… odd for you to be following Pro-Bending so closely. Until the arrival of the Avatar, you seemed to share Councilman Tenzin's disdain for it - though not for the same reasons…" Ursa had told them her reasons for her interest in the Future Industries Fire Ferrets - but didn't dare say one reason for her interest, in no mood for a lecture from Nana.

The Avatar might have been a bit foolish, but Ursa definitely admired one thing about her aside from her firebending prowess - her body. She may have just recently come through and seemingly beaten a depression Ursa hoped would never visit again, even grudgingly recalled her primary crutch that got her through the ordeal - stuffing herself with food, much of it cooked by her mother, as much for daughter as herself - Ursa still wished her body was different, to escape the mean-hearted comments people gave her…

Remembering the sham that had been the finale, how the pathetic White Falls Wolfbats had been stripped of their bending, Ursa grimaced, saying to her mother, "The people who cheated her, Avatar Korra, sorry - the White Falls Wolfbats - bet at least one of them was a former schoolyard bully," finishing with a sneer, "Gone on to 'greater things'." Her mother laughed, Nana smiling, saying, "It's good to have you back, Ursa - just think. Two years ago, you were struggling to live - now, you're making jokes every day." Ursa nodded, smiling slightly, returning to her own thoughts - an odd unease permeating the room, one she had felt since waking up. Thinking of Tahno and feeling tempted to spit, Ursa thought of Amon. The man, the mystery that had stripped the dirty fighting waterbender and the entire team of their bending - overkill, even if Tahno and his whole team were slime, having stolen the whole final match from Avatar Korra with coin, given Shiro Shinobi's commentary on the match. Amon. The man who Ursa was sure was behind this dread - somehow.

Tahno the thief - even if he paid for it. In a way, much like Amon stole bending from people… Ursa was glad to have heeded the warnings and not gone to the final match.

Ursa had heard all sorts of nasty rumors, news reports about the Equalist Revolution - finding herself agreeing with many of their points on injustices in the city, _inequalities_, even, despite being a bender herself. In fact, her whole family did - even her father, Hideki, a stalwart military man, having literally just finished talking about their mostly unanimous view of the Equalists - and Republic City itself. Zealots or not… their home needed to change. She'd seen Republic City's schools - defended plenty of nonbenders who were being oppressed by people that, to them, had superpowers - comparatively the Avatar to the scrawny nonbenders she so often… covertly defended. Her best friend, Lee-Lee - a nonbender technophile, like a younger version of that traitorous dog Hiroshi Sato - siding with a man Ursa was pretty sure would destroy Republic City if not stopped. Ursa shook her head, saying, "Siding with Amon - to avenge a wife twelve years dead, his own daughter Asami Sato having already turned against him… I wonder what Yasuko Sato would think of him now. Probably want to cry, slap him, and talk with him, in that order…"

Her mother and father both nodded, her mother Panik saying, "I… know what it's like, to be hurt by others - kids at my own school having singled me out for my figure as well, though nowhere near as badly as you've had. Even though at times I looked much like you did…" Ursa simply rolled her eyes, saying, "Whatever - the difference is probably in the looks. You look like a waterbender - as do I, even though I'm a firebender! At least your other features aren't… contradictory like mine are," earning a small glare from both her father and Nana, saying, "Sorry - continue, mom. Just not about the…" Her mother laughed, saying, "What? The cooking? I know you hate it when I point this out, but I am a _professional_ cook, sample my own work, even _at _work - you can see it on me, as I said. Unlike you, I don't mind my body." Ursa groaned, "You're smaller than I am!" her mother saying as a single tear appeared on her face, "I've tried to show you photos of me before, over the years - refused every time, usually with a terse, 'Cook healthier and tastier!' Just like you were two years ago, I'm just doing my best. Speaking of doing your best - you haven't touched your books since school 'let out', not even your favorite subjects. You even seemed a bit happy when school was cancelled…"

Not sure of her mother's point, Ursa asked, "Why you bringing that up again, exactly? Especially the _cooking job_ you have?" nodding with a frown when her mother said, "I've heard Amon lost his family to benders, know Hiroshi Sato lost his wife as well, then 'lost' his daughter to benders - though from what I know, Asami Sato sided with them because she saw how filled with hate her father had become. Bending's not the problem - hate is. On the other thing. You know I use my bending to help cook, just like your Nana taught me to, the reason my boss loves my work so much - using waterbending to help cook. Such an innocent thing that man 'Amon' wants to take away, just because the _political _system isn't right - if that's even his real name."

Looking out the window, Ursa returned to her own thoughts. Amon might take the city's bending - the whole world's bending. Then what? She had learned in class that Republic City itself depended on electricity generated by firebenders just like herself for power. Take away their bending, the city's infamous lights would go dark forever without the only known alternatives being burned that had been planned to be phased out before the Equalist crisis - dirty coal, gasoline that should have gone towards making sure the city's many Satomobiles kept running, diverted. It was almost like Amon was a complete outsider! Maybe her mother was right - Ursa didn't know of any mother of father who would name their son "Amon." He had no idea how Republic City really worked - there was plenty of hatreds, inequalities and injustices that would never go away, even if bending magically vanished from the world overnight. Ursa had done her best to help alleviate other's pain - being a target herself, due to her weight and contradictory appearance, hoping that half would stop when people in school got more mature. Good luck with that…

Inequalities that came to mind that wouldn't go away with bending's extinction easily came to mind - the physically strong versus the physically weak, the politically powerful versus the un-enfranchised - even the "enfranchised" such as her mother and father having little power compared to the Councilmen and Women - those who were moneyed like Hiroshi Sato himself versus those who had come from nothing, nearly had nothing - like Mako and Bolin, who had also lost their parents to a firebender…

Ursa might have kept thinking for ages, having nothing else to do, school canceled, Republic City in crisis. Suddenly, her heart jumped, hearing a gradually building tinny voice yell, "All units - military and police - mobilize and organize! We're under a massive orchestrated attack - Equalists, hitting the city's outskirts by ground from the north! Wait… are those… airships? Uhoh - something's about to hit the fan, and it's not air. It's sh-" By now everyone in the room staring at the precious military-grade radio her father had convinced his superior officer to let him have - his to have for a week's wages and courtmartial should he ever mis-use it - Ursa cursed when it remained silent, surprised Nana hadn't reprimanded her for speaking harshly. Hearing her father's own curses, Ursa laughed weakly when Nana said, "You heard what the man on the radio said before getting cut off. Cursing's completely appropriate in this case, I'm afraid."

Her father trying to re-establish contact, he grumbled in frustration, Ursa's mother saying as he fiddled with its dials, "Forget lunch - there's stuff in the fridge. Feed yourselves - I'm grabbing something, then… I'm going to go talk to the neighbors. Tell them what might be headed our way," Ursa laughing after she finished, "See if I can get even our dainty earthbender neighbor Jingqiao to help defend ourselves, if need be." Her mother picking up her water skein and leaving after grabbing something from the fridge, Ursa yelled, "Good luck with that!" swearing she heard a laugh after her mother disappeared.

A short time after, Ursa having busied herself with getting food in the meantime, bringing things for her father and Nana as well, Ursa heard her father proclaim, "Yes - I've done it! Let's see what they have to say," listening intently, not touching her leftovers. At first, nothing, then the radio let out a much weaker sound than it had before, Ursa's eyes widening to hear the woman ask, urgency audible in her voice, "I'll say it again. Anyone who can hear me, please respond! Every Councilman except Tenzin's been captured. I can't contact any of our garrison stations." Her father quickly said, "Hideki, Non-Commisioned Officer reporting in," getting a quick response, "I remember you. That radio. Glad I gave it to you now. Same model I'm using… its own powerful transmitter. NCO Hideki - all our self defense crumpled after catastrophic communications loss, the result of infiltration with the help of some VERY court-martialed nonbender Privates, and it looks like they're going for the police next!" Her father's commander continued, saying in the same stoic yet friendly voice after a pause, "No contact - police headquarters' power just went offline, and - no! I can hear them coming…NCO Hideki, I'm officially transferring my authority to you. Aside from the Avatar, you're the only one who comes to mind that will resist without friendly encouragement." After a short pause, hissing coming through the radio that wasn't static, her father's commander continued, "CRAP! The hissing… I think they've found me… GACK!" Hearing the woman begin to cough harder with horror, she only managed to gasp out, "Use 'your' rank… Organize… civilians! Only… way... good luck, Hideki," before stopping. Ursa wincing after a final cough, Ursa said at the same time as her father, "Damn choking gas!"

Ursa recoiled in disgust when she heard a cool voice say over the radio after an electric shock and a pause, "Wherever you are, bender scum - we're coming for you. That was the last of the ranking military in Republic City… or so we thought until now, overhearing your little conversation. I look forward to meeting you, Non-Commissioned **Officer** Hideki," Ursa too stunned to curse the man when he continued, "Hideki. Sounds Fire Nation… and a firebender disfigured me for life, just like our glorious leader Amon. I look forward to repaying the favor. But, Commander Raionhato… I may do something else with her, as long as she's ou-" Ursa laughed weakly to hear the man scream, a series of strikes having interrupted him before he could finish, a female Equalist yelling over the radio after another shock, "Amon stands for Equality in all things - you'll regret that later, when I report you! Pig! Everyone else - help me with Commander Raionhato!" Ursa sighed when the woman added, unable to see her own hatred was just like the potential rapists', "Wh - you tyrants still listening in? Whatever - keep doing it! The more you listen, bender scum, the less time you have! Enjoy every minute of still having your undeserved power. Knowing my glorious leader Amon is - "

Ursa's eyes widened when her father said, switching off the radio, "Enough of that garbage. At least I know now, and she'll be okay… I hope. That was my commanding officer, the whole city's commanding officer, Commander Raionhato, overseer of the city's garrison. If Republic City's garrison's been neutralized… I'm afraid it may be up to the civilians to defend Republic City as best they can. Just as my Commander asked. Your mother's little errand may have just become very important…"

By now hearing distant screams and what Ursa was pretty sure were explosions, she said, "Airships… the bombs! Dad - let's go try and hit them, right now!" her father smiling slightly, saying, "While I do appreciate your enthusiasm… if we're going to do anything, we'll have to think," Ursa frowning slightly when he added, "Do some… social networking, I guess you could call it." Sighing in frustration, such things not her cup of tea _or _milk, Ursa nodded when Nana said, standing up, "Ursa, sweetie - I now you don't like some of our neighbors, either for what they've said to you, or just don't like them… but almost everyone in this part of town, every family - they're a lot like us. Middle-class benders - and middle-class nonbenders who, from what your mother's told me, hold no love for the Equalists," adding with a smile, "People do talk over food, you know - and your mother hears in that restaurant where she works." Taking a deep breath, walking pretty quickly for a 71-year old woman, Nana said, "I'm going to go see what my daughter's managed to do," reprimanding Ursa's father's stare by saying, "I may be seven decades old, but any Equalist tries anything funny with me, they'll be sorry. Besides - not like there's any in this apartment complex," her father and herself laughing weakly when Nana quipped, "Unless Lee-Lee's an Equalist too, don't think there are any moles in the area."

Giving her son-in-law one last look, Nana said, "I'm sure you two will come up with something smart in time - let me and Panik handle the social side," her father Hideki nodding, saying, "Of course." Ursa reaching for a map of Republic City and its surrounding area that her father had brought out earlier, she tried to think like Amon, Hiroshi Sato - where they might have hidden their airship fleet, trying her best to ignore the explosions and… screaming.

Pretending Amon was her past depression, the only way to cure him to concentrate and focus, her finger wandered into the mountains surrounding Republic City - realizing the Sato Mansion was situated in some pretty nice terrain for a villain's lair, close to the mountains. Remembering the secret factory there her father had told her about, Ursa cried a little silently, her father exclaiming, "Wh - near the mountains! The perfect place for a mansion… and a secret base of operations. I had thought of it before, but… your finger over the Sato Mansion just sealed it for me," as Ursa realized the mansion's location may not have been an accident, forgetting Yasuko Sato had died long after its construction.

Shaking off her melancholy, she looked to where she knew they lived - smiling slightly when she realized that living on the Yue Bay side of outer downtown, closer to Air Temple Island than the Sato estate, they may have had some time to make preparations and get organized after all.

Ursa pointed this out, interrupted mid-way by a bomb explosion - the screaming and sound of the burst itself sounding all too close. Her father thinking like she did, Hideki snatched up the map as Ursa made sure to shake off her winter coat - one she wore more for obscuring her outsized body than to block out the cold, liking both heat and cold equally - listening as her father said, "That's awfully close - we're going to have to think on our feet," obeying his command when he said, "Ursa - grab drawing supplies. I'll try to get anything else we may need," picking up his radio as he said, "I don' know what we can do by ourselves, this apartment block - but if we can get every bender in the city fighting, we can at least make the Equalists stop and think if their madman's vision of no bending is worth ruining our shared home over."

Part of Ursa not liking the idea of tearing her home apart, even to retain her bending, she remembered similar previous feelings, saying as she recalled her depression, the temptation to surrender, "The least we can do is try - I didn't roll over two years ago," her father saying at the same time she did, "And I'm not rolling over now."

Going out into the hall, Ursa saw her father talking to one of their neighbors, Jingqiao - Ursa remembering she didn't care for much other than her pet cat Fluffykins, fine tea, and working. Given that the place where her neighbor worked was shut down due to the crisis, Ursa could see why the woman looked sad, feeling like she had come in in the middle of a conversation. Nana was talking to her, Ursa's own mother not in sight, Nana saying, "Jingqiao, this is the last thing I have to say - then I'll leave you alone. Let you decide what you want to do. One of my earliest memories was seeing the forest Ozai burned down in the western part of our nation before it was even a nation. I saw it all when I was moving with my family - Wulong forest hadn't recovered fully even after two years. Seeing the skeletal remains of the un-salvaged airship he had wanted to use to burn the place my family was going, the whole continent to ash. From what I've heard, Avatar Aang was scared at times too - just like you are right now. Amon might not have Sozin's Comet, but he still has airships - bombs that will kill people as dead as a bad bender. I say Amon's no worse. I'm willing to fight, despite being old, and big - you telling me you're going to sit this out, Jingqiao? Sit in your apartment and pet your cat?"

The dainty woman shook her head violently, saying with a terrified look, "No - I, just… I'm scared!" A lot more people nodding, Ursa smiled when her father said, "Only a fool wouldn't be scared. Being brave isn't about not being scared - it's about doing and fighting anyways." Jingqiao nodded, saying, "I'll try," her father saying loudly, "Good - let's keep moving, though!"

The next five to ten minutes passed in a blur, explosions and screams coming closer all the while. Ursa just thought and occasionally gave her father ideas in the shared apartment hall, then the ground floor when the "party" moved. Her mother tried getting people to be willing to do something, everyone moving down who was willing to the main lobby after a few minutes, her father helping when he wasn't looking at their apartment's location on a map, trying to figure out the most obvious routes for Equalists pushing through from the north and north-east to the sea. Some people left, having gotten "orders" to do various things - prepare ice and water for battle using the snow covering the city, earthbenders and the few metalbenders in the building cooperating with technically inclined nonbenders to make rudimentary equipment and protection. Along with something she and her father had come up with together, they were to make one of Ursa's ideas - Pro-Bending disks with metal edges, tossable by both earthbenders and metalbenders - still having an impactful edge, regardless of who propelled it. Her other idea had not gone over so hotly - using the fuel from people's cars to obstruct the attacker's view when advantageous, extinguished by water and firebending whenever they needed to see. She had to admit that she liked the idea she had come up with her father better instead - modifying people's personal vehicles with ice or earth instead so they'd have their own "heavy equipment" - insulated against any electrical attack, earth and the solid form of water not conducting electricity well.

Bringing up her failed idea again, mocking it slightly, she was surprised when a boy about her age spoke up, saying, "I don't think it's dumb," what looked like his waterbending mother saying, "I work as a mechanic - or rather, worked for Future Industries, until Hiroshi Sato turned. I've have had plenty experience with engine fire - fuel fire. When I was young like my son Chang here, too much experience… whatever, not for now. I've heard about the Equalist's knockout gas - if there's a wall of burning flames and smoke around us from fuel on the ground, they'll have to toss the gas dispensers over it. We don't have any airbenders - but I doubt air from the outside can come in with hot air coming up from the burning fuel." Smiling slightly, the woman finished, "I 'brought my work home with me' - along with a few of my co-workers, we managed to snag a few industrial-strength fans from one of Future Industries' Satomobile stores during the chaos after Hiroshi Sato's little trap and stored them in the garage. Maybe the gas won't be a problem after all… the fans just need power."

Hearing the explosions get closer and closer, Ursa listened as her father said, holding up the plans they had come up with as a community, benders and nonbenders alike, "Lightning for the fans, the fuel screen if they decide to use gas, like they did on my superior Commander Raionhato… we'll give it a try. Get the fans out of there - you, your husband Huanghato and your son Chang, Saghani. Everyone else… Come on - we can't wait any longer. Let's see what we can do," getting nervous laughter when he finished, "I know Cabbage Corp had been implicated as being Equalist sympathizers… Even if it ended up not being true as far as we know, let's hope Cabbage Corp used their 'fine' workmanship on at least some of those airships - we need anything we can get. Let's go."

Bursting out onto the street from the lobby, looking at the motley assortment, hearing a distant humming, seeing the smoke from many fires in the distance, Ursa took in her surroundings, looking for anything useful while she waited on a young earthbender who seemed familiar to make an emplacement in the street, one designed by a non-bender much like Lee-Lee, the man having even donated his car for the "civilian cavalry". Ursa began idly playing with a snowball, savoring the cold she could never produce as a firebender, "This is the real Republic City - not the one Amon wants. The one Avatar Aang wanted…" accidentally adding out loud, "Though, I bet Aang would rather a masked madman had _not _started bombing his and Lord Zuko's city…"

The earthbender laughed slightly, saying after he finished fashioning the decidedly not Pro-Bending discs Ursa had come up with a metalbender's help, "Haven't seen you before today, in the lounge with my mom. What's your name, again?" adding as he got a little too close for Ursa's comfort, "Nice clothes - they look Water Tribe, just like my mom. Who made it?"

Realizing after a second he wanted an answer, Ursa said, blushing slightly, "Name's Ursa - and my mom made this. She's also Water Tribe - a waterbender, unlike me. The clothes… Only reason I'm wearing it and not a coat is - is - I don't like the cold. Believe it or not, I'm a firebender." Ursa groaned slightly when the earthbender laughed, saying, "I hear Chief Lin's - or, former Chief Lin's - mom Toph Beifong could tell when people were lying. I saw you playing with a snowball pretty enthusiastically for someone who doesn't like the cold while I was working - don't need truthsense to tell you're lying. Not sure what you're lying for, though - it looks good on you. Name's Chang, by the way."

Ursa wasn't sure - she could have sworn this boy was… _hitting_ on her, remembering now he had been asked to go help his mother and father with some heavy-duty fans and chosen to come help set up defenses instead, possibly in pursuit of… _her_, of all people, merely saying as she breathed in and out, "It's a long story - my life story, one I don't feel like telling right before facing _that_," pointing at an approaching Equalist airship at the end.

Chang for now looking at the airship, an unknown nonbender neighbor approaching their emplacement, Ursa tried carrying through the technique she had been attempting over the past few days - generating flame from the mouth. Chang by now looking back at her, something in his eyes Ursa hadn't seen before from a boy, Ursa felt a strange urge - use a technique she had heard the original Fire Nation royalty Iroh had to produce flame, drawing on his "ocean of chi" in the stomach. Smiling slightly, she followed through, drawing on her own ocean without shame - managing to produce a respectable amount of fire from her mouth for a second or two, trying again when Chang smiled.

About to exhale again, this time _really_ drawing on her ocean of chi, now remembering from Iroh's teachings her stomach was important for lightning re-direction, her flame ended up a small weak surprised puff after hearing someone yell, "We've got incoming - airships at twelve o'clock!" After a slight pause, Ursa by now scrambling to get to her place in the defenses, at the front where she could hit the maximum amount with her lightning and firebending, shielded by an earthen wall, Ursa heard one of her nonbender neighbors yell, "What the - hey! I've looked at plenty of Republic City airships speeding around before, through a spyglass just like this one - do the front few look like they're headed towards Air Temple Island to anyone else?"

Ursa looked up - feeling a pit in her stomach when she saw the woman was right, Ursa saying, "Wh - oh no! They're going to capture Councilman Tenzin's family!" yelling, "Try and knock one down!" - vaguely wondering why she hadn't heard her father's voice by now.

Taking a deep breath, drawing from her ocean of chi and big lungs, drawing strength from her breath, Ursa pushed one hand forward, aiming the large red and yellow fireball she had created towards the easiest target - the huge Equalist insignia on the front of the airship. Not entirely surprised when it had no effect, she felt proud to see a few of her discs make contact with the airship's engines - cursing when they engines withstood the assault, yelling, "The engines… Damn - Future Industries must have made these things! Barely made a dent in them… It's no Cabbage Corp piece of junk!"

The airship and a few of the ones behind it accelerating nonetheless and the first passing over them, Ursa was baffled when no bombs dropped on them. Seeing some other airship in the far distance that were moving slower, an explosion rocking the snow-covered street beneath one as she looked, she said, starting to wonder, no, _need _to know where her father was, "There's different types! The one that just passed us overhead are faster than the ones with bombs," Chang saying before she could, "People weigh less than bombs… they must be carrying people, to capture Tenzin's family - just like you said, Ursa! We gotta stop them!"

The remaining two transport airships turning around and heading north to carry out some unseen task, Ursa looked again to what was coming. Seeing a slower airship on its way, this one with more "brothers and sisters" behind it, as Ursa figured Amon might have put it, Ursa said nothing - merely preparing to try and zap the approaching airship's engines, hoping to overload or ignite them.

This airship wasn't for Air Temple Island - it was likely for her apartment complex and all the ones surrounding it.

From an unexpected direction, source blocked by her own apartment building, Ursa saw an earthen disc with a shiny edge heading straight for the lead airship's gondola, followed by the large kind of fireball she knew her father capable of producing when he charged his attacks, yelling without thinking, "Dad!"

Not receiving an answer, Ursa quickly followed the fireball's trajectory back, seeing a bolt of lightning erupt from the same obstructed location she figured her dad must have been, thinking, "He must have gotten another apartment complex to go along with our plan," wondering how her father had done it so relatively quickly - realizing she hadn't seen her mother around either…

The electrical strike hitting home, the airship stopped momentarily, as though the pilots were fazed - not having expected any resistance…

Hearing Chang's voice yell, "Ursa, duck!" she quickly did so - gazing in disbelief as a massive chunk of earth flew over her head, hitting the closest airship dead center on the Equalist symbol - actually denting it, the airship now looking substantially worse for the wear, as though an internal system had been severely knocked off balance. Turning around with wide eyes, she listened as a large man patted Chang on the shoulder, saying, "I'm Huanhato. This is my son, Chang - tell me again, what is your name?" Ursa managed to stammer, "Ur-Ursa." Ursa blushed when the mountain of a man said, assuming a bending stance, Ursa noticing he had "contradictory" features much like herself, yellow firebender's eyes and sharp facial features that reminded her a lot of her own father not screaming earthbender to her, "Ursa. Nice name - Zuko's mother. I can see you looking at my eyes - got a little Fire Nation blood in me myself. Your parents must have good taste," saying as he punched again, rock flying around Ursa in an arc, "Zuko… let's make sure this city doesn't fall." Ursa nodded, turning around.

Seeing the front of the Equalist airship was now more dented, hearing someone yell, "The transport ships from earlier - they're headed back this way!" Ursa could see Chang's father had a direct approach, saying delicately as she spotted a possible weakness, "The engines are strong, sturdy - just like what you've done to the front, I think they'd need multiple hits to go down. The little pipes leading to the engines… not so much."

Pretty sure the massive things worked off of gasoline or more refined versions of petrol just like a Republic City Police airship, Ursa pointed at the pipe, saying, "If you can open a hole in that pipe, I might be able to cripple the whole thing - burn up and combust the fuel going through the lines," not entirely sure where this side of her was coming from. From zapping bullies… to exploding an airship full of people, even if they were Equalists…?

Hearing a distant feminine voice scream, "MY BABY!" Ursa found herself pushing aside any such qualms, doing something her father had taught her not to do - let rage and anger serve as fuel for her bending, saying before collecting herself, "That woman's baby… Killers! Not Equalizers - KILLERS! Hit the fuel lines with the disks!"

A few earthen discs with metal edges zipping up to the lead ship's fuel lines right after, Ursa concentrated her anger, thinking of a baby hurt by an Equalist bomb, unleashing a billow of flame at each fuel line in turn - swearing she saw a small amount of blue at the core of each continuous blast, knowing that her own fireblasts were not the only ones to strike the ship. Ursa was hardly able to believe her ears when she heard a voice she recognized as that of her meek, mild-mannered earthbending neighbor Jingqiao say, "I can't metalbend - not yet! You hurt or kill my baby Fluffykins - we'll see what happens!"

The airship now crippled by fire, a large explosion erupting from its side louder than any bomb the Equalists had dropped, the gondola shattered after another large explosion that reminded Ursa of burning petrol bloomed like a sick flower - many smaller explosions quickly following, the airship a complete wreck.

It had been carrying bombs after all.

Hearing some cheering, the citizen militia apparently amazed just as Ursa was by what they had managed to do, Ursa not really knowing what to think of her actions yet, Ursa heard a man saying, "See? Bombs! For a part of town that's got nonbenders in it too! Amon doesn't really care about us nonbenders - he just wants POWER!" Another round of cheering followed - sounding louder than it had before.

The airship crashing into a street, fires extinguished by whips of water after it landed, Ursa noticed the other ships had stopped seemingly from shock - hardly able to believe her eyes when a few terrified Equalists in what must have been insanely high quality flame-proof pilot suits exit the craft, one saying with his hands up, "How did you…? The fuel lines! Ingenious… We surrender! Just - please - don't kill us, like you almost did! These new suit things aren't electricity proof!" adding, "Maybe after Amon beats you I can be a Future Industries spokesperson - 'Hiroshi Sato's fireproof and explosionproof suit saved my life!'" Hearing faint laughter from near where the airship had landed - near where her father was, Ursa realized with a sinking feeling in her stomach - the Equalist pilots were encased in ice partially, Ursa laughing to see one resist, yelling from his icy hold, "What - no! **I **don't surrender - you idiot, Jang! Wuss. Death to bending tyrants!"

Blissfully unaware one of his bombs might have taken something more than someone's bending - their life, Ursa feeling relieved they had all lived nonetheless, and that any other crew they managed to down would be fine as well.

The only thing dead would be their Equalist airships.

Hearing the sound of motors and something else mechanical in the far distance, hoping that her father had convinced the other civilians to let their Satomobiles become "equipment", Ursa turned her attention to the approaching airship, turning around yet again when she heard a familiar whistle behind her. Turning around, she smiled to see her father jetting in the skies above, wishing she could learn to do the same as he yelled, "They're fixing up their own stuff - our neighboring complex even had a few heavy moving vans! See how the mechatanks stand up to a ramming attack… I'm going to see what else I can do - the hey? Did I just see Asami Sato's ride, over…? Whatever - the Avatar's obviously busy. And we should be busy too!"

Her father vanishing from fight, Ursa felt a degree of hope - they might be able to turn things around, especially if Avatar Korra came to help after helping Tenzin's family!

Distant sound of mechanized transport sounding closer, that hope quickly vanished, Ursa knowing that while she might be able to bend, she couldn't fight physically at **all**… beyond simply throwing a punch, or using her body's bulk as a weapon. Pointing at the nearest airship, she yelled, "Again!" anyways - figuring that every Equalist airship they could down before getting captured, unless a miracle happened, that was one less airship for her father's commander's boss to mop up later, when word got out about the attack.

Hearing the whizzing of disks again, then again, Ursa knew it was her turn, forgetting all about her earlier channeling of rage as she struck, noticing her bending got the job done anyways. Fuel lines now alight, Ursa waited for the explosion - cursing when she saw small sprinklers on the ship's sides activate, yelling as she pointed at one, "Again - there, the sprinklers! We know the pilots are protected - but the people in the buildings aren't! ATTACK!"

Sprinkler systems foiled after another round of discs, Ursa hearing the sounds of the Equalist ground war machines much clearer now, she tried channeling her rage again, seeing the same odd blue core flare up inside her strikes when she heard a familiar voice say over loudspeakers from in the back, "What - NO! I saw everything, after… my only daughter helping the _Avatar _save your precious Councilman Tenzin. Avatar Korra… three kinds of impurity in one. My airships… those pilot suits were untested! They could have died… Forget capturing these lowlife benders - KILL THEM ALL!"

Ursa had heard Amon's voice before, never having imagined she would be glad to hear it, explosions in the second down ship's fuel supply and bomb bay drowning him out at first, Amon repeating, "Hiroshi, no. After we win here, squash these little resistors handily… there will be nothing in Republic City _but _nonbenders, or bender cowards on the run away from our city, to be caught once we sweep the globe, cleansing all impurities," the second airship by now crashed to the ground, smoldering until some water whips touched it, the whips nabbing the pilots after quelling the inferno.

Ursa's eyes widened to see other airships approaching their position - these moving faster than the bomb-laden ones, knowing what was likely inside them.

Unprotected Equalist footsoldiers, readying to disembark their troops onto the ground after landing nearby.

She didn't want to set these ship's fuel lines alight - Ursa may have struck before without knowing, but these ships posed a threat to no one but herself and the people around her, merely incapacitated by Equalist stunsticks and not blown to bits by bombs.

Hearing a loud "KRRWHOOOSH" sound, hearing someone yell after, "They're coming down the cables!" Ursa broke free of her thinking - realizing people hadn't done anything without her speaking, barely having time to think as she saw Equalist troops begins to descend on a large cable that was now moored in the street very close by, yelling, "HEY - Firebenders, zap the metal cable - but not enough to kill them!"

Doing so herself, surprised at how quickly she could generate lightning when it mattered, swearing she saw a bolt from the air hit the other airship's cable and Equalists riding it like some sort of weaponized trapeze line, Ursa smiled when she saw every single Equalist who had disembarked was now lying on the ground, twitching like the bullies they were. They weren't stealing her "lunch money" - bending - without a fight. Nevertheless, she was glad to see that they were starting to struggle some, clearly alive - equally glad to see water envelop them and create icy prisons, these Equalists now just as out of the fight as the surrendered bomber pilots.

Another set of quick lightning bolts reaching out from above her and striking at barely visible targets inside the two transport airships, Ursa heard a welcome voice yell from behind her, "Good work, daughter. I don't think anyone in those airships died," her father continuing after the two airship's cables were finally severed by some metalbenders, cable saved for their own use, "Looks like there's a few still conscious onboard. The rest of them - too close to risk bringing down even the bombers. Though, if the bombs start falling again - I don't care. At… at the other apartment complex, I saw a son cradling his father in his hands - both nonbenders, the father hit by a piece of one of YOUR bombs, Hiroshi Sato, before we chased off the airships YOU designed. Now let's hit their fuel lines so they can't retreat, or at least delay them until the Avatar comes - just with those disks, no firebending! I don't want to kill anyone - just make life as difficult for the Equalists as possible!"

After another round of disks, the front two airship's fuel lines leaking profusely, Ursa heard Hiroshi Sato's voice again as the airships behind the two out front retreated backwards slightly, Ursa able to see the expression on Hiroshi Sato's face just by his tone as he said, "Yes - make life as difficult for nonbenders as possible! That's what Tarrlok did with his crazy curfew and throwing people in jail - you're no different!" Her father laughed bitterly, saying, "The Avatar's friends - including your daughter - got caught up in that dragnet as well simply because they had a problem with Tarrlok's tyrannical behavior - as do I. You're blinded by hatred - didn't respond to what I said about your 'glorious Revolution' killing someone's parent, just like a firebender like me did to your wife twelve years ago!" By this point Hiroshi Sato was nothing more than a ball of rage, Amon silencing him.

Wondering just how good the Equalists' airship's speaker system was, Ursa thought of something. After another round of metal-edged disks tried to hit the lead bomber airship from afar, cheering to see gasoline pouring from one of the airship's fuel lines, glad that no one threw a fireball at it after, Ursa ended up listening instead, the normally cool Amon saying hotly, "HIROSHI! Calm down! Forget this stupid banter! You'll have plenty of time to talk to these bending wretches and traitors after we capture them - by foot! People do awful things when under pressure - I'm pulling back the airships for now until the ground… situation is resolved. I do not want any of the transports' fuel exploding like those bombers did. The ships that were downed completely will take a long time to repair - and we can't have even more of our fleet being leaky, like the ships that just got hit. Repairs take time. We can't have them severing the fuel supply pipelines constantly - we need our fleet intact, not wasted on a conflict as minor as this one."

Ursa grinned with a borderline predatory expression, yelling something that would have gotten her thrown in jail by Tarrlok, going out on a limb even as is: "Amon - maybe that damage to your precious airship would have been fixed by now by one of these metalbenders in front of you - had you decided the system in Republic City was the problem, not bending. With like-minded benders and nonbenders working together - maybe the Avatar herself, knowing what little love she had for Tarrlok and his antics with the protestors especially - we could have changed Republic City without any damage or loss of life. Address _all _the inequalities together - not just those between benders and nonbenders…" Having expected to hear a quick rebuttal from Amon, possibly booing from behind her, Ursa was surprised to hear someone in makeshift metalbender armor beside her speak up, saying, "I'm with the kid - I was 'lucky', getting earthbending where almost everyone else in my family didn't. Something from my grandfather, apparently. My family was a part of that protest - and I would have helped Equalists not obsessed with _bending _being the problem take down Tarrlok in a heartbeat. Just like the Avatar wanted to with a big rock, from what I heard - only stopped when she was told she'd never see her friends again if she followed through." After a pause the man added, "The only Councilman and city official I like aside from Lin Beifong is Tenzin - the rest are ostrich-horses with their heads in the sand, oblivious, dumb and timid - unlike a real one - or corrupt like Councilman Tarrlok was, until his… welcome disappearance recently."

Hearing some agreement from an unexpected place, Ursa turned to see some of the Equalist prisoners were adding their own sentiments, Ursa laughing hysterically at the hypocrisy of Hiroshi Sato saying, "WH- first my daughter, then - this. This is most dangerous! We need to either get rid of them before anyone else hears of these… these vile, naïve sentiments, or lock them all up so… this doesn't spread!" after one complained about the gap between the rich and poor - stressing that it would never go away, even with bending's extinction. The Equalist had singled out Hiroshi Sato himself and his duplicitous sponsoring of the cash-strapped Fire Ferrets for his own interests, not out of any real sympathy for a "street rat" like Mako - despite having once been poor shoe-shiner himself according to Future Industries propaganda before a much more kind-hearted soul gave the future industrial magnate a huge loan.

Sounding most displeased, Amon said with scorn that was perfectly clear through the tinny speakers, "Radio contact is down in the city - and the only ones who know of this are these civilians, and the few **former **brothers and sisters who listened to their prattle. While I am averse to killing, I am not averse to imprisonment," finishing, "It is a good thing we have taken control of the Republic City Police headquarters - there will be a lot of temporary prisoners to house there. Do not worry - you will not be locked up forever, unlike what the corrupt Councilman Tarrlok threatened to do. Once you have all been cleansed of impurity, you will be free to wander Republic City as you wish - your unfair advantages over nonbenders a torturous, distant memory, living out the rest of your days as nothing more than a miserable spirit."

Hearing some gasps around her, Amon added, laughing deeply, "HAH! Where's your insolence now, that I have described your fate to you in more detail. It is just like I told Avatar Korra, that pathetic excuse for an Avatar, from what my spies tell me her whole identity wrapped around bending. 'I will destroy you'. YES - there are fates worse than death. I did not mean that in the physical sense - I meant it in something much, much more hurtful - vengeance, for my lost family. Taking away your bending. Destroying who you are." Amon seemingly done, Ursa was horrified to hear Hiroshi Sato add, "For the rest of you - nonbenders and fallen brothers and sisters alike - I now see there is no chance to save you! Surrender without a fight - prison for the rest of your lives. Keep fighting… perhaps Amon will strip you of something other than bending."

Ursa felt a horrible pit in her stomach, not sure if she was glad or terrified when Amon said, "No - I will not. Just like any benders who remain defiant after cleansing of their impurity, any nonbenders will be broken in other ways once the Equalist government has established itself - I will settle for nothing less than complete Equality, and will not let anything stand in my way," wondering just what kind of power the spirits had given Amon.

To break another's mind - something her depression had failed to do, something she had caught fleeting glimpses of within her had failed to do…

Ursa heard her father's voice saying, "You can't break people! And I'll defend my family with my life. I heard that earlier, Hiroshi - 'KILL THEM ALL'. And what you just said now - 'stripping' those nonbenders who are beyond hope of 'redemption' in your eyes of their lives. 'I now see there is no chance to save you!' You disgrace. A firebender killed your wife - and you're only hurting yourself if you return the favor with technology, or keep helping that madman Amon. In fact, you've already broken one family just as yours was broken - son, cradling father in his arms… the weeping… I'll never forget it. Weeping that's the same whether you're a bender or not."

Receiving no initial response except for laughter, Amon deigning to stop, saying, "You talked of the tyranny of the establishment, young girl - you may see some of the problems I do. But you do not see that BENDING ITSELF allows the propagation of those inequalities, one man having received an unearned gift from the Universe - using it to repress another as benders have done throughout known history, nonbenders helpless without technology." Her father now visible, holding his family heirloom sword made by Master Piandao aloft, he asked, "Look at this. A work of a deceased member of the _old _Order of the White Lotus - one not led astray by coming out of hiding. The sword - not even an electric shock stick, motorcycle, or mechatank. Along with a boomerang, this was all one of the world's great heroes had, going up against bending - but more importantly, technology. The Fire Nation **airships** sent to scorch the Earth Kingdom… a feat impossible without ships like your own. What of the legendary nonbenders Sokka and Suki helping the legendary bender Toph bring down the airship fleet with cunning and physical skill first and foremost? They did most of the work - brainwork! I wouldn't call that helpless!"

Ursa noticed that some of the Equalist prisoners from earlier were no longer struggling, many looking deep in thought, not even responding to their leader's speech, Amon replying, "I am well aware of my history, _firebender. _I even know how Sokka came to own his special sword - feeling USELESS compared to the rest of the then 'Team Avatar', insignificant because he could not bend anything. Yes - the Hundred Year's War. Firebenders… A war started with bending, to eliminate one kind of bending from the world forever and conquer the rest, to establish a tyranny over the entire world. The next time Sozin's Comet comes, there will be nothing to abuse - firebending as extinct as airbending will be, the whole world, Equalized! The benders will be the ones feeling inferior - the true history of the world taught in schools, former benders and their descendants forced to see what they ignore blindly. Bending itself eventually just a legend!"

The sounds of the still-loyal Equalists' ground forces by now un-ignorable, curious to see the foot soldiers were running to catch up, as if they had paused to listen to their leader speak, Ursa yelled, "Dad - it's useless talking to him! Ground, incoming! The ships were easy - their ground forces, not so much!"

Her father touching down beside her, Ursa whined, "Well, not for me, anyways - stupid body!" Part of her glad to not hear anything out of Chang other than, "I'll help you," Ursa listened as her father spoke loudly, Ursa smiling slightly when she realized he was taunting and giving orders at the same time, "Amon, Hiroshi - not everyone on the street corners today is a bender. Which should help the earth and metalbenders defend us against close combat. There are plenty of nonbenders in Republic City who think you are wrong - even benders like my family and I who think you are _partially right_, as my daughter has already mentioned, seeing Republic City full of inequalities just as you do - just not solely between benders and nonbenders. Only between the powerful and the weak. Physically strong and agile to the front, physically… impaired to the back please - but have a few of the strong at the back to guard against flanking. My own daughter regularly defends nonbenders against bending bullies - once, even knocking out someone twice her age to defend her nonbender friend Lee-Lee, even the metalbender cops having had trouble."

Her father sounded ready to continue, but stopped when Hiroshi's voice said over the loudspeaker, "Any nonbender who assists a bender against our righteous cause is just as bad as a bender themselves - just like my daughter, Asami Sato. Whoever this Lee-Lee is, if he is a friend of benders - no different," Amon's voice continuing, "We do not discriminate in that way. If I could give the nonbenders among you bending only to take it away to punish you for being traitors or resisting after our Revolution has succeeded, I would - but the power granted to me by the spirits to balance the world only goes so far." Equalist ground forces finally coming into view, Ursa had already shifted her position to in the middle while Hiroshi and Amon babbled, deciding after they stopped to migrate towards the edge when she found herself surrounded by old but spunky benders like Nana.

After a loud screeching, Amon proclaimed, apparently broadcasting to other Equalists, "Most unfortunate news - given the lack of radio contact, my other subordinate, the Lieutenant, has failed me on Air Temple Island, defeated by an ousted police chief and Councilman Tenzin's _children_. Even young benders can be a threat - but no more, after their powers have been stripped. Do not fear, my Equalist brothers and sisters - we will catch them in time. Airbending will shortly enough be what it should have been over 100 years ago - extinct, though the former benders themselves will live on. Alive - remembering with melancholy or anger the days they could use their powers for trivial things or to oppress others. After our victory, there will be no 'Before Genocide' or 'After Genocide' - the only date the world will use is 'After Bending'!" Amon pausing as though he had received raucous applause, Ursa began laughing hysterically to see the foolish Equalists had actually _stopped advancing_ on their position, where they were when Amon had begun speaking, apparently to listen to their deranged leader's ramblings as her own apartment neighbors worked to strengthen their position. She even swore she saw a mechatank clapping, to the best of its ability…

Amon continued, unaware of the idiocy of his _other _subordinates, Ursa half suspecting he lived for the adoration and power anyways, "The Universe has already been kind to me once, allowing me contact with the spirits who bestowed upon me my gift to Equalize. It has been kind to us again, delivering other… guests on a silver platter to me for tonight's celebration, after the Lieutenant failed to catch the Tenzin family." Now done with his speech, Amon said, "Your little mixed 'concerned citizens coalition' resistance led by a firebending military officer ends - now. Equalist brothers and sisters, attack!" Ursa was puzzled when he continued, the Equalist ground forces closing in, "I must admit… I am impressed. The fuel lines, some of the captured appearing to mull over what they said… Hiroshi - order salvage teams to scuttle and hide the two downed airships, at the designated site, and keep them intact if possible. Order repair teams to get on fixing the compromised mechatanks from Tenzin's escape earlier, as well as patching up the fuel lines on the two 'transport' airships they didn't blow up. They may be needed to do what the Lieutenant failed to do, if we encounter resistance like this elsewhere. Hopefully, this is just… errata, something that won't pop up again." Ursa laughed as she heard Hiroshi's voice say over the loudspeaker, "Uh - no disrespect, Amon, but… the transmitter?" continuing after a loud, "Huh?" from Amon, Hiroshi pointing out the obvious, saying, "You left it on. I'm just glad you didn't say where the airships are going."

Preparing to meet the Equalists, Ursa laughed, joining those around her, thoroughly having enjoyed hearing the comedy of errors involving the Equalist's supposedly infallible leader, swearing she heard close "masked" laughter as well.

Equalists on foot, in mechatanks, packed into unmarked vans and riding motorcycles now closing, Ursa found herself savoring the curses and embarrassed mutterings of Amon immensely, thinking after the feed finally cut off, "If he can screw up like that… maybe Avatar Korra will get to us in time after all. Or maybe, just maybe…"

Looking away from the impending attack for a moment, Ursa's eyes widened - seeing her mother and another woman carrying a gravely injured man, a teenage boy following closely. Apparently, her father recognized the man, saying as he jetted over, ignoring the oncoming army, "I don't know your name - but the wailing… I'd know that anywhere. Your father. Is… is he all right?" The teenage boy nodded, saying with a wavering voice, "I don't know - these waterbenders can only do so much. You saw where the fragment went in - my dad's stomach…"

Knowing any wound to the stomach was bad news, Ursa wanted to see if she could help any - cauterize a surgical tool, maybe. Hearing the rapid approach of motorcycles, Ursa nodded grimly after her Nana said from behind, "Get him somewhere out of the way - let me see what I can do! Panik - help Ursa and Hideki after we switch off! I'm more suited to healing that fighting," feeling slightly chilled when she heard a voice from afar say, "Ursa - so that's your name, then. Insolent child, such strong words - you remind me of my daughter!"

Turning to see the source of Hiroshi Sato's voice, Ursa's eyes widened to see that what was apparently Amon's personal airship had landed in the distance behind the almost-in range Equalist forces, Ursa not entirely sure if she saw Hiroshi Sato entering a mechatank or not.

Re-focusing on the fight, Ursa took a deep breath, drawing from her ocean of chi and letting herself be the conduit for the electrical charge she had generated when the time was right, knocking one of the closest Equalists off his motorcycle, cursing slightly to see the advancing motorcyclists began to zig and zag. Seeing the snow they were coming closer on, Ursa yelled automatically, "Turn that snow to ice - and quick! Try and trap them in water after they slide - have an idea! Turn the fans on if they use gas!" hearing Chang say from beside her, "Fans need power, electricity - Amon cut it off!"

An expanse of ice forming in front of the entrenchments, the Equalist motorcycles began to skid - slightly. Seeing chains around their tires, Ursa realized Amon must have planned for everything. The chains not looking shiny like platinum to her, she was about to yell something, surprised to see the bikes lift off the ground when they got closer still, metalbenders having apparently thought of what she wanted them to do by themselves.

Seeing the motorcycle riders holding on with two hands, others by one alone and fishing around in their bikes, Ursa yelled, before zapping one herself, "Link them all together with water - anyone who can make lightning, lightly hit the water! I don't want anyone dying still!"

Job quickly accomplished, this wave of motorcyclists at the very least out of it and not about to throw choking gas bombs, Ursa shifted her focus. After Ursa targeted an approaching van's tires, letting loose a large fireball and successfully ruining the tire, the van skidded out of control and smashed into a nearby shop, hearing a bit of a heartfelt exchange after. She heard someone who sounded like they were wearing a mask crying, Ursa's gut sinking even as the defense seemed to be going well after more Equalists were knocked out of the fight with the combination of lightning and water links, a woman saying, "My estranged brother - dead. His son… devastated. Wh… what have I done. I joined the Equalists to help nonbenders, like… like my brother who just died from one of Hiroshi's bombs," hearing Nana crying as the woman said, "Forget them - I'm going to try and help any way I can. I never signed up for death… and you guys are doing everything you can to not kill. Better job than Amon managed… The gas containers - metal. Ty and get as many metalbenders as you can on them as soon as they pop up. The mechatanks - if you hit the engines with water, you should - HURK!"

Quickly telling a firebender near her how to generate lightning, hoping they got the concept, glad to hear the sounds of zapping afterwards that wasn't close in, Ursa turned to see what had happened to the full-blown "traitor" -feeling an immense anger rise within her to see the Equalist defector in a mechatank's claws, still wrapped in ice from before, growling to hear Hiroshi Sato's voice yell, "Telling the enemy the secrets of my equipment, are you? The same thing the Avatar did to my mechatanks at the Republic City Police station, nevertheless… I'm just glad my daughter didn't know anything about these mechatanks." Hiroshi Sato continued, after shaking the Equalist around a little, breaking the ice and knocking her out, claw closing before he said, "There - no more secrets from your mouth. Amon - what should I do with her?"

Remembering something the woman had said about the engines, the Equalist's body limp with unconsciousness, Ursa yelled, "Waterbender, someone - try clogging up that mechatank's exhaust!" frowning after Hiroshi Sato dropped the former Equalist, dodging the incoming water like he was piloting a racing Satomobile and not a clunky mechatank, even managing to shoot an electrified bola to keep the turncoat silent. Hiroshi Sato rapidly advancing towards her position, Ursa unsure which part to hit with what - exhaust or cockpit, fireball or lightning - Hiroshi Sato said, now audible even through the mechatank, "YOU! You were the one who led to the downing of those two ships - which could have killed everyone on board, the suits - untested! Ursa… you're going to - ack! Little earthbending street rat and your father - I'll get you too! Personal delivery for Amon!"

Hiroshi's mechatank having swerved off course after someone turned the pavement beneath the mechatank he was piloting, now reversing course from having been turned around, Ursa heard Chang say, "I guess you are blind, huh? Rotten rich - not that it matters, but this is a relatively nice part of town - though I guess middle class would seem street rat to someone as rich as yourself. The only street rat I see around here is you!"

Seeing Hiroshi Sato come at them with a vengeance again, Ursa asked Chang tersely, "Just what do you think you're doing? You're just making him madder!" Chang smiling coolly as he said, "That's the idea - I remember what you did earlier. All that talking, how mad he got… Maybe he'll make a mistake."

When Hiroshi Sato got close, Chang and his father tried the same trick again, Ursa joining their cursing when it didn't work, Hiroshi Sato laughing, "The same trick - again? Not today! And I know which one of you I'm targeting first," saying as he brought another grapple to bear directly on Ursa, taking some metal-edged disks to his mechasuit as he talked, " 'Little' mouthy girl - I am sure Amon would love to see you and your father up close and personal," saying after stopping for a moment, "I did not expect someone so chubby to be so spunky. Fat, insulation - I half wonder if electricity will work on you, firebender scum!"

Ursa had been petrified - not out of fear, but from what little she could see of Hiroshi Sato's eyes through the green glass cockpit. They did not have life in them - instead of the endless void which had once occupied her own two years ago, something far worse gleamed in them.

Hatred.

Not realizing the cable had shot out until it made contact with her, Ursa felt the electricity just fine, feeling electricity throughout her being instead of just her brain as she had fighting depression, fading…

Feeling something well up within her, Ursa attempted a technique her father had only mentioned before, trying to get the electrical current to pool in her ocean of chi - and follow a new path, outwards- to incapacitate the mechatank in front of her…

Ursa was baffled when she managed to re-direct the electricity yet hit nothing, feeling a tug as the claw tightened, Hiroshi Sato saying, "Again - not twice in one day! When I was watching my daughter Asami Sato fight with those other _benders_, Mako did the exact same thing - I know all you firebending tricks. Now, prepare to meet Amo - ooof! What in the name of Equality is that thing? Wait - a moving van, powered by firebenders? Is that the best you have?"

Seeing that one of the large vans her father had mentioned had rammed Hiroshi Sato's mechatank, someone unknown having severed the mechatank's connection with her, Ursa stepped back - ready to fight again. Immediately beginning to perform a charged attack aimed at Hiroshi Sato's mechatank's engines fueled by the lingering but strong rage she felt, to have heard that someone's father died at Equalist hands, Ursa saw her blast once again had a blue core, wondering if it meant anything. As her attack struck home, she noticed she wasn't the only one to attack, a few bolts of lightning and fireballs coming from holes in the roof of the van as firebenders inside hit Hiroshi Sato's mechatank.

Hearing some sort of alarm blare, the earth and metal reinforced truck battering ram backing up for another go at the mechatank, Hiroshi Sato retreated slightly, saying apparently over a radio, "Amon - get me another one of these things! That chubby brat and her fire friends managed to overheat this one's engine - ruined!" Ursa laughed to hear the annoyed response, Amon saying, "Perhaps if you had not charged in like the lone hero and waited for the _other _mechatank pilots to join you this would have not happened," no longer laughing when Amon's voice finished, "Though, you did provide a wonderful distraction. They should be closing in a few seconds. See you soon, bender scum."

Remembering her earlier crazy idea to dump fuel and light it on fire, Ursa thought of something else as Hiroshi Sato retreated backwards, glad to see another two friendly vans join them, apparently with earthbenders and waterbenders inside, saying, "Hey - the bombs. I bet something could hit one of the mechatanks and explode, without killing the pilot - anyone know how to make a quick bomb?"

Other mechatanks by now very close, Ursa hoping the big funny disks on some of them weren't magnets, given their own vehicles were magnetic and the enemy's likely were not, Ursa heard her father's voice again, sounding down but determined as he said, "I'm afraid not - but that doesn't mean we can't stop these things. Unless…"

Her father inexplicably jetted off, Ursa noticing that for this attack the mechatanks were supported by Equalists on foot, saying after she saw a few small objects incoming, "TURN ON THE FANS! Everybody else - make sure those gas balls don't reach us!"

Ursa heard the roar of fan blades behind her - confused when she saw her father jetting back towards them at first, smiling when he said, "She feels sorry - wants to atone. She was actually one of the bomber pilots. She told us the basic mix they use for explosives - just so happens it's easy, uses household items and common ingredients." The woman trying to speak, she struggled out, "Name not important - just stop more death is. Trust you to not kill - not sure about Amon…"

The list ending up simple indeed, Ursa wondering if it was that way to arouse less suspicion, a few people ran off as the fighting continued, the Equalists managing to easily subdue any civilian they could. That is, when they got their hands and kali sticks on them or got lucky with the heavier equipment like a motorcycle raid or mechatank assault, cooperative bending moves managing to keep most of the Equalist forces at bay - for now.

But Ursa could feel herself tiring - see it in the others too, even her father and Chang's dad…

After having helped knock out one mechatank with other firebenders assisting to short-circuit its electronics, Ursa made ready to try and keep the hail of gas capsules at bay. She had also been on the lookout for the odd attempt at penetrating the three-van mobile bender armored vehicles with what _did _turn out to be magnetic weapons, protecting the vans by attacking any mechatank that tried to stop for long enough to use their disks with a barrage of bending. Later in the fight, their own nonbenders had created some more improvised heavy equipment of their own, managing to fashion something Ursa and her father had joked about - a device fueled by gasoline that would spew flame like a firebender, except hotter, the substance sticking and burning. A few of the mechatanks were ruined by the weapon, earthbenders spinning the enemy vehicle around for the nonbenders to open fire with their own contribution.

By now beginning to pant from exhaustion, her brain not working properly, at first Ursa felt embarrassed, panting making her realize she had yet another reason to hate her fat body - embarrassment fading just as her stamina did, and that of those around her with some exceptions, hoping they would have some way to incapacitate some of the mechasuits permanently of their own.

A minute later, Ursa could tell that even if the fight hadn't left everyone, the wind certainly had - barely reacting when a few medium-sized objects zipped down from above, incapacitating a few of the mechatanks completely after exploding. Though their cockpit glass had been shattered and engines ruined, the pilots crawled out, lying on the pavement - apparently as exhausted as everyone on her side was. Seeing one appeared to have serious wounds, Ursa was surprised when an unseen earthbender moved the man closer, hearing her Nana say, "Um… hello. Didn't mean to hurt you… Would you like some assistance?" Ursa smiling slightly when the man said, "Yes… maybe water… leave alone for… healers."

The fighting beginning to wrap up quickly as more civilians lost their wind, by now Ursa only sending out the odd half-hearted lightning bolt she was so exhausted, Ursa noticed that Hiroshi Sato was back in a mechatank.

Eventually joined by Amon, standing confidently by the mechatank's side, Hiroshi Sato appeared to be simply watching as the last of the resistance faded, the only two people still fighting by now her father and Chang's father Huanhato, Ursa half wondering if Chang's father was a Pro-Bender - she knew where her father's stamina came from, being in the military…

Ursa felt like re-joining the fight when she heard Amon sneer, "Amusing," Hiroshi Sato saying, "Hah - look at you now, Ursa. I heard you tired out before everyone else. Not surprising in the least," the mechatank appearing to laugh weakly as Hiroshi laughed when Chang said deflatedly, "Calling her fat… me a street rat… Wonder if you… treat your own daughter like that on anything."

The last thing Ursa heard after trying to zap this lost, hateful man's mechatank again was, "No - she is just lost, unlike you, Ursa. _Firebender _\- the same kind that took my wife Yasuko Sato from me 12 years ago, avenging her death my number one motivator behind joining Amon's Equalist Revolution." Something in her gut told her this was a lie as she coughed on gas dropped by a laughing, taunting Equalist - telling her that any man that duplicitous and mean after the loss of his wife would probably not have made the best father, in multiple ways, wondering if he disapproved of Asami Sato for any reasons other than turning on him recently…

Feeling herself rise from her body, at first Ursa panicked, thinking, "What - no! Did I just die?" beginning to laugh heartily after she heard an older version of her voice speak, remembering this was the past as it intoned, **No, you did not just die. You lived, brave and strong as a bear - your animal namesake. You have seen the positive effects on others of your actions - I know you were expecting to see the next thing as you getting your bending stripped; I think seeing this from another persp- **Ursa interrupted, half wondering if she'd be put into Amon's twisted world view shortly, slumping her shoulders when her light half intoned, **WH- again? NO, I am NOT going to put you in Amon's perspective! That would be like plopping you in Unavaatu's place for Harmonic convergence. You aren't very trusting - thought I'd swell you to half a ton for accepting three cookies and a glass of milk earlier, now this… whatever. Just watch - like a mover, but in color!**

Deciding to do so, she found herself following Amon and Hiroshi Sato back to their airship like a ghost haunting them for their sins, listening with interest and watching as Hiroshi Sato appeared to have a temper tantrum, raging, "Wh - it's a good thing they were a bunch of out of shape civilian weaklings, Amon! And you just strolled out there while that fat brat's father was still fighting, his sword and all - I know you love theatrics, but we can't afford to lose the leader of the Revolution!" Amon simply turned around, engaging the airship's power as he spoke, saying coolly, "You forget that I once faced a similar man on even terms, Lightning Bolt Zolt, and handily stripped his bending," Hiroshi Sato looking absolutely livid when Amon said, "I already know your opinion of 'that fat brat'. But, those earthen disks with metal edges, the emplacements, the reinforced vans, that flamethrower with sticky fire, the tactics used against us… that 'fat' girl's family interests me deeply, especially given she said that were I willing to overlook bending - which I am not, it must be cleansed - we may have had benders alongside us today. She even said if we had ignored the true source of inequality, bending, that she, her family, and other benders in the city might have joined our Equalist Revolution - to topple the current government. You keep calling that rebellious firebender fat, chubby - I would have you remember two things. The Equalists, as I was reminded by an outraged female sister earlier upon hearing her male brother intending to rape a knocked out Commander Raionhato, stand for Equality in all things - including personal image and relation between the genders. I have not announced this yet, and will not until we have cleansed the world of bending, but between the rich and poor, the sexually normal and 'abnormal' as well." Hiroshi Sato actually interrupted Amon, saying, "Wh-" immediately silencing himself when Amon said, "Your leader is speaking to you - do not speak until I have finished. Your expression half makes me wonder if you have wronged Equality yourself, or value your riches too highly- but no matter. Now - look at yourself. To be as blunt as you were with her, you are not exactly skinny yourself. If you are to be a long-term partner of the Revolution, you **cannot **be a hypocrite. Got it?"

As Hiroshi Sato nodded, saying, "Yes, Amon," Ursa was laughing hysterically, stopping when her light half intoned, **I imagine if it were that Amon could have stripped the world of bending and then his own, he would have done so. Even you agreed and still agree with much of what he had to say. More watching, less laughing. **Ursa obeyed, not entirely sure why her light half was being so defensive of Amon, the scene pausing again as it intoned, **I apologize - I know things you do not. Here - this "may" be relevant, **scene continuing after temporarily shifting to a most bizarre image.

That of Tarrlok and Noatak - Amon's real name - holding hands and walking off, out of some awful looking landscape away from some foreboding cloud, then of two crying babies. Ursa realized that the "Amon" in her earlier dream had been telling the truth - apparently, he and his brother had moved on to better things recently, both free from what had appeared to be the Fog of Lost Souls. Someone else now…

Shifting back to this recording she had never seen, Ursa watched and listened in interest as Amon said, pointing to a map of Republic City, "I will want to personally talk to all those involved before more officially dealing with them. Some of them sounded willing to work with us if they retained their bending - perhaps, in time, they will be interested in working with us even without, once our Revolution spreads out to hit its next target, a place of great inequality. The Earth Kingdom, and that tyrant Earth Queen Hou-Ting that rules that nation. The Dai Li are synonymous with repression." Pointing to Air Temple Island, Amon continued, "But first things first. That… unexpected hiccup cost us a lot of time - I did not want to send any further airships to Air Temple Island with them in the way, unsure of if there were other similar groups along other routes." Picking up a receiver, listening to someone speak, Amon said in a normal voice, "Thank you, brother. Send as many transport airships as you can to Air Temple Island, two in the first wave, more only should we fail in our first attempt to capture the Tenzin family," Amon sounded relieved, saying, "Good - the people tossing makeshift bombs from the upper reaches of the apartment have been neutralized, and everyone taken prisoner - for some reason including a cat? No matter - when we capture the Tenzin family and the Avatar's friends, the… unusual feline prisoner will be joined by the airbison the Tenzin family calls Oogi, the fireferret 'Pabu' owned by 'street rat' brothers Mako and Bolin, and the polarbear dog the Avatar calls Naga. How sad… calling your pet 'no' - literally. The brothers… that reminds me - no calling people street rats, Hiroshi Sato; call them bender scum or traitors instead. The other relevant news - no other apartments other than the three involved have resisted. Though other places in the city heard about it - nothing but rumor at the moment. If that had spread, or the Avatar had caught wind of it, we would have had a big problem on our hands, Avatar Korra running to Tenzin's aid and away from the resistance or not. The bad news - reports indicate the time we spent here putting down this concerned citizens coalition and **direct threat to our airship fleet** allowed the Tenzin family, Lin Beifong and even the Avatar's friends time to re-group on Air Temple Island. The Lieutenant is likely in their custody now, or hiding somewhere."

Hiroshi Sato looked ready to speak, Ursa half wondering if it was about the same-sex marriage issue, remembering Asami Sato's personal story, Amon cut him off, saying as he piloted the airship, accelerating towards where Ursa had been then, "I've had it with your complaining. Not. Another. Word. About. Asami. Sato. Working. With. THEM. Even though the bitterness you feel is much like my own, it was fine - until now. Until what you said earlier - far worse than calling Mako a street rat in the privacy of your _mansion's _basement. You lack self-awareness - and we have an image to maintain. One you were not helping to maintain with your actions earlier. 'Kill them all' - what are you, nuts? Not only is that bad public relations, it's a waste. As I said earlier, in time, after our victory, those who were even slightly on board will come into the fold - including your daughter. She did lose her mother to benders as I did, after all - make sure you don't lose _her _to _you_. She has a fine mind - we will need all the brainpower we can get to both tear down the Earth Queen's regime and eradicate bending without alienating the people. The Earth Kingdom is stubborn, resilient - Firelord Ozai had trouble keeping it under control, even after Ba Sing Se's walls fell from within. As I hope they will again - to explosives smuggled in by brothers and sisters from Republic City, detonated by the repressed nonbender masses of the Lower Ring. Perhaps, with the right moves, coaxing from possible new nonbender allies, help from even the earthbenders of the lower ring themselves… Just like here, everything will require goodwill and some delicate maneuvering - convincing even the benders of the Lower Ring the Equalists are doing them a massive favor. True Equality after thousands of years of repression, in exchange for the small price of their loyalty and losing their bending, just like their Dai Li oppressors will… Now, we have some prisoners to collect - including some of our own, who **I **will deal with - not you. Even including the traitorous sister who spilled 'your' secrets - our secrets, I will remind you. Now - once we touch down, I will handle the prisoners. You handle recovering all the equipment you can with your technical expertise…"

Seeing Hiroshi Sato's expression, Ursa was half wondering if she'd see Amon bloodbend him, surprised when he didn't after Hiroshi Sato said, "Very well - but I have something to say before I do. What you said - pretending you can tell me how to parent, censuring me for calling Mako a firebending street rat when he was dating _my daughter _\- more concerned with the 'street rat' part than 'firebender'! Asami Sato… I must have let her have far too much freedom and pampering before - turning traitor, knocking me out with my own glove. No more lax discipline, once she's back in my house. She is my daughter - **I will parent her how I see fit**! It will take a lot, to undo what the Avatar and my lenience has done - but I will do it. I will save her - my way!"

The scene suddenly changing position, Ursa was able to see Amon's mask up close, though he could obviously not see her spectral self, Ursa began crying when she looked at the only part of his face visible - Amon's eyes.

He was crying lightly without making a sound, likely remembering his own father saying similarly harsh things to him and Tarrlok. Ursa remembered from what had been released that Amon had protected his younger brother from a then non-bender Yakone's wrath - running away shortly after.

Ursa heard Amon speak, saying under his breath with sadness, "Brother. There are other inequalities my successors will need to address," getting no reaction from Hiroshi Sato, appearing lost in his own world, thinking… After a brief pause, she heard Amon's voice again, getting the impression she was hearing his inner thoughts somehow as he "said", "Misguided brother, Tarrlok - I am reminded more and more of father when I listen to Hiroshi Sato. I fear he may have tried to shape Asami Sato somehow - just as father tried to shape us. Other inequalities… I 'said' it myself just now under my breath - that firebender girl was right. There are many inequalities other than bending in the world… ones I fear no one can right fully. But I will not give up the dream…"

Ursa saw the scene advance rapidly, thinking about the implications as she found herself drawn in the direction of the Pro-Bending Arena, where she had had her bending stripped by Amon later on the same fateful day at night in front of thousands, thinking, "So… I had thought our little resistance was pointless and a failure - but it turns out it bought Avatar Korra the time she needed to get to Air Temple Island, then hide from Amon? And, even if he never admitted it openly… I did make an impression on Amon?" Hearing no response initially, Ursa continued, "The resistance - something about a rumor," trying to remember anything she could about the de-bending, finding herself looking at figures other than her own once more, her light half intoning, **With the right conditions, even the "smallest" pebble hitting the sea can create waves. Amon himself was once such a "pebble" - his true power did not come from bloodbending or taking bending away, but came from influence over people's hearts and minds with words…**

Once again, Amon and Hiroshi Sato - except now the Lieutenant was with them, looking happy as he said, five people dragged into the background, "We already had Lin, thanks to her ultimately pointless sacrifice. But now we have the Tenzin family as well - all the adult benders, anyways. Pema and her assumed airbender baby son Rohan have eluded capture. We are currently trying to catch them - better safe than sorry. One airbender was all it took the last time - and I will try to make sure it doesn't happen this time." Amon nodded, saying, "Good work and thinking, Lieutenant," walking over to the bound family and Lin, Ursa finding herself following automatically.

Amon finally spoke, saying to Lin, "I offered you a deal - your bending for the Avatar's location. One you refused… You are already powerless - unable to bend the metal in your own jail cells. How appropriate… I will deal with you shortly, see you off to another transport to sit in your own cells - I won't be having you say anything at tonight's rally that might inspire more harassment." Ursa could hear Lin scream through her gag, "Whurr- mmonsterr! Tell muh - whut hurassmunt?!" Amon simply laughed, saying, "Nothing you need to hear anything else about," continuing after a masked Equalist took her away, Lin still kicking and resisting despite being without bending, "Hmmm…"

Simply looking at the Tenzin family for a while, Amon said, to Ursa's great surprise, "We finally have the last airbenders - and I have not re-planned tonight's rally accordingly. At least, not since capturing the 'Concerned Citizens Coalition' that caused us so much grief earlier - and hearing that rumors have spread. People saying they cost me the Avatar…" The Tenzin family staying silent, though Ursa was pretty sure Meelo had blown a muffled raspberry, Amon continued, "You are just four people who can make the wind blow around you - you cannot make the wind blow half a city away. Rumors, however… rumors and plots blow without input," turning to the Lieutenant and Hiroshi Sato, saying, "Which is why the changed plan is going through. Now get them out of my sight - I believe the small one is attempting to fartbend me like he did one of our brothers on Air Temple Island. At least he cannot move now... Goodbye, Meelo."

Tenzin family gone, Amon spoke again, the Lieutenant looking ashen and confused, Amon explaining, "I do have one major change to tonight's event - and tomorrow's. I want as much Equalist security for tonight's event in the Arena as they had for their silly Pro-Bending Finals - because some **benders** will be present under close guard, from all over Republic City. Let them take back the word to their corner of the city that civilians tried to resist - and failed. Let them take the message that we are ceaseless, untiring, indefatigable - and do not care about sympathy from benders for our cause. Just as the Concerned Citizens Coalition will have their bending stripped, many many people in one night - so too will the rest of Republic City. Thrown into jail for crimes against Equality should they resist after - as I suspect some members of that bothersome band might. If the resistance or harassment is lethal in intent, so the response will be as well - I will not have embers of resistance undermine the very foundation of our Revolution in Republic City!"

Both the Lieutenant and Hiroshi Sato nodding vigorously by now, Hiroshi Sato asked, "What you said at the end - what of my daughter?" Ursa was surprised when Amon told the truth partially, saying with venom in his voice, "Nothing changes, Hiroshi Sato. NOTHING. From what I know of Asami Sato, seen her fighting, she's a lot like the Tenzin family - nothing she does is with **lethal ****intent.** Avatar Korra is hotheaded, different - your daughter wouldn't kill you if you tried to kill her. I have told you all about my tragic past - how I got the scars on my face, losing my family. What I have never told you is that in a way I was **glad **to have my father taken from me. When I was young, he went down a dark road, taking one of my siblings along with me for the ride. At first, all I felt was pain when I went to the funeral - but eventually, I found a slight degree of peace. Not from no longer mourning my family - only from not mourning my father. What I do is to avenge my brothers and sisters and mother - **not **my father. I would advise you think about your relationship with your daughter - not become my father. As one who has suffered familial hurt, but has no children of my own, I can still speak on such things," finishing by pointing his finger at Hiroshi Sato, saying, "Now do not bring it up again!"

Wondering what this had to do with her, Ursa heard her light half intone, **You can learn from anyone - remember the quest for validation? The endless hunger? It can be for adoration, feeling the hero - Amon's case, with a bit of power hunger mixed in. The power his father wanted him to use to avenge him. It can be for power - Kuvira's case, mixed with some good intentions and seeking of attention. The attention her real parents never gave her. It can also be for food - your case, should you ever succumb to the call, for reasons I'd rather not know or witness come into being. Your biggest void on the ashen doppler was on the stomach for a reason - but just as you tried to fill an emotional hole with food, so do people try to fill it with other inappropriate things.**

**Ultimately, the only thing that fills it is love. Let us continue.**

The scene resumed, Hiroshi Sato looking a little defiant at first, changing to a more submissive posture when the Lieutenant said, "I do not understand what your problem is fully. I won't say anything - I have no experience with family aside from losing it to benders, becoming an orphan, so anything I say will likely be off-key. I simply know the family I adopted - the Equalists and our shared Revolution - wouldn't kill a family member, or turn away anyone who has strayed, but wants back, as your daughter may at some point." The Lieutenant bowed, saying simply as Hiroshi Sato looked lost in thought again, "That is all from me - now I will carry out your orders, Amon."

Amon bowed politely, saying, "Thank you for your **correct and pertinent wisdom**, Lieutenant," continuing after the Lieutenant left, Hiroshi Sato still silent, "Your Equalist brother just shared something personal with you, and you said nothing - just letting him walk off. I've heard accusations leveled at me that all I want is power - which is not true. I want Equality - something which involves acknowledging another's attempt to help you. I won't say anything further of the subject, other than ask you this simple question: what do you want?" Hiroshi Sato took a deep breath, saying, "For my daughter to be beside me as I carry out and realize my life's work. To avenge her mother," Amon sighing, "I should have never mentioned it to you!" in a mix of disgust and frustration when Hiroshi Sato finished, "And to embrace the path I have tried to steer her on in other, 'personal' ways."

The scene around Ursa shifted rapidly, finding herself looking at the rally that took place that night at the point where everyone in the "Concerned Citizens Coalition" except her family had been stripped of their bending. Finding herself drawn to a random member of the audience, Ursa looked to the stage - noticing that Hiroshi Sato was conspicuously absent from sight. Ursa was thinking about how she had never noticed it before as she heard the random person say, "What in the name of… he stripped all those people! The whole back side's worth! Wow. Oo-kay, yeah, my bending and my whole neighborhood's bending is toast. No more bugging Equalists for me," Ursa thinking derogatorily of the person as a coward.

**Until tonight, in many ways, others could have called you an "emotional coward" - and rightfully so, as it relates to yourself and your own self-worth. I figured you'd have that reaction to him, practically surrendering his bending - and I want you to have that reaction to yourself every time you think you aren't worth fighting for!**

Finding herself whisked to the central repurposed Pro-Bending Arena platform, able to watch something she had never seen in reality, chained below the Arena's deck along with the rest of her family, she watched Amon revel in the crowd, Amon proclaiming, "And now, brothers and sisters, the final event for tonight. You have seen how many of those who resisted our glorious Revolution in the streets earlier today cried at the thought of losing their bending - that which defined them. They have no identity now, except as former benders - wishing in vain for something back which has been Equalized away forever." Amon paused for unexpected clapping, seeming to subsist on the applause, the crowd only clapping harder, apparently thinking their leader loved the praise on a personal level. Watching, Ursa thought, "Wow - my light half was right about him sucking in adoration," unsure if her blue spectral self was blushing when her light half intoned, **Yes, I was - and I suppose I'd rather you let your "little" medal sit in a drawer than parade it around like a showgirl…**

Amon by now speaking again, he continued, "I am not one for standup comedy - but I have something to tell you that will likely have you in stitches from laughter anyways, and the bender 'emissaries' present in the audience booing loudly. The final family to lose their bending tonight thinks that our cause, on the whole, is a _righteous one_. That our city, as it is, is riddled with inequalities - the daughter and someone who already lost their bending insinuating that they'd be alongside Equalist brothers and sisters on the streets, if we ignored BENDING! Even though the father is a military man! They insist that they see the problems in Republic City and even the world at large - but don't see bending as the problem." Ursa swearing she heard a rimshot, she saw an audience member in the stands with a set of drums with Equalist insignias, Ursa found herself laughing at the absurdity of the whole thing, wondering if others had laughed for the same reason.

Amon receiving laughter already, he continued, "During transport when they were bound, the old one insisted over and over her bending wasn't her identity. That I was taking away something that could be used to _help _people, not repress them - comparing it to knives not being bad, but the wielder of the knife being at fault! Hilarious, I know. I would love to have Avatar Korra in the ring tonight, see what her reaction to losing herself would be, but let's see how 'Nuniq' takes it instead."

Seeing her bound and gagged grandmother rise up into the center of the ring, Ursa felt anger rise within her, turning into pure fury when she heard a familiar voice say from the ramparts, "Huh - she's even bigger than her granddaughter. How did these people trouble us, again?" Turning and seeing Hiroshi Sato in a skybox with two dour-looking Equalists at his side, Ursa not sure if they were there for security or censoring, Ursa laughed when one elbowed him in the ribs, hearing the Equalist say, "Hey! Stick to the script! And you're not exactly svelte either!" despite the distance. Hearing other scattered weight-related insults, Ursa was baffled when Amon paused, not having remembered this part, perhaps due to her own issues, Amon saying, "Brothers and sisters - we must show the world we are better than these bender tyrants. And the Equalist Revolution stands for Equality in many things - hate her or boo her because she is a bender, not her size. She's the same kind of bender the Avatar and former Councilman Tarrlok are! A WATERBENDER! Like Tahno the cheater was until recently!"

Loud booing erupting at all three people's names, Amon took Nana's bending, slipping off the gag and asking a woozy Nana, "How's it feel? To lose who you are?" Nana took a deep breath, managing to compose herself enough to say, "No different," before passing out, Amon taking out a small white cube. He placed it under her nose, saying, "I hadn't expected you to pass out so easily, for all your talk earlier. Some 'assistance' - smelling salts." Nana simply looked at him once she was back up, saying, "I said what I wanted to already. Who I am has not changed without my bending," laying back down and saying, "Now, if you're done bullying this old woman, I'm going to take a nap," Nana appearing to be out cold now - the smelling salts only having helped a little.

Ursa swearing she saw Amon's shoulder's slump for a second, guessing he hadn't been planning on being called a bully, he straightened back up, saying, "A former waterbender, calling me a bully! That's hilarious - I'm sure you all remember what a waterbender like her did when people protested Councilman Tarrlok's curfew! He even threw the friends of the Avatar in prison when they stood up for nonbenders! How's that for a horrible Councilman who needed to go? That was before we even knew he was the worst kind of bender of all - a bloodbender!"

By now her mother was coming up onto the platform, Nana shuffled off to join the other new nonbenders, Amon said over applause, "Thankfully, Nuniq's daughter Panik, who will be joining me shortly, didn't have quite as much to say - though she did protest that she wanted to keep her bending so she could still cook at the restaurant where she works! She didn't care at all when one of our brothers reminded her that aside from what the Equalists have given him, he hadn't had food worthy of the name in years."

Ursa felt oddly detached from the scene, seeing things she had never seen before, her mother yelling through the gag even before Amon could get to her, "I shaid I did care! Bunch of theatricahl bull! Even got rimshotsh!" Amon shook his head with false reluctance, Ursa realizing he really _was _a master theatrician, vaguely wishing he hadn't died but had come to the side of good like Kuvira did so he might have given some speeches about the current world situation. The past Amon said with a slight flair, "Yes - I do remember now. You might have cared - but did you ever care enough to give poor people like him food before the Revolution? Surely, you don't mean to tell me the section of town you live in with the other _former _benders and nonbender traitors has no hungry people? Surely, you cannot say with a straight face you've never seen a truly poor person." Ursa knew the answer to that was no - her mother was a relative homebody, and there weren't many homeless people where they lived.

Ignoring the exchange, noticing it rewound slightly and then paused, Ursa said bitterly, "Well… until recently," continuing, "All those people's homes… replaced by habitat for spirits, less and less spirits there each day as Raava and Long Yumao aligned ones vanish to fight with each other or others simply disappear… No expanding into the crater, expand outward instead - so ridiculous, even with the Spirit Civil War. President Raiko didn't lose his office, and Air Temple Island was fine after the explosion - who gave Tenzin and President Raiko the right to say what happens to people's homes - or rather, what's left of them?"

Looking all around her, at the banners and flags, the Equalist security detail, Ursa began to cry, saying, "Wait a minute… the unilateral decision on Kuvira - even if I think it's the right one, given I know what darkness is like, how she surrendered originally, a simple gut feeling - and before that, all of Raiko's political moves, meddling… nothing's changed. Still leaders acting like only they matter. They might be elected - but we didn't achieve Equality. Maybe Amon should have won…"

Nothing in the scene except for Amon moving, Ursa felt like she had eaten a really bad VarriCake that had picked up some industrial chemicals on it and chased it down with a pitcher of spoiled milk, swearing Amon was looking at her - taking his mask off…

Feeling some sort of peace come over her, having worried Koh had found his mark, whatever reason the spirit wanted her for, she listened in disbelief as she heard human speech say from Amon's location, "Bending isn't the problem - hate is." Ursa reminded herself she technically was in a surreal dream world when "Amon" continued, having taken off his mask and used waterbending to wipe off his fake scar, "What the..? Why am I here as Noatak? What… You - I remember you. Ursa - the defiant twelve-year old. The one who said she'd fight at my side… if only I gave up 'cleansing' the world of bending, unknown to you at the time _with_ bending. I have as little clue as to why I'm here as you do, given your blue… thing's expression. Something about someone thinking about recent events, wishing I had won... drew me here somehow. 'Important' people still acting like the little guy doesn't matter - I remember what I did to the Lieutenant shortly before being uncovered. Do you?" Ursa nodded, Noatak continuing, "Well, the old Amon didn't either really. Tossing him aside like a used piece of tissue paper… Ah, great - one of my rallies. The one where you lost your bending, at that... Hope I don't do this crap in the next life. Anyways - I didn't get a whole ton from the Avatar earlier, don't even know how much earlier, but I do remember something pretty clearly. She and Asami were trying to clear their chakras for emotional benefit, and… Asami's mother Yasuko was there. The same woman Hiroshi Sato was so devastated over losing… She said something I think applies here: 'Just as darkness and hurt can never be truly eradicated, light and love never fade, unless you let them.' Injustice and inequality are much the same - they can never be truly eradicated, but will swell if you do nothing against them. If good men do nothing. I did what I thought I needed to do to fight inequality - and, I guess, you were doing the same, with your little resistance. I know I… sort of ran over you back then, took your bending - but don't stop 'the resistance' now."

Seeming like she really was listening to Noatak, what Yasuko had said seeming very familiar somehow, Ursa tried talking, asking as Noatak and his clear face began to shimmer slightly, "I was just thinking to myself how four years later, even if there's democracy… certain things aren't right. I don't know if you heard anything about the new United Earth Republic, but… even though it's not even started up yet, I think I like their system better. More checks on the head person's power. There's nobody as bad as Councilman Tarrlok running around - but leaders are still making unilateral decisions. Even Tenzin, and everyone at that partially secret Ember Island Conference… What would you have me do?" Noatak simply smiled, saying as the shimmering got worse, Amon's mask intermittently covering pat of his face, "I remember your unique world view better now - and it sounds to me like the system's still a problem, just not as big as in my day. Do whatever you'd do," managing to get out a simple, "Don't let your love and light for Republic City fade," before vanishing, immediately replaced by the masked version of himself.

Ursa laughed slightly to see the "new" Amon look at her briefly in disbelief, Ursa heard an odd stilted voice say, "Past recall restarted at last point viewed without soul interaction," everything now back in place - the masked Amon no longer staring at her like he could see her. Resuming from where it had been before, Ursa watched as her mother cried, "I… I could have donated, but I didn't. No, I haven't - I'm such a failure," Ursa's eyes widening, saying as Amon took her mother's bending, "So I guess I didn't get _everything _bad inside from my dad after all." Her mother looked very very weak after getting her bending stripped, still managing to speak over top of Amon, saying strongly before she passed out, "Haven't seen Future Industries donating either…"

Ursa heard a fair amount of cheers from the audience and no booing at all, a few chanting, "Yeah! Share the wealth! Share the wealth!" Amon said quickly, "After we have secured Republic City and the rest of the United Republic, we will begin turning it into a utopia - Satomobiles, food, and decent housing for EVERYONE! As this somewhat correct _bender _suggested, Future Industries will begin working on its donations and philanthropy - though the former waterbender Panik did not remember that Hiroshi Sato has already done such service to Republic City before in making Satomobiles available to the common man." Ursa found her gaze swiveled temporarily to Hiroshi Sato, laughing slightly when he said, after a slight poke in the ribs, "YES! I pledge myself to our leader's new program," earning another elbow in the ribs when he added, "Though, not right away, unfortunately - we still have enemies to deal with, and the Revolution to spread worldwide," the man who had done the last elbowing looking as though he had just gotten an earful through an unseen microphone.

Amon moved on to his next target, saying as Ursa's mother joined Nana's side and her father came into view, "I am afraid Hiroshi Sato is right. There are still those that oppose us - and we must defend ourselves! Once the Equalist Revolution has swept the globe, we will be reversing all military buildup necessary to see the dream of worldwide Equality and the extinction of bending become a reality. I am afraid we cannot do that just yet, however - militaries across the world still stand, the United Republic Army the only ones in open conflict with us - yet. We will bring the fight to the other nations and other military men like this man here, Hideki, a… Non-Commissioned Officer in the United Republic Army - not the Equalist army, even though he's said he thinks thing aren't right in OUR city - an Equalist city! Not the United Republic's anymore - or should I say, United _Bender _Republic!" Receiving a mix of laughter and applause after another rimshot from the "audience member" and his Equalist-insignia adorned drums, Amon continued, "It looks like this one wants to talk. Well, too bad - the protestors caught in Councilman Tarrlok's dragnet wanted to talk, express their opinion - but were silenced, just because they were nonbenders! Tarrlok seeing us all as children, he probably thought they were 'out past their bedtimes' - and took their electrical power away, trying to punish brothers and sisters like the wannabe bad dad he is - or rather, was!"

Hearing some boos intermixed with the laughter after another rimshot, a voice yelled out, "What's a dirty firebender got to say that we can't hear? Bring it on!" Amon again acted as though it were all a part of a play, saying, "Very well. I have talked of this family's bizarre world view - perhaps 'NCO Hideki' would be so kind as to explain. Let him see, by power of righteousness and numbers, that he's wrong - thinking bending has any place in the world!" With a dramatical flair, the gag on her father came off - Amon seeming vaguely surprised when he spoke instead of breathing fire at him, Ursa's father saying, "I do not see why you are taking people's bending away who do not deserve it - there's more bullies than just ones with bending, you know!"

Amon acted like her father had stepped right into a trap, asking, "You hear that, folks? He thinks the Equalists are BULLIES!" Ursa was pretty sure if it weren't for Amon's mask she could have seen the color drain from his face when her father said, "Not quite. You put those words into your own mouth - I was talking about kids who get beat up by fists, people robbed at knifepoint or with a sword. You've got so many wonderful _technologies _\- but how are you going to keep order and those kinds of bullies in check without metalbender cops? You'd have to give every single nonbender policeman two or three time the equipment cost of a metalbender cop. All your special equipment must cost a lot! Talking about utopia - money doesn't grow on trees, and neither do resources! Or power - take away the firebenders, no free power! We'll be as primitive as my homeland was over seven decades ago as far as energy goes!"

Amon not appearing to know what to say at first, Hiroshi Sato butted in, boasting through his microphone, "I am very assured we can get along just fine without you _benders _\- especially firebenders! Disfiguring flames, uncontrolled fatal electricity you people call 'lightning generation' - all very non-peaceful things. The way of the past is benders - the way of the future is technology!" Hiroshi Sato realizing he had the audience's attention, not Amon, he continued, "While excavating the area beneath my home over the years to make room for my secret base of operations and production facility for much of the Equalist's equipment, we found many curious deposits of metal. Some showed great promise for better… airships in the future, others seemingly giving off energy merely by existing. Equalist scientists and myself are currently examining these various other 'elements' - something like platinum, not water - and hope to replace power from extinct firebending with science, using brains over brawn or undeserved elemental 'talent'."

Hiroshi Sato receiving raucous applause, he sat back down, both guards beside him shrugging, Ursa able to hear one say, "If that doesn't get him out of whatever he's in right now, I'm not sure what will." Amon seemed to ruminate over what Hiroshi Sato had said, finally saying, "Yes, brothers and sisters - everything he has said is true. The benders here, any spies from the other nations - go scurry off and tell your bending neighbors or masters that the Equalist have moved beyond the four elements - and into the _true _elements. Things of science, not shrouded in superstition and the chi we have perfected the art of blocking!"

By this point her father looked bored, saying, "Were you going to let me say anything or not?" Amon laughed, simply saying, "Yes - however much you can get out after having your bending taken! You're still going to pay for resisting me earlier today - and you've served your purpose." Promptly taking Hideki's bending, Ursa laughed deeply when she heard her father's only response was a deeply personal slur against Amon, the Equalist's leader shrugging, saying, "Did you hear that? So much for being polite! Now, to the last…"

Seeing herself rise from below as her father joined the rest of the family, Ursa listened as Amon greeted her past self, saying more personally after ungagging her, "Hello, Ursa - I've heard just like the rest of your family, you sympathize with our cause, with only the caveat that you don't like me taking away dangerous things from people - their bending. Bending: something easily abused, and the world better off with it not existing. I've also heard something about a nonbender friend of yours. Gotten that those troublesome earthen disks with metal edges on them, targeting that weak point which I will not mention… all your ideas, partial or in full. You've also said I'm a fool for taking away the city's supposedly vital firebending for power. Why don't you be loyal to your **newly **nonbender family and your bender friend and your city - work for me, and convince others like yourself to cooperate, unlike your father."

The past Ursa doing something Ursa remembered very well, saying, "Never!" and spitting at Amon's mask, Amon wiped it off, saying, "I gave a different offer to Lin - this is your last chance. If you refuse, you won't even get to do your little talk. Now tell me - answer well, and you may get to keep your bending, so long as you agree to follow me. Why do you not want to work for me and Republic City's betterment once the Equalists win, where is Lee-Lee - and why did you not blow up my airship? You could have, very easily - had it been Avatar Korra, I would likely be dead, given her aggressive streak."

Ursa listened, feeling as though she were really back then, saying at the same time her past self did, "I didn't blow up your airship because I don't want to kill anyone or cause collateral damage when the airships went down, the first two lucky - unless they were doing something that would kill others, just like your airships' bombs **did today**. You've got a higher body count than the benders you're **oppressing** with your sick ability to rip a part of them out forever, and **technology**. Technology that I won't help you with, ever - and neither would Lee-Lee. I've been teased plenty, seen plenty of other kids teased, did something about it with my **bending **when I could. I know a bully when I see one - and the Equalists have TWO bullies for leaders!"

Amon simply nodded, saying, "Very well - if that is the way it's going to be," saying before Ursa could speak again, hands at her temple and nape of the neck, "Your bending is gone, little girl. I am surprised neither you nor your father breathed fire at me while you could - and I did not expect your father to be as difficult as Lin to strip, let alone you as difficult as Lin as well - a twelve-year old girl. Talent beyond brains, perhaps, or a strong will? No matter - you still have bending; it is still an impurity to be cleansed." Ursa managed to get out, "The only impurity that matters… is in the heart," before collapsing, Amon saying triumphantly, "Did you hear that? 'The only impurity that matters is in the heart' - I believe what she said to be true, but for us - not the Avatar or the military likely heading for Republic City right now to crush our Revolution! Bullies called Commanders and General… We were or are the oppressed, the hungry ones, the weaklings on the schoolyard - and we will not be pushed around any longer! Let's see them defeat technology - and spirit! TO EQUALITY!"

After a short timeskip, the Arena was empty aside from Amon, Hiroshi Sato and the Lieutenant, the Lieutenant looking sullen as he said, "Reports from Republic City, Amon," Amon snatching them from him, sounding very displeased as he read, " 'Report for our leader Amon and the betterment of the Revolution. While most of the benders did as we expected, spreading the message that resistance is futile, a few did not - encouraging minor acts of sabotage, the two bomber airships that were downed now seeming beyond repair, not reaching their destinations without sustaining further damage.' This is unacceptable - until the situation is under control **fully**, we are not risking showing the Tenzin family. Not with misguided vigilantes who might barge the rally tomorrow - and we know this Arena's security isn't foolproof. I am sorry, Hiroshi Sato, but despite your high-quality impromptu performance tonight, your rally in the morning will not involve the extinction of airbending." Pausing for a moment, Amon looked at the Lieutenant, Hiroshi Sato no longer frowning quite so deeply when Amon said, the Lieutenant not looking pleased at all, "Lieutenant - Hiroshi Sato is not the only one with bad news for him. Until you get this under control, consider yourself as much in the doghouse as Hiroshi Sato was earlier until his performance at the rally - even if I had not planned on making our top secret technological works known to the world just yet." Yawning, Amon finished, "Now, I believe we all need some sleep. I am sure the situation can wait until morning to address - and tired people make bad decisions anyways. Others will try very hard to stop the Revolution. On that note, there will be no more allowing benders to talk before taking their bending, and most certainly no dueling - I gave Lightning Bolt Zolt the option, but I'm not dueling an airbender. They might knock my mask off with the first strike, even if I best them in the end. My face hurts without the mask - all these years later, the pain still lingers. Dismissed."

The scene in front of Ursa rapidly shifted, seeing the events that took place in the Arena over the next days unfold. The view cutting to a different spot suddenly after Ursa witnessed Amon's unmasking as a fraud, Ursa watched as the Lieutenant made his getaway - noticing he said, "The only impurity that matters is in the heart," a few times. He said it again, this time finishing after he slammed the door on an unmarked van, vanishing into Republic City along with other similar vans, "And I know a lot more benders with impurities there than anyone else. Corrupted by their power - our own former leader Amon, a charlatan - tossing me aside like garbage with his sick power after I devoted my life to him. 'You have served me well'… Amon, a _bloodbender - bloodbender __**scum**__! _He may be gone - good riddance - but the Revolution will rise again someday when the time is right!"

Ursa heard a low cheering - realizing this must have been the start of the Lieutenant's run from the law and eventual resurfacing recently, half wondering if his equipment was things she had helped wreck, repaired by hiding Equalists over the years…

That still left the mystery work on what had been found beneath the Sato mansion unaccounted for - wondering if it had been completely forgotten.

Finding herself staring at General Iroh II standing at attention, Ursa spotted herself at her father's side - her father looking very proud, and herself, blushing and nervous. Seeing the line of people stretched up and down the Republic City military docks, Ursa realized what this was - the recognition everyone involved in the "Concerned Citizens Coalition" had received, a vaguely familiar woman standing a short ways away from the past Ursa - paradoxically in partial Equalist uniform. Ursa recognized her as the woman who had told them about some of the Equalists' equipment weaknesses - the one whose brother had been killed by an Equalist bomb, the woman herself giving them the formula the Equalists used in their bombs, to try and knock out mechatanks without loss of life… Ursa wondered idly if the family ever healed - glad to see an image of the woman helping the fallen man's wife with her son.

Hearing an odd, "Ahem," she listened as a shaky-sounding male page said, "Following General Iroh II's order and by the authority temporarily vested in me, Councilman Tarrlok's former personal secretary and acting replacement, I bestow the rank of Officer on formerly Non-Commissioned Officer Hideki," adding after giving her smiling father the appropriate insignia, "Political elect. Are… are you sure I need to do this? I'm still all shaken up from Tarrlok, the Fire Nation finding his and his brother's bodies washed ashore recently - even if he _was_ a jerk. Never mind the Equalists! Deep down, I'm still just a page - even with the title change! Why can't _General_ Iroh II do this?" An unseen person sighed, saying, "We already refused the request by General Iroh II to have personalized medals made for some among you. We need everything and everyone we can get to get Republic City running smoothly before the elections. Protocol is protocol," General Iroh sneering slightly at the unseen person, saying, "You're not even in office yet, or elected - acting like you're President! I currently have more authority than you - you're just a politician… for now, and hopefully you stay that way. My word's more binding than yours for now, and I say forget protocol. People matter more than rules. If he wants to leave, he can go - the first true elections are relatively soon enough anyways, and he won't be asked to do something he doesn't want to anymore." The unseen voice sighed, saying, "Very well," General Iroh II saying as the page sighed in relief, "Though, my dad always did say those who were reluctant to take power were the best to wield it," saying after the page looked nervous, "But it's up to you, Temporary Councilman Supika. Go home if you want to - I can handle the rest from here." The former page sighed in relief, saying, "Go home - of course I want to! First time someone's called me my real name in a while!"

Temporary Councilman Supika - someone so temporary Ursa didn't even recall his name until General Iroh II said it - ran out of sight. She listened as General Iroh II gave the young, nervous Ursa her medal, the General saying, "In recognition of the ability, heart and intellect she showed defending Republic City two months ago when others had given up all hope, by the power and authority vested in me, I give Ursa, twelve year-old daughter of United Republic Army Officer Hideki, this new medal reserved for citizens who go above and beyond the call. Show that they have the same stuff that one of Republic City's founders did. I give you The Avatar Aang Medal of Mettle," Ursa laughing slightly when the unseen voice spoke again, General Iroh II interrupted, stopping cold as it protested, "Wh - hey! That's not a medal! Wait a minute - 'new medals'. I can even see it from over here, now that you've gotten it out! That thing's as big as the Kyoshi Medal of Freedom! Did you…? You did! I thought we made it very clear - "

General Iroh II simply turned around, rolling his eyes as he said, "Yes, you did, Raiko - and I ignored you. That's right - all of them. Including the Medal of Zuko's Honor for the Equalist who turned. Materials' cost taken out of my pocket, all made in the second biggest city in _our _United Republic - Yu Dao metalsmiths and artists performing the work free of charge. I certainly hope you don't end up getting elected a month from now, you pompous, rule-following idiot. Doesn't help you act like Republic City's the biggest deal around…" Ursa's eyes widened, unable to believe her ears, what she had just now recognized as Raiko's voice responding tersely, "The insults, extra medals… You can get away with it for now, you loose cannon - but mark my word. I'll have my eye on you, General Iroh II - and if Varrick keeps donating to my election fund, I'll be your Commander in Chief someday soon. Now hurry up and do your thing so Avatar Korra can have her turn sometime today! She's back from the South Pole, I've heard. Give or take a few weeks since her arrival - I haven't been following too closely. I've been too busy with the election trail, especially with just one month left." Raiko paused, saying with annoyance, "I don't like dealing with… opinionated individuals such as yourself anyways, General Iroh II, Avatar Korra striking me of the same mindset. Like she can do whatever she wants because she's the Avatar - you, because you're related to Lord Zuko." General Iroh II smiled slightly, saying, "I'd rather have a good Firelord like my grandfather as my leader than a pompous unqualified elected President any day," laughing before he said, "The way things are set up now, a President's only qualification is that he's _popular_." Raiko merely gave him a dirty look, simply saying, "Ozai. That's my one-word rebuttal - democracy is the way of the future, even if your grandfather and your mother turned out to be good leaders. Now get back to work!"

Finding herself sneering at Raiko, his recent behavior exemplary in comparison, Ursa watched as she accepted the Avatar Aang Medal of Mettle, blushing when the medal's chain was placed around her neck, her father and herself having watched the conversation before with visible horror. Ursa was smiling broadly but nervously when General Iroh II told her past self, "There's more to it than meets the eye. Turn it over - both you and your dad. Had something special on the back for you two, and for the Medal of Zuko's Honor recipient, Ryoshin. I wish Hiroshi Sato had been as cooperative in the aftermath of the failed revolution as she was… there's something inside both her medal and yours, Ursa - a special touch. While I hope no one will need to earn those two medals in the future, that special touch will be inside any future ones as well. There's a hinge at the top - it's a locket. Look at the back down near the bottom - you should see the unlocking latch there." Ursa having just now remembered the other name, the past paused, feeling bad as she said, "Names, names. I can never remember these things," hearing her light half intone, **Some people remember names and faces - others remember facts and book learning. It takes all types - and I want you to look at the front and back of this medal later in the real world. The inside of your medal as well - so busy being down back then ****_and _****"now" that that didn't even register…**

Looking at the back of the medal, getting the impression she'd have to wait to see the front again until later, Ursa gasped, saying, "STUPID! I never apprec-" at first, correcting herself, "At the time, I was just a self-conscious twelve-year old, which certainly explains me not opening the medal and what should come next - and I look forward to thanking General Iroh II for his gesture when I can," taking in the detailed artistry of yin and yang, water and fire as one on the back of her medal as her light half intoned, **Hey - you're doing my job for me! Which is a good thing.**

The rest passing in a blur, a similar motif on the back of her father's Officer badge - which was very unofficial and just made Raiko all the more annoyed - time jumped to the end of the whole ceremony, capped off with a short memorial to the fallen father, Ryoshin crying more than anyone else.

Ursa watched the "unexpected" memorial crashers without surprise - remembering well what happened next, watching as Asami Sato asked the morose Ryoshin what had happened - recoiling in horror after being told the former Equalist's story, Asami Sato muttering, "I knew it! Dad lied - not visiting him in prison again. They did kill people…" after. Bolin said, shrugging and smiling weakly, "Hey - at least it turned out all right in the end." Asami Sato simply gave him a dirty look in reply, finally saying after a tense pause, "I remember how… ferocious my dad was, fighting me in the mechatank. You were there, Bolin - I don't know what would've happened without you coming in on Naga." Asami Sato pointed a finger at Bolin as Mako joined his brother's side, both brothers looking a bit cowed when she said tersely, "Don't ask me to understand him again either! Your parents never killed anybody - or tried to kill you!"

Ursa watched as she broke up the brewing conflict inadvertently, running between Asami Sato, Mako and Bolin to Avatar Korra, asking obliviously, "Wow - uh, Avatar Korra! Um - I don't have any paper on me. Can I get an autograph raincheck?" the Avatar smiling, saying, "Of course. Maybe even right now - I'm sure Asami has some paper on her. I've been busy… healing at the South Pole, and restoring people's bending - haven't gotten a chance to do something I want to just yet. I'd like to hear more about what happened that day. And what's that around your neck?" After Ursa said, "N-nothing" nervously, Avatar Korra looking confused, Asami Sato interjected, looking cross, "I'd like to hear the after too. I heard you got to see my dad and Amon up close - I'd like to know as much as possible about those two dirtbags. Maybe it will help me move on - talking to my dad's been a complete waste of time so far. What Ryoshin said about her brother dying, how… my dad shook her around like a rag doll for being a 'traitor'… pretty sure I'm not visiting him again."

Talking animatedly, more focused on what Ursa had to say than her medal, Avatar Korra ended up monopolizing Ursa, too busy getting a very brief and nervous version of events from Ursa's ill-at-ease twelve year old self for anyone else to talk to her. Asami Sato never ended up getting her account from Ursa, looking like she was trying to remain calm as Ursa's father Hideki explained what had happened in general detail - missing the bit where Ursa had her bending stripped, given he was out cold at the time.

After a while, based on her expression and tone of voice, it became apparent Avatar Korra wasn't going to get the whole story from Ursa in one day, saying, "If I'm not too busy, I'll try and come back for the rest later, after I restore more people's bending than just yours and everyone else on these docks. Take a better look at your medal. Okay?" The past Ursa nodded, saying nervously, "A-autograph?" Avatar Korra smiled slightly, saying, "Sure. Asami! Can I have some paper, please?" Ursa watched Avatar Korra sign a piece of paper provided by a slightly bitter Asami with her own bitterness, remembering what had happened - why she never got the personalized autograph…

Sure enough, here came the loudmouths - insisting whatever they were doing could wait until they had their bending back, Ursa not having remembered Avatar Korra to have looked quite so… guilty about the "distraction" from restoring people's bending.

Looking at Avatar Korra's expression closer, Ursa realized the Avatar had likely wanted to continue talking, listening - but couldn't, the burden of being the only one who could restore people's bending hemming her in, like an animal in a cage… the price of power and being expected to use it.

Ursa watched the last of the Concerned Citizens Coalition get their bending back - but she never got the autograph paper, even after resuming talking with Team Avatar… By now hearing a few people not involved with the Concerned Citizens Coalition begin to yell, one interrupted Ursa talking to Avatar Korra, saying, "Fatty - quit hogging the Avatar's time with your claptrap! You didn't stop Amon - she did! And you got your bending back! She's already done all the metalbender cops and White Lotus people - I need my bending back too!" Ursa watched with regret and sadness when her past self shut down, crying like a little child as she went back to her father's side - never getting the personalized autograph Avatar Korra had made for her, or finishing her own story.

The vision and those within it jumping around wildly like a Dark Spirit trying to shake off a fragment of a Raava-transformed spirit vine, Ursa felt sad, wondering if Avatar Korra would even remember her after four years - in the unlikely event she got to meet the Avatar, with the world being so hectic.

Seeing the vision rapidly approaching Harmonic Convergence, Ursa wondered where the autographed letter had gone. The vision shifting temporarily, Ursa did not feel bitter anymore after seeing its fate, only glad it helped someone - someone close to the Avatar, to put it mildly. Apparently, Asami Sato had held onto it just to keep it at first and forgotten about it when life intervened and neither Ursa nor Avatar Korra remembered to try and make contact with each other. While Korra was gone years later, recovering from the poison away from Republic City, in the vision Ursa saw Asami Sato tearfully re-discover the autographed letter at a time when Ursa's other idol was down. Though, Ursa noticed the vision did not show exactly in what way Asami Sato had been down…

**Just like seeing Avatar Korra, that is something for another day. And now, the rest - relatively simple, aside from a very recent event in your life. The evacuee camp - and your effects on others there…**

Relatively simple - her light half had made a massive understatement, Ursa finding herself merely watching a major world event unfold in front of her past self - no mention or recollection of the effects of her pondering the nature of evil after her brush with Amon on her, getting the feeling her second time of troubles would be glossed over as well.

As the battle between Unalaq's fusion with Vaatu and then **just **Korra's massive astral projection reached its climax, Jinora appeared out of nowhere and illuminated the light within the massive Dark Avatar's form - Raava. Ursa's light half intoned, **Jinora was all of eleven - and even so, just like you did one year prior, she risked a lot - not knowing if her help would be of any use or not, or if Raava even still existed,** as the view shifted to that of Jinora's loved ones watching over her body - Ursa smiling to see how elated they were when Jinora woke up.

The happiness they showed appeared no different than that her own family had shown when Ursa "woke up" from chasing snakes and shadows in the following two years, during her quest to try and perfectly distinguish the light and dark within herself.

The view shifted to something Ursa had never seen before, her light half intoning, **There is a reason those parts of you chasing smoke will be glossed over - you have already learned the lesson you needed to from those struggles. That light can never fully illuminate the darkness - and that darkness can never fully extinguish light, Raava and Vaatu having fought as you see here for eons before Wan separated them. **Ursa watched Raava and Vaatu in locked combat with each other with fascination, swearing she spotted Avatar Wan himself.

The last thing she saw of the vision an arc of fire separating Raava from Vaatu, her perspective changed once again, seeing herself greeting her baby sister Buniq into the world, her light half intoning, **Hatred has great difficulty rising from the ashes - once exposed, people are on guard. Love, on the other hand, has an easy time rising from the ashes - your sister Buniq, an indirect product of your first major face off with evil versus Amon. I know your parents have told you the story, deciding after a close brush with death that they wanted another life and light in their family. And you listened well to that story, helping Buniq every step along the way - even when dark days visited again. Let us continue - you can see Buniq when you wake up. Warmwings… likely not. **

Still reluctant to leave her baby sister in any way, her perspective changed yet again, seeing herself with Warmwings for the first time, not experiencing her own feelings of frustration, anger, and… endless **hunger** to exterminate the darkness within as she watched. Instead, she felt the spirit's concern for her, noticing it felt very "human-y" even back then, hearing her light half intone, **This is the past - and the future. The future Warmwings is currently fighting for right now - that man and spirits may live together in peace and harmony, Avatar Wan's answer to the issue completely different than that of Avatar Korra's ten thousand years later. A decision shaped by ten thousand year's worth of progress - and even the opinions of her mad uncle…**

Image shifting again, Ursa loathe to stop feeling what Warmwings had back then, it was replaced by a relatively happier image, watching a "family" meeting soon after Harmonic Convergence. Aside from continuing her foolish quest to purify herself, Ursa had other thoughts on her mind at the time - the Red Lotus. Their family had been odd in many ways during that time - one of the first to embrace spirit's presence, Warmwings more a family member than "spirit pet" by the time Avatar Korra was hunting the Red Lotus. Ursa listened as her father reacted to what he had read in the paper of what little was then known about the Red Lotus, saying, "Perhaps that organization of madmen has some points - opposing today's White Lotus. Avatar Korra would have turned out a more balanced individual, had the Order of the White Lotus not changed their ways after the Hundred Year's War - a mentor like Iroh or Piandao unconcerned with the opinion of the other nations would have been far than keeping her under watch inside a compound…"

Seeing the whole family agree, the vision shifted again - this time to the whole family crowded around the radio, listening in as the announcement of the Earth Queen's death was made public. Ursa's mother gave Nana a slightly dirty look when Nana said, "I've heard the rumors about the Earth Kingdom - how it's even _worse _than it was at the end of the Hundred Year's War, the taxes… good riddance. I just hope the people behave themselves better after their little… celebration, and that her successor - if any - is less cruel." Ursa's mother admitted, reservations audible in her voice, "I… guess you do have a point, and given my husband and Ursa's nodding, they think so too. I just hope they know when to stop - and that Zaheer just leaves the _good_ leaders - even including Raiko, I guess - and Avatar Korra alone. All she's been doing is trying to help rebuild a nation…"

After another timeskip, Ursa watched as they reacted to the news from the radio as though someone had killed Nana, her father saying in horror, "After all these years, defeating the misguided Equalists, her power-hungry uncle and Vaatu… to think we came this close to losing Avatar Korra. I hope she heals as well as you did three years ago, Ursa - and that you stop chasing smoke!" Ursa not able to remember if she had blushed from embarrassment from the compliment or the censuring from her father, after another timeskip, Ursa was much happier to watch her past, listening in as she nuzzled Warmwings happily, saying, "I feel so much better now - stopping that stupid quest. From what I've heard, Avatar Korra is recovering slowly and steadily - and that Kuvira person is slowly restoring order to the Earth Kingdom." Her father nodded, smiling slightly as he said, "I've heard the rumors about her - but I hope they aren't true. If they are… you said it yourself a while back. Maybe some people need a dictator to keep them in line. The Fire Nation got Firelord Izumi after many years lost in the wilderness before the reign of her father - and the people of the Earth Kingdom have gotten the questionable Kuvira for their wild behavior. People get what they deserve, in the end - though I'm not sure what we did to deserve **President **Raiko, or the people who elected him."

The whole family laughing, Ursa saw in hindsight the laughter "should have been" bitter, knowing the coming storm. She witnessed another fragment in time, her father putting on his uniform and grabbing his sword as he said, "I just got a message from General Iroh II - apparently, following Kuvira's crushing of the Kyoshi Medal of Freedom at Prince Wu's very failed coronation yesterday, he's going to lobby Raiko to be as aggressive as possible - and prepare. I'm going to go and help out as much as I can. Ursa - keep practicing with your new, bigger sword and shield with Lee-Lee." Halfway out the door, her father's shoulders slumped when Ursa said, "Aside from having fun with Lee-Lee… what's the point? This new Earth **Empire **is full of metalbenders - they'd likely just turn my own weapons against me," her father Hideki replying curtly, "You know as well as I do the training is to keep you fit for bending as well," adding after both daughter and wife put their hands on hereditarily wide hips, "Sorry - I shouldn't have chosen the words I did. Not fit - _trained and conditioned, _as you are and have been for quite some time_. _You have enough trouble with how you look as is - but I am very proud of you for keeping up your training. Reminding yourself every time you don't want to how you tired out against the Equalists four years ago…" After a pause, her mother still giving her father a slight glare, Hideki said, "Honey… I didn't think. And you, Ursa. It's just… you saying such things worries me, Ursa. When you think like that, you invite the darkness and depression you know you've struggled with back into your heart. I may have finally gotten the Dark Spirit of depression away from me - but I have to work at it every day. Worry less about the weight of your body - worry more about the weight you carry around in your mind and heart."

The scene shifting again, Ursa realizing she hadn't truly listened to what her father had said until just now, she saw herself at the evacuee camp, listening as her light half intoned, **You were right earlier, to question how effective changes in this inner dream world will be. If you continue old mental habits, such as the ones your father just pointed out, no amount of spirit energy and assistance will help. Just as waking up and having another large "snack" would set you back, so would waking up and not putting in the effort to keep the changes you've worked for. I want you to listen to your internal thoughts, to pay close attention to what you are about to experience next - your final revisiting of the past.**

Feeling the world around her become more and more reality than vision as Ursa's spectral form approached her body, her light half intoned, **Make good use of this opportunity… **Feeling time and space distort again, yesterday seeming like tomorrow, right now seeming like 100 million years in the past, Ursa finally assumed her body - and "old" disposition.

Knowing full well what would likely greet her once she was finished - the unreality of not mattering… in "physical" form.

Idly wandering around the evacuee camp, her own family having listened and gotten out of town during the original evacuation urged by formerly Prince Wu, having had previous experience with being in the middle of a warzone, Ursa didn't really have much to do, aside from help Nana keep an eye on her sister Buniq, who was currently playing with other children. Ursa had stood and fought against Amon. But what she had heard about spirit weaponry unofficially from her father before the battle, Ursa had no desire to go up against it in an urban environment, Kuvira's technology leaps and bounds ahead of anything the Equalists had used.

As requested, they had kept their baggage minimal - all Ursa had brought from home was her now totally useless sword and shield, sighing, "My dad had warned me about what his commander General Iroh II said the weapon could do, even told me about the eye-witness testimony from people who had seen it fired… but I didn't expect the Colossus. At least I could have flanked a train weapon, stuck my blade in its controls… guess my sword and shield really are just sentimental now."

Her mother came over, re-assuring her, "No - I'm sure it will be fine. Kuvira surrendered - nobody's going to use those weapons again. Though I wish the Avatar and others had listened to one of President Raiko's only good ideas - meet technology with technology. But that doesn't matter now. We're just lucky our apartment didn't get caught in the blast. Now come on - I finally got my cooking stuff my manager let me… borrow packed again, so we should be ready to go back home now. My stuff's likely the only part of my workplace left…"

Ursa had a bad feeling in her gut about such things, her intuition telling her the Earth Empire wasn't done yet, Ursa nodded her head when her mother said, "I know what you're worrying about - the Earth Empire living on. We've already lived through something like this before - Amon. The Equalists fizzled out almost entirely after Amon's defeat, completely once they found **Noatak's **body and Tarrlok's washed up on the shore of the Fire Nation four years ago… They've got Kuvira alive and captive; from what I've heard from your father, they have Baatar Jr. as well. I'm sure everything is going to be just fine - now let's go."

Her mother did not mention the bizarre behavior Warmwings had displayed recently, the normally joyful dragonfly bunny spirit having seemed sick ever since late last night, coming down with some sort of odd spirit disease - not "speaking" a word about it to Ursa. The spirit had faint red lines that would grow bigger any time Warmwings was near some other spirits or people being mean, and shrink when the spirit was near her family - Buniq especially.

Relaying her thoughts to her mother as they finished taking down the military tent they had all stayed in, one of the perks of having a father in the military, her mother frowned deeply, saying, "I noticed too - and I have no idea what it means." Still frowning, her mother looked around as though making sure someone wasn't nearby, Ursa's eyes widening when her mother admitted, "I didn't want to worry you, but if you're already thinking about it… you should know. If you say 'Avatar Korra' or 'Raava' around your female spirit friend… the lines grow, for some reason."

Ursa by now very worried, she finished packing everything up, saying, "Hopefully we can help her when we get back home," adding after looking around, "Haven't seen her for a while - at least Buniq's doing fine," Nana finally speaking, saying, "Maybe you shouldn't have put the cooking stuff away, Panik - never tried feeding Warmwings any food. Food might not _be _love… but it is lovely, and can help when you're - "

Nana never got to finish her thought, Ursa hearing someone yell loudly after a squealing of tires, "What - NO! COME BACK HERE! Forget all the expensive stuff… You rotten bastards just stole some of my only son's things!"

Turning to the sound's source, Ursa saw a van speeding away from an older couple, appearing heavily laden - headed towards some unknown destination. Grabbing her shield and sword by reflex, Ursa found a clear spot to try and launch herself from, yelling, "Get away - firebender taking off!" after putting her sword into its scabbard and her shield on her back, knowing she'd need all four flamejets to take off - and catch this van.

Successfully launching, blushing slightly to hear someone say, "Whoa - never seen a dark-skinned firebender before," grumbling when another added, "Or someone that big take off!" Intent on her target, Ursa paid no heed when the person added, "She must be pretty good then - impressive," thinking instead, "Should have skipped more meals in the evacuee camp, trained more!"

Whoever these thieves were, they weren't very good, Ursa handily managing to catch up, some part of her remembering Hiroshi Sato had maneuvered his mechatank with more grace four years ago. Trying something she had never done before, she ceased using her hands to propel herself - shooting a series of small flaming shots at the van's hood, hoping to force them to stop.

All she managed to accomplish was making the drivers panicked, hearing one say through an opened window, "What, you don't want us to eat?" Ursa took a deep breath, trying a last resort, concentrating intensely as she tried to generate lightning while in the air…

Shocked and amazed when she managed to send out a bolt from the air, though not entirely pleased with its size, she overshot the van when it stopped, hearing someone say, "Stop! Don't hurt the van anymore - it's all we've got!" Looking at them, Ursa noticed they did not look good, the woman saying, covering her forehead, "Don't kill us either! Please - take anything you want!"

Feeling vaguely horrified, but still suspicious, Ursa landed, unsheathing and using her sword to puncture the front two tires, saying as she moved to the second one, "If you're crooks, thieves - you don't need a van. If you're just hungry like I think you are… My family will pay for new tires. Maybe even cook for you." The woman sneered slightly, asking, "Wh- hah! Cook for us? What would someone like you care about us?" Ursa replying with a frown, "The same reason I chased you in the first place. All I heard was some woman yelling about losing some of her only son's things to you two - caring only about that and not the valuables inside your van."

The man began crying, the woman saying as Ursa saw some other, similarly rough looking people approach from the distance, swearing something looked… off about her forehead, "What - not even the money?" This earned her a quick jab to the ribs from the man, the man saying, "Did you not hear what she just said? Let's let these people take back what they want - just as long as we get some food, I don't care if we end up in jail later…"

Hearing the gunning of a motor behind her, one that faded over time, Ursa turned around, seeing a Republic City Police vehicle approaching, someone yelling through a loudspeaker, "Thieves, put your hands behind your head, and drop any weapons you have! This may be an evacuee camp, but we're still enforcing the law!"

Ursa was horrified when the woman placed her hands behind her head, laughed, "Can't drop this 'weapon'!" and took a deep breath, stepping out away from the vehicle, what must have been her husband yelling, "We're no thieves - just hungry. But she's not going to jail - we've got a baby, and other kids too. My wife's got a special talent. Getting out and arresting us, taking us away from our family… I don't think you want to do that, officers." Ursa saw some police officers exit the vehicle anyways, one having an odd gleam in his eye.

Hearing a curious "crac-ack" sound followed by a loud boom, the husband continued after his wife exhaled, Ursa had hardly been able to believe her eyes when the police vehicle exploded in a way she had only heard of, one of the police officers yelling as he got out his cable and bent up a small rock, "SHE'S A COMBUSTIONBENDER! Aim for the third eye - you're going in lockup, hungry or not!"

Ursa had once defended Republic City Police officers from an out of control bully, feeling extremely oddly when she found the roles reversed in a way, saying, "Hey, you! Don't! All they want is some food, as far as I know all the woman wants back is her son's keepsakes - forget the law, go for what's right!" The woman nodded weakly, saying, "I've never used my ability for anything but self-defense - not even to steal with. I didn't blow up that woman's tent to get at her stuff to pawn off, after all. I used my brain. I know what it's like to lose someone, and don't want to kill. I guess I'll even go to jail - just as long as my family gets taken care of. But if my kids go hungry, possibly die…"

All but one of the police officers relaxed, their apparent leader saying, "That is all very well - but you are still in possession of a very dangerous ability. And I cannot take a thief's word that they will be good in future, so… hey! Stand back at attention, men, and woman - we're still arresting her! Can't have someone with a mind that can explode things just wandering around - you remember P'li, right? I'll give you a little of what is 'lost' if you go along… the White Lotus might even be interested in her. Learn the secrets of combustionbending… possibly teach the Avatar."

The woman taking another deep breath, Ursa felt forced to make a decision - ending up knocking out the corrupt officer instead, saying quickly and with a slightly quaky voice after the woman combustionbended a hill instead, "J-just because she's got that a-ability doesn't make her bad! W-what, are you going to ask the A-avatar to take her bending away, like A-amon might have? F-forcing her to work for the White Lotus - j-just like P'li was going to be for someone else before Zaheer rescued her?! Way to propagate resentment!" All the police officers shook their heads, one saying, "Point taken. The morals, all the paperwork… We'll forget this happened," the stunned one groaning, "NO. So… embarrassing. Getting… you… for… this… fatty…"

One of the other officers kicked the downed one to get his attention, saying, "Do that, I'll tell Chief Lin Beifong you wanted to try and bribe us into arresting people who were willing to surrender - with stolen goods, nonetheless. And we've got a somewhat impartial witness this time. How's that sound?" When no response came other than a weak shaking of the head, all the other officers laughed, the female one said, "Finally - got some witnesses and dirt on him. He's getting reported anyways - though throwing out the whole combustionbending bit, still saying you should be… monitored. Knowing Officer Jiaohua here, probably for your protection - not anyone else's. Wanting to sell her to the White Lotus, even though they'd probably refuse… Damn dirty copper - we were terrified of him, until… this. Both of you - what are your names?"

Still nervous, Ursa figured throwing in her father's name couldn't hurt, saying, "I'm Ursa - daughter of United Republic Army Officer Hideki," the woman cop smiling slightly, saying, "Relax, kid - I heard Chief Lin Beifong threw the Avatar into temporary lockup for 'bad behavior' once, but with this doofus knocked out and blackmailed… you've got nothing to worry about." Smiling, Ursa caught the woman speaking, saying, "My name is Kyoretsuna - and if the White Lotus will feed my family and acts as honorably as Ursa did, I will gladly help them learn about combustionbending and teach the Avatar, if she wishes to learn."

The woman officer nodded, finally introducing herself as Ursa noticed they had company from the more "affluent" part of the evacuee camp, saying, "Name's Jin. Officer Jin if Mr. Corrupt here gets booted out of the force. Ursa - seems like your family and some others are here. I'll put in a request for food and supplies in Officer Jiaohua's name," adding with a frown, "Seeing how hungry you all look… it might be needed just to get you back to the city and established again, wherever you're from." After a short pause, Jin said, "Kyoretsuna. Forget the White Lotus for now - let's get you all back in shape first. Ursa - you don't know how to cook, perchance?"

Ursa smiled slightly, saying, "Yes," as she looked at her mother, smiling broadly to see that Warmwings was back - and looking healthier as well. Ursa watched as the rightful owner of the goods approached, saying with audible sadness, "My only son… lost to Kuvira's weapon. He was on guard duty at the outpost that got… got obliterated. He… was just about to propose to his beloved soon as well…" Ursa gave the woman a big hug as Kyoretsuna said to the older woman Ursa was hugging, "I lost a son too - four years ago, during the Equalist attack on Republic City. Those rats had scouted me out, followed our movement through the city as a family on the move, homeless but hanging on. Woke up to find myself staring at an Equalist glove, my third eye blocked, my oldest son fighting them. The only child to inherit my talent… and my firstborn as well."

Experiencing a momentary peace, she found it ruined when the downed corrupt officer said, "I'll get you for this, obese troublemaker," finding herself unable to enjoy much for a while, even as everything was settled around her, snapping back to attention when her mother tapped her shoulder, asking, "Hey - you've just… been there for a while. Buniq's playing with Kyoretsuna's kids, Warmwings is doing great, me and Nana are cooking - you want to help?"

Seeing a hateful stare from Officer Jiaohua, Ursa nodded weakly, saying, "Yes" - hoping she might be able to help and eat her way out of whatever hole she'd fallen into. The insult, but more than that…

Seeing evil again. This time, in the form of a Republic City Police Officer… wondering if there was any form it couldn't take.

Feeling a disconnect, at first Ursa felt a bizarre kind of pain, realizing quickly it was really a good-feelings overload, eventually feeling all different people's feelings mashed together as one, feeling what the effects of her actions had been at the evacuee camp. She watched everything in a blur - staying two days more away from home to help, providing support, feeling how mildly she had reacted to everything, commonly just saying, "Not a problem," after someone thanked her heartily for something…

Not appreciating what she was doing.

Considering all these things, Ursa wanted to change as best she could once she woke up, thinking strongly, "Wow. I've mattered my whole life - so busy being down I didn't even remember my childhood properly, gumming up Amon's war machine - **helping the White Lotus possibly find a combustionbender.** But more than that… helping people mainly not with my bending, but by being myself. Just like Noatak told me - I need to be me. Nothing more, nothing less…"

The good feelings intensifying, Ursa felt as though everything she had been shown, re-experienced became a part of her permanently, seeing an image of her own body and a ball of multicolor fire over its heart, hearing her light half intone as a familiar ashen doppler slowly materialized next to the fireheart Ursa, **Say it. Say it now.**

The ashen doppler of herself appeared to materialize more when Ursa thought, "Say what?" Seeing the fire in the heart of the other Ursa dim accordingly, Ursa grasped at straws, "saying" wherever she was, "I did lots of cool stuff! Crap - ashen doppler gaining… I had a bigger impact than I thought! WHAT? Nonono don't…"

Trying to think what Nana might tell her, Ursa got the feeling that time was running out somehow, blue fire heart now orange and red - ashen Ursa doppler opening its mouth to reveal another void…

Feeling some sort of weak tug, Ursa thought strongly, "I am a worthy individual - deserving of love from others," glad to notice the tides had turned, blue fire in the normal looking Ursa's chest and getting the impression the ashen one was screaming - still getting the impression she needed to say something else if she wanted out…

Something finally clicked.

Ursa no longer feeling formless, seeing she was standing next to the ashen doppler, holding a blue fire in her hand, she said loudly, "I have fought for many others, **but it is time I fight for myself. **Put in the hard work I need to to get to the next stage of my life - **working on loving myself.**" Her ashen doppler now cracked and dissipating, her skin and bones, eerily lighted dark half revealing itself within the crumbled doppler. Ursa continued anyways. She noticed the fire in her hands turned from blue to the color of dragon's fire as she said, "Even if that means giving up old ideas and illusions I have - and embracing outside ones. Broaden my horizons - **move from wisdom to enlightenment, not for knowledge's or spiritual advancement's sake, ****but my sake. ****_I am worth work._**"

Fire in her hands now burning strongly, Ursa turned to her dark half, seeing it was the size of a four-year old now, Ursa saying, "It will be a lot of hard work, and I am sure I will mistakes. But I will do it. **I am taking back the self-love the world stole from me.**" By now seeing the terror and desperation in her doppler's eyes, Ursa extended her right arm, the arm holding the living flame, saying, "You are not welcome here."

The doppler not moving, growing seemingly in defiance, Ursa attempted to use the fire as a weapon, saying, "I WILL FIGHT!" loudly as she successfully wielded dragon's fire. Smelling the sickening scent of charred flesh, she noticed her doppler was now only bone and sinew, saying as red and gold eyes blazed hatefully, "And so will I, and your brain. You will tire in time. And the depression will return - take its toll on you. This life shall end in the ultimate failure!"

The doppler flinched and beginning to roast as if from within, bones cracking when Ursa glared at it strongly, resolute. Ursa swore she heard someone else's speech join her own as she said, "NO! I'll speak in terms you'll understand, little girl - terms of those who were or are dark. Evil. I will be as unceasing as the Equalist Revolution wanted to be, as unyielding as Unalaq was, zealous as Zaheer is, determined as Kuvira is, ruthless as Jinshu Kuangmai against you without losing myself, and use my brain to be as clever as Long Yumao!"

Her dark half by now nothing more than pulsing red energy in the shape of her own adult skeleton, Ursa looked at it, smiling slightly as she said, "Thank you very much - I've never seen my own skeleton before so clearly. **I guess I really do have big bones.**"

Seeing it had no reaction, Ursa simply turned around and walked away, hearing a screeching as she ignored it, seeing her older, motherly body begin to take shape at her chosen destination inside the endless black expanse, saying, "Looking good" as she arrived, getting ready to follow her pleased light half's example and place her hand on the orb.

About to place her hand there, Ursa was puzzled to see that another woman had just appeared and was also touching the orb, her light half saying, "Right now, the energy is so strong within you that we may be able to seal you against any further intrusions. You have done a lot of **work **for yourself - and it would be a shame if Koh could appear in one of your dreams and steal your face."

Placing her hand on the orb, Ursa felt a bizarre sensation - as though she were herself, her light half and this mystery woman all at once…

Hearing an odd click, getting the sense she'd never be bothered by external forces in the dream world again, Ursa retracted her hand - seeing the strange woman was still present, now a fair distance aways, on her side of the yin yang sphere. Her light half speaking an unintelligible word, Ursa saw it vanish - though the woman did not, the woman saying with sadness in her voice, "Good work - though it is a shame it took you so long to get to even this point, with such a family... Just desserts, I suppose - even if I did change my ways. He learned as well - but that did not stop Raava and karma…"

Not entirely sure who this mysterious, beautiful woman was, aside from the fact her voice was familiar, Ursa stared at the woman's naked form, saying enviously, "Wh… beautiful… you even have the light skin color I'd prefer, being a firebender!" Ursa held out a hand with a weak flame, pitiful compared to the one she had toasted her dark half with, saying, "I… I'd give my bending to have that kind of body! Again! Here - take it! I'd give it to you over Amon any day," saying earnestly, "Please - increased self-worth or not, I… I wanna look like you!" The woman laughed, tossing the hair that so closely resembled Ursa's own, saying, "The irony… I would have gladly taken your body and bending," adding, looking slightly ashamed with herself as Ursa gave her a sour look, Ursa's hands on her hips, "Not that there's anything wrong with your body - I think it's beautiful, strong. Might have even helped… As I learned - it's what's inside that counts most." Ursa nodded, saying, "Thank you - I guess I still don't appreciate what I have. I'll have to work on it," the woman crying slightly when Ursa said, "Trade your body, for my body and bending… still see that as a raw deal," looking sullen when Ursa finished, "Whoever you are, I hope nothing bad happened to you."

Remembering all she had just seen, Ursa asked the woman, seeing her as the motherly type, feeling comfortable after the apology, "Why… why are people bad? You seem like a spirit, maybe the Painted Lady's cousin - the Pretty Naked Lady!" the woman blushing at the compliment as Ursa finished, "Sure seem like a spirit. Popping in randomly - do you know why?" Ursa listened with shock as the woman responded, sniffing, "I am as human as you. There isn't any reason people are mean, cruel, vicious, violent - there wasn't the last time either. And there never will be. It's just how the Universe is, I'm afraid." Ursa cocked her head, asking, "Who are you - and why did your voice keep popping up earlier? And why do the things you say seem familiar?" The woman sighed, ignoring her question, simply stating, "I am within you, just as much as your family, friends, spirit or human - anyone else you love," adding as she walked over quickly, "Though… you should love yourself more, like I said earlier. The first time. Like you said before I appeared… thought with a whole lot more words. See you around - hopefully only in good dreams." Finished, the woman was now running at her full tilt!

Ursa utterly baffled when the woman did not collide with her, instead returning to her body much as she had heard Raava now did on a regular basis into Korra, laughing when she heard her light half intone, **That further interaction… was certainly not planned. I guess your dark half popping out of the ashen doppler unexpected brought… instability, I'll call it. **Wondering who the woman was, Ursa frowned when she heard her light half intone, **Remember not poking your dark half with sticks? Same thing applies. Don't mess where you shouldn't. **Remembering her own analogy to Raava returning to Korra, Ursa nodded her head, saying out loud, "Whatever it is, if it's ever relevant… I'm sure I'll find out," feeling peaceful when he light half intoned, **A good attitude to have, **wondering just how flawed Avatar Korra, her idol, was when it finished, **One the Avatar could use pertaining to this "issue", **finding the next thing it intoned most reasonable: **Aside from the emotional impact of your curious meeting, I will do my best to keep this a secret, should you ever be infobended by Avatar Korra.**

At first wondering what it was about this that was so… sensitive to anyone but herself, Ursa shook her head, saying, "No - not looking. I've already gone looking for snakes. My gut tells me this is something good… but I don't want to stare into the sun either, trying to figure out who she was - why she went back inside me, like… I've heard Avatar Aang might go back into Avatar Korra." Ursa smiled slightly, not saying anything - pretty sure who she had just seen, even if she didn't know her **past **name. Feeling her mind wander, trying to put things together without her input, Ursa felt an odd surge of energy, her train of thought lost, not sure what her light half was talking about when it said, **Damn - even when you're actively ****_not _****trying to think about something… you think about it!**

Still able to remember what had happened, Ursa recalled what the woman looked like, laughing slightly when she saw a tall, stocky woman with glittering green eyes bending metal, "THAT'S who my past life was? A pudgy woman metalbender cop? Guess much doesn't change…" somewhat confused when she heard her light half intone sadly, **That's… not what I was going for. Though I did dispense for the need for Avatar Korra tailored editing… **Ursa simply shrugged, saying, "Whatever - dealt with it then, sure I can deal with it again, even if she does look _relatively_ lighter than myself, to be charitable," smiling to hear her light half intone, **That's… a wonderful way to look at it.**

**Goodbye - though I will always be within you.**

Thinking a little, Ursa realized an inconsistency with the whole story - the woman had talked like she was a nonbender, wanting to take Ursa's deal if she could have, yet she clearly saw her past life bending metal, wearing a metalbender cop uniform! Ursa grumbled in confusion when she heard a voice intone, one she had heard before, one different than her own internal voice, _Very well - the original, true version has been restored, as well as a little help to not accidentally figure it out. That is, based on what you know now, as was your wish before your mind wandered… That is, figure it out AGAIN._

Ursa didn't care that the voice said she had figured out her real past life, had it wiped. She was obsessed. The voice… she swore she had heard it before! It sounded female, powerful, wise, ancient… yet had a… human-y personality. Could it be…?

_Yes. Raava. _

Ursa listened with disbelief as what certainly **felt **like Raava continued, not sensing any hidden darkness, only light, _I can sense you are wondering how I can talk to you - while my "host" Avatar Korra is asleep, my power of communication improves dramatically - able to talk to anyone in the inner dream world at will. Earlier, even a little outside - remember "Love is never wasted?"_

Ursa nodding in the affirmative, she laughed when Raava finished, _Hah - I can also sense your desire to know more about Kuvira. What she might have gone through. That… Also leave for later, _blushing slightly when the powerful being added, _I know you wanted to be useful, mad you missed the reinforcements - I'm sure you'll find something, though probably not as awesome as finding a combustionbender, _laughing after Raava seemingly finished for good, intoning, _Ugh! I thought I was supposed to be nearly all powerful..? Whatever. Okay - been pushing myself, talking to so many at once… maybe I need helpers? Other guy does… Afraid I have to go. Bye._

Thinking a little, Ursa mumbled, " 'Other guy' what? Who… Huh? The only powerful spirit I know of that's male is Vaatu," wondering, "There's spirits aligned with Raava, Long Yumao… what if… Jinshu Kuangmai has spirits on his side too?"

Ursa heard a rather incensed Raava intone, _What the…? Sheesh - guess if "we" ever meet, I'll have to watch my yap, and tell Korra to be careful! Your light half already took some… liberties, _groaning when Raava added, _Not telling you the answer about the "other guy" - aside from he's __**definitely**__ not Vaatu._

_Hey! Big sis! Wake up! Momma worry you sleep still!_

Shaking her head, Ursa thought, "What the…? Didn't figure the spirit of light to talk like a three-year old, or call me big sis," surprised yet not surprised to hear Raava intone, _Ever since the beginning of the Spirit Civil War, especially after… something you will find out in a press release if at all happened, the little bit of myself and Vaatu inside every human has become more accessible. It was always there - only now after becoming more "human-y" have I connected with it beyond the Avatar. Your little sister Buniq is no different - that was her inner light, speaking directly to you. _

_Just as your inner light spoke to her without you knowing - letting her know earlier that big sis was in trouble. Now go - say hello to your little sister. I have other things to attend to._

At first tempted to ponder what the spirit of light and balance was doing talking to someone like her, Ursa closed her eyes, thinking, "Just because I want to change badly does not mean it will be easy."

Noticing that even though she had closed her eyes it seemed awfully… light for still being in an endless black expanse as she had been before the curious end to her partial life review, Ursa opened her eyes again - ending up squinting them, saying with annoyance in her voice, "BUNIQ! Did you have to turn on _every _light in the room? One or two would have been just fine!" Her little sister just laughed, saying, "Yay - big sis back up! Big soft hug from big sis?" Buniq put her hand over her mouth, pausing for a moment - as though waiting for Ursa to say something, almost appearing like she was bracing for something unpleasant somehow…

Ursa remembering she sometimes told Buniq to just call her sis and not big sis out of self-image issues, much less mention "big soft hugs", Ursa smiled, saying as she took the covers off of her, "I don't mind being called **big **sis at all - big sis had some very nice sleep and dreams. I'll gladly give you a big **soft** hug." Buniq nodded, asking as she cocked her head, "Big sis think she pretty? What happen?" Ursa sat up, turning to face her sister, pausing for a moment, then shrugging, saying, "For what I am - yes. I'd still like to be smaller, though," smiling when Buniq gave her a hug, Ursa returning the favor, Buniq saying, "Smaller - bad hug! No like poke!"

Flinching slightly, recalling how her dark half's bones had almost poked through its skin, eerie red light visible through its paltry bone coverings, Ursa said, trying to get back to happy things, "What about this kind of poke?" Tickling her sister slightly, Buniq squealed happily, saying, "Like long poke! Come - mama need see you!" adding after a tickle of her own on Ursa's back, "Not said what happen yet. Tell?"

Ursa sighed deeply as she got up fully, towering over her little sister, saying earnestly, "A lot happened in there - and someone told me I need to draw more. No, not mom! I'll just… tell everyone who's here the take away, and draw and write out the rest. Okay?"

Buniq smiled, saying, "Okay!" pointing to the drawer where Ursa kept most of her drawings, asking, "Draw real picture you? Without stupid heavy clothe! Clothe mama make you! What I wear when have to wear clothe." Ursa wasn't entirely sure how to answer that, saying as she remembered something else in that drawer she had been specifically instructed to look at after, "I… I don't know about that. I feel better… but not _that _better yet," finishing after a glance in the mirror, "I'll see what I end up _feeling _like doing. The stuff from sleep didn't stick totally. Have to put in work on myself for it to be true out here fully. Okay?"

Buniq nodded, chirping, "Work for you - good!" adding as Ursa fished around for her long neglected medal in the drawer, "What you doing? And why Bolin and Asami no clothe?"

The color drained from Ursa's face, saying as she snapped up the two works of "art", "Uh - they were both too hot! Felt like they needed some cool air," laughing slightly when Buniq blew on the rapidly retreating pictures, saying, "Be cool!" Finally getting the pictures put away, hoping Buniq wouldn't remember that part, Ursa finally felt her fingers touch cold metal, saying as she took out the award she had ignored for so long, "Big sis hasn't gotten a good look at this yet - so try and be quiet. Okay?"

Buniq pointed at the medal, saying, "Aang! Aang!" stopping after a light cough from Ursa, Buniq sitting down on the floor, saying, "Be quiet - for now! Explain what mean."

Trying to recall what General Iroh II had said back then and "just" now during the life review, Ursa explained very simply and briefly what she did to get it, noticing Buniq was nodding very early on, stopping as her sister said, "Already know story - love story! Big sis did big! Want to see medal now!"

Remembering there was a fairly simple inscription on the back of the medal Ursa had already seen, figuring Buniq would find it fascinating, entirely new to her little sister, Ursa examined the front - starting to cry a little out of happiness and surprise, Buniq asking, "Big sis okay? Why cry?"

Examining the medal closely, Ursa said, "These are happy tears, Buniq," the medal itself about three inches in diameter - the past Raiko had been right about its size, roughly close to that of the Kyoshi Medal of Freedom Kuvira crushed a while ago. Unlike that medal, there was no gold on it - but the inscriptions meant a lot to Ursa. The medal itself having a backdrop of the United Republic of Nations symbol made of brass, Ursa began reading the characters on the medal. The prominent Airbending Master forehead tattoo arrow had "Mettle" on it, the symbol for Air above the characters, still on the blue arrow itself. Seeing there was another smaller, white arrow leading from its left side with "Flexibility" on it that lead to the symbol for Water to the arrowhead's left, Ursa followed the apparent path that Avatar Aang took to master the elements, another white arrow between Water and Earth - the symbol for Earth directly beneath the airbending arrow - that read "Guts", able to recall that then "Sifu Toph" had told Aang that was what he needed to master earthbending.

Continuing to look at the medal, Ursa felt like she was holding history in her hand, having learned a lot about Avatar Aang's life. After following the next white arrow up and to the right that had "Intensity" written on it, pointing to the other element Avatar Aang had trouble with, Fire, Ursa thought, "My light half was right - I saw better in the dark at the fridge than I had… up until now," hearing her little sister Buniq protest, "Can't read back! Nice looking - you read now!" Ursa laughed slightly, noticing there was one area of the front beneath the symbol for Earth with what appeared to be more characters and a small latch, saying, "Just a minute," her eyes widening to read yet again what she had that made her deserving of this wonderful, neglected medal: "Inner strength and courage."

Quickly explaining the front to Buniq, reading the personalized inscription on the back of the medal, Ursa could feel her heart pounding in excitement and anticipation - wondering what was on the medal's inside. She had never opened it - only General Iroh II and the metalsmiths and artisans of Yu Dao knew what lay inside…

Finally opening the locket, Ursa saw a very detailed image of Avatar Aang in the Avatar State surrounded by an elemental bubble, idly wondering why she had never heard of Avatar Korra using that technique as she admired all four elements being bent at once - something she had never seen directly. By now crying a stream of happy tears, she let Buniq see what she had seen - eyes widening to see there was an inscription on the other half of the clamshell locket, reading the inscription out loud: "The heart, determination and will of an indominatable Avatar."

Feelng completely overcome by emotions she hadn't felt in years, Ursa sat down, laughing slightly when Buniq said, hands on her hips, "Duh! You need piece metal tell you that? I no need piece metal tell me that! About you - OR me!"

Deciding that she'd be wearing her Avatar Aang Medal of Mettle as much as possible, having a feeling in her gut it would help her cheer up when she was down, Ursa stood up, saying, "Little sis - I need you to leave now. I'm going to get dressed," giving her sister a brief evil eye when she said, "Wear pretty clothe - not bag clothe!" Ursa shook her head, saying, "Fine - but under the baggy clothes," Buniq looking at her like she was crazy.

Thinking about how hot and heavy two layers of clothes would be, Ursa realized her little sister may have had a point, saying as her little sister panted in mock heat exhaustion, "I'll wear something I can stuff in my backpack if I get hot. Okay?" Buniq nodded, saying as though she were the big sister, "Okay. Do it, then come see momma. She worried - she be happy to see you!"

Buniq now gone, Ursa put on her "normal" clothes, thinking as she looked at sword, shield, baggy clothes and backpack, "Hmm… suppose it would be a bit hypocritical to go in and tell mom I don't mind my body as much as I used to… while wearing all _that _concealing stuff," deciding, "I'll pack them anyways - only wear them if I start feeling self-conscious," quickly finishing - swearing she smelled something wonderful in the air, maybe even feeling a little… hunger?

Standing still for a minute, remembering her experience as Food Drunk Ursa, she thought, "I'll… have to **think** about that, feelings or not," as she turned out her lights and opened the windows for something to see dimly by should she need to return. Never having worn her backpack _and _weapons before, a sword and shield definitely not school-approved items to bring along, Ursa produced a small flame to see by - noticing that while it was not blue, she had managed to produce a much brighter and bigger one than normal with the same chi "juice" applied. Finding her weapons and trying them on, Ursa was surprised to find she could handle them easily. After trying out something she had heard Lord Zuko did once in his youth, smiling broadly to see flames dance on her much more nimble and sharper yanmandao, Ursa said before stopping playing, "Guess that inadvertent diet and deliberate workout regime in the evacuee camp did me some good after all."

Turning out her personal light, not taking her "special" power for quite as granted after seeing herself lose her bending to Amon four years ago from a third-person perspective, Ursa made her way towards the kitchen area - having forgotten to put her shield and sword back. Smelling deeply automatically, her earlier concerns flew out the window, wondering out loud as she approached the kitchen area, "MMMM! Mom - what IS that? I've never smelled anything like it before," adding even though she heard the sounds of frying and sizzling, "Whatever it is, I'll have one… maybe some to go!"

Finally in the modest kitchen and seeing her mother surrounded by all sorts of ingredients, staring at her daughter in disbelief, Ursa looked at her mother Panik's face - beginning to cry slightly when she saw how worried and down her mother looked. Her mom said, apparently cooking on autopilot now, "URSA! I was so worried - first, we couldn't wake you when your dad left, and then earlier, just now?! I was worried sick - I've been doing this ever since Buniq told me you were in trouble - perfecting these 'panic cakes'! Got waterbending in the fillings down finally, and - wait a minute. Am I dreaming, or…?"

Ursa saw her mother's eyes dart to Ursa's chest, Ursa finding herself staring at her mother's disheveled state and… messy looking mouth, to put it kindly, Ursa stopping her staring when her mother said, still cooking, "Wh - the medal! I never thought I'd see you wearing it… let alone one of the dresses I made you, with light in your eyes! What happened?"

Ursa heard a warm voice laugh slightly in the corner, hearing her grandmother say, "I'd say whatever happened to Zuko over seven decades ago and Kuvira just recently happened - though in a totally different way. Based on your smile, Ursa, closer to what Aang did and his chakras - though I certainly hope you didn't do any of that letting go your earthly attachments nonsense!" Ursa laughed, shaking her head and saying, "I most certainly did not," Nana looking pleased initially as she said, "Good - you'd miss all of us, doing that. Come, little seal - why don't you try a… 'fun cake'?" Nana looked at her daughter irately after Ursa's mother said, "Panic cake," Nana wagging her finger as she said, "I already told you, Panik - that's not a good name, 'panic cake' - even if it is accurate!"

Ursa nodded, noticing her little sister was eagerly trying out their mother's latest creation, Ursa raising an eyebrow in disbelief when Buniq said, "Mmm - better than VarriCake! Love… Big Hug cake!" Nana laughed, saying, "That sounds like a really good name, sweetie," motioning for Ursa to sit down, saying without a hint of disapproval in her voice, "You're not the only one to use food as a crutch in this family, Ursa - your mom's been at it for quite a while. Ever since Buniq told her you were having some trouble, and were back asleep, out cold. In my opinion, she perfected the recipe long ago. Why don't you come try it, while she works off _her _stress - looks like you don't have much of your own."

Finally realizing she had entered the room wearing sword and shield, Ursa set them down along with her backpack, saying as she noticed Buniq declined the opportunity to poke and prod at her personal belongings, "Those things must be pretty good - my little sis isn't interested in my stuff in the least." Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Ursa turned around - seeing her mother was smiling slightly, saying, "I… I can cook up another batch or ten. Here - whatever you've been through, it must have been a lot. Here - hot off the stove. They go really well with milk," laughing slightly as she sat the strange steaming deserts down, "I had to pay out the nose for more, when we ran out. Here - let me get you some," laughing nervously when her mother turned around, saying, "And the maybe some more…" putting down a big glass of milk next to Ursa's plate.

Deeply curious, not having remembered ever seeing her mother like this before, Ursa fought off the urge to stare and quelled internal, judging thoughts screaming, "FOOD DRUNK MOM!" Looking at the plate in front of her, Ursa's eyes widened - though not in a good way. While these "Big Hug cakes" did look delicious… Ursa didn't care to count how many her mother had given her, only knowing that she'd likely hurt or offend her mother deeply if she didn't eat everything, thinking, "Hope this is either it until dinner, or I can burn these… delicious looking things and whatever milk she gives me off today."

Taking another deep breath, smelling many wonderful things, Ursa found herself grabbing one automatically - finding it felt hot, slightly fluffy, definitely greasy, yet heavy somehow - as though there was something inside, seeing the dough itself looked flecked somehow… cinnamon?

Taking the first bite, Ursa found they _were _better than VarriCakes - probably even cold! Fluffy dough and the cinnamon spice in it, the heat of the outside, the coolness and sweetness of the inside filling more flavorful than the core of any VarriCake… Getting a gut feeling she should just go with it, Ursa did, making sure to focus on the present and not nagging thoughts - finishing the plate and feeling like she had just been given many different kinds of soft hugs, different fillings in each Big Hug Cake's center. Chasing everything down with the glass of milk, feeling immensely satisfied, Ursa let out a deep, contented sigh, saying, "Wow - that was great. Didn't know I needed it - guess I did. Thanks, mom."

Noticing she had just been offered another plate, Ursa shook her head, still feeling physically satisfied and glad to not have offended her mother by refusing her gift, saying with a smile, "No, thanks - I'm good," adding after her mom looked a bit down, "Seems like you need them more anyways."

Mother now smiling, she said, "Whatever happened to you, Ursa - it must have been nothing but good," Ursa saying as her mom dug into the Big Hug Cakes with gusto that rivaled her own, "A lot happened - I've already told my little sister Buniq I'm going to draw and write most of it out. If I could infobend like Avatar Korra, I'd tell you everyth - what's wrong?"

Ursa knew her family was known for its unusual opinions, but she found herself shocked when her mother said, through a mouthful of Big Hug Cake, "If she hadn't… saved Kuvira for personal… reasons and made that… big explosion and new… Spirit Portal, then maybe… I could have a place to… go work at! Nevermind the… Spirit Civil War - I'm… just supposed to believe… that stupid Spirit Portal cap's going to… stay strong while she's off… who knows where? Asking Republic City to… go to the heart of the… Earth Empire, when she's been… gallivanting around the Fire Nation!... Conference this, emergency near Omashu that!"

Ursa grimaced slightly, seeing a bit of Food Drunk Ursa in her mother, **very **glad when Nana spoke for her, telling her sad-looking daughter, "Panik, please - calm down. What is, is - and being bitter about what someone who has suffered as much as Avatar Korra has won't solve anything. I know you're an adult, but I would **advise **you to make this your last batch of Big Hug Cakes - don't give me that look! Until later, of course - those things could outsell VarriCakes, for what it matters! What matters is you both try and deal with what's troubling you, **and **use the salve - not whine and moan while taking your 'medicine'! May as well just be eating for eating's sake then!"

Her mother looking very sheepish by now, she finished her current Big Hug Cake, saying as she laid down the plate and took a small swig of milk, "You're right, mom - I'm sorry, Ursa. I know your struggles with weight - and that wasn't a very good example to set." Starting to cry again, Ursa tempted to point when her mother reached for another Big Hug Cake, stopping when Nana shook her head, Panik sobbed, "I know what spirit weapons can do… and I'm just worried I'll never see my husband, father of two, Hideki again. Or get to bury him… All that stuff about the Avatar - I guess I'm just… bitter about my more replaceable loss… and that her spiritual mentor Tenzin was half of the decision to say, 'You can't resettle here!'… The spirits are already much more than restless… and given either she or her partner…No, either one of her 'partners' started it, the… Spirit Civil War, either Asami Sato or Raava… I had hoped the Avatar would be back here. Cleaning up the **messes **she made."

Her mother now looking like she needed some alone time, Ursa wasn't tempted to say anything about having had similar feelings, aside from implicitly trusting the Avatar's decisions far more than her mother did. She didn't want to feed her mother's sadness and bitterness - not after having experienced what food plus those two could do to herself…

Her mother looking at the stove, having by now finished all the Big Hug Cakes she had made, Ursa stood up, standing between her mother and the pan full of sizzling grease, saying, "Mom - no. Don't. You've faced the problem, taken your 'medicine'." Noticing she was getting a sour look from her mother at this point, Ursa not wanting to tell her little sister she had experienced the horror of being near a half ton, Ursa whispered the basics into her mother's ear, saying when her mother gave her a horrified look, "Normally, I wouldn't be so blunt - but I don't want you repeating my mistakes for real. You're calmed down now, look better - don't go back to that stove and make more to eat for right now. Please. For me and my sister."

Her mother gave Ursa a large, unexpected, powdery and greasy hug. Ursa returned the hug, her mother simply saying through tears, "Thank you for helping look out for me. I love you."

After explaining everything relevant to Nana, getting a pat on her back from her grandmother and a, "Good job," her mother finally spoke again, saying as she turned down the temperature on the pan, "Ursa - I've tried to show you the family photos before, my personal photos before, try to get you to see something beyond a happy family. I have a confession to make - that's not the first time I've had cooking binges." Ursa screwed up her face, saying, "Wh - I've always seen you as the 'skinny one'! What do you mean?" Her mother smiled slightly, saying, "Let's look first - and then talk," gesturing to Nana and saying, "Get the photos out. Ursa, you mentioned something briefly about 'mom weight' - well, now you can see it for real. Let's just say I was most definitely not always this weight… and I thank you for stopping me." Noticing the stove was still on, Ursa pointed at it, her mother saying, "I don't want to waste that grease - it's… fresh. I'll exhaust it and pack the Big Hug Cakes away, or for you - they've got fat, sugar, and carbohydrates. Pair them with some water, a bit of greens, and jerky - seal or otherwise - and you've got a pretty decent lunch on the go." Her mother smiled slightly, adding, "Probably not a good idea to squish them, though - and now that I think about it, they don't _need _the filling. They just taste better that way."

Ursa nodded in agreement, by now Nana having finished bringing out a family photobook, listening to her mother as she showed Ursa various stages in her life, mom saying, "Here, you can see me at 17 - when I met your dad. Two years and a whole lot of love and one marriage later, here's you joining the family. You can see a definite difference between 17 and 19 - but worth it." Ursa compared the two versions of her mother - seeing that the gain appeared more significant than her own possible mom weight, slightly overweight 17-year old now looking more than a bit over plump. Her mother continued, saying, "The first kid's tough, any kid's tough - and I did whatever I needed to, to stay balanced for your sake, even if that meant increasing the reading on the scale, more concerned with taking care of you than what some piece of equipment told me about my eating habits. I was busy with life - didn't have the mental energy to watch myself, and found the food helped me deal with stress…" Ursa seeing a slight gain over the years, her eyes widened to see she hadn't been the only one to shoot up in weight during her depression, her mother saying, "I can see what you're looking at - you, **and **me, six years ago. The depression. When… when we thought we might lose you, or never see light in your eyes again… those were hard times. I gave you lots of BIG hugs back then - I didn't really start to lose until a month after you turned your first corner."

Noticing her mother appeared to drop a ton of weight around the time Buniq was one, Ursa asked, "Mom - you said any kid's tough. How'd you lose all that weight, in between my little sister being born, and a year later?"

Her mother started crying again, Ursa able to tell these were happy tears, crying herself when her mother said, setting the book down and picking up Buniq, "When you finally came out and away from your little inner world two years ago, no longer chasing snakes… you had already made raising this little rascal easier than it had been raising you. Even while you were lost. With your full help, being a wonderful big sister - there was _reverse _mom weight. Because I had help with Buniq, but most of all - knowing that you were more than fine as well. Given you're finally wearing a smile… I'd say you're just going to get better from here on out." Smiling broadly, her mother finished, "I don't know if you remember or appreciate the cooking _we _did for those poor people - but I'm going to start cooking again. Pack your pack full of Big Hugs - give them out to people who need them, as well as your own hugs. You're… you're what mothers dream of having in a kid, Ursa."

Tempted to go backwards to go forwards, tell Nana and her mother more about her experiences, Ursa felt like _doing _something - even if it was helping her mother cook…

After her mother cleaned herself up, Ursa helped her mom cook more Big Hug Cakes and exhaust the oil, glad to see not a one was eaten while they were cooking - or after. Ursa not sure how much time later, they had used up all the supplies for making Big Hug Cakes - even making some with sweet jerky in their centers and a mild tangy spice instead of cinnamon in the dough. Ursa had actually gotten the idea from her experience as a Food Drunk and the sweet, tangy meat there. Finding they had more than they could carry without hurting the product, Ursa nodded when Nana said, "Don't have to eat it all _or _give it all away today. I'm sure someone who's really hungry would appreciate even a stale Big Hug Cake," surprised to hear something she had never before when Nana finished, "When I was little, I was in the same position. Immigrants without money don't usually find any favors laid out for them," adding with a chuckle, "Being skinny's not fun at all - especially not the always hungry kind… I got this size as soon as I could, though not on purpose - after meeting your grandfather, having four sons, just one daughter, and feeding everyone took a 'toll' on my body."

Buniq by now begging for attention, Ursa took it as a chance to leave - not feeling in the least bit tempted to eat any of the Big Hug Cakes in her extra bags, just wondering what she'd do with them all, her mother having decided they should all go today, saying what her mother had as she left the apartment, "If you're giving it to him, a beggar deserves good food."

Not having a clue where to start, only that there would likely be hungry and very mad people near the crater, as there had been yesterday, Ursa took the elevator down to the ground floor, stopping at the concierge desk, holding up her bags of Big Hug Cakes and asking, "Seen any hungry people around?" The skinny man gave her a funny look and smiled slightly, Ursa finding herself rolling her eyes instead of crying as she might have before when he said, "Certainly not you." Ursa growled at him after he laughed at his own wit, "Hey - smart-alecky rail. Don't like it the other way, do you? I'm here to give people something for free - food. You're supposed to be helpful, not snarky and 'clever.' I miss the usual concierge lady - at least she's nice. Now are you going to help me or not?"

The man sighed, saying, "Yes. I'm just a temporary - as you sort of said, the person who used to be here went with the reinforcements. I don't know how much you've been out and about, but there's a big bunch of squatters that I was a part of until last night near City Hall. This building's manager offered me a job, figuring the older woman I replaced was as good as dead, going up against spirit weapons. Heard all sorts of rumors about smaller, newer version of the thing Kuvira used to attack Republic City - in a madman's hands…" After another deep sigh, the man gave her a second look, eyes widening slightly when he said, "Wait a minute. That medal… it looks sort of familiar. There was a big to-do in the papers four years back about a row General Iroh II had with then just Raiko over the things. So that must make you… ugh, can't remember."

Looking back and forth, the man asked, "Whatever's in those bags - can I have one?" Ursa nodded, spotting something on the man's desk as she gave him one, asking, "Hey - what's that note?" The man biting into the Big Hug Cake, Ursa having given him one with meat inside, he said, "Wow - that's good, and not totally fluff nutritionally. Haven't had meat that good in a while." Bowing slightly for the compliment, Ursa nearly stumbled backwards from shock and the weight of her cargo and personal affects when the man said, "Wait - that thing's a locket! I remember that medal from the paper now! You must be Ursa - the person who this is addressed to. Let me see - says 'To Ursa, from Chang. We did good work together again Amon. Please come to my family apartment on Floor Fifteen of Fifteen. You don't need to know the apartment number - just look for the door with Pro-Bending memorabilia on it. Your dad's a military officer - my dad was a Pro-Bender. Come on by - see if we have anything else in common, aside from fathers we look up to."

Giving the man a Big Hug Cake with sweets in the middle, Ursa took the note, saying, "Thank you!" Hearing the man say, "Sorry for the rudeness - just rather bitter here!" Ursa punched at the elevator, thinking, "Sounds like this note was written four years ago… he _was_ hitting on me," blushing deeply by the time the elevator came - blood rushing through her body in anticipation.

Easily finding the door, she knocked on it, swearing she heard a familiar female crying from within as someone approached, Ursa saying, "Uh, hello? I know this note's four years old, but - uh, this is Ursa? Is Chang here?"

The female crying stopped, the door opened, Ursa hardly recognizing Chang he had matured so much, listening in incredulity when he said, looking baffled, "Huh? You can't be Ursa - she wouldn't… Wait - those bags. You're not with the food place we just called, are you?" Ursa shook her head, saying as she blushed slightly, "No - I finally saw this note you stuck on the concierge's desk, the whole four years ago, and I was wondering if your offer still - "

Initially devastated when Chang shook his head, saying, "No," Ursa's heart performed a u-turn or two when he continued, "But not for the reason you think, Ursa. We picked up someone who looks a lot like you at the evacuee camp, claiming she was 'lost' - turns out she had snuck away from her family, and - ooof! Be aware of where you are - I might be burly like my dad, but you've got to be careful!"

Pretty sure she was dreaming, Ursa pinched her cheeks, her arm, even tried seeing if she could conjure blue fire and failing, seeing who was standing in front of her.

Sullen in her pudgy face and slumped over, holding something to eat as usual, Ursa noticed one big difference in Karpok aside from looking a bit heavier than when school had let out the past spring. Instead of endless agony in her eyes, Ursa was pretty sure she could see a glimmer of hope in them - even if Karpok's eyes were looking at the bags of Big Hug Cakes Ursa was carrying.

Part of her still thinking this was some sort of weird dream, another thinking, "Don't give her all that - those people near City Hall need it more!" Ursa went with neither, smiling slightly as she opened one bag, Karpok sniffing deeply as Ursa said, "Me and my mom just made these. Something tells me you might need some kind of comfort - mind if I come in and set these down?" Karpok nodded, saying after taking a bite of what she was holding, "That… that would be great," crying a little as she said, "Still wish I looked like you - and I feel like I can't stop eating! Or… all the pain, from… I can't say what yet will catch up."

Chang turned to Karpok, saying, "It's okay - you look like you. That's all that matters to me. And you're away from your family," Karpok's morose crying reminding Ursa strongly of her own sobs during her worst depression when Chang finished, "Away from him."

Ursa hearing another thought, this one saying, "She's just one food drunk - she doesn't matter! What are you doing?" Ursa made her way into Chang's apartment - knowing full well she wasn't going on any dates with Chang anytime soon, or giving the hungry people around City Hall every single one of the Big Hug Cakes she was carrying. Someone else needed some of them too - but for a different reason.

She didn't care if the people near City Hall physically needed the food - someone just like "Food Drunk Ursa" was standing right in front of her, and needed both kinds of Big Hugs. Ursa felt like she could handle the world alone. Karpok, on the other hand…

From what Ursa remembered of Karpok, having a growing suspicion Karpok had been sexually abused given what little Chang and Karpok had said so far, Ursa decided Food Drunk Karpok or not, she was going to help Karpok in any way she could. Even if it meant giving her some Big Hug Cakes after actual big hugs. Seeing the way Chang was hugging Karpok deeply as she continued to cry, Karpok stopping for a moment after a peck on the cheek from Chang, Ursa was hopeful Karpok wouldn't need much other than normal big hugs and consoling.

Part of Ursa felt bitter that someone who had shown interest in her seemed to be bonding with someone else, but on the most basic level, she didn't care - just like she didn't care whether or not she had Avatar Korra's autograph. Like the Avatar's autographed letter consoling Asami Sato instead of hanging on Ursa's wall unappreciated, Ursa realized that in the end, both things and people ended up where and with who they needed to be - people getting what they needed if only they could hold out long enough.

As she sat down at the table, Ursa had only one thought as she saw Karpok smile weakly after a deep hug from Chang: "I'm glad Karpok held out long enough."

Remembering that her great grandmother on her father's side had not, or had simply given up


	57. Chapter 57: A Model Citizen: Part 2

Chapter 57: A Model Citizen: Part 2

Having been in Chang and his family's apartment all of a minute at most, her belongings aside from the food she had brought on the floor beside her chair Ursa felt surprisingly comfortable. Ursa smiled when she saw a woman enter the room who she had never seen before, introducing herself quickly as Chang talked with Karpok a little, Ursa saying, "Hello - I'm Ursa. Your son may have mentioned me before, from four years ago - Amon's attack on Republic City. I assume you must be Chang's mother, and… Huanhato's husband, was it?" The woman gave her a slightly funny look, saying, "You look, act… different than the way Chang described you," blushing slightly as she extended a hand, saying, "I'm sorry - I forgot my manners. I'm Sesi - Huanhato's wife," adding, "Uh - just curious. Given you're the only one who got that medal… can I see it?"

Ursa nodded, saying, "Sure - it's got something on the inside too," adding as she remembered something from the note, "What it says on the inside - I think the same's true of your husband and son. I remember - my dad and Huanhato being two of the last one to go down, back then… Chang fighting a bit longer than I did, too."

Chang's mother Sesi busy looking at the medal, Ursa turned her attention to the three people who had just sat down at the table, Huanhato saying, "Hello, Ursa. My son had hoped you'd come sooner than four years later - but better late than never, I guess." Looking concerned, he continued, "But everything since that day in the evacuee camp… I heard rumors about some scuffle involving a corrupt police officer and two firebenders. From what Chang's told me about you, you were probably a part of that." Ursa nodded, Huanhato looking very angry as he continued, "We were busy ourselves back then, me, my son and my wife - Karpok here just randomly flitted close to where we were staying. Claimed she was just passing through on the way back to where she was coming from - disoriented by the tents. Just seeing how she carried herself, how sad she looked - I'm no truthsenser, but I could tell she was lying."

Karpok now crying heavily, Ursa listening as Huanhato continued, making a fist, "After Chang asked her what was wrong, she broke down, crumbling like a Pro-Bending disk - managing to tell us she was really on the run from her family, though she wouldn't say why at the time. A few minutes later, that was when her family caught up with her - the father claiming she was just lost like she had said earlier." Frowning deeply, a metal spoon on the table nearby scrunching up into a ball after he clenched his fist, Huanhato continued, "When I told him to get lost, and let me listen to what she had to say, he got aggressive, claiming she was his daughter - that I had no business with internal family affairs," laughing bitterly as he finished, "Claimed she was a problem child - even though Karpok couldn't even properly bend her own element aside from healing at the time. Fighting something I'd later learn her father had prohibited her from doing."

Huanhato by now too livid to continue, standing up and walking to the door as though he expected someone to come, Chang continued, giving Karpok a quick re-assuring hug, saying, "Karpok might not want to talk about it right now, just telling me this all seems like a dream to her still, wanting to deal with it the way she had been for many years… but at our tent, something in her snapped - telling us about how her father had sexually abused her from a young age." Chang looked like he wanted to continue, but stopped when Karpok took a deep breath, saying tentatively, "I… I wanna talk to Ursa. Or try…"

Karpok at a loss for words at first, she looked to one of the bags Ursa had brought, saying, "Comfort. You said it earlier. M-maybe… what's in those, again?" Feeling torn, realizing that whatever Karpok had been though Ursa couldn't possibly understand what the other poor girl was feeling, Ursa took out a Big Hug Cake, saying, "I don't know if I ever told you, but my mom's a cook. For her job. She made these up trying to make herself feel better. She was sad earlier - my dad went with the reinforcements, possibly going up against spirit weapons… and her workplace was inside the crater, so she was down and depressed. Just like you must be - I can't even begin to imagine what it was like, until you got away." Karpok by now sullen-looking again, Ursa said, pointing to herself with one hand, holding out a Big Hug Cake with sweet filling with the other, "Hey - it's okay. I used to be a lot heavier than this… relatively, that is. When I was depressed five, six years ago. Something helped me realize all that was a crutch - to help me through my depression, thinking I should kill myself."

Karpok's eyes widened after the last part, saying, "I… I've tried that once or twice. Couldn't go through with it. Waah - such a fat, miserable failure! So weak…" Ursa recoiled in horror, Chang looking too shocked to speak, Ursa saying as she tossed the Big Hug Cake so that it landed near Karpok, "NO, you're not! Killing yourself is the ultimate surrender - my father's grandmother did it, and it affected his father deeply. I'll never know what it was like, to go through what you have - but you're still here! Alive - fighting. Even if food has been one of your 'weapons' for a long time…"

Ignoring the Big Hug Cake, Karpok began crying again, saying, "It… it wasn't just for something that felt good." Burying her face in her hands, not a thought about either one's pudginess crossing Ursa's mind, she didn't judge at all when Karpok took a deep breath, taking the first bite of the Big Hug Cake, mumbling, "Thi-this is good. Wow…"

Karpok finished it, Ursa glad to see she could enjoy something so simple at least, smiling broadly when she had a similar reaction to Chang kissing her on the mouth and caressing her slightly, Karpok saying after he withdrew, sounding bittersweet, "It… it will take a long time, maybe forever… for something like that to not bring up awful memories… But I liked that better than that cake, Chang - even with the hip grab." Chang blushed slightly, saying, "Wh - uh, glad you liked it," Karpok turning to her, asking, "Are… are you busy, Ursa? Can you stay a while? I… I've never had anything but _just _food. To feel good, try and shield me with weight against my father…" saying after a slight pause, "If you've got to go - those things are just as good. I've got Chang to help…"

Ursa shook her head, saying, "Nope. And while I hope you don't need them, there's more bags of these things where that came from." Karpok shaking her head slightly, she let out a deep sigh when Chang asked her, "You… you said you tried to kill yourself 'once or twice'. How many times was it really…?" Karpok simply shook her head, saying, "I… I don't want to say," adding as she looked sullen, "Mom… can I have some milk, and Ursa, give me another… what's the look for, Ursa?" sobbing, "Don't tell me you've been judging this whole time!"

Ursa shook her head in horror, saying honestly, "Wh - no! I know I never talked to you much in school, but I already told you - I used to be bigger, used food as medicine for a crushing depression." Noticing Chang looked a bit uncomfortable, Ursa suggested, "Chang, Huanhato - why don't you go somewhere else for a little. Leave us girls alone." Chang nodded, saying, "Whatever she needs," Karpok looking terrified as both he and his father left, crying once they had left the room, "Wh… what if he comes back?"

Ursa frowned, saying, "So what if he does? You're a waterbender, I'm a firebender - and from what I've heard so far, your father doesn't sound like he deserves the chance to do to others what he's done to you." Karpok broke down completely at this point, bawling and ignoring the milk and Big Hug Cake in front of her, "It… I always thought it was about sex. The good feelings he felt while doing it… but… it wasn't. I was always eating for more reasons than pleasure - food one of the few good things in my life aside from the reprieve school provided. I guess… I tried making myself as unattractive as I could, intentionally eating - build a wall of fat against him."

Looking up, having a bit of blue steel in her eyes, Karpok said, "That was all until… until I came home from school before the evacuation - saw him with my mother. Doing the same thing he did to me with her - even though she's skinny, beautiful." Her eyes flaring, Karpok said, "It was all about POWER, not sex! All along!" Noticing Karpok was now reaching for the milk and Big Hug Cake, sobbing and moaning, "It's hopeless! Ch-Chang likes me the way I am… can have him and food, to, to heal", Ursa said delicately, hoping her inner light would give her the right words, "Stop. Don't eat - fight. Talk. By doing that, giving up and eating for yourself instead of fighting, you're just giving your father power - even when he's likely half a city away." Noticing she had Karpok's attention, Ursa said, "You've made the breakthrough - seeing it was about power, not sex. Next time he comes around, bothers you - I'm sure your new mom Sesi will have trained you how to fight with your bending."

Seeing Karpok still went through with her earlier motions, even reaching out and grabbing more from the bag, Ursa doing her best to not frown when Karpok asked her, "Look at me!... You just said… what I'm doing is bad!... Eating! Aren't you going to… say anything?... Judge me?"

Feeling a bizarre sensation, as though her earlier request for help speaking had been granted, Ursa said, not even truly being in line with her own words just yet, "No. I am not going to say anything. Instead, I'm going to get my things and leave - including the Big Hug Cakes - and come back some other day. **When you're willing to fight for yourself**, and not be consumed by the bitterness you've felt for most of your life. Face your problems like you did earlier instead of trying to stuff them away. Talk to me with an empty mouth, not a full and bitter one. Daddy's gone from the outside - but he's not gone from the inside. That's something you will have to work on, and fix - food as a crutch, not panacea. I do not know what you dreamed of last night, but I had my own dream - where I saw what would happen to myself if I simply gave up on self-control totally, mired in food and misery like you seem to want to be. That road may not kill you right away, but from what I saw, it is a slow death - deliberate or inadvertent suicide by food. For you, given you've been stuffing yourself madly this whole time, I'll never know the answer. Given I have struggled with weight and darkness intertwined myself and Chang has not, only Chang can help you."

Karpok stopped mid-reach for another Big Hug Cake, Ursa withdrawing the bag of Big Hug Cakes as Karpok broke down again, oblivious to the world but no longer eating, Ursa saying, "Uh - Sesi - you might want to go join everyone else. Things are about to get real freaky - something only two big girls would really understand. I'll whistle when you can come back in." Sesi looked at Karpok reaching out towards the place where the bags had been in anguish, Sesi saying without hesitation, "Yes - definitely!" leaving the room shortly after.

Coughing, Ursa seeing she had Karpok's undivided attention after saying, "Want any more of that, you're going to have to listen. After I'd done… you'll probably not want anymore anyways," wishing she could infobend like Avatar Korra, Ursa explained the relevant portion of the dream to Karpok - including the portrayal of Karpok as a bad influence, and _all _the chakras.

Karpok obviously had a problem with all of them, especially fear of her father, the very first chakra - the Earth Chakra. Without such inner imbalance, Karpok wouldn't have been substantially heavier than Ursa…

Ursa had expected her to whine about being a bad influence, moan for more food - Ursa feeling like she was her light half watching herself make unexpected strides earlier when Karpok stood up, saying as she moved her hands about in an apparent attempt to bend, "If… I had my own odd dream - someone close to me, more than my own family. A teacher from school talking to me last night, telling me I needed to keep fighting, that if I ever got a break I needed to make the most out of it - the only person I ever told about what happened to me…"

Karpok finally managing to perform the bending move she was trying, the other big girl smiled broadly, saying as she took the water she had drawn from the apartment's air and bent it over her various chakra points, "I did it! I already know how to heal - and you mentioned the chakras in these places… I saw the medal you earned earlier, the Avatar Aang Medal of Mettle, I remember from the papers four years ago. You don't need any help with the Earth Chakra, fear - but I obviously do." Ursa blushed slightly, Karpok smiling a little, saying, "I… wasn't just a stalker on the playground. Whatever - that's history. The now… I'll start from the beginning, on fear - just like you suggested. I'm going to try and fix those things the right way - not with food, like you tried in the 'inner dream world'. Half a ton… knowing I've been gaining ever since school let out, I might have ended up like you 'did', unless you talked as frankly as you did with me… Th-thank you." Looking ashamed of herself, Karpok said, "What you said about how you 'got there'. Guess… I really would have been a bad influence, huh."

Ursa didn't know what to say or do at first, finding herself shaking her head, speaking from the heart without input from shame or her brain, Karpok blushing deeper as she continued, "Maybe - but maybe not. Remember - that was a version of me that stuffed depression with food, and didn't fight back like I did at the same time. If I had filled it with something else instead, something much more powerful, except permanently… I remember you looking at me out of something other than envy… attraction. It appears you may feel the same thing to Chang," adding with a smile, "Had you been more open, had I known your inner sorrow - maybe you would have had it with me as well, a lot earlier. I have a lot more in common with you than Lee-Lee, after all."

Ursa herself now blushing deeply, placing her hand over her mouth, laughing nervously, she was very glad when Karpok came over, saying as she opened big arms wide, "That would have been really nice, but… the past is past. How… how about friends instead? We've both struggled with food… maybe we can help each other out of it."

Ursa nodded, embracing Karpok, finding she did feel slightly aroused to hug another girl so deeply, saying with a slight laugh, "You first, though. Triage." Karpok actually laughed, saying, "Duh - I'm a lot closer to 'Food Drunk' than you are. Love that phrase, by the way… a whole lot better than 'morbidly obese' or 'fatass'."

Seeing a certain determination in Karpok's eyes that was the total opposite of determination to eat more food, Ursa broke the hug, whistling and then saying, "We're done!" adding quickly before Chang and his mother and father came back in, "Don't share that dream unless you really want to - it's… kind of embarrassing. There was a reason I asked your… new mom to leave." Karpok nodded, saying, "Of course - just Chang, if anyone at all."

After a short pause, Chang the first back in the room, Karpok said, hand patting her stomach lightly, "What you told me about this chakra - the Fire Chakra… maybe that isn't the right decision." Nodding weakly, Ursa sighed, getting a confused look from Chang and his parents, Ursa saying, "Deals with willpower… blocked by shame. And you were on that path I talked about…" Receiving an unexpected pat on the back, Ursa guessing it was Huanhato given the size of the pat, she was proven right when he said in his deep voice, "I don't know what you're talking about, Ursa," continuing after Sesi gave Ursa her medal back, "But this house is open, friendly - nothing like the schoolyard, or the family we helped Karpok escape." Huanhato finished by removing his big hand, Ursa hearing what sounded like a fist striking a particularly large palm after, Huanhato proclaiming, "That monster of a man shows his face around here, gets aggressive… I'll do a lot more than tell him off while holding up a really big rock."

Sesi nodded, saying, "Whatever you two were talking about, it seemed private in nature to me," turning to Karpok and asking, "I'm not going to put words in your mouth - especially since this is the first time since we picked you up you haven't been sobbing, or had food in hand. What do you want to do?"

Managing a weak waterbending form, much to Sesi and the rest of her family's surprise, Karpok said, "Train. I want to be able to bend, fight. And maybe if my family comes around again… we can get my mom and siblings out of that too, together," crying as she told her "new" family apparently for the first time aside from Sesi, "My… my dad did it to my mom too. I… walked in on it. That was the last straw. That told me I needed to try and get away when I could. My mom's not been a nice person… but maybe I know part of the reason now."

Noticing Karpok was looking at one of the forbidden food bags again, Ursa smiled broadly when Karpok closed her eyes and let out a conflicted sigh after Chang gave her a Big Hug all of his own, looking at Chang and his father closer now, seeing the resemblance. Both men were strong yet stocky-looking, finding herself reminded of both the "ancient" bully Xin Fu from nine years ago and Bolin the famous Pro-Bender at the same time. Bolin was the right weight for him but not sleek like his brother Mako... likely physically stronger than his brother, even ignoring the difference between their bending types.

Ursa had a **gut **feeling that if she ever did lose weight, she'd end up looking a lot like a female version of Chang and his father - not like someone else.

Remembering how she had no "inner strength" while in her "dream" body earlier while asleep, having thought it was just a mess-up on her dark half's part, Ursa realized it was no accident. The illusion her dark half had given her had no truth, that "normal" Ursa not having the **real **Ursa's inner strength. By wanting to be something she would never be, Asami Sato, the 22-year old having a much different **base body build **than herself, part of who she was had withered and shriveled temporarily, only restored when she had shown what she had lost against her dark half.

The inner strength and courage that had earned her the long-ignored Avatar Aang Medal of Mettle in the first place.

Hearing some tinny voice over a radio gradually build in volume, not caring for now, Ursa closed her eyes. She envisioned herself at a lower weight but with **her **features and body build, this skinnier version of herself not looking much different aside from more obvious muscle tone and smaller overall size. Nothing like Asami Sato. Seeing this version of herself was still hefty, nowhere near even Avatar Korra's build, some part of her still wishing to look more "ladylike" like the Avatar, Ursa thought as she resisted the pull to be someone else she was not and never would be, "Wishing to be something I can never be makes me weak. I may want to look like this 'Warrior Ursa' someday, or at least lose weight, strongly - but not at the cost of who I am."

Half having expected to see the image react as a different one had earlier with her eyes shut, Ursa was surprised when nothing happened, a stray thought passing through her mind: "Keep the fire steady and slow," then another that seemed more her own: "It is not the strength of the dog in the fight, but the strength of the fight in the dog that matters. And I'm pretty strong anyways - physically. Emotionally, in relation to myself and not others… not just yet. One thing at a time."

Seeing the image of "Warrior Ursa" finally move, it pointed to its chest after shifting to Ursa's current comparatively shabby state, saying nothing as it pointed to a medal on its chest - smiling proudly.

The vision fading, seeing nothing but blackness, Ursa opened her eyes, smiling slightly at the compliment after hearing Chang say, "Hey, Avatar Heart. URSA! You awake? You might want to come listen to this - radio announcer says President Raiko's giving out some sort of update, and… he's not addressing it to **just** Republic City this time, believe it or not." Having just re-witnessed Raiko at his worst four years ago, Ursa had a hard time believing what Chang had said, joining the rest of Karpok's new family near the radio - waiting to see what President Raiko had to say for himself, the name bringing to mind what Ursa thought was Noatak had told her, and evidence of what he said being true…

The corrupt cop and Kyoretsuna, the hungry people in the evacuee camp, the protesters around City Hall, her own mother pointing out that they'd still have the heart of their city intact if the Avatar had let the Universe take its course and let karma catch up with Kuvira instead, the supposedly wise Tenzin's unilateral decision along with President Raiko on rebuilding.

Inequalities in the world would never go away entirely - but would grow like a tumor if left unchecked. And, the way things were set up now… President Raiko might not have been a tumor, but he was certainly unchecked, Ursa wondering when they'd get a government more like the new United Earth Republic's.

It still might be based on elections, glorified popularity contests, but at least the three ruling body, three leader system checked itself in theory - Ursa very curious to see how it worked in practice, especially having heard an addendum about the whole thing, that she loved.

People could not campaign for themselves, only others, and if they were selected, no matter if they were as reluctant as the page turned Temporary Councilman Supika had been to wield power, they had to serve.

Finally hearing President Raiko's voice, Ursa was surprised when he opened up by saying, "Hello, citizens of the United Republic Nations - and beyond, if anyone in the United Earth Republic or Earth Empire happen to be listening to this broadcast, Earth Empire operative or repressed citizen alike. I am sure you are all wondering why I chose to leave with the reinforcements headed towards the prison camp and Omashu," Ursa finding herself laughing slightly when President Raiko continued, "And given some of the accusations citizens leveled at me when I first chose to leave our capital city, many thinking I was looking for an excuse to get away from Republic City's current problems and controversies, I am sure you all have a multitude of answers of your own."

Ursa smiled during a pause, Chang saying, "This doesn't sound like the President I know," his father nodding and saying, "Almost seems 'human-y' to me." Hearing President Raiko cough, they listened at greater length as the President said through the radio, "On my decision to leave - I know you have not heard me say such things openly much before… but I am not entirely sure myself why I chose to go with the reinforcements. The only thing I am sure of is that I seemed to be needed as something more than a city-bound politician to ensure everything worked out in the end. Most of the Air Nation numerically, civilians from Republic City, the United Republic Army - General Iroh II reminded me earlier is also known as the United Forces. All three groups joined by defectors from the Earth Empire after a heartfelt, powerful speech from the overseer of the camp we all intend to help evacuate, Jasmine. Before that, joined by people I would have feared meant Revolution if they had appeared under any other circumstances - Equalists. It has been a bumpy, tense road to where we are now - even with help from two of history's greatest heroes' spirits, Iroh and Sokka, providing us with present advice, despite having died long ago. With a lot of help from Tenzin's youngest daughter Ikki, possibly even my presence as well, this… unlikely group's stuck together - even deciding before I gave this current speech we should continue south after Avatar Korra made known via projection something I hope remains only a concern."

Taking a deep breath, President Raiko continued, "While I have the utmost confidence in her work around the Spirit Portals that connect our planet to the Spirit World, Avatar Korra's ingenious caps holding back a tide of Dark Spirits for almost a week now… she does not. The Avatar fears that the barriers will weaken over time, eventually breaking - letting Dark Spirits bent on humanity's enslavement pour out into the former heart of Republic City, and the two Water Tribes. Her concern is the reason why we came to the decision to be better safe than sorry. As I speak, both the Fire Nation and the Northern Water Tribe are making preparations to come to Republic City and serve as a temporary garrison until the… Battle of Omashu has reached its conclusion, both the prison camp and ancient city evacuated, liberated. We currently plan on the two forces leaving for home once we return to Republic City, the North having a nearby capped Spirit Portal as well to be wary of, but a powerful, once-human spirit ally to help protect them - Yue."

During a slight pause, Ursa remembered something hazily from her dream - one of Koh's faceless monkey minions paying her a visit… pretty sure it had something to do with the portal barrier now.

Coughing, President Raiko continued, "I am hopeful that the Avatar's fears are unfounded, and the temporary cooperative garrison will end up doing nothing other than helping maintain order - and getting Republic City back on its feet again," Ursa laughing slightly when he said, "Make note: bring up supply, public order and relief issue to Izumi, the twins and Avatar," lowly - as though telling someone to make a note. Apparently, someone had pointed this out to President Raiko in the background, the President sounding sheepish as he continued, "My apologies - that is probably something we should have thought of before just now. We were distracted by other, much more sensitive developments," Ursa wondering if she were dreaming when he continued, "We are only human, after all - though some of us, myself included, may not have acted that way in the past. Regardless of what you think of me, of our nation's leaders - I ask you to do your best to help in any way you can."

Not entirely sure when he would be done, Ursa's eyes widened slightly out of surprise when he continued, "The Avatar herself has requested something, of everyone even remotely near a Spirit Portal, especially Republic City citizens. Be observant, look for any sign of the barriers weakening - no report or observation is too 'insignificant' to overlook," eyes still wide when he continued, "That is the Avatar's request of the citizens of Republic City - and the Equalist's current leader the Lieutenant has another request, too busy himself with technical things to relay it. I am more than glad to speak for him, for I share the sentiment. Republic City may have been left in a poor state, citizens still living in tents or crowding into apartments beyond capacity, abandoned unexpectedly in the middle of the night, everyone with official responsibility run off into other nations, much like the Avatar herself. Both of us nonbenders, though I have never been betrayed by a bender as directly as he has, our request is the same nonetheless - please, show yourself to be civilized. Protest in the streets, obstruct traffic if you like - but no lawlessness or looting, or violent protests of two of my more controversial decisions I was a part of, Kuvira's 'light' sentence and expanding the city outward, not inward. If you need something, beg, do not steal or loot abandoned stores - you might just get what you need instead of jailtime."

President Raiko sounding particularly angry, he continued, "Even without the Spirit Civil War, any such violent behavior would be dealt with harshly by Temporary Police Chief Saikhan anyways. We are no police state, at least not now, but I cannot imagine ordinary citizens would put up with the type of behavior the Earth Kingdom showed after Hou-Ting's death. You might have just been under citizen's arrest, acting like they did three years ago in Ba Sing Se. But if the Avatar is correct, and the barriers are weakening, as a direct result of 'humans acting badly' - any such behavior would only empower an enemy that seeks to enslave all of humanity forever, possibly letting Long Yumao finally get his claws on the Physical World once again after breaking through with extra power." Pausing for breath, President Raiko said, "A spirit who started his war against humanity, simply because Raava gave someone who could not normally have children the gift of a future family, and another gift which not much has been disclosed about, aside from their existence - 'tuber-vines'. I can disclose safely they were intended to give humanity practically limitless power for peaceful uses, and have another ability beyond serving as greatly empowered spirit vines. Much like Avatar Korra can with Raava's help, they can judge the character and worth of a person - something which only 'gut feel' has been able to do before, and not as accurately. So I ask you - if any of you spot an odd-looking 'spirit vine' in Republic City, try picking it up, and see how it reacts. If it is a 'tuber-vine', it will react, perhaps attempt to talk through motions. Just like Raava's other gift, they are _alive_ \- beings in their own right."

Ursa continued listening as President Raiko wrapped up his speech, fascinated to hear more about these mysterious tuber-vines she had been told more intimately were also for war in her earlier dream, wondering if some sort of leak had happened. They had been so… tight-lipped about the things before, and now President Raiko was telling almost everything about them! Not having remembered Long Yumao as anything other than a long serpent, Ursa wondered if the reference to claws was another slipup like earlier when President Raiko continued, "The world is in turmoil overall right now, something the likes of which we have never seen before raging in the Spirit World - which you should most _definitely _not meditate into right now for a vacation, aside from if you focus on Avatar Korra's energy - and a genocidal madman running on the loose. The 'sexual prisoners' he wanted dead may not number as many as the Air Nomads once did, but any killing of a group of people for who they are is tragic, regardless of size. I have taken a personal risk to ensure these reinforcements stay together as one - near the front line despite having neither bending like many of the citizens and soldiers do, nor technological or fighting prowess like that of Baatar Jr. inside a mechasuit or the Equalists with older technology. I simply ask that to the best of your ability, citizens of the United Republic of Nations, you stay together as one as well. To anyone listening in from the United Earth Republic - I was simply speaking the truth, and hope whoever your 'leader' is now, Minister Wong seeming unavailable earlier, that they, he or she embraces a similar path - and that you follow, instead of throwing an 'anarchy party' as you did three years ago. The 'day zero' revolt against Earth Empire rule was impressive - and I promise to do my best to make sure you have no legitimate reason to revolt again. To any listening in from the Earth Empire - spy or citizen - just know that the other nations are united in their opposition of your twisted leader, Jinshu Kuangmai - and that anyone who wishes to can take the path of Kuvira, no matter how grave their crimes. That is all - now, I have some official business beyond speaking to attend to, and anyone listening does as well. I consider any citizen's attempt to help others in their shared home or nation just as much 'business' as helping draft a new form of government. Both help our nation and the world be a better place. Goodbye - make Avatar Aang and Lord Zuko proud of their greatest legacy, the United Republic of Nations!"

With that, the speech ended - Ursa surprised at how relatively short and succinct it had been, and… how much sense it had made. Pinching herself as she did earlier before entering Chang's apartment, still not sure if she was dreaming or not, Ursa rubbed the spot as Huanhato asked, "What's the matter?" Ursa shrugged, saying, "Just had a hard time believing that was President Raiko," Huanhato nodding slightly, still saying, "While that is funny… he's not _that _bad. My wife thinks differently, being from the South and all, but I think his recent apology for not getting involved in the Civil War back then was off base, given what we knew at the time. He was off base with his treatment of Avatar Korra following the vines 'joining the family' in Republic City - not sure what I think about his decision to evacuate and later surrender, given what we did four years ago against Amon."

Ursa frowning slightly, remembering how her father's superior Commander Raionhato had resigned in disgust over what she had seen as President Raiko's cowardice, Ursa found herself nodding when someone unexpected spoke after, Karpok saying, "No - given my personal life… I think that was the right decision. He picked his battles - knew when he couldn't win. That Colossus… My dad's a master level waterbender - I had to 'pick my battle' by running away in the camp," sobbing as she continued, "Sexual abu-abuse. People… people have a hard time believing you. I tried talking to more than just the teacher I mentioned to you, Ursa - the other one. She just didn't believe me. My dad kept up a nice exterior - while being a monster at home." Taking a few deep breaths, Ursa wondering what it had to do with President Raiko's order to evacuate and stand down, Ursa nodded again when Karpok said, "What we heard after the battle - the United Forces were like me, Kuvira like my father. No hope - until the right circumstances came along… People like you and Chang might be willing to fight against insane odds - but not everyone's like that. I'm doing good just, just to talk instead of eat."

Karpok finishing by saying, "I... maybe I still am a failure," Ursa glad when Chang said immediately, "No, you aren't. Different folks have to deal with different things - I… I don't know how I would have or could have handled what you went through. Just because you're an emotional and personal survivor and not a physical fighter doesn't make you less than me, or anybody."

Karpok starting to break down again after Chang gave her a deep hug, Ursa heard a chime, turning around and opening the door - surprised to see someone with what appeared to be takeout standing at the door. The annoyed-looking woman said, "Sushi and other lunch stuff before seven in the morning? I thought my boss was crazy when he told me about this order - guess not," giving her another look and adding, "Whatever. Your yuans are pink, they've got Avatar Aang's picture on them - not here to make comments." Ursa seeing a funny look on the woman's face as she handed over the bags of food after paying without thinking, noticing the bags were quite heavy and did feel cold, she took everything, frowning slightly when the woman gave her a scornful look and ran off.

Part of Ursa feeling like trying her hand at lightning generation through the mouth - if that were even possible - on the woman, she set everything down on the table, Karpok saying as Huanhato fished out the appropriate number of yuans to compensate Ursa, "Uh - wow. Looking at all that, remembering what you told me, how I wanted that earlier, before, well, you know… I was wrong earlier. I wasn't almost Food Drunk - I was." Karpok looking down at her stomach, and then back to the bags of food, Ursa nodded when she said, "And still am. You might want to stay around, talk to me - but probably the best thing you can do is take all that… yummy looking stuff away before my will fails me," frowning when Karpok finished, "Give it to someone who needs it. Not me. All too much of me as is. I saw some _actual _hungry people near City Hall yesterday - maybe all their comments were right about me…"

Chang gave Karpok a quick hug, saying, "No. They had no idea what you'd been through," finishing after his father gave Ursa the same amount of yuans she had accidentally spent of her own money, "Karpok - I'm not going anywhere. Who knows - if you pick up on waterbending with my mom's help, maybe that will help." Karpok nodded, saying, "Yeah - in more ways than one. You guys can't be my bodyguard forever - and I _want _to go back out… if for nothing else than to have room to burn off this 'medication', all the extra me that accumulated over the years…"

Remembering her own wake-up call four years ago, Ursa remembered with a slight bitterness in her mouth that she had hoped physical training would have helped her drop more pounds than it had. Thinking about it briefly, Ursa finally connected her mother's earlier comment about being "distracted by life" for most of Ursa's childhood and teenage years to her own experiences, saying, "That sounds great - but do it for its own sake, and making sure you can handle yourself better. Right after Amon's failed revolution, I started training physically with sword and shield, hitting the firebending hard," shrugging and smiling weakly as she said with self-consciousness and a matter of fact tone, pointing to herself, "I hate to admit it, but… I don't look a whole ton different after having started that four years ago. What really matters is that I got stronger physically, got better at bending - and healthier, even if I could never **spare **the will to ignore my stomach's… training-caused increased requests." Seeing Karpok looked horrified, Ursa looked at her, saying, "I was trying to make big changes - you're going to be trying to make even bigger ones. I don't know where I got the phrase, just popped into my head earlier, but I really like it, being a firebender: 'Keep the fire steady and slow.' Just focus on the most important things at first."

Seeing Karpok still looked slightly unsure, Ursa thought how the advice might apply to herself - realizing with a bitter taste in her mouth that if she were "busy with life" helping others following President Raiko's call to arms… her own internal progress might be slowed down.

Qualifying her words, knowing she probably looked disturbed slightly, Ursa used herself as an example anyways, saying, "You remember that dream I shared with you, right Karpok? Well… there was a whole lot more than even that. I won't go into the details, but basically it revolved around me learning… learning to love myself, something which is probably going to be just as hard for me as what you have to deal with is for you. Ag-again, for reasons I won't go into." Holding up a hand quickly to prevent interruption, wanting to finish her thoughts, Ursa spoke as a tear rolled down her face, saying, "I… I had hoped I could focus on that, and… and nothing else, but I've got a gut feeling it can't take all my attention - because I want to go help other people who are worse off than I am get back on their feet, do anything else I feel like I need to. I want one thing… but feel like I need to do two. So, just like I might not be able to make the progress for me that **I **want - you might not get everything you want while healing mentally."

Karpok seemed to understand, saying, "I… I think I get it, even though you didn't say everything perfectly. So you're saying… first priority is starting to heal my own, old and deep wounds, second priority is getting to the point where I can bend and handle myself and general health… and any weight I lose is just icing on the ca- ugh! Probably shouldn't use that phrase…" Ursa laughed, saying, "Use whatever phrase and help you feel like you need - you know you a lot better than I do," adding as she picked up her bags, feeling a temporary lightness, "I'm sure you're in good hands - Chang's looked like he wanted to talk for quite a while, and Sesi's already got some water for you to train with. I'll be going now."

The whole mixed family bowing, Ursa picked the food back up, breathing in deeply as she did so. Smelling everything, some part of her tempted to go out into the hall and have some food herself, she thought gently yet sternly, "No. Let me get fulfillment from what I just did - and what I am going to do."

Feeling a brief series of electrical pulses in her head, Ursa smiled slightly as she lugged the bags into the elevator, thinking as she got the final one in, "Maybe I can do two things at once…"

While she was thinking about what she was going to do with everything, how she could be of help next, Ursa smiled broadly after an errant quote flitted through her mind: "When you give to others, you are really giving to yourself. In the same way, when you love others, the love within you grows as well."

Thinking about the man who had said that, former Grand Lotus Iroh having been long dead and only recently re-joined the world, Ursa frowned slightly when she pressed the buttons for her floor, saying, "I hear he's with dad. Probably would have been better if he stayed here and reformed the White Lotus than gone off to be an 'advisor'. Surprised… Avatar Korra hasn't done anything to those pinheads yet, after her childhood."

Lugging everything out of the elevator, having used her sword to keep the Open Door button pressed while loading and unloading, wondering what she'd do beyond get her mom's help to get all of this food to City Hall, another stray thought flitted through her mind. Not from Iroh - from someone she had much less sympathy with… that is, before last night. Fittingly, it was simple - just like how she had remembered the man to speak in public.

This thought was a much more recent quote from a man she had once fought against, the thought even seeming to be in Noatak's voice: "Do whatever you'd do."

Taking another deep breath, moving all her luggage having winded Ursa slightly, she smelled the food again, knocking on the door and saying, "Mom, Nana, little sis - come help me!" adding after another breath and whiff of food, "I - uh - you guys get this food ready to go to City Hall!"

The door opening, all three family members present - though Buniq's clothes were missing in action just as before - Ursa quickly explained what happened, finishing after Buniq pouted about needing clothes, "Little sis, go get some clothes on. You want to go help people, right?" Buniq nodded, saying, "Yeah - but why can't wear no clothe while help! Give someone clothe I don't want." Nana laughed deeply, saying, "As much as I bet you'd love to donate all your clothes, I'm afraid not, sweetie. There's certain rules we have to follow," adding after Buniq gave her a slight glare, "Plus, clothes help protect you. Now go!"

Little sister gone to go get dressed, Ursa nodded when her mother said, "Forget just this stuff - maybe I should set up shop near City Hall with cooking equipment. I don't know where we'll get all the stuff to cook, though," saying with a smile, "I'll find a metalbender neighbor to help with this - maybe I can even try and find my boss and get him in on it." Her mother Panik chuckled lightly, saying as she patted her own merely plump stomach, "I love my work - and so does Gurume," frowning slightly when she said, "Last I talked to him, he was just devastated about losing the business _and _the land - the only thing left of Gurume's Choice my equipment. Both of us - it wasn't just a job. It was a passion. Just like me, he loves cooking itself - the food too. I wouldn't be half surprised if he picks up the phone with a mouthful of food like I might have, had you not stopped me and he had called." Panik's eyes widened, saying, "Guess I should go phone him right now, huh," Ursa nodding in agreement to remember that Gurume was **very **enthusiastic about his work, and it showed - to be polite.

Ursa temporarily staging the food in the living room, she helped Nana with packing the equipment while her mother yakked with Gurume, noticing herself sniffing deeply on occasion. Giving the pile of food a quick glance, wishing she had some sort of "real or fake" hunger meter to go by, Ursa remembered her earlier treat from her mother, asking Nana, "Hey - I keep smelling that stuff, not sure if my response of 'just one Big Hug' is genuine or not. Can… can I have some chilled water instead?" Nana nodded, saying, "Sure - you should be able to finish with this. You helped with it at the evacuee camp - but I'll be just a second anyways."

Nana returning with some water at the same time Buniq finally came back out, Ursa able to hear her mother wrapping up conversation with Gurume, Nana said as Ursa chugged the water, "There's plenty more outside in the air." Finding herself not hungry, merely wanting liquids, Ursa asked for more - all the activity had gotten her sweaty and thirsty, pretty sure she had associated the smell of Big Hug Cakes with milk. Liquid… Given this, Ursa was very glad when her mother came in, wearing something more respectable than her earlier greased and powdered T-shirt, Panik saying, "Just got off the phone with Gurume a while ago - he was making something just like I was! He sounded crushed at first - and took to the idea of doing some pseudo-charity work like a fish to water. Said he was going to try and contact his other employees, wanted 'customers' who could pay to do so. For the new restaurant he wants to build, to… to replace the old one." Ursa was not sure what to do when her mother finished, "It might be a while. I got off the phone with him five minutes ago, talked to some other people about help getting there, and supplies for everything."

After a pause, her mother said, smiling slightly as she pointed at the door, Nana busy trying to get a rebellious Buniq back into her clothes as Panik said, "You already went to see Chang - normally you'd just roll your eyes at me, but… might I suggest some 'social networking', Ursa? Catch up with some other people you sort of… ignored at the time?" Ursa nodded, saying, "Yes - sounds like a good idea. But… how will I know when it's time to go?" Panik smiled, saying, "I talked to more than just my boss. A family friend and someone you ignored more recently has offered to help with transport - air transport. You'll know." Ursa looked down at the floor slightly, saying, "That doesn't really narrow it down - there were a lot of people I ignored at the evacuee camp **while helping them**," her mother frowning deeply and saying, "Then you didn't really ignore them, then did you? Cheer up - part of the whole thing is going there by Republic City Police airship, though Gurume doesn't know yet. It's Officer Renshi and Jin - now Officer Jin, I might add, thanks in large part to you."

Ursa's eyes wide by now, her mother said, "I'm going to try and figure out how to handle my boss' request for everything to be 'pay if you can,' much less how _he's _going to pay for the supplies if he's trying to watch money. If someone can pay or not - maybe a metalbender cop with truthsense can tell. Heard those 'tuber-vine' things can judge somebody - but we don't know where they are. Or maybe it should all just be free - whatever." Pausing and looking at Buniq, who was **not **happy about having even a small shirt on, Panik said, "Tell you what - take your little sister with you on an apartment 'tour'. She loves meeting people - and I can get her in some clothes, and out of my hair for a - BUNIQ, no water splashing mommy! That water was for Ursa!"

Her mother getting the water out of her clothes completely, looking like she had purified it partially, Ursa was polite and said, "I'll still drink it - better that than milk," rolling her eyes for the first time since the concierge man's rudeness when her mother said, "You still sound sort of like you did in the camp! If you need something… eat it or drink it," blushing slightly out of anger, knowing her mother was right when she said, "Oh, no - don't you roll your eyes at me about that. I thought you said you were done with diets anyways! You must have heard Raiko over the radio, know there's a possibility you'll be burning those Big Hug Cakes and then some - and you're still sixteen anyways! Body's mostly done growing - but your mind isn't!" Panik took a deep breath, continuing in a more normal voice, "I… realize that the women in our family don't exactly have good hunger gauging, but if you're going to be running around town all day, goodness forbid fighting… you're just going to have to trust your body on what it needs." When Ursa didn't immediately reply, her mother added, "Look - I know that dream's likely unsettled you, a lot, but don't go to the other extreme, Ursa."

Closing her eyes for a moment, seeing a brief image of her skin and bones dark half, still having difficulty making sense of what had seemed so clear while asleep, Ursa opened her eyes again, giving her mother a big hug when Panik told her, "Ursa - nobody ever really knows **exactly **what to do perfectly, between what their parents say, what the world tells them, other things... Buniq told me a little bit of what you said earlier, about the bits and pieces of 'bad' you pick up… you know a lot more than you think you do."

Tightening her own "Big Hug", Ursa felt a deep peace when her mother stopped talking, returning the hug, saying after a peck on the cheek, "You're doing good, Ursa. I still don't really know everything that went on… maybe you should take some drawing stuff with you." Giving her mother a confused look, saying, "More hug, less talk," her mother laughed lightly, saying, "Draw out whatever good happened to you when you get some downtime," Ursa simply responding, "Already planned on it, mom."

Breaking the hug, Ursa was still slightly annoyed with her mother when she gestured at her backpack, saying, "I saw what's in there. Take those stupid heavy clothes out of there, you could fit a ton of drawing stuff in your backpack," nodding after her mother said, "Someone near City Hall could likely use them anyways," laughing when Buniq interjected, "Baggy clothe only use. Is be own meanie, big sis! Give away!" Remembering there was some concern about the portal barrier's integrity, Ursa decided to follow their advice partially and pack some basic drawing supplies and ditch everything except the obscuring top, not having gotten a good look at the barrier since it went up, what with the evacuee camp and other issues.

Trying to think who was likely closest to her and least likely to mind Buniq, remembering how Buniq had played so well with the hungry combustionbender Kyoretsuna's kids, Ursa asked her mom, "Mom - do you know where Kyoretsuna is?" Her mother shook her head, saying, "I don't really know," adding with a smile after a pause, "Though, I bet she's with Grand Lotus Atinnuaq, given Officer Jin didn't say anything about her." Ursa realizing that was one person she'd have to wait to catch up with, she thought of other things from her life review, smiling slightly as she remembered there was someone on her floor she'd "seen" while asleep - Jingqiao. Pretty sure the timid woman would have stayed behind, Ursa wanted to check at the concierge desk just to make sure, the man at the desk seeming to know who was and was not in the apartment complex. Remembering something about a cat named Fluffykins, Ursa told her little sister, "Buniq- HEY! Quit messing with my sword - you might get hurt." Buniq just chuckled lightly, starting to fuss when Ursa's mother picked her up, saying, "Ursa - wherever you're going next, take your weapons with you and keep that thing away from her," Ursa responding, "Will do - just be glad she hasn't asked for her own yet. I'm going to go see if our neighbor Jingqiao is still around," her mother laughing dryly when Buniq said, "I want poke thing!" Shaking her head, Ursa thinking it was just in annoyance at her sister at first, she grumbled slightly when her mother said, "Buniq, no. Ursa was twelve when she helped her father forge the first sword! And Ursa - do you not remember me talking to Jingqiao yesterday? You spend all this time learning things about the whole wide world - know more about Avatars than some of your own neighbors!"

About to protest, "You know the reason why, mom," Ursa stopped, saying, "Know what? You're right… just because some kids and adults are mean to me doesn't mean I should do nothing with others…" Her mother nodded, saying to her as though Ursa were three like Buniq, "Very good. Now why don't you go say hi to Jingqiao?" this time looking at Buniq when she finished, "Big sis might take you to see the nice lady and her cat - but you have to get dressed, and STAY dressed!" Ursa laughed when Buniq did not immediately respond, her mother joining her when Buniq said with reluctance, "Okay, guess. But after - when home. Go back no clothe! Run around - maybe go near fridge for cold!" Panik lamented with a sigh, "Got one daughter who still wants to hide herself in public - and a full blown exhibitionist. Ursa - I'd really prefer it if you didn't take any of your 'baggy clothe' with you. Buniq - big sis is sixteen. You're three, so I'm your boss still. And it's about time you started getting used to the rules - you're in school next autumn, and 'bare Buniq' won't fly there. You ARE going to start wearing clothes more, and it's not nego - BUNIQ! Don't make that awful face at me, or no getting to see Fluffykins!"

Ursa's sister looked more amenable to the idea, saying, "Pet kitty! Not pet kitty for a long time!" with enthusiasm. Buniq now in her mother's arms, Panik smiled, saying, "Now, to do my part of this whole thing," taking Buniq off to her room before Ursa could get a word in edgewise about the clothes…

Letting out a deep sigh of her own, Ursa set about fixing her backpack - tossing out every piece of baggy clothing at first, putting the top back in after remembering the judging look she had gotten from the food delivery lady, even if she hadn't been the one the food had been intended for. Going to her room and grabbing basic drawing supplies, noticing that Buniq had not followed, she pressed her ear against the wall between her room and the outside - pretty sure she heard Buniq getting a small lecture. Looking at her backpack, some part of her reminding her that she had technically disobeyed as well, she ended up leaving the top in it out of stubbornness, thinking, "Whatever. I'm going to be busy - and like it or not, regardless of the changes… comments will distract me. It's day zero for crying out loud - and I'm not a three year old!" saying aloud after she remembered her snark back to the rude skinny man at the concierge desk, "Plus, I don't really want to invite those comments if I can avoid it. Too tempting to 'hit back'…"

Back in the part living room, part kitchen that dominated most of their apartment, Ursa was glad to see her little sister was not crying when she entered the room, her mother looking very proud as she said, "It finally stuck. I told her that clothes are for adults, as usual - and she finally got it," Ursa laughing and blushing slightly when her mother finished, "Same example I used with you, asking if you wanted to see _everyone _without clothes." Buniq shook her head, saying, "No - no want. Mom not say right. I said… people might not need clothe - but Fluffykins need fur! Remember Nana say clothe like people fur." Shaking her head, Ursa said, "Whatever - I need to get out of here, before one of those Big Hug Cakes attaches itself to my butt. Come on, little sis," sighing deeply after Buniq said, "Be meanie yourself!" not feeling like explaining to her headstrong little sister the intricacies of having to be careful around food…

Arriving at Jingqiao's apartment without incident, Ursa's sword and shield both under her watchful eye, knowing Buniq might try and sneak the yanmaodao out of its sheathe for a look if she weren't careful, Ursa looked up when Jingqiao finally opened the door.

Noticing that the earthbender was holding her pet cat Fluffykins with one arm, swearing her other manicured hand was performing a bending motion, Ursa said, "Hello, Jingqiao. I know my little sister sees you quite a bit, but… I haven't exactly been too friendly over the years, and - "

Jingqiao held up a hand, saying with a smile, "Shhh - enough with the talking yourself down," continuing, "I'm just glad to see you wearing that medal you earned four years ago finally," Ursa blushing slightly when she finished, "Buniq's told me all about you already," wondering just what her little sister had said, getting the sense from Buniq's grin Ursa wasn't going to hear it either. After putting Fluffykins on the floor, Ursa swearing the white pet cat's name tag had a United Republic symbol shape, Jingqiao said as Buniq incorrectly played with the… **tolerant** white cat, "Hah - she certainly puts up better with your little sister than she did those Equalists! Meanie Amon locked a poor innocent kitty up, didn't he?"

Looking at her own chest, three-inch medal prominent, Ursa looked back to the now-mewing Fluffykins - some gut feeling telling her that the name collar wasn't an accident…

The mewing apparently a signal of some sort, Jingqiao spun around, Ursa hardly able to believe it as a nearby cabinet with metal handles opened without touch, Jingqiao saying as she moved her hands as though bending, "Oh - that's right! I forgot you needed your food - here, let me get you some." The can of cat food now on the counter, what Ursa had assumed to be an unassuming woman finally noticed her expression of shock, Jingqiao saying, "What, your little sister never told you? Guess it runs in the family - no matter. Yes, I can metalbend now - quit looking at me like that!"

Memories from the "past" past flooding back, Ursa said, "I… I had a dream where I saw Amon talking. Mentioned something about… 'neutralizing' the people tossing those makeshift bombs from up high, taking a… cat prisoner," asking incredulously as she looked at Fluffykin's "name tag", "That… have anything to do with the story?" Jingqiao smiled broadly, saying as Buniq shifted her attention from pet cat to owner, "Yes, it does - I had a weird dream last night too." Jingqiao laughing coquettishly to see Ursa's obvious annoyance with her, saying, "Just messing with you," saying as she manipulated the empty can of cat food into a trashcan, "Yes - back then, with Ryoshin's help… had a few metalbenders in my apartment, tossing the home-made 'boom bags' at the Equalists below. I was just an earthbender - until someone knocked down my door and Fluffykins went berserk on the Equalists who were coming in." Jingqiao started to cry, Fluffykins rubbing white fur against her leg, saying as she smudged her makeup slightly, "I… when she got zapped by those masked goons, I thought they had killed her. I… I don't like to remember the terror, horror - but something in me snapped. Before, I could barely bend earth - then, bam, I could bend metal, focus on the earth within, wanting to make them pay."

Jingqiao still looking shaken up, Ursa able to tell she was a lot like Karpok in a way, averse to conflict instead of drawn to it as a moth to a flame like herself, she gave the woman a big hug, saying, "It's okay - it all turned out all right," Jingqiao unexpectedly sobbing, "F-Fluffykins. Had her since she was a kitten… when I was still seeing the love of my life, before some, some lying prettier piece of trash stole him away. She… she said I was as flat as a washboard in a nasty letter later…" Buniq looking confused, as though even she had never heard this before, Ursa said after breaking the hug, "You look just fine to me. If all he cared about was looks… Maybe it was for the best," Buniq saying, "Yeah! Someone who not like lady. Who like animals bad!"

Jingqiao sighed, saying as she turned around and bent some conjoined metal picture frames closer, "Maybe you're right - both of you…" saying, "Time to move on," after a picture of herself and a man Ursa had never met before broke away from the other metal frames, Ursa seeing there was a photo of Fluffykins in one. Noticing the same odd nametag, seeing Jingqiao looked down even after turning her ex into a ball of metal, the glass formed into a small transparent teardrop shape, Ursa took Fluffykins off the floor, saying after the cat sniffed her and started purring in her arms, "Here - we both have medals we'd like to see," finishing after a confused look from Jingqiao, "Why don't you show me yours - and Fluffykins, apparently - and if you want, you can take a closer look at mine."

Jingqiao fishing out her own medal from a nearby drawer, Ursa noticing it appeared to have seen little use similar to her own, at first Ursa was slightly panicked when Jingqiao took her own medal and held it aloft with bending, smiling after her neighbor said, "Looks like we have more in common than either of us thought - I hid my medal, not wanting to remember the negative, and given the dust on yours, it sat in a drawer too. I'll clean it up." As Ursa inspected Jingqiao's "stock" United Republic symbol medal's back, Jingqiao said, "You started wearing yours, for whatever reason - I think I'll start wearing mine."

Jingqiao appearing lost in thought as she examined the Avatar Aang Medal of Mettle, Ursa remembering what Karpok had told her about some people being fighters and others not, Ursa flipped over the symbol for the United Republic she was holding in her hand - smiling broadly to see that General Iroh II really _had _made all the medals partially customized, seeing a picture of an airbison on the back, the text reading, "For Jingqiao - I am sure Avatar Aang would approve of your bond with your 'spirit animal', Fluffykins."

Getting to the medal she was most curious about, handing off Jingqiao's medal to an equally curious Buniq, Ursa inspected Fluffykin's nametag, the white cat purring contentedly as Ursa looked at the back, smiling when she saw a picture of the much more famous airbison Appa and a small inset of a white cat, the text reading, "Bisonheart" on the back. Ursa smiled, thinking, "A medal for a cat, even if it did deserve it - no wonder the old Raiko was so mad," adding out loud after remembering the radio address, "Wonder what President Raiko would think of these things now."

Jingqiao laughed, saying with a hint of bitterness in her voice, "Not sure - not sure if I'd care, anyways. My old workplace was in that crater," crying slightly as she returned the medal, saying, "So much was… I… I wonder how I'm going to pay my bills."

Ursa about to say something about her father still having a job, she felt her stomach sink as well - realizing that unless they managed a miracle near City Hall and helped her mother's boss Gurume get more money for a new place… her family had just lost around half its income as well. Relaying her concerns after telling Buniq to go play with Fluffykins, loathe to let the purring cat go, Jingqiao nodded, saying with a sigh, "Yeah. Raiko certainly did leave behind a fine mess, didn't he."

Buniq by now aware that the "adults" were talking without her, Ursa smiled broadly when her little sister came back into the room, carrying Fluffykins in a most uncomfortable way and the cat not protesting at all. As though she had gotten an idea and finished forming an old one fully, Jingqiao bent the small glass teardrop from her ex's frame onto the choker her own medal was on, saying, "Well, he pretty much told us, even if I'm used to it being the other way around most of the time - time for Republic City's citizens to fix the mess. Just like we 'fixed' the spirit vines while the Avatar was away… you already mentioned the sort-of charity food drive. Hmmm…"

Fluffykins mewing, Jingqiao picked her up, saying, "My baby's fed - but what about all the other pets in Republic City? Oh, no - THE ZOO! I know the popular exhibits were supposed to be evacuated and taken care of by the time Kuvira came, but… even the badgermoles only barely got out." Eyes now wide, Jingqiao said, "I… I know a lot of other animal lovers. After checking to see who left with the reinforcements that I know here, I'll try seeing how many of their phone numbers still work - see if those animals need our help at all. I remember hearing about the badgermoles helping Prince Wu - we need to help them back!"

Ursa glad that Jingqiao was going to do something rather than stay in her apartment, much less than Jingqiao had come up with the idea herself, Ursa laughed when Jingqiao attempted to put a metal leash on Fluffykins, surprised when the cat put up with it, saying, "If I hadn't heard former Grand Lotus Iroh was immortal and walking the earth, no less, I'd be half tempted to say your cat was his current life." Jingqiao blushing deeply, she said, "Uh - she is nice, but… I don't know about that…" finishing, "Sounds like we've both got our work cut out for us. I'll see you around, Ursa," adding apparently as a last thought, "I already knew you, from before, and through Buniq. I know this doesn't fit you, but… don't be afraid to throw your parent's names around, even that medal around to get what you need. Not just your dad - your mom's boss's restaurant was no small unknown place either. Everyone I'll be talking to already knows me - some angry protesters and you, though, all they might recognize is that medal, if at all, given we both… hid ours away for so many years. This _is _a big city, after all - but all that might help some."

Jingqiao looking much better than she had before, she turned out the lights in her apartment, Ursa got the sense Jingqiao wanted to go to the concierge's desk _right now _and check before sending out phone calls. Ursa took her little sister back to their apartment - noticing the medal around her neck _did _look shinier, Jingqiao having apparently cleaned off the dust and dirt with earthbending. Briefly explaining what had happened to her mother, including the concern about half their income having vanished, her mother eyed the bags of Big Hug Cakes, saying with a weird mix between frown and a smile, "Thanks for pointing that out - but I already thought of it. All those were made with stuff I can get at the store for relatively cheap," smiling broadly as she continued, "Figure if what we do today falls through but people like them as much as we did… we'll manage. Even if I have to start selling clothes - we're a strong family! It sounds like you've been as busy as I have, talking with her - never knew that about her boyfriend." Pausing, seemingly trying to remember something, she finished, "She really is like you - that worried and crushed about love lost, not even that old yet. All of 26 and sounding so down… completely ignoring the fact she managed to get into her old workplace so young anyways."

Looking a bit exhausted, her mother said, "Helping Gurume deal with so many people, helping Temporary Chief Saikhan - yes, it's now pretty official, Ursa - coordinate the police with us, the logistics of getting the food to City Hall safely without people skimming when a police officer's not looking… so draining. We're just about ready to move out, after all that work. Now I don't know about you, but I feel like I need something other than water. And shortly, those Big Hug Cakes and all the rest we make today will be going to someone else - you can do whatever you want. I'm going to listen to my body - even if it is telling me to be bad and have one."

Hoping her reservations were visible on her face, Ursa felt her own resolve waver slightly when Nana said, "I don't know what you told her earlier that's making you so reluctant - but look at it this way. You feel like being bad now, have one - end up not eating any later. Decide not to have one now - you betcha cooking a bunch for other people's going to be hard, or resisting having two or more HOT ones instead later!"

Ursa simply shook her head, saying, "Wh - no. Nana, this isn't like raiding the fridge at midnight - I'm awake now! I feel thirsty more than anything else," adding when she saw her mom looking at the bags a little guiltily, Nana looking cross for now, "It was good advice, Nana - I just need to see if I'm hungry or thirsty. Mom - I'm the kid, you're the parent - but remember what I talked to you about earlier. And how many of those things you've had already…" Nana looking only slightly less cross, mumbling, "I hope if you need more than water that you _take care of your body _\- even if your mom was right earlier, about hunger gauges being off. Still don't know what this mystery disturbing dream you talked about is." Ursa simply said, "Let's just say the dream wasn't fully pleasant, _and _that I still appreciate any advice you have for me. Even with the dream's… influence. I guess, in a way, part of it agreed with what you were saying. My mom and I talked about it earlier, but you knowing would be a big help too. Know some of the most immediate stuff about it… I'll explain it to you 'when my successor is absent'," hoping Buniq wouldn't pick up on the obfuscation. Ursa smiled when Nana nodded, Buniq none the wiser.

Very glad when her mom chose to come over to her and give her a big hug instead of eat anything, Ursa laughed slightly when her mom said, "Probably should have waited for you to take off the shield - metal hugs… only Jinshu Kuangmai would like that," her mom finishing, "Let's pack plenty of water - 'ice barrels' should be good enough for now, and the police officers said they were making some metal drums from scrap, a lot of the salvage gathered ending up stuck on the reinforcement's equipment. Anyway - water… we're not the only **thirsty **ones." Her mother bowed, saying, "Thank you for looking out for me again. And maybe Nana needs to hear sooner rather than later. The next days could be rough," Nana adding, "Sounds good to me. Hmmm - Buniq, why don't you go play with your water-core dolls." Nana laughed when Buniq protested, "Not dolls - action figures! Make Ozai fight Aang with waterbending! Ozai lose!" Nana smiled when Buniq was out of the room, saying, "Okay, Ursa - explain away while me and your mom get water from the tap, and outside if that's off again. We're going to need it if people are going to get a really balanced meal. You can sterilize after talking. Let's go."

Explaining her relevant dream in more detail to Nana while Ursa fiddled with her personal affects, unable to bend the water her mother and grandmother were working on, Ursa found herself explaining more than she had thought initially, given Nana's sympathetic reactions. Ursa finishing explaining everything that had to do with weight and self-image by the time they were done getting the water ready, Ursa let out a weak laugh when Nana said, apparently fully aware of the irony of what she said next with a slight smile, saying, "I think I can hear Buniq coming back out. Given I think you were right to not tell your little sister about all that, even your mom having trouble with the 'dark half' part… I'm afraid you're just going to have to go with your **gut **feel for now about all that. Oh - there she is, now. If you want to talk, let's do it later."

Ursa nodded, thanking her grandmother for the offer, saying after Nana smiled broadly, "You and mom are done - now let's make sure nobody gets sick from this water," adding as she looked at one of the "ice barrels" holding liquid, "Not sure if I trust the tap water fully myself just yet. One of the sub-city purifying stations got blown up - I hope benders really can do the same thing it did." Nana smiled, saying, "I heard tales in my youth about a factory near Yu Dao - had two lines. One using benders, one using machines - and the benders outperformed the machines for a long time. If I remember correctly, the only reason the bender line went down was the machines didn't need to be paid, while the benders did. Given most of the people doing it are volunteers, like what we want to do with food, I'm sure the temporary bending replacement will be more than fine." Wondering how they were going to get benders to fill in for long enough for a 24-hour job until new equipment could be made, idly realizing that Republic City's water supply and filtration system as-is provided water better quality than anything she had heard of in Ba Sing Se's Lower Rings, at least before Kuvira took over, Ursa helped by sterilizing the water with fire. Ursa felt disappointed she had yet to reproduce the blue fire from her dream, something dawning on her while messing with a water globule her mother was holding in place for her to boil.

She may have already produced blue fire in the real world, years ago - the blue cores of her flames, when she thought about her anger over other's suffering…

About to try the same thing, focusing on her anger at what fate had done to Republic City's center, Ursa remembered at the last minute that Avatar Korra had said in the press conference that this "new" flame may have even based on righteous anger and love - but that it was very hard to control. Not feeling like burning down the entire apartment, she decided to save it for later - half wondering if she'd be able to produce the flame, dream world performance or not.

Certainly hoping that she wouldn't need to use it to fight with…

Snapping back to the present, she heard her mom say, "Um, Ursa? That fire's nowhere near the blob now - you off chasing snakes again? Thinking about last night?" Ursa shook her head, saying, "No," realizing she'd likely need to keep things as simple as possible - not bite off more than she could chew, so to speak.

Re-focusing on her task, Ursa thought, "If I see any spirit with red lines on it, I'll try to give him a very **warm** welcome," a mental image of Long Yumao as last described officially popping to mind. Her mind wandering slightly, idly pondering how she'd feel if the loathsome serpent popped out of the barrier at some point and attacked Republic City, putting her family in mortal danger, Ursa smiled slightly to see what her mind's wandering had done.

She saw a little bit of blue in the center of the fire she was using to sterilize water drawn from the outside air, glad when her mother didn't notice nonetheless.

Realizing that at some point she'd need to tell, draw, or write out her experiences, Ursa noticed they were on the last "ice barrel" to be sterilized, finding only enough time to briefly describe the surreal experience of talking with Noatak, Buniq looking at her like she was crazy when finished, protesting, "Wh - but bad guy dead! He spirit no live forever… like Iroh, Sokka or sword guy! Only for good people! You talk to dead people, big sis? That what dream I can't hear about… was about?"

Realizing her little sister had some idea that the "adults" were talking around her, Ursa let out a frustrated groan when Buniq said, "I want know!" feeling relieved when her mother said, wagging her finger, "Uh-uh. You won't hear about that for a very long time," Nana looking surprised when Panik added, "I'd rather explain 'the birds and the bees' to you right now than that. Let's just say all of big sis' dream wasn't nice." Buniq nodded defeatedly, saying as Ursa sterilized the last blob of water, "Okay. Fine - I three. Too young to know. Everything interesting," Ursa laughing when her mother rolled her eyes after Buniq crossed her arms, saying, "Treat me like dumb dishwaters."

Hearing a knock at the door, very glad Buniq had managed to stay fully dressed the whole time, Ursa opened it and greeted Jingqiao after realizing she wouldn't be of much further help with the ice barrels. Jingqiao bowing politely, she smiled, saying, "Looks like you've been busy as well. Never seen the inside of your apartment… anyways, I just wanted to come by and say hello before going off to the Zoo. I've got two things for your family, actually…" Ursa not seeing the other woman's pet cat initially, she was surprised when she heard a mewing from behind her, what looked for all the world like embossed-metal cat sized luggage next to Fluffykins, even more surprised when Jingqiao said self-conciously, "We don't really know how things are at the Republic City Zoo at the moment… but I can imagine people here who are hungry wouldn't see people helping animals before humans too kindly. I can bend - unlike a badgermole, Fluffykins can't... I - I don't want her getting hurt…"

Hearing Nana before sensing her presence, Jingqiao's face lit up when Nana said, "Rubbish. Buniq told me what she told you about people who don't like animals," continuing after patting Ursa on the shoulder, "Guess she was right - you and Ursa are a lot more alike than you think. So cynical… take it from someone who used to be a real refugee, when my family came to this area over seven decades ago: the world as a whole can be rather cruel at times… but you'd be surprised at how often people can be nice. If people were nasty more often than they were nice… Republic City would be far worse than even during Amon's time, the police state against nonbenders..." After a slight pause, Nana added, "No - I'm trying to cheer you up, not depress you. Some things… I don't want to talk about. Just know whatever you learned in school wasn't the whole truth - Republic City's made a lot of progress over the years. Tried to tell my own daughter the same thing, to have some faith in people and their honesty with the whole 'pay if you can' system - she still insisted people would try and be cheap. Lie to get all the free food they want instead of being decent…"

By this time Jingqiao looking more than a bit confused, Nana finished, "What I was trying to say is, I'm sure Fluffykins will be fine with you, even if you are at the Zoo. Even if people are nasty or try and rough you up… a metalbender who stood up to Amon can handle a few hoodlums, especially with other people like you around you, and your guard cat Fluffykins." Jingqiao nodded and smiled slightly, still looking a bit down when she said, "Oh… duh! I'm so stupid sometimes, an airhead… you're all going to City Hall, aren't you? I was going to ask Buniq to look after Fluffykins, but… if that's the sort of crowd you'll be near, maybe she's better off with a tigerdillo." Cocking her head, feeling slightly uneasy, Ursa asked, "Just… who else did you talk with, and what's wrong with the crowd at City Hall? They seemed somewhat reasonable last I saw - and what about President Raiko's speech? Did they not listen…?"

Jingqiao shook her head slightly, saying, "I'm not sure. It's just when I talked with the Equalist turncoat from four years ago, Ryoshin… she said things weren't looking as good as they had at City Hall." Ursa's eyes wide, she listened as Jingqiao said, "She said she saw all sorts of symbols and things getting put up near different soapboxes from her apartment and went to have a brief look. Oddly enough, the people near the Equalist banners seemed the most civil - just distributing leaflets and encouraging people to… 'fight for Equality and Common Sense through the ballot,' I think it was. Ryoshin wasn't so sure about some of the other groups, only mentioning one other in detail - a bunch of shady-looking characters promising easy jobs and money. Though from what she said, the Republic City Police have a closer watch on them than the Equalists. Sound like gangsters to me…"

Jingqiao looking a little nervous, she added as she held out a sheet of paper, "Here - her phone number. Didn't know if you knew it… she did mention one other guy, though - totally ignored, unlike the other groups, talking about the Spirit Civil War '**finally** coming to the Physical World'. Ryoshin didn't want to talk about anything else he said… Normally, I'd just think he was nuts… not so sure after what President Raiko said." Taking a deep breath, as though to calm herself down, Jingqiao said as she made preparations to leave, "I'll be going now," saying with a slight smile after Ursa offered to help, "Thank you, but I got everything here in the first place," expression looking more alive when she said with a final air, "Feels good, to bend - gives me confidence. I'm probably not going to see you again until tonight." Buniq shouted, "Bye, pretty lady! Want to play with Fluffykins tonight!" Ursa chuckled slightly when Jingqiao said, "Sure - so sweet. Maybe you need a pet of your own," her mother groaning slightly from behind her as she had expected.

Turning around, snickering to see her mother shaking her head at Buniq already, Ursa said, "My little sis is a waterbender - maybe getting her to help with the 'ice barrels' will help distract her from the idea of having a pet of our own." Her mother sighed, saying as she tussled Buniq's brown, straight hair, "Good idea, Ursa. Buniq, sweetie, we already have a 'pet' - spirit buddy Warmwings. One that doesn't need food or water, and is a lot smarter than a cat," Ursa feeling sad herself when her sister protested, "Bunny spirit get funny color, then. Leave us to go fight big serpent in spirit place! Not around - cat no leave to go fight bad guys! Fluffykins stay in nice lady Jingqiao's apartment. Warmwings didn't in ours!"

Ursa able to tell the next sigh from her mother wasn't entirely at Buniq, Panik said, "That she did - but for the same reason daddy left last night. She's fighting a different war than daddy is…" Looking at a momentary loss for words, even after their telephone rang, Ursa's mother went to pick the telephone up after two rings delay, Panik likely distracted by the same thing she had been trying to eat away earlier.

Hideki's absence, and the uncertain nature of his mission.

Now lost in thought herself, Ursa hardly reacted when she felt a tap on her shoulder, only paying attention when she heard her mother say in a much less defeated tone, "Ursa - that was… was Temporary Chief Saikhan, believe it or not. He said this whole thing's starting to attract attention - but in a good way. Come on - let's get everything ready. It needs to be on the bottom floor in the street given how he, Officer Jin and Officer Renshi are coming - unless you want to have a big hole in the wall of your bedroom, that is."

Ursa nodding, realizing her earlier anxieties had been dulled by busying herself with work, she focused on the task at hand, her mother Panik began making idle conversation, able to talk well while bending as opposed to carrying fully-frozen ice barrels by hand like Ursa had to. Feeling a certain rush Ursa knew was associated with exercise or strenuous work like that she was doing, she listened with half an ear as her mother said, "I talked to Officer - blegh, we know them both, may as well just say their names… Both Jin and Renshi. Jin was being tight-lipped about something to do with Republic City Police Headquarters. Even though we've known him for a long time, the only thing I was able to get out of Renshi about it was that he hoped the City Hall situation wouldn't require too many metalbender cops, then slipped up about something other than the reinforcements stressing their manpower. Next thing I knew, Saikhan was on the phone, saying, 'Sorry - that's all for now. I'm just glad your husband's in the military, and… odd Equalist sympathizing sentiments four years ago ignored, I don't think you're going to betray anybody.' Then he shouted something about Triple Threat Triad recruiters near City Hall, needing to, 'Get people fed before they decide to turn to crime,' and the phone line went dead. I think he wanted me to believe that was the issue, City Hall… but I have this gut feeling it's something else."

Ursa's interest piqued, she remembered her own little "secret" and being trusted with something - seeing Avatar Korra's odd dual-bladed vambrace weapon come to life with plasma in her dream earlier. Trying to remember what kind of criminals were held where, Ursa said after sitting down an ice barrel near the door, "Republic City Police Headquarters… not anything to do with Zaheer or the Red Lotus, I know that much. They never did catch everybody… still have a hard time believing someone **bent pure mercury **into Avatar Korra, or that Suyin Beifong managed to get most of it out." Her mother coughed, saying, "I don't know either - I've heard rumors she visited Zaheer once in some undisclosed secure location. Might have helped her with her block on almost dying, but… doubt he'd volunteer anything about the Red Lotus, even on pain of death." Realizing who might have still been under lockdown after four years aside from the recently passed Hiroshi Sato, not noticing they were not alone anymore, Ursa interjected, "Hmmm - taxed manpower. I bet you anything that slipup has something to do with the various gangsters who got their bending stripped," continuing even after someone coughed loudly who didn't sound familiar, "What in the blazes do they need to guard 'newly nonbender' gangsters who've been under lockup for four years for? Hah - I bet some of the Equalists who stayed behind would be more than glad to help with that, rather than handing out pamphlets! Zap them if they get rowdy - just like the bully Lightning Bolt Zolt did!"

Hearing another cough, turning around to see its source, the color drained from Ursa's face when she saw a grizzled-looking Temporary Chief Saikhan staring at her, saying once Ursa was staring for long enough, "Hello, Ursa. I can see your mother was correct, saying you were sharp." Looking back and forth, apparently checking to see if anyone other than himself, Ursa and Panik were around, he continued, "To be honest, the order to guard the former benders, still criminals - I have no idea either. President Raiko did not explain the reason - only that it needed to be done." Ursa still frozen partially, she felt herself thaw when her mother said pointedly, "Very well. I remember what you did for former Councilman Tarrlok four years ago - and I hope you handle City Hall a lot better than that disgrace. It was a wonder any nonbender wasn't wearing an Equalist mask after that!"

Temporary Chief Saikhan sighed, saying earnestly, "I see your family's opinions withstand the test of time. Just under a week ago, I was playing in the band at Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding along with another person you probably don't like - Tahno. Booted out of the force for my actions once President Raiko took office four years ago… Ever since that last gig, Chief Lin's been practically absent ever since, and one very… impromptu action by President Raiko later, I'm back on the force, 'Temporary Chief' and all. Not quite sure what I've done in the meantime to deserve it, but here I am - though I did get the impression I was going to be under watchful eyes the whole time. Something about getting judged by a plant at some point? Whatever. Now let's get to work."

Looking stern again, Temporary Chief Saikhan got out a radio, barking, "Republic City Police Officers - well, those of you that are left - I want you to let all your subordinates know I will be busy for a while, but available for contact. Officer Jin and Officer Renshi - if you're done modifying those airships to be more like the ones that left Republic City, I want you at my location, stat. Over and out."

Coking her head slightly, wondering what was wrong with the Republic City Police airships, Temporary Chief Saikhan smiled slightly, saying, "Yes - so much like that Asami Sato. Curious - even when she was in lockup. To answer your 'question'… let's just say something her father designed is still better than what we have, all these years later." Scratching her head slightly, Ursa remembered something from her dream, saying, "I - four years ago, we tried taking out Equalist airship engines with stone and steel… nothing happened, Temporary Chief Saikhan." Temporary Chief Saikhan nodded, saying, "Yes - and from what I've heard from the night shift, the Lieutenant came out with two airships with the fuel line weakness fixed." Ursa's eyes widening slightly, he said, "I may not totally understand your world view - but I certainly know of your work. For what little my opinion mattered back then, I pushed for those medals - glad to finally see one. You can just call me Saikhan if you want - been called that for four years, after all…"

Saikhan obviously carrying some sort of very justified chip on his shoulder about his past and being given the responsibility, apparently without even a tuber-vine judging him, Ursa shrugged mentally, saying internally, "Eh - whatever. He seems like he's sorry and wants to make up - just like Kuvira, though with less blood on his hands. Don't need spirity judging when you've got… gut feel." Apparently, Saikhan himself was fairly observant, saying as Ursa heard the sounds of an approaching airship, "Probably thinking about how I don't deserve this - or maybe that I do, knowing your 'quirky' opinion from four years ago. All I know is that the only way I was made Temporary Chief, from what I remember of the short… 'discussion' at five thirty in the morning over the matter, was that the only reason President Raiko chose me was after some voice I did not recognize said, 'If I had a tuber-vine seventy-four years ago in Ba Sing Se… it wouldn't have been of any use anyways. My nephew's betrayal there seemed spur of the moment, and nothing could have…' Wait a minute. I though President Raiko was nuts for saying he had a very 'human-y' spirit advisor. That was Iroh, of the Fire Nation!"

Saikhan now having bugeyes from surprise, he rubbed his head, saying, "Wow. I've never been a spiritual person - as I showed four years ago, following Tarrlok… but this new spirit stuff makes my head hurt even more," finishing as a Republic City Police airship hovered out of sight, Ursa barely able to hear him over the sound of zipping cables from above, "If that was even possible. I hope you know someone who can make sense of it." His radio letting out a racket, Ursa's eyes widened when she heard a police officer say, "10-4, Unit Seven. Unit Nine, Temporary Chief Saikhan, sir - spirits. I… don't have a code for this one. Maybe we should make one, if what President Raiko said about the barriers bursting ever happens. Anyways - it's not Long Yumao. Nothing to be too alarmed about. We've got a heated argument between two… _spirits _spooking Unit Seven as she's making her way towards City Hall. Both of them - little bird things stuck on her grill, the one with blue lines and white spots apparently trying to get away from the 'normal one' to touch spirit vines. Said she knocked the spirit away from a vine it was trying to touch, the other one appearing from a vine after she stopped out of concern- but are still fussing with one another on her grill. Where they've been ever since she tried driving away, the pushy one getting in her way. She did say the 'normal' one made motions like it wanted to enter her engine anytime she was sympathetic with the insistent blue lined one..."

Saikhan groaned deeply, grumbling into the radio, "Damn it - not what I'm qualified for! Unit Nine, tell Unit Seven to take a detour, drop both spirits off at the edge of town far away from spirit vines and tell them… I don't know. We'll lock them up for rowdy behavior if the blue lined one tries to touch spirit vines, and the other if it enters Unit Seven's engine? Whatever - at any rate, we don't want the nutjob yammering on about spirits ending the world to see two fighting on the front of a police car, even if from what little I know neither one sounds like it's aligned with his favorite one - Long Yumao! Temporary Chief Saikhan, over and out."

Gesturing at the radio, Ursa stammered, seeing her mother had begun helping get food and water into the out-of sight airship, "Uh - um - a HUMAN, liking Long Yumao? What… I can't even!" Saikhan laughed dryly, saying deadpan, "I had the same reaction four years ago when I learned there were benders like yourself that had slight Equalist sympathies," saying with more self-consciousness, "Though, I wasn't exactly in the right back then either, and only later did I learn the key qualifier that some benders were okay with the Equalists - as long as they left bending alone, and only took down people like me and Tarrlok... From what I've heard of this 'Long Yumao', he's not leaving _anyone _alone." Seeing her mother working in the background, shuffling ice barrels into actual barrels before they vanished from sight, Ursa made to go and help her, stopped by a hand from Saikhan, saying, "Wait. Before you go help your mother - and I want you to be totally honest with me - do you know anyone who might have a clue on this first and hopefully last spirit issue? Or in general about the whole thing - because the Avatar's thousands of miles away, almost all of the airbenders left in the middle of the night… and whatever this 'blue versus normal' is, I wouldn't expect either side to be totally reasonable."

Insecurities still strong, layered on top of the other reason she hadn't worn her medal until today, humility, Ursa was loathe to respond at first, not even remembering her faceless monkey visitor in the dream world. Saying, "Just a minute, let me think," she closed her eyes - seeing an image of Warmwings fighting with some dreadful-looking spirit.

Sighing, Ursa pointed to herself, intending to briefly explain her "qualifications," Saikhan raising his hands halfway through, smiling slightly before saying, "I've heard all I need to, Ursa. Spirit friend fighting behind that barrier, know the names of Avatars I've never even heard of… If I need you, I'll - you wouldn't happen to have a radio, would you?"

Remembering her father took his personal radio before leaving with the reinforcements, Ursa shook her head, surprised when Saikhan said, "I'll get you a good one at City Hall then," laughing when he added, "No matter how much you want to, no Long Yumao adherent flambé, though. The law's still the law. From what I got, you're pretty up to speed on everything… and passionate. I know he's a scumbag, but please… don't torch the guy yammering about Long Yumao when we get there. An assault's still an assault - even if it is on scum. There's plenty more other similarly sympathetic groups City Hall." Smiling slightly, Saikhan said with a final air, "Maybe if you and your mother help her boss feed people, nobody will pay anyone except the Equalists and their pamphlets any attention. Let's go."

Following Saikhan out into the morning sunlight, seeing the nearby Republic City Police airship, Ursa's jaw dropped. The additions did look somewhat hastily made, but they were impressive regardless, wondering how the airship supported the weight of the new rear cargo bay, noticing that certain other parts of the ship looked removed, Ursa swearing she saw something dangling from the ship… and a hole in its belly? Saikhan said as they approached, "I could hardly believe what they were telling me at six in the morning for the briefing either, all the changes they made - and I'm impressed that Officer Jin and Officer Renshi managed to reproduce the relevant work so fast, even if they don't look pretty. I don't know if you'd be interested in the technicalities I was briefed on - but I do know that is something I am not permitted to disclose, or even who did what. You and your mother knowing about the increased security for the old criminals is pushing it as is - something you figured out yourself based off minimal information."

Ursa suppressed a snicker, remembering her light half had shown her the **Avatar's own weapon**, finding the whole thing rather ironic - especially considering she was going to be seeing the inside of the modified airship soon anyways. Saikhan led her towards a large metal plate on the pavement, saying once they arrived, assuming a bending pose, "Still surprised this idea works without the machinery he had… time to get aboard. Steady yourself."

Now beneath the airship and looking up, curious as to why she could see her mother standing near cargo on the same large metal plate Saikhan had led her to, Ursa felt sort of dumb when she realized the large piece of metal fit into the underbelly of the cargo bay. There were even industrial strength cables connecting from the airship to the plate at circular hardpoints around the steel slab's edges, and some sort of sliding doors on the underbelly.

Hearing the groaning of cables rubbing against metal, noticing her mother didn't seem too awed by it, likely having seen it before already, Ursa watched with interest as the airship grew larger over time, hearing some people grunting from effort from above as the cables went upward slowly. Not remembering any such system existing before, Ursa looked at one of the heavy cables being metalbent shorter and shorter into some sort of just-now visible spool, saying as she pointed at the drum, "Ingenious - metalbending-powered heavy lifting equipment. And you said something about this working 'without the machinery he had'."

Now inside the cargo bay, Ursa laughed when he mother ribbed a dour-looking Saikhan, saying, "What, he didn't say much of anything? The people I've been helping have been all sorts of chatty," Saikhan letting out a low sigh when he mother finished, "Buniq pestering them about everything and Nana reminded them where your father is probably helped a lot." Rubbing his forehead again, Saikhan said as Ursa heard the sound of a door closing beneath them, "Hmmph - you mentioned something about trying to knock out an Equalist airship by hitting its engines four years ago with those 'Pro-Bending' disks… and I seem to remember you were the one who came up with the idea." Ursa giving him a funny look, wondering why someone who was even **Temporary **Chief would know so much about her aloud, he frowned slightly, saying, "It's not like I'm a big name myself, after what I did four years ago. I'll let you in on some of the less sensitive stuff while we're in transit over the crater," adding with a slight smile, "Maybe you'll have an idea of your own. Certain parts are a bit unreliable still… given we were adapting other people's technology."

As Saikhan began explaining what he knew, Ursa listened intently - suddenly realizing she hadn't talked to Lee-Lee yet as she listened to Saikhan talk about the new cargo system had been adapted by Baatar Jr. to use metalbending instead of the heavy machinery the Lieutenant had wanted to use to power it. Saikhan seemingly done, Ursa sure Lee-Lee would have been fascinated to hear all of this, she asked, "How do you get the power needed to get these heavier airships off the ground - and would you let me talk to my friend about it when I see him? Lee-Lee's fascinated by technology - especially given he can't bend like you or I can."

At first, Saikhan had yet another dour look on his face, appearing to mull it over, saying with a slight smile after, "Maybe. I remember I was supposed to get judged by something called a 'tuber-vine' at some point - if you find your friend and he passes that 'test', sure. Same for you - maybe tell you more than I already have, what your mother likely knows already…" Looking a little koala-sheepish, he asked, "What… what color should one of those thing flash if it's satisfied with me? You seem to know a lot about spirits… and a lot of other things, given how you followed what I said fairly well." Never having seen a tuber-vine, Ursa shrugged, saying, "I'm not sure - I just know blue and white are associated with Raava, red and black - Vaatu. From what I remember of the press conference, spirits themselves are a bit odd - blue lines and white denotes allegiance to Raava, obviously - but if you see a spirit with red lines, that's one that follows Long Yumao. Have no clue if there are any following Vaatu - I hope not. That was bad enough last time…" Saikhan nodded, saying as Ursa spotted her family in the back of the cargo bay, "I hope so as well. I suppose I'll need to start paying a lot more attention - perhaps Grand Lotus Atinnuaq knows more than I do. Still have no clue what to make of the rumors of information relay, 'infobending', spirit communication… Thank you for the information nonetheless - I guess that spirit causing trouble earlier was actually 'friendly'."

Now it was Ursa's turn to rub her head, saying aloud, "So… what was the spirit trying to do exactly?" Thinking back to the press conference, the Great Banyan tree's healing following the Restoration, the fact that Varrick took the original vines from Republic City and Kuvira harvested spirit vine material from the once-again **Great** Banyan tree, Ursa lost herself in thought, thinking, "What did 'they' say it looked like after? What was the description they gave of the whole thing…?"

Feeling a slight lurch physically, something shifted into place mentally, Ursa saying, "That's it! The spirit must have been trying to make the spirit vine more like the Great Banyan tree." Getting a blank look from both Saikhan and her mother at first, she explained, "The new Great Banyan tree - I heard at the press conference that it was hit by some ray of Raava's energy from Avatar Korra's chest at the end of the Restoration. Just like her connection to her past lives, the whole thing healed - and it's supposed to have a lot more power inside now. Maybe the little bird spirit was trying to make our vines like the Great Banyan tree, white colors and all."

Saikhan nodded, saying, "Good - then I suppose I need to tell Unit Seven to let the blue and white spirit do as it pleases. A lot of Republic City's firebenders left, and we don't have enough coal and fuel forever to keep the electricity back on. If we get it running, spirit vine power could be a very good thing." Remembering how an apparently neutral spirit had attacked the Raava aligned-one as though it was defending its home, from what Ursa got of the radio call, she had a bad feeling about the idea, saying, "Then again - maybe not. That other spirit sounded like it was fighting desperately against the 'good' spirit - and upsetting the neutral spirits that are left might weaken the barrier. You know - the one keeping Long Yumao from attacking us."

Looking slightly exasperated, Saikhan shook his head, saying, "Ugh! So many things going on at once… and after seeing how our military stood up to a spirit weapon - or rather, didn't - and it was the Avatar's allies who ended up helping save Republic City then, and they're not here… I don't think power is more important than that barrier." Taking a deep breath, Saikhan finished, "I'm glad you spoke up earlier - and just now again. Even though I'm just **Temporary **Chief, there are some Officers who wouldn't have spoken up. Speaking of which - thank you for what you did with that combustionbender. I remember newly Officer Jin talking about how she was afraid to tattle on the corrupt Officer Jiaohua lest he make up some phony charges against anyone in his unit… Anyways - spirits. I'll put out a bulletin saying nobody is to touch the spirit vines - including 'friendly' spirits."

Remembering some things that came out three years ago about Dark Spirits and what the police officer had said about female officer "Unit Seven's" engine, Ursa pointed out, "Saikhan, sir - spirits can ghost through engine blocks. The neutral one even seemed to be threatening to do just that to the female officer's engine! I don't see how you'd be able to keep them shackled," Saikhan groaning, "You're right. It was bad enough Avatar Korra 'forgot' to come home after the conference I've only heard about - then my commander in chief goes off on something too! Apparently, from that radio address earlier, same for Firelord Izumi and the twin Chiefs of the Northern Water Tribe - leaders leaving home on official business…" Eyes glazing over momentarily, as though remembering something, Saikhan said with a frown, "As much as I want to tell both my President and Avatar 'Just do your job first,' wondering what exactly they've been doing since Kuvira's fall… I can't exactly say 'Just do your job', though - not after four years ago. You do have to think independently and on your feet - for better or worse. That sure seems to be what all the **real **world leaders are doing. 'You can't rebuild into the crater' - that order still standing, even after spirits are mad at us just for existing! Kuvira's 'sentence,' what amounts to community service after all she's done… bleugh. Talk about a slap on the wrist… but that's not what I'm here to do." Smiling slightly, Saikhan finished, "I got a slap on the wrist too, four years ago. Hope nobody decides to try and bend my uniform… let's go do something a lot simpler - feed people, get you that radio I promised."

Ursa glad to know she wasn't the only one with reservations about what "important" people were doing, much less that one of those "sort-of" important people shared sentiments with her even if he was puzzled by her attitude towards Equalists, she nodded, smiling when Nana said loudly from the back, "Sounds like a wonderful idea! My mother always told me a picture was worth a thousand words, and that even small works and actions were made of thousands of pictures." Not having heard that axiom since she was much younger, one of the few times Nana had given Ursa a scolding just over what she had said, Ursa nodded. Ursa sighed, frowning as she looked out the window, "Guess there's one good thing about this crater - we don't have to worry about using that cargo unloading system. Just touch down near the edge near City Hall… take everything from there. Land on spirit vines..."

Ursa hadn't intended to sour anyone's mood, but that she did, not trying to talk to any of the police officers on board after seeing their faces - most of them looking ashen, a few stoic… and a few crying slightly. The only one on board who didn't look affected was Buniq, even Nana looking a bit morose, Ursa seeing her idly running her fingers over the betrothal necklace Ursa's deceased grandfather had given her many years ago…

Finally getting all the cooking equipment, water and raw ingredients unloaded, able to get the prepared food herself, Ursa wondered just where the ingredients had come from as she exited the airship's cargo bay. Ursa's eyes widened slightly when Saikhan responded, Ursa not aware she had spoken out loud, "The money - people like Tahno and the White Falls Wolfbats, that's who. A lot of Republic City's Pro-Benders left with the reinforcements - both former, and current. Even Toza, I hear. I radioed President Raiko about it a while back, after the address - managed to get to talk to my bandmate Tahno when he was telling people about working as a team to fight 'dirty'. Tahno talked to other Pro-Benders, both current and former - a lot of them, including him, said they'd pay for everything, no debts."

Giving Saikhan a surprised, blank stare, Ursa had a million questions about how someone like Tahno could have changed so much from the days of stealing victory from the Future Industries Fireferrets, getting the eerie feeling Saikhan could read her like a book just as her light half earlier had except without the supernatural element when he said, "That look again. Probably wondering why he'd do such a thing - let's just say I'm not the only one in the 'White Falls Police' who wants to make good. More money than I have, especially since he still plays Pro-Bending occasionally except not dirty anymore. He's already done more than I have - but that's something for another time. Like your grandmother said - work, not words."

A part of Ursa wanting to know everything, right now, she squelched it, idly thinking as she made to do exactly what Saikhan had said, "Want to know, know, know… guess I am a lot like Lee-Lee, except poking a machine with sticks is less dangerous than poking internal snakes." Remembering one day her friend had come to school with quite a few bandages, and that his eyebrows weren't the same for a while after, she shook her head, thinking as she heaved an ice barrel, "Then again… maybe not."

Plonking the ice barrel down, so lost in thought she didn't notice it moved right after, she turned around to see the "new" Republic City Police airship design again, saying as she pointed at vaguely familiar cylinders on its sides and the slightly off-looking engines, "Saikhan… are those… things on the airship's side from Earth Empire mechasuits? For power?" Ursa smiled slightly when she heard a frustrated groan, Saikhan saying, "Eugh… yes, they are, Ursa. Now if you want to know more, like how those engines can lift the extra load, ask me in my 'office', or City Hall itself. I was informed that Jinshu Kuangmai managed to get a spy into the Ember Island Conference itself, not to mention what everyone knows about Shiro Shinobi. That was in the heart of the Fire Nation - we're a lot closer to the Earth 'Empire' here. Your father is a military man - I am sure you understand the need for security."

Getting a certain uneasy feeling, as though she were being watched, Ursa nodded, saying quietly, "I understand. Sorry." After a pause and quick look at City Hall, noticing someone suspicious looking at her for a brief second before they looked away again, she pointed at the person who had been investigating her as she said, "Just who _is _around City Hall, anyways? I got a bad feeling about that person over there - turned around, they looked away, and… I don't feel like I'm being watched anymore." Saikhan grumbled, saying as Ursa took in her surroundings and City Hall in the distance better, "If I could make arrests like I did under Councilman Tarrlok, half these people would be gone, some of them under lockup - including mister Long Yumao adherent who was just staring at you, and those idiots arguing philosophy passionately over Pai Sho tables. They seem like shady characters to me as well, just like the Triple Threat Triad recruiters. But I'm following the law both legal and moral now - and not just because I'd likely get run out of town if I didn't. I need proof to arrest someone - and given even I don't know if I believe this whole 'tuber-vine' judging thing, I doubt people will be blindly accepting the testimony of a plant, if we ever find one of the things. You can explore later - let's go."

Tempted to go looking around, curiosity gnawing at Ursa, any desire to do so vanished when she noticed her mother working with a vaguely familiar figure halfway between where they were now and City Hall itself.

Running as best as she could over to her mother Panik and her boss Gurume, not wanting to try firebending flight with so many people around, Ursa smiled coyly when her mother asked her, "Where have you been? Didn't you hear what Nana said?" frowning slightly and groaning when she said, "Knowing you, probably asking more questions. You know what they say - curiosity killed the fireferret… _and _the cat." Glad her mother was feeling up enough to make weird comments, Ursa laughed lightly when she heard Buniq's voice say, "No - no kill cat! Like Fluffykins! Bad mommy!" from nearby. Finally looking at Gurume, quelling the thought of, "Food Drunk Boss!" to see him up close and personal after so long, Ursa smiled when he said, gesturing to a chef's hat with a Gurume's Choice logo stitched into it, "Hello, Ursa. Good to see you wearing something nice - your mother talks about your other 'clothes' with much disdain, and rightfully so." Ursa nodded, saying as she heard the sounds of heating grease and other cooking equipment being prepared, metal clanging as she said, "Though, given we're going to be cooking shortly, I might want to… protect these prettier clothes with something."

Gurume whistled two times, saying as someone came over with a large apron, "Then you'll want to wear this," Ursa having gotten out her own top by the time the man came over, taking the apron as she said, "Sure - but… I still want to wear the other thing as well. Underneath. To, uh, protect my medal better." Both her mother and Gurume giving her two different levels of stinkeye, her mother's the worst, knowing she was lying mostly and not partially about her reasons, Gurume smiled slightly, saying as he patted his stomach, "I think I understand. When I was younger, I too was self-conscious - though more so at being a 'girly cook' and not about my size, though that was an issue as well. I am sure you'll come to accept yourself as I have with time." Ursa raising an eyebrow slightly, not sure if she wanted to be that accepting of weight, Gurume chuckled, "To be frank, you seem smaller than I was back then - but I am not a teenage girl, and I know self-image is more important for women, so I will not try to assume I understand your struggle fully. I've already gotten a comment or two about my stomach from newly homeless people who've become bitter - but I don't care. The 'price' of my work - and passion. And I want to help them, even if they were rude. Now let's see if we can spread the 'wealth' around and get these hungry folks some good food - even the rude ones." Ursa smiling slightly, having forgotten how Gurume reminded her of her father in some ways except much bigger, she nodded when he finished, "Let's see just how well this 'pay if you can' works out. Thanks to the Pro-Benders' generosity and all these volunteers, anything we make can go towards a replacement restaurant, instead of costs."

After helping hand out the relatively small amount of food they already had from the family cooking binge earlier and what Karpok had ordered and no longer wanted, Ursa felt light - glad not only to see the people's gratitude and that they had some people **overpay **for the food, but above all glad that she could appreciate her work. Gurume realizing that no one but her mother and Ursa had experience cooking the Big Hug Cakes, having gotten comments that even the cold ones were better than VarriCakes, Ursa was guided into helping make more Big Hug Cakes.

At first, she had been mortified by the decision, worrying that her will would fail her and eat some. "Slaving" away at the stove for she wasn't sure how long, more people interested in Big Hug Cakes than "real" food, the heat of the oil started to get to even a firebender like herself, Ursa started to feel a bit hungry and above all, thirsty. Not sure if she could handle cooking Big Hug Cakes and giving them to someone else any longer, wondering if Nana had been right earlier after all, Ursa asked Panik, "Hey, mom - can you try and see if someone can take over for me for a bit?" Noticing that her current Big Hug Cake batch needed attention, she missed her mom's response, focusing on it until it was done and instantly bought up for twice the "asking" price Gurume had hoped for, even poor-looking people paying for them, Ursa frowning slightly when one refused it being free.

The middle-aged woman smiled, saying, "No - I will pay what I can, sweet girl. Please - I want to. I can pay, you've worked hard on this 'Big Hug Cake' - so I'll pay… As I have heard a very wise man once said - 'There is a simple honor in poverty - it is nothing to be ashamed of.'" Ursa already smiling at the Grand Lotus Iroh quote, she was even more surprised when the woman said before taking a bite, "Something my grandmother told me once from an old White Lotus master. It doesn't matter if the White Lotus itself has changed - the original spirit lives on, in people like you, or those civilians brave enough to volunteer to go south." Taking a bite, the woman smiled broadly, saying, "Mmmm - wow. Worth every yuan. I love the - " Interrupting herself, the middle-aged woman paused, saying as she bent down slightly to see a small child who had just come up, "Oh - hello there! I was just talking to the nice girl, but I'll get out of your way. Goodbye."

The middle-aged woman bowing and leaving, Ursa saw a vaguely familiar face appear at the counter, the child looking malnourished and downtrodden but still happy. Not entirely sure how much time had passed, initially wanting a replacement, Ursa felt like she could keep on working when the vaguely familiar small boy asked, "I hungry. Hungry in stummy. Lady say nice. Can you fill… Ursa? Even no money? Mom talk about someone big lots. Who have black hair and brown skins like you. Bend fire like mommy, but not same. Not know what I bend yet."

Smiling broadly, realizing this was one of Kyoretsuna's children, Ursa nodded, saying, "Sure - no problem, little guy. Tell your mom I said hi," starting another batch of Big Hug Cakes while asking the little boy, "Who are you, again?" Ursa began laughing so hard when he said, "I hungry! Already said!" she almost botched the first step, some odd, warm feeling and instinct driving her onwards after what was likely Kyoretsuna's youngest watched her in amazement as she finished. The young boy devoured the first Big Hug Cake and grabbed another off the platter, Ursa surprised when he tried to shove it upwards, the little boy saying adorably as he tried to get it to her, "These good. You have one! Before I have more."

Kyoretsuna's young son now looking at her with puppy-dog eyes, Ursa took it from him, smiling broadly when he took another from the plate, apparently waiting on her. Not wanting to upset a small and likely shaken child, wondering if any of his older siblings had left with the reinforcements, Ursa ate the Big Hug Cake slowly. Even with savoring every bite, Ursa found watching the young toddler happily devour the one in his hand and the next one he picked up much more pleasurable than anything she was feeling herself, saying as she rubbed her stomach without self-conciousness, "Mmmm - thank you. That was good. How about I cook a few more batches for your family, and you?"

The toddler nodded, saying, "Please. Name Teinei." Ursa's little fan watching every step of the way, Ursa making more meat-filled than sweet filled, knowing they likely needed the protein, she cooked a total of at least four dozen Big Hug Cakes for him without feeling tired at all, noticing by the time she was done he had been joined by his mother. Kyorestsuna looked at the four plates, four batches of Big Hug Cakes with disbelief, saying, "W-wow. I… don't know how to thank you." Ursa simply smiled, saying, "It was my pleasure," Kyoretsuna blushing when Ursa said, "Seeing Teinei enjoy his three cakes was its own reward," finishing even though Kyoretsuna had already picked up as many of the plates as she could, "Here - take these." Kyoretsuna began crying slightly, saying, "I - thank you. Two of my oldest went with the reinforcements last night, even though I asked them not to… there's enough here for the White Lotus people who were visiting me, and my family - and that's saying something."

Kyoretsuna looking around for a second, still holding three plates and Teinei his one, she said softly, "I know from your mother you love to know stuff - so I figure I should tell you something for all this. The Grand Lotus says he'll have me taken care of when most of the Order comes here," adding quickly as though she had spotted someone coming, "They want me to help guard Zaheer. Some order from President Raiko… gotta go."

Kyoretsuna walking off, son in tow, the same middle-aged woman as before approached Ursa's station again, saying softly, "Hello again, Ursa. I won't ask you to tell me what she said - there's only one thing she could have said. But I can trust you won't tell anyone. Can we talk off to the side for a moment?" Ursa gave the woman a funny look, nodding when she produced a Pai Sho gamepiece, saying softly, "The Lotus piece…" The woman smiled, saying, "Come with me nearer City Hall. I'll tell you just the things I can there."

Telling her mother goodbye, not sure how long this would take, Ursa followed the undercover White Lotus operative, the woman saying once they were behind a ruined building near a large spirit vine, "I cannot tell you my name. The only reason I am talking to you is because of Kyoretsuna's slipup - and your involvement in finding her. All I can tell you is that I've been watching City Hall on the Grand Lotus' orders - and some of the groups are concerning. Put your hand down! No, not him, the Long Yumao bobblehead - the ones that aren't so obvious. I can't get close to any of them, at least two of the groups having figured out who I work for long before now," Ursa laughing lightly when the woman quipped, "Ever since they showed up after the Lieutenant left Republic City, the Equalists have been more than happy to give me their pamphlets, though." Looking serious again, the woman finished as she pointed at an Equalist banner, "Some of the stuff they are putting in those pamphlets makes a lot of sense, things Grand Lotus Iroh might have agreed with - and I hope the Grand Lotus can enact his as yet unannounced reform plan for the Order smoothly." Sighing deeply, as though remembering something last-minute, Ursa was surprised when the woman admitted, "I've already told you a lot, so I may as well… Aside from Kyoretsuna… the White Lotus has no one of 'special ability', unfortunately. Even despite attempts over the years to recruit individuals like the members of the Red Lotus, except not crazy anarchists. We've… made a few contacts, only for someone else to swoop in unnoticed and take them in." Speaking in an even more hushed tone, she said with a final air, "All we know about it is that they seem to be going someplace completely unknown, the individuals unlikely to have joined the Red Lotus given we avoided any anarchists in the first place - and that that place may have a feeler here in Republic City. Goodbye."

The woman walking off into the inside of City Hall, Ursa noticing from a distance that some people acted differently in her presence, she realized what the agent might have wanted her to do - go chat the groups up and find out more about what they stood for, who they were…

Social interaction let alone spycraft not really her thing, idly thinking, "Hah - me, sneaky? I'm big!" Ursa made to head back to the cooking line - remembering that she had business in City Hall herself, Saikhan having told her she needed a radio. Smiling broadly and closing her eyes for a moment, part of her excited to be "important" seemingly, even if she wasn't sure entirely how, the color drained from Ursa's face when she heard a familiar mean voice say, "Hah - yes," her dark half continuing as Ursa saw a faint red skeletal outline in the darkness of her closed eyes, "Think you're 'important' - only to see that all are leaves on the wind later. The Avatar had issues of self-worth, feeling useless after losing her bending - and you cannot hope to do anything that matters, without attaching your worth to the doing!" Her dark half actually appeared, saying with a final air before eerie red-lit form vanished, "Importance and power are temporary. When they fade, you will be nothing but a fat failure - the very act of mattering hindering your insipid quest to have default self-worth. 'Self-love'. Good luck…"

Opening her eyes, part of Ursa felt like crying, what her dark half had said ringing true to her - cursing slightly after thinking she needed to talk with someone else about the whole thing, feeling a strong electrical internal "resistance" pulse through her scalp. Far stronger than any she had felt in a long time…

Knowing only she'd talk about it once her earlier struggles were out in the open fully, what she had told Panik and Nana the tip of the iceberg compared to the dream's full length, Ursa headed towards City Hall again, a random thought flitting through her mind as she knocked on the closed door: "Sometimes, when light is coming, darkness interferes - the dying gasp."

The door opening after a few knocks, she was greeted by a metalbender cop, saying as the man appeared to want her out before she even said a word, "Uhm - hello. I was told by Temporary Chief Saikhan to come here for a radio, so he could contact me if needed, and vice versa." The cop scowled, saying, "Tell me your name first. Ugh - still can't believe he got even Temporary Chief after what he did under Councilman Tarrlok." Hearing the man's voice, Ursa felt like she was dreaming again, noticing he had one more United Republic symbol than normal on his chest as she asked, "Wait a minute. You - I remember your voice. Amon, four years ago - the guy who said his family got caught in the dragnet." The cop looked at her like she was crazy, saying, "Yes," anyways, saying, "I knew you looked familiar. Whatever - take your radio and go," adding bitterly, "Only reason I didn't shut this door in your face was you seemed familiar - in a good way."

Doing just that anyways, Ursa wondering why someone was so testy with her, the door opened again a short time later, the now-even grumpier cop standing by Saikhan's side, Saikhan handing her a radio and saying, "Sorry about that. Perhaps we need some sort of 'Citizen's Hall' constructed - where interruptions by people are welcome instead of potentially security-compromising. This isn't the first time, so I've heard… Here, Ursa. Go back to the food line and talk to Officer Jin or Officer Renshi about codes and my frequency. That thing is its own powerful transmitter as well - don't abuse it. When I was Chief - I so hated the random harassment calls after the dragnet. One in the morning… that's the past. And Officer… sorry, don't know your name yet - don't be so grouchy! She couldn't have possibly known a meeting was going on in here before knocking - and I am not proud of what I did four years ago. Goodbye for now, Ursa."

The door closing more gently this time, Ursa managed a glimpse of what was going on inside, only recognizing the female Order of the White Lotus agent and Kyoretsuna in time before they shut, musing to herself after turning around and seeing who all was around City Hall, "If the agent didn't want to get spotted… maybe she should have had a hood on like some of these people do?"

Putting the radio in her backpack as she walked away from the door, Ursa overheard some indistinct argument from a nearby Pai Sho table. The table on the way back to the cooking equipment and her family, not really in the mood for anything social that would be stressful let alone trying to chat people up as the White Lotus agent had wanted her to do, Ursa made her way back to where she **wanted **to be… finding herself snared into two of the Pai Sho players' agruments anyways in the end. Overhearing one say in hushed tones to the other, "The only true way to freedom is without government," Ursa cursed under her breath when the other one got her involved, saying more loudly, "Hey - fellow citizen. Help me silence this fool. Turn around - tell this idiot what anarchy got the Earth Kingdom three years ago, and what governed consent got Republic City!"

Turning to face the two, noticing their Pai Sho game appeared just about complete anyways, Ursa never sure if she'd seen a _draw _so perfect before, she raised an eyebrow, saying, "I'm not sure why I'm bothering, both of you seeming pretty set on… whatever, but here goes. I'd rather have the new 'Earth Kingdom's' government - even if President Raiko's ending up not so horrible after all, our government's a glorified popularity contest." The other man smiled broadly, asking, "And are you willing to use force to tear it down?" Despite her sentiments four years ago, Ursa shook her head, saying as she pointed at one of the many visible Equalist banners, "No - the Equalists have the right idea. Now, at least - change through the ballot box, not breaking heads," adding as an afterthought, "Only if the government's as bad as it was four years ago is force justified."

Seeing both of them looked an odd blend of smug and confused, as though what she had said had somehow satisfied and displeased them at the same time, she was left scratching her head when the apparent pro-anarchist laughed, saying as the other looked sullen, "Force is sometimes justified, says her. See? Hah! Just like the rest of your friends - both of you still wrong. The Foggy Swamp Tribe gets along just fine without a government - that is, until Kuvira quashed them. Now why don't you go run to that symbol of repression City Hall and go kissy-kissy with them instead of wasting my time. Let me debate someone with a real head on their shoulders."

Ursa gave both a glare before walking off, saying, "Not like either of you are doing anything productive, arguing politics over a tied Pai Sho game. If you'll excuse me, I'll be going back to where I was earlier - helping feed people, instead of words words words." Ursa heard the argument resume as she turned around, still hearing some of the last part, one man saying, "Yeah - feed people! How you expect to do that with banditry the law of the land, exactly?" the other retorting loudly enough that some of the people in front of Ursa turned to where she had been to look as he yelled, "Like electing bandits or having bloodline dynasties of thieves are any better! Only recently did it dawn on those twin Chiefs up north to lower taxes - and how do you expect this precious new United Earth Republic to get on its feet without bleeding the people dry, or defend itself without pressing people into military service?! Just like a leech, governments require blood!"

Wondering how both men knew so much, having heard nothing of Northern Water Tribe tax rates in the news, Ursa tried her best to ignore the insane ramblings of the Long Yumao adherent, frowning slightly when she still heard him say, "Repent! Prophecies from all four mortal nations of old come true! 'Hei Feng's' - the true name being **Xiuhcoatl**'s - 'feathered serpent' has arrived, to bathe the world in fire! Lay low arrogant man! Accomplish what Unalaq could not, being a mere mortal!" Ursa glad when his voice faded, briskly walking by some shady-looking characters shuffling stacks of yuans, feeling disgusted instead of flattered when she heard one whistle suggestively. She was pretty sure they were gangster recruiters, as eager to listen to them as she had been the Long Yumao mouthpiece in human form, she found herself near an Equalist banner, actually stopping to pick up a pamphlet. Ursa blushed slightly when a vaguely familiar irritating voice proclaimed gratingly, "See? Brothers and sisters, look - the firebender girl from four years ago who stood against Amon before we knew of his hypocrisy is interested in what we have to say, just as she was back then to a _degree_. Ursa has dismissed the idle chatter of the Pai Sho fools, the ramblings of the man who would have spirits as tyrants and oppressors and the false promises of those gangsters as the garbage all of it is!"

Hearing the screech of an out-of-tune megaphone, Ursa turned towards the source of the noise, laughing when she saw who it was, saying, "Wh - you, with the pamphlets again, after four years? Aren't you the guy the Avatar roughed up?" The man nodded, saying, "Yes, I am, Ursa - take a look. See how we want to 'rough up' things in our city through the ballot!" Glancing down at the pamphlet, Ursa's eyes widened to see points that were close to what she thought, the only ones different from the umbrella statements under "United Earth Republic Government For the United Republic of Nations!" all revolving around wealth re-distribution. Pointing to the cooking line in the distance, Ursa noticing there were even more people there than before, recalling a little of her unusual dream, she said, "I'm all for 'Equality' between different groups - as long as it isn't government enforced like you want, or removing things from people like the Equalists under Amon wanted. And, apparently, still want - this time, money and not bending. Bullying by the ballot's no different than the last time around, except less people die. I've heard the 'utopia' blather before - from Amon himself, before he took my bending! Look over at that cooking line - all volunteers, free food - people who don't have a lot of money paying for it anyways even though they don't have to. It's not perfect, but it's more realistic than the 'unreality' of hoping for a perfect world. People take care of each other - no need for wealth re-distribution." The Equalist propagandist looking flustered by now, she added, "Forced re-distribution. Isn't that part of what Kuvira wanted to do? I remember people saying she claimed Zaofu had been 'hoarding riches and technology for too long', and that she wanted to use **force **to re-distribute everything 'fairly' throughout the nation, for 'equality'… and then used the domes' metal to build a massive war machine to attack US!"

Ursa smiled when the Equalist propagandist looked completely stumped, Ursa finding herself stumped when he said, "That's the past - the Avatar herself has explained things to the world that will change everything, though not in full detail, only President Raiko disclosing more early this morning in his address. Not much - but just enough. As our current unworthy moneyed President said, that the second 'gift' to humanity can do much more than just power a house. They can judge a person's worth!" Wondering what one would do to the Equalist propagandist, knowing things that he did not, wondering if a tuber-vine would react more violently to attack than even the original spirit vines had when Avatar Korra attempted to clear them, she listened as he continued, "Yes! It is true - brothers and sisters with the reinforcements have confirmed this from our leader, the Lieutenant! Kuvira was obviously power-hungry - something we can catch now, thanks to Raava's more useful gift! With tuber-vines and their ability to judge people, any leader would never be able to do what she did - character and actions constantly judged by the spirit of light and order herself! Did you not see that **added **point underneath the re-distribution - or did you just ignore it!"

Still finding the whole idea of re-distribution odious, not to mention "spiritocracy", Ursa turned around, saying before she left, "Stealing's still stealing, no matter how you dress it up. On the tuber-vine thing… May as well just make Raava ruler of everything doing that," thoroughly displeased when she heard a voice say, "Yeah - she's got to know **everything**! Forget the Avatar - all we need is Raava! Both Vaatu and Long Yumao want to rule everything, pure chaos or pure tyranny by spirits - why not her?! She's even human-y, or so I've heard."

Having barely cleared hearing range of the Equalist propagandist, Ursa nearly had a heart attack when she heard the sound of whooshing air followed by someone physically blocking her path on top of an air scooter, the figure's robes flapping slowly from his own airbending. Unable to tell if the person was male or female for the obscuring robes and hood, Ursa tried going around - cursing when the person just tailed her, a male voice saying, "All I want is a minute of your time," after her third attempt to bypass him. Stopping as the man stayed aloft on his air scooter in front of her, Ursa having thought Zaheer was in lockup and almost all the other airbenders had gone with the reinforcements, Ursa groused, "Yeah - same as everyone else I ran into. Those two idiots at the Pai Sho tables were the worst of them all - at least the Equalist was handing out pamphlets and the Long Yumao nutjob was talking about prophecies! All they were doing was arguing."

The man grumbling himself now, he simply said, hand holding small object outstretched as he said, "I know of your meeting with the White Lotus agent and other related activities, though I will not say how. The world is entering a new age, even before more recent events - and to make the transition as smooth as possible, the way must be pathed by more people than those currently wielding power and influence. Recent events moved forward the timetables, with raised stakes for errors made by women and men. New voices must be heard - and from what I know of you and your family, Ursa, your voice is a unique one. Unique as any special talent or ability… The President's words may have been nice - but that alone is not enough. For the brightest future, old established orders must change. The old Order must change its nature completely or fall. This is all you need - only if you _are _worthy will you find the meaning and truth within."

The tile jumped up into the air, moving around with unbelievable precision and control - Ursa noticing it was tracing the shape of a lotus, even though the man's hands were hardly moving, their movement more closely resembling that of an earthbender than an airbender. Or a mix of the two styles, if that were even possible... Yet, the strange thin coating of apparently bent air on the tile, the seemingly impossible control he exerted over the tile with a simple coating of rapidly moving air…

The man dropped the small object into Ursa's outstretched hand with this same manipulated coating of air that nearly conformed to the object's dimensions perfectly. Not sure if she had seen that move before or if her eyes were playing tricks on her, Ursa flipped it over, noticing out loud it looked just like a regular Lotus Pai Sho piece - except half the lotus petals were a light blue, almost a cyan color, instead of white like the other petals and part of the center…

She heard the man's voice say, "The white and the faint blue. Cyan, even. Good - you are observant. Perhaps you will unlock the secret after all, Ursa - I will only give one hint. That which you need to focus on is within. If you do unlock the secret, she will know. If we do not see you soon, I will check on you from time to time - though you will not see me. Goodbye…"

Looking up, Ursa was deeply curious about what exactly he meant by "Order", world order or the Order of the White Lotus, who this "she" was, or how she could prove herself "worthy", not entirely sure if she wanted to do so or not given how little the man had said and the mention of him "checking in" on her…

Considering all this, Ursa found herself cursing to see the man had vanished instead of glad as she might have been earlier. She wanted to know more! Looking at this second Pai Sho piece again, remembering that the Red Lotus symbol had been much more complex and involved red and black, the Pai Sho piece in her hand sporting the colors of Raava and not Vaatu as a Red Lotus tile might have, Ursa smiled slightly. Even not having a clue as to who the man was working for, she was pretty sure whatever their goal was that it was a noble and not nefarious one.

Otherwise, why would they be using Raava's colors? And she was pretty sure who one of the two groups camping out near City Hall that concerned the White Lotus was - or at the very least, that this "Order of the White and Blue Lotus" existed, though not what they stood for exactly. Walking back towards her family, letting her mind wander, Ursa connected the White Lotus' agent's comment about seeking people of "unusual ability" like Kyoretsuna and someone else snapping them up to the man's strange airbending. The man must have been one of them… but Ursa still had a hard time believing what she had seen.

She had never heard of the ability to control air to such a precise degree before, the way the air itself seemed to be picking up such a small object so precisely at the man's command - almost more like using waterbending to pick up an object than traditional airbending. The air itself, not flowing freely - commanded, almost like… earth. The hand movements…

Maybe she had been seeing things - the control shown over the piece was above that of even a Master Airbender, but… it was unlikely that the man had a special talent, given airbending's history. Special abilities seemed to be hereditary. Aside from the Tenzin family… all the world's airbenders were "new", no lineage to draw from… and aside from flight and spirit projection, no other special airbending abilities were known, both learnable and not hereditary.

Finally arriving back at the cooking line after trying and failing to open the tile as though it were a locket, wondering if there was a sort of bending lock on it, Ursa decided to keep the latest affair to herself - for now. She wanted to try and figure out this thing's inner secret first! Stowing it away with the other Lotus tile, wondering what the White Lotus agent had meant by a reformation of their Order, Ursa tried her best to not seem distracted.

Ursa noticed that some of the cooking staff at an apparent addition to the cooking line were wearing… unexpected clothes underneath their aprons, to put it mildly, Ursa not having expected to see anyone in the White Lotus nearby. A paranoid part of her wondered if it had to do with the mysterious man or if she was "wanted" by the White Lotus now, feeling relieved when she spotted someone unexpected coming from a nearby Satomobile. The person she recognized as Grand Lotus Atinnuaq announced with a slight smile, "Good news - I have just finished talking with other high-ranking members of the Order of the White Lotus and the Republic City Chief of Police, setting up a relief effort more long-term than one dependent on Pro-Bender's donations. Not only that, but I have called on the Order's manpower to come to Republic City to assist in other ways, especially cooperation with the Republic City Police force to set up temporary earthen shelters on the town's outskirts."

Grand Lotus Atinnuaq receiving much applause, Ursa smiled slightly as she remembered what Kyoretsuna had said about being asked to guard Zaheer, ending up wondering if the relief effort was a cover - or genuinely meant and heartfelt. The Grand Lotus taking a deep breath, he continued, "The Order will also attempt to provide moral and emotional support as best it can, drawing heavily on the teachings and sayings of one of the greats, former Grand Lotus Iroh of the Fire Nation. Many people in Republic City have lost their homes," finishing as a single tear rolled down his cheek, "Just as I did… years ago to the Red Lotus, a few have lost something far more precious than a workplace or apartment. Loved ones or a family member - everyone affected by the… the wiping out of a military outpost at the hands of Kuvira's Colossus spirit weapon over a week ago. I am afraid that the former Grand Lotus Iroh himself is not present… so you will have to make do with me." Ursa never having heard of this side of the Grand Lotus before, he finished after a sigh, "I know I am no Iroh - not after Avatar Korra's childhood. When I return after a little more business, I hope I can be of assistance nonetheless."

The Grand Lotus leaving quickly to catch a waiting Satomobile, the driver visibly antsy even from this distance, Ursa re-focused, returning to her family, holding out the radio Saikhan had given her, saying, "I'll be right back - Saikhan told me to talk to Jin or Renshi about the police codes," adding when Buniq gave her a dirty look, assuming her sister didn't want her to leave again, "Little sis - I know how to work a radio, but not anything about the police channels. I'll be back." Buniq smiled, asking, "Tell what happen while gone? Please?"

Ursa smiled slightly, saying, "Yes - after this," adding, "Saikhan might ask big sis to do some stuff, though, so I might not be around for long." Spotting Jin and Renshi talking with one another near a large pile of supplies, Ursa walked over, stopped by Buniq, her little sister saying, "You sweaty. Water? From me!" Ursa nodded, curious to see if her little sister really could draw water from the air - surprised when she did, not having remembered Buniq being taught the skill or concept. Nana said as Buniq worked, "She learned watching us earlier, in the apartment and while you were gone off at City Hall. Back in my day, it took master-level benders to draw water from the air or generate lightning… guess she is a lot like her 'big sis' after all." Ursa's mother nodded, saying, "Forget the cynics, the grouches - the world's a better place than it was in the past. Whether they like it or not, time marches on. What used to be an extreme show of skill's commonplace now. People get better at things. Just look at Pro-Benders - they probably haven't ever really used the 'form' my mother did while learning bending. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing… From what I remember of my Fire Nation history from Hideki, Azula didn't master lightning generation until she was in her teens despite being a prodigy, and my own daughter did it at the age of nine, not to mention how many firebenders work generating power in the city's powerplants now. On my own element back then… Katara didn't really come into her own until she trained with 'Master' Pakku, even then Hama needing to teach her how to draw water from the air." Buniq by now totally focused on her work, her mother finished simply, "I guess that's the thing about the world - we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Things that are easy now were hard back then - thanks to the work the people before us put in."

Ursa laughed along with her mother and Nana when Buniq asserted, "I could figure out by self!" Ursa about to contradict her - remembering that Avatar Korra had bent fire and earth without any instruction from the Order of the White Lotus' Master Benders… Feeling something cold pressing against her arm, Ursa snapped out of her thoughts, taking the sizeable ice cup with surprise, Ursa drinking the contents after Buniq chirped, "Try it - did something new!" Noticing the water was less water, more an icy slush as she drank, she genuinely said, "I loved that - very cool and refreshing. Thank you." Buniq smiled, saying after a pause, "Wait here - idea!"

While Buniq was off messing with something in the food supplies, Ursa inspected her radio idly - noticing the frequency needed to "call" many different officers and some other people was on a piece of paper glued to the back, Saikhan having apparently forgotten to remove it after giving it to her. Not sure if it was a mistake, Ursa tested it out as she watched Jin and Renshi help Buniq find something - Renshi jumping slightly when she called him, Ursa saying, "Test. This is Ursa - can you hear me, Renshi? Nevermind - I saw you jump. Um… over?" Ursa listened to the response over the radio, Renshi's still slightly panicked voice saying, "Sorry. I was hoping I _wouldn't _hear anything over anything near that band. We're almost done helping your sister - I'll want to tell you more in private. Figure if Saikhan's given you one of those radios, he trusts you."

Buniq returning a short time later, carrying one big funny-looking "ice cup" with what Ursa swore were colored contents, Jin and Renshi carrying five more between the two of them close behind Buniq, Ursa asked her little sister, "What do you have there?" Buniq grinned, saying, "Cool Hug! Try!" Holding out the slightly dripping ice cup, Ursa feeling too thirsty to question why its contents were yellow and slushy, she drank the slushy drink as best she could - surprised to taste lemons and sugar. Noticing the cup itself looked "off" in color as well, and felt a little sticky for pure water, Ursa crunched the ice as Buniq "explained" as best she could. Everyone else tried their "Cool Hug" as Buniq talked, "Water to drink boring. Wanted it to be tasty! Use lemon juice and sugar or other. Yum things in water. And frozen tasty. Do you like?"

Ursa nodded her head, her mother saying, "Good idea, Buniq. Might just start selling or giving these away too." Smiling, Panik continued, looking at Buniq as she inhaled her own Cool Hug, "It's one way to get kids to stay hydrated and drink water, even if it is sweet. I'll see about making a 'sweet meat Big Hug Cake' equivalent - try and sneak some good stuff in too." Ursa laughed when Buniq said, face sticky-looking, "No - my idea! No put anything but sweet in!" adding as she pointed at a laughing Renshi, "Get him make growing sweet rock cups!" Ursa's mother sighed, saying, "Sorry, Buniq - I don't think we have any _jennamite_," Panik groaning slightly when Jin interjected, "I hear there's a bunch of nice people from Omashu coming soon, cutie - maybe you'll get your wish then if someone brings some."

Buniq seeming happy for now, Ursa asked Renshi, "Can you tell me more about the code system? I think I have all the frequencies I need here," Renshi smiling slightly before saying, "Unless you really want to learn the code, you don't need it," no longer smiling when he finished, "I was… jumpy when I got a message through that frequency earlier because it's really close to the one Saikhan told us to use if there's trouble in Republic City Jail. I remember some recent order from Saikhan about keeping people _and _spirits away from the spirit vines… you wouldn't happen to know how to throw a spirit in 'jail', would you? I remember you had a spirit friend, so…"

Ursa shook her head, saying, "Unfortunately, no. They could just 'ghost' right through the wall if they wanted to," finishing as she took off her apron and gave it to some other volunteer, "I can't remember exactly what I promised Saikhan - but I want to go check out that barrier. Maybe looking at it will 'help' some - it's supposed to have the energy of Korra's past lives in it, from what she told everyone at the press conference." Renshi nodded, saying, "Jin and I will keep an eye on the 'human-y' stuff with your family. Everything's been going well so far - I'm just glad none of the loudmouths have shown up yet. Let's just hope those protesters act more civilly after President Raiko's speech." Part of Ursa curious to know how the money for a new Gurume's Choice restaurant to replace the old one was going, she was more curious about these protesters, Renshi saying after she asked about both, "They're sort of… interlinked, in a way. One of the groups, at least - though I guess the other as well... Sorry - thinking while I talk. Your mom's old workplace was inside the crater, the new, much bigger and flatter 'Spirit Wild' - and one of the two groups of protesters is mad about Tenzin and President Raiko's decision to not expand back into it and rebuild downtown. Weirdly enough, that's the more disagreeable and confrontational group - the other one's displeased with how light a sentence Kuvira got for everything she did, her weapon gutting our home included."

Remembering how down the officers and people around her had been when Ursa talked about the crater and mentioning it, Renshi shrugged, saying, "Easy for me to say when my home wasn't incinerated, but… what is, is. Being depressed about it is only going to sap your energy - and we're going to need a lot of energy to get Republic City back on its feet. It may have been blown up, but downtown's not the only place that got hit by Kuvira's weapon - given what it did to a lot of other buildings, I'd hate to know what would have happened if Avatar Korra _hadn't _saved Kuvira." Cocking her head in confusion, following Renshi's logic about as well as Saikhan understood her world view four years ago, Renshi said, "From what I've heard in recent briefings about spirit weapons, to prepare us in case criminals ever figure them out or the Earth Empire ever makes it back to Republic City in force again, the weapons need a power source, the vine gradually vanishing over time like gasoline when it's burned." Looking disquieted, Renshi continued, "But, if you get a big enough bunch, it can go seemingly forever - the Colossus itself was driven by a huge bundle of the things, and the former Spirit Wilds was basically that times ten or twenty. Maybe more. A huge tangled mess of fuel, waiting to power the cannon that ran amok - I'm just glad there wasn't a chain reaction of explosions like the one that hit downtown, and the weapon stopped firing. Republic City's got a lot of greenery left - I can't even tell what's a 'real' tree or a spirit vine anymore. Just look at City Hall - overgrown by the things."

Looking at City Hall at the same time Renshi did, it seemed more… cluttered than before, if that was even possible, Renshi sighing and saying, "Great. More people - and I think I see a few signs in there, too." Not really wanting to be around when a bunch of angry people were protesting, Ursa wondering if she'd get more or less nasty calls from a large crowd upset with things powerful people had done, she decided to leave her baggy top on and see if she could get some of the same good feeling from working that she had earlier.

Seeing the distant crowd stop and settle, as though temporarily, Ursa still wanted to go run around the barrier while giving it a casual inspection. Even Buniq in her childish innocence was coming up with things Ursa and little sister alike probably shouldn't indulge in too much. Staying near the food lines was probably not a good idea, Ursa wondering just how hard she'd need to exercise to run off the admittedly refreshing but still sweet and sugary "Cool Hug" Buniq had given her unexpectedly.

Leaving after asking Buniq for an unflavored icy drink, Buniq not understanding why big sis didn't want something that tasted good, Ursa headed towards the crater, idly wondering when her mother **would **try to introduce the concept of watching weight to her little sister. Given Ursa's own struggles with people at the school yard, her parents had always stressed to Buniq that she was beautiful no matter what anyone said, and that the inside was what mattered the most.

Ursa just hoped Buniq wouldn't have to struggle with depression like she did, or end up at the same weight Ursa had been while fighting off depression… and keep going because no one ever had a frank talk with her about food and weight.

Feeling depressed, both by the fact that where she was finally approaching had once been city and concern for Buniq, Ursa sat down on the edge on a sturdy-seeming spirit vine. Looking around, hoping to see spirits cavorting as they had in the older, much more… vertical Spirit Wilds and the rumors she had heard about spirits here before the Spirit Civil War, Ursa saw nothing but the blue sky and white clouds.

Her head naturally sinking downwards, Ursa saw the portal barrier - and began sobbing lightly as realization struck her.

No spirits, what amounted to the much smaller and much glow-ier equivalent of the walls of Ba Sing Se around the new Spirit Portal… No one but the Avatar or the spirits fighting in it may have really seen it so far, but there really was an unseen war going on on the other side of the massive cap Avatar Korra had created to protect Republic City.

Not having a clue in the slightest what a transformed spirit vine would really do, Ursa wished she knew the answer. Remembering three years ago better, even without the help of an earlier life review, how General Iroh II's fleet had been helpless against the fusion of Unalaq and Vaatu, having no idea of Long Yumao's relative power, Ursa felt all-too familiar feelings return. Ursa said out loud, laying her hand on the spirit vine, "That barrier goes down… we'd be helpless, if that serpent's even a fraction of Vaatu's strength," feeling tempted to start crying out of defeat and despair…

Feeling something else well up within her, burning and crisping that which was growing within, Ursa faced up again and let out what she thought was going to be a scream - surprised to see a large billow of fire spring up and away from her, noticing with wide eyes that the uncontrolled flame had a very large inner blue core.

Breathing heavily, feeling slightly drained, thoughts raced through her mind, speaking one aloud: "The heart of an Avatar."

Fishing out her medal from beneath her outer baggy top, Ursa flipped it open, staring at the picture of Avatar Aang in the Avatar State, angry-looking and determined for a while, tracing the color image on cool metal with her finger, saying, "The heart of an Avatar," once.

Remembering what she had left her family to do, Ursa stood up and found a place to firebend herself into the air without torching the temperamental vines. Not immediately finding a spot, Ursa climbed out of the crater, stowing the medal again before takeoff. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath through her nose, feeling the sun on every inch of her skin, not a thought in her mind that there was too much of it, and drawing on her "big" breath and ocean of chi without self-consciousness, she let loose, hearing a loud crackling immediately after.

Opening her eyes and looking down, Ursa smiled broadly to see there was now a consistent blue core to her flame, a sense of peace washing over her.

It might not have been all blue - but it was a start. And the feeling mattered more anyways…

Getting a sudden bad gut feeling, Ursa snapped back to attention - seeing she was on a collision course with the barrier! Instinct kicking in, not knowing or caring what color her flame was or what she hit with the fire, Ursa managed to avoid collision with the barrier, jumping up and over it with a burst of flame. Awareness returning and adrenaline fading, Ursa found herself in a holding position over the barrier's top, doing a double-take when she noticed the green and yellow helix coming out of the Spirit Portal was literally passing through her.

Gently landing near the barrier's edge, noticing there was a small amount of white lines on the spirit vines directly touching the earthen defense, Ursa felt exhilarated and confused at the same time. Recalling how her flight had been while chasing Kyoretsuna and her husband a few days prior and how she had just flown now, something seemed off - but in a good way...

Curious to see what she could do, deciding to risk angering these possibly partially transformed spirit vines, Ursa took off again - this time, trying to use only jets from her feet as she had while stopping Kyoretsuna from hocking the bereaved mother's keepsakes to feed her own hungry family.

Finding herself much more maneuverable than even a few days ago, Ursa tried something risky, pushing the envelope by attempting to stay aloft and generate lightning - while moving, as she had heard some firebenders could.

Surprised when she saw the spirit vine covered ground beneath her moving while making sure she watched her lightning generation form, Ursa allowed the positive and negative energies she had separated to collide, providing release as she might have released a long-held burden, guidance as she might have given to Buniq…

The resulting lightning more intense and widespread than any she had ever produced before, Ursa stopped moving, landing after a few self-satisfied deep breaths, saying once she had landed, "I had always heard Grand Lotus Iroh told his nephew it was the emotional imbalance inside that stopped him from creating lightning, and I know Mako had plenty of similar problems yet still made lightning. If I can do that after partially addressing my own issues… I'd love to see what Mako could do now, or Zuko himself if he tried…"

Leaning against the barrier, at first the peace Ursa felt intensified, coming in contact with the most **definitely **Avatar and Raava-energy imbued rock - getting the uneasy feeling she was now being watched from within. After a small clattering and clacking, Ursa thinking it far too low to be a major spirit, chills ran down her spine nonetheless when a hostile voice said, "Whoever you are, mortal… Vaatu wishes the younger of the two firebenders you just mentioned dead. I know not what round medal you hide means or even its inscriptions, but it could mean you should be a target as well, for a different spirit. The only sensible one. Perhaps it is time Long Yumao begins looking at 'insects'…" After another pause, the voice snickered, "Though, physically, you are not exactly a small insect, from what little I can see, away from the wall... perhaps I am wrong. One as big and lumbering as yourself could easily not be a threat."

Never having been insulted by a spirit before, Ursa pushed away from the wall, a mix of indignation and shame never to make it onto her face lest the spirit actually be Koh the Face Stealer. Her tormentor apparently drawing closer, it was all Ursa could do to not smile or laugh when she saw the deep white lines on the rock pulse momentarily, hearing a pained hiss, the voice saying, "BAH! Stupid rock - I have better things to do than harass a fat girl when there's a fight to be had. I'm sure other humans will be more than glad to do that for me. Probably say much worse things, the beasts that you are. Goodbye."

Hearing an odd hum from within the barrier, as though the spirit had just left, Ursa tugged at her concealing top self-consciously, remembering a thought that had crossed her mind before: "Long Yumao. Maybe humanity does deserve enslavement… or some of them, anyways." Shaking her head much as before, still feeling a bit deflated and remembering that technically nothing she had done so far could be counted as exercise, Ursa decided to go take a "run" as best she could through areas not too overgrown with spirit vines.

Feeling better about herself or not, she still needed to burn off most of what she'd eaten and drank today. Did not want to end up any bigger…

Beginning her "run", "run" being charitable between the vines she needed to overstep and her own physique hindering her speed, Ursa decided to make it of some use, inspecting each of the barrier's faces whenever she needed a break.

After the third or fourth time around, Ursa's breaks at the four elementally themed faces longer with each lap, she was about to try to start a fifth after remembering just how many Big Hug Cakes she had earlier when an innocent-sounding voice asked, "Human - why are you running when you can fly with fire? And why do you have a heavy coat on in warm weather?" In her exhaustion wondering if it was another Long Yumao spirit trying to harass her, she turned to its source, shaking her fist - blushing when she realized who it was aligned with after looking at it.

The bean-shaped spirit cocked its cute head, asking as it stayed aloft with two green leaves with prominent white veins, "And why are you blushing at me and shaking your fist?" Ursa sighed, saying, "Sorry," the spirit fluttering closer, insisting, "No - I want to know why. If Raava's becoming more 'human-y', then I want to know." Raising an eyebrow, unsure where Warmwings was and if she could spare a moment to explain Ursa's life so Ursa could do something else, like get some WATER, Ursa said, "I've got a spirit buddy who knows me a lot better than you do. Probably inside, fighting with spirits like the one that just remotely taunted me. Name's Warmwings - at least, that's what I call her," adding a question of her own, "My name's Ursa - what's yours?"

The bean spirit looked vaguely shocked, saying, "Huh. That's weird. I've helped Avatar Korra multiple times, and she's never asked me that… the name's Patta, for what it matters. Identify as the same sex as your spirit friend does." Brushing up against Ursa, Patta asked as she tugged on Ursa's heavy obscuring top, "Do you wear this for fashion, like Avatar Korra sometimes wears heavy clothes in warm weather? Her 'pants'?" Looking at the spirit's innocent expression and reminded slightly of her little sister Buniq, yet getting the sense the spirit wasn't stupid, or fully naïve like Buniq was either, Ursa answered honestly, saying, "No. Your friend, the Avatar, might wear heavy pants because that's what she likes, or liked, at least. This… is more to block people from seeing all of me, to obscure."

The spirit still innocent, Ursa said, "Because people make fun of my body, and the fact that I'm fat," Ursa's eyes widening to see the white on the spirit's leaves flash red temporarily, a slightly bigger Patta saying fiercely with a slightly deeper voice, "Wh- ugh! What is with humans and judging! Maybe everyone should be blind and have earthsense like Toph…" Seeing the leaves no longer had any hint of red on them, the spirit appearing normal size again, Ursa asked the spirit about it, Patta admitting, "I… am not entirely sure why my leaves did that. I do know any spirit can be light or dark, and that humans show their emotions on their face. Perhaps it is something like you blushing in anger…"

After a slight pause, Patta continued, "You still didn't answer my question - and if your baggy clothes are for that, take it off! Is all that water on you supposed to be there?" Patting herself, groaning deeply to find herself soaked as well as overheated, Ursa took off the top, using it to wipe sweat from her brow as Patta asked, "Why would you hide that? Both the top, and the medal!"

Sighing deeply, catching a whiff of her sweat, Ursa said, "Hey - no more new questions. Ugh - might need to take a bath… To answer why I'm all sweaty, 'running' instead of firejetting around - I need to burn off some stuff my mom and sister gave me, and if a person eats too much and then doesn't burn it off," Ursa squeezing her sweaty top and the stomach beneath before saying, "Or else it gets 'stored' like this. If I 'store' too much, then I'll get even bigger. Too big, it's not just about looks anymore - then it's a health problem." Looking sympathetic as a bean could, Patta said, "Wh… that sounds like it sucks. Spirits don't have to eat," adding after Ursa saw the white lines flash blue for a second, "But… you appear to have overexerted yourself. And why did you eat and drink those things if you felt like you'd have to burn them off later?"

Ursa groaned slightly, Buniq seeming like an expert on human affairs and Saikhan as knowledgeable about spirits as Unalaq was compared to this spirit's knowledge of human affairs, saying as she finally started catching her breath and finished mopping up - literally: "I drank the 'Cool Hug' lemonade sugary thing because my little sister made it for me as a gift. And I ate all the 'Big Hug Cakes' my mom made me this morning because of the same reason. It's rude to refuse a gift." Patta seemed to understand, bringing in something unexpected, saying, "I think I understand. If humans had refused Raava's tuber-vines, or if Asami Sato and Avatar Korra had refused that more personal gift… I imagine Raava might have been mad." Poking the spirit in the belly, Patta laughing at first, Ursa said, "Tuber-vines - yeah. Giving someone a kid with another woman who both just BARELY admitted they had feelings for one another and then getting mad when the gift's refused… that'd be dumb." Patta no longer laughing, looking somewhat sour, Ursa finished, "Did Raava think to, I don't know… ASK before doing something that major? Maybe she should've taken some 'human-y' lessons BEFORE giving Asami Sato… Atokara, was it?"

Patta spluttered slightly, leaf veins pulsing between red, blue, and purple, finally saying as blue color faded, "Uh… no. And another spirit did suggest they could just adopt kids…" Patta's leaves appearing slightly spotted, the white lines greyed, Ursa got the impression the spirit was depressed, telling her, "Whatever - it doesn't matter. The past's gone," Patta perking up after Ursa asked, pointing at a nearby spirit vine with a few white lines in its form, "Mind telling me what these 'transformed' spirit vines do? Or if that's fully transformed?"

Patta making to touch one of the nearby partially transformed vines, Ursa so overwhelmed by curiosity she forgot all about the moratorium on spirits like Patta touching spirit vines, Ursa said nothing - baffled when a very cross voice said from behind before Patta's stub could touch the slightly pulsing vine, "Oh, no - not another inch, bean spirit thing! Don't touch that - even if it is partially turned by the portal's barrier! Shoo! I'll attack if you don't! Avatar Korra tried to rid the city of spirit vines years ago - seems she's sent one of her friends to do what she did to the Great Banyan tree! Make everything 'hers'!"

Patta stopping, Ursa turned around, producing fire, noticing it was pure blue briefly, saying, "Don't attack - you'll be sorry! How'd you get out here, you serpent-loving - "

Finding herself staring at a large hedgehog spirit, not a single red line on his body, she dismissed the flame, the spirit saying irately, "Blue fire, huh? Hmmph. At least the Avatar didn't threaten to toast me." The spirit looking like it had something else to say, Ursa caught a glimpse of Patta making a move, Ursa stopping the smaller spirit from touching the vine, remembering Saikhan's order as she said, "Patta, no. Let's hear what this spirit has to say - and what Saikhan has to say about it. We don't need power enough to turn this… apparently neutral spirit to the other side." Fluttering towards the unnamed spirit, Patta said, apparently inspecting it, "Huh. No sign of red 'Long Yumao' lines, Dark Spirit transformation or corruption that'd denote Vaatu-aligned, or blue 'Raava' lines anywhere… I want to hear what you have to say, mister neutral spirit."

The spirit gave Patta a dirty look when the smaller spirit drew closer to him, holding out two of her four stubby arms, the hedgehog spirit said, "Don't you touch ME either! All I have to say is that humans weren't the only ones who lost their homes in the blast," continuing after Ursa felt an odd brief sense of peace, the spirit looking behind her as it said, "And at the rate that energy-infused barrier is turning spirit vines in this crater… you won't need to touch any spirit vines to get what you want. Our remaining home, aside from patches in the city, paltry compared to what used to be here, everything else fragmented by human's homes - gone. Even the Spirit World itself not a safe haven for neutral spirits, war raging within. A war started by an innocuous gift from Raava for her Avatar. And a gift to humanity meant for war as much as peace - the worst one…"

The spirit took a deep breath, Ursa seeing the hints of reds and purples begin to appear on what appeared to be fruit that made up his scales, she held up a hand, saying, "Wait - no! Don't - I remember from the press conference, red and purple - bad signs." The spread stopping for a moment, the spirit asked snidely, spread resuming, "What do you care about spirits, human? The Avatar herself took the information about us and the vines being as one as an invitation to try and 'cleanse' the vines, and by extension, us, from the city three years ago," adding, one eye now glowing yellow slightly, "Humans can be greedy - there is no reason to think the spirits that want to be 'human-y' would not be as well. Once this new Spirit Wild is turned… they'll both want MORE! Perhaps there is no point in remaining neutral - perhaps that power-hungry hypocrite Long Yumao is right… turning on me with blue fire! Not caring that I just said our last big home's being eaten up!"

Looking down at her feet as she made to fish out her sword, in case this spirit decided to attack, Ursa noticed that the vines looked different than before - the white lines were spreading, out from the portal, into what sounded like one of neutral spirit's last true homes, the vines within the city not good enough, for reasons Ursa didn't understand. But then again, the people who wanted to rebuild inside the crater thought what they had wasn't good enough, wanted to have what was lost back instead of expanding outwards - and the old Spirit Wilds was a lot more impressive than this. What was around her, an evacuee camp, slums, compared to the old thicket and giant trees, two-dimensional and not particularly alive looking comparatively. No spirits - just an expanse of vines... The old Spirit Wilds was probably the equivalent of a fancy but high-capacity apartment district to the spirits, just like some of the old human buildings that were blown up downtown. And even without the Spirit Civil War, the spirits that called this area home needed to be respected. Even if she couldn't see them…

And apparently, they didn't want Raava's energy around.

Stepping back, producing another blue flame, Ursa pointed at the vines near the portal's base, saying, "It sounds like this is one of your last good homes - this flatter Spirit Wilds, near this portal… and 'Raava' vines are bad for you, not a good thing. And even then, you don't seem too happy with it - maybe even want what used to be here back, just like the humans who want to rebuild into the crater…" The alarming colors no longer spreading on the larger spirit, it demanded, "Either get to the point, or do whatever you're going to do with that fire - neither of us have all day!" adding with a snarl, "They better not expand back into here!" About to explain what she wanted to do, and if the spirit was okay with it, Patta interrupted, saying, "I don't understand why you're so angry. Raava stands for light, order, freedom, balance - aren't those all good things?"

Hearing the other spirit snarl, swearing the various fruit "scales" on its back were shifting to be more angular, Ursa followed through - shooting fire at the untransformed spirit vines near the barrier's edge, saying quickly, "Don't! Here - I'll stop the spread!" The spirit taking another deep breath, it said in a deeper voice, "Explain precisely what you are doing before you try and torch another spirit vine!"

Ursa took a deep breath, saying after she explained her thoughts about this new "Spirit Wilds" and why she believed this spirit to be unhappy with it, "I learned from books that in people and animals, if you cut out an _infection_, you can 'save' the body. And I can see that Raava's energy is like an infection to you, changing this flatter Spirit Wilds slowly, sickening your home somehow - if you calm down, reverse your 'Long Yumao-itis' maybe you can help me cut out the 'bad spot'. The 'bad' vines spreading from the barrier." Noticing the spirit's demeanor changing, it halted the reversion of corruption when Patta said, "But… you're going to leave the bit around the portal alone, right Ursa? I never got to tell you about what these vines can do!"

Sneering again, Ursa feared the other spirit was going to change its mind - relieved when it said, colors returning to normal, "Say your piece, 'Patta' - tell me why we should leave any at all, even what is visible. After what Raava did to the Swamp, every single vine and tree in Republic City counts." Fluttering down to the barrier's edge, Ursa noticing some odd hairline cracks in it she hadn't while actively looking for interesting things, Patta said, the other spirit growling in annoyance when she touched a spirit vine, "From what I can get from Raava right now, this far away, this vine is fully changed. That's why I touched it, and not another one. It's 'done'. I'm not going to run you out of your home, mister fruithog spirit." The hedgehog spirit scratched its head in confusion when Patta explained something Ursa had not known before, saying as the vine moved slightly, white pulsing, "When a spirit vine is touched by something with Raava's energy - be it this barrier, a spirit like me, or Raava or Avatar Korra herself - it changes into this. More powerful, doesn't run out of 'juice' like an untransformed spirit vine when drawn on for human technology, and more importantly for you - they will actively attack any hostile spirit or human who comes close. Able to very crudely judge character and allegiance, and defend itself better than the old Great Banyan tree did against Kuvira chopping it up."

Fluttering away from the barrier's base, sounding for all the world like a used Satomobile salesman, Patta offered, "If you don't mind losing a bigger swathe of spirit vines than this to my 'boss's' energy, I can make a ring around the barrier and crater rim - vines that will help protect your remaining home in the crater, in case spirits from within the barrier want to do you harm, or people from outside. Maybe even hot-headed Raava-aligned spirits... not that there's any nearby. People and spirits on Raava's side will ask before doing something most of the time and respect your neutrality - those siding with Vaatu and Long Yumao won't. Ursa's said she's willing to torch spirit vines around the barrier to stop the spread. I can't imagine Jinshu Kuangmai and his little spirit friend Vaazula would be as courteous, let alone Long Yumao," adding as she cocked her head, "What's your name, by the way, mister fruithog?"

The other spirit stayed silent for a while, mulling it over, finally saying, "Hedgebetter. I have seen many conflicts come and go from within the Spirit World - and the closest I have ever come to choosing a side in any of them, human or spirit, is just now." Ursa hopeful the spirit would agree to the dual ring of transformed spirit vines, remembering her own worries about what might happen if Long Yumao got through the barrier somehow, she frowned deeply when Hedgebetter proclaimed, "Unless you can show me a very good reason to do otherwise, or show humans have concern for spirits beyond what side they are fighting on in their own squabbles and the Spirit Civil War, no more of these Raava vines in Republic City. Long Yumao is not the only hypocrite in the Spirit Civil War - Raava as well. What did she expect for a reaction, giving humans what amount to 'war spirits'? In the brief time I have spent in the Spirit World, attempting to get other neutral spirits to come out before it is too late, I spotted two vile plantlike spirits floating around - one claiming it came from when Raava split one of your 'war spirits', tuber-vines, proclaiming allegiance to Vaatu and Jinshu Kuangmai."

Taking a deep breath, Hedgebetter stamped his yellow foot into the ground a few times, Ursa noticing the spirit vines beneath looked sick somehow before he said, "There. I have weakened the spirit vines close to the barrier enough such that you can incinerate them - stop the infection from spreading. A sacrifice, but worth it. I am glad you told me this mortal knowledge about infections - all the vines are interconnected, and with enough time, everything in Republic City would have been uninhabitable by neutral spirits. The Great Banyan tree is - or rather, was - connected to Republic City as well. The only reason the 'Restoration' did not affect our homes in Republic City was that Kuvira severed those connections in her ravenous appetite for spirit vines for war…" After another pause, Hedgebetter touching a partially transformed vine carefully, he scowled, saying with great annoyance, "It appears that the connection is slowly coming back, thanks to this barrier. When I touched that vine, I could see the Great Banyan tree - something I couldn't before. If the connection had been made, without trying to cut out the 'infection'… I might not have a home." Looking around Hedgebetter, seeing a ring of weakened vines that went out of sight, Ursa asked, "Wh - all those vines, a few stomps? Knowing all this, seeing the tree…? Who… who are you?"

Hedgebetter smiled slightly, saying, "Before Kuvira attacked our shared home, before any spirit or human knew of Long Yumao's designs, he was selected to speak on behalf of spirits - telling the Avatar she would not get spirits for war, using flimsy pretexts to start one with humanity shortly after. He was more outraged by the innocuous gift of life Raava gave, than the 'tuber-vines' that were intended in many ways to subvert spirits being unwilling to fight for Avatar Korra in the first place." Gesturing to himself, he said with a final air, "I intend to do what he failed - remain neutral, and speak for the neutral spirits. My first true test was with you - one I came out stronger for. Now, I have spirit evacuees to help guide. You may not see them, like the human refugees Raava's spirits mention at times that will be coming to Republic City, but they will be here, waiting within the vines of this crater and the rest of Republic City. A city that's supposed to embody neutrality - all four human nations -according to you humans, and those that founded it. I am not expecting much on humans respecting spirits staying neutral, given it took the better part of three years for them to get used to the idea that us and the vines are here to stay. Let alone caring that our 'best' home was wrecked by the blast too, not a single spirit vine tree in this crater, the nearest one stuck in City Hall - something that definitively is not ours, just as spirit vines are not human's to do with as they please. But you seem different… even sympathetic-sounding. Hopefully, I won't see that fish-man spirit 'Wipfis' again, trying to lure spirits to Jinshu Kuangmai's side with promises of power…"

The spirit gone, something finally registered in Ursa's brain, drawing on her anger as she followed the line of weakened spirit vines, incinerating them without resistance, yelling, "Crap! Jinshu Kuangmai… so he DOES have spirits!" Remembering the name of one spirit Patta mentioned, Vaazula, Ursa asked Patta if she knew anything more recent during a pause in "curing" the link between the "infecting" barrier and the greater crater's spirit vines, Patta admitting, "No. Right now, I can't really even talk to Raava - I'll be doing good if I can get even a simple message to her. I do know these things that I can say safely - the spirit's a she, and looks like his favorite firebender. Azula, of Fire Nation infamy…"

Patta looking slightly depressed, Ursa shivered - the man running the Earth Empire admiring Azula was a bad sign indeed…

Finishing her work, trying to see if the blue fire would persist for a task other than helping keep neutral spirit's "home" safe, Ursa frowned at first to see the fire was not fully blue, smiling slightly after the thought, "It does look like there's more blue in there than before, though, not to mention it might be here to stay," crossed her mind. Blue fire still bringing to mind Azula, Azula now bringing to mind Jinshu Kuangmai, Ursa checked out the elemental face of the barrier where she had started with a critical eye.

Looking at the odd hairline cracks she had seen before, swearing they looked slightly different somehow, Ursa's eyes widened when she discerned a distinct pattern - knowing there was no way random chance and natural degradation of the barrier alone could have produced such a thing…

She had only heard of the Earth Empire's sick new symbol underneath Jinshu Kuangmai, but she was staring right at a faint version of it, drop of gleaming blood in the center and all.

Noticing the whole thing was closer to the elemental symbol for Fire on the next face rather than Water, Ursa tried examining it closer, cursing slightly when she was unable to make much out about the hairline fractures surrounding the symbol. All she could tell was that there were five distinct areas near it that seemed separate, one of the areas much larger than the other four…

Unable to remember exactly what she had brought with her, she fished around in her backpack - grumbling a bit when she banged her hand against something hard in trying to find a magnifying glass, vaguely remembering from the spring before having stuffed one in her backpack for a science class where it proved very useful.

Feeling around a bit more, knocking her knuckle against the same object, she slapped her forehead, laughing, "Glass is hard - duh," as she took the magnifying glass out. Using it to examine the biggest hairline fractured area, Ursa stared and stared - crossing her eyes slightly to try and see if unfocusing would help.

Ursa yelped, saying as she examined it more closely, "What in the blazes… it's a face! All the scribble around… him, it must be the start of writing!" Not able to tell who it was or what was written, Ursa's head started to hurt from all the squinting, saying, "It's too bright out here - I need artificial lighting. Use some charcoal, transfer these lines to paper by 'charcoal tracing', look at it in my room," adding, "Less chance of someone sneaking up on me when I'm focused too." Having initially thought just about the "safety" of her personal effects, money, and above all her weapons, Ursa's stomach churned when she remember the earlier catcall by a gangster, wondering if it had been something more than just some creep thinking she looked pretty. Or what he might have done, catching her by surprise from behind…

Ursa knew first-hand from Karpok that rape wasn't about sex. It was about power…

Wondering for a moment how many Earth Empire soldiers had committed the same crime, or if Jinshu Kuangmai had ever used his sick ability to rape someone himself, Ursa yelped again when the stone began to glow red, pulsing once. Stone glowing intense red now, reminding her all too much of how her dark half's skin had looked, existing hairline cracks grew deeper and more distinct as more hairline fractures appeared slowly. Tiny black lines traced out characters beneath the man's face, Ursa trying her best to follow the black lines. Disappointed when she was unable to decipher what the slowly moving black lines had traced and that the deepening of the existing cracks did nothing to improve readability at a casual glance, her eyes widened when the red coloration on the stone vanished except for in the new "writing". Beneath the man's face, slowly fading red characters said, "Manipulative and cold son, soul of steel," the man's temporarily outlined head and face seeming as that of a stranger, yet somehow familiar.

Looking at the man's features, only getting a relatively brief look, Ursa remarked out loud, finding what she was saying absurd, "What the? The eyes, the nose, overall facial shape, practically everything but the square jaw and hate in the eyes… Looks like Suyin Beinfong's long-lost embittered brother or something." Hearing Patta let out an "Eep!", Ursa turned to the spirit, turned back to the fading image with an odd gut feeling, looking at Patta with thinned eyes, saying, "What was that eep for? I was just making a joke, and you react like that. If you know something, tell me."

Patta silent, looking conflicted, Ursa remembered aloud what the text had said, finishing, "From what I remember about Avatar Korra's close call from the press conference with Jinshu Kuangmai, he was pure metal - just like Kuvira's dark half was, except he _was _the metal monster. 'Jinshu Kuangmai'… no parent would name their kid that. It sounds more like a name he gave himself. A soul of steel - this man on the rock is Jinshu Kuangmai! 'Metal veins'… and a 'soul of steel'." Patta looking a little guilty, she said as Ursa thought about how the tyrant's image could have appeared on this rock thousands of miles away from Zaofu, "Well, you did just avert a pretty big disaster, if all Republic City's neutral spirits had turned, the fighting in the Spirit World would be even worse than it was when I was last there. And know more than you 'should' know already…"

Something clicking, noticing that the whole "Earth Empire" section was slightly sunken in, as though the rock itself had been whittled away for it, seeing that there were more than five areas of "scribbles" by far now, swearing she saw faint lines leading to both the Water and Fire faces, Ursa realized what she was witnessing.

The barrier was weakening right before her eyes… as the result of the actions of men. Men like Jinshu Kuangmai, his face and those under him literally eating into what had likely been a smooth barrier when Avatar Korra had erected it.

Just as the Avatar had feared - even if for now they were just "small" cracks and hairline fractures.

But Ursa had a bad gut feeling this weakening wasn't done yet.


	58. Chapter 58: A Model Citizen: Part 3

Chapter 58: A Model Citizen Part 3

Too focused on the implications of the barrier weakening, Ursa did not catch what Patta had just said, only knowing the spirit had sounded hushed - as though what Ursa had missed was important. Getting a gut feeling what she had just realized was far more important, she told the confused-looking spirit, "Patta - what I missed can wait. Can you get anything to Raava, Avatar Korra, right now?" Patta nodded, asking, "I can, but first answer me this. I just told you something really sensitive - why no reaction? Your guess was right on target." Looking back at the barrier, wondering what the two lines towards Water and Fire signified, Ursa turned back, saying, "Didn't catch it, Patta. Doesn't matter. If you can only get one thing to Raava today, or even forever, she needs to know this: these barriers _are _weakening, and because of what people are doing. What were hairline cracks before are deeper now… and I have the bad feeling it's only started. Some energy, maybe within the barriers itself, or energy from the Spirit Portal's beam, is eating away at them. 'Everything is connected'… probably a bit of both."

Patta nodded, saying, "I don't understand the logic totally. Here - see if this works. It worked for the Painted Lady and Jinora… touch me and think about your logic, please." Ursa did so, distracted by the fact that Patta's belly felt sort of similar to her own except softer this second time poking the spirit, Patta giggling, "No - not like that. I got nothing from that. What were you thinking, anyways?" Ursa laughed, saying as she poked the spirit's belly again, "That your belly's softer and poke-ier than mine. Feels comforting," finding herself laughing instead of grumbling when Patta said, "Maybe you can see your own belly the same way someday," a single tear forming when Patta finished, "Already had one big, nice, powerful, wise firebender. 'Uncle' Iroh."

Taking a deep breath, at first intending to just keep the poking of Patta up, Ursa ended up giving the surprised spirit a deep hug, feeling a deep peace as she did so, especially after Patta said, "Thank you - I feel like I needed that, but didn't know it. Soft and caring… so nice, after…"

Breaking the hug a short time later, Patta seeming better, Ursa asked, "Mind telling me what you told me before - and whatever was troubling you?" Patta sighed, hugging Ursa again as she said, "I… I'm glad you found that stuff out about the barrier, gave it to me… because Long Yumao's got some nasty new power. Able to… conjure up pure dark energy in his palm after getting something from the Tree of Time, digging into it and 'earning' the power somehow. Pure energy - just like fire in your hand. We don't even really know what he can do with it just yet."

Remembering Warmwings was inside the Spirit World, maybe had even seen this new power in action, Ursa asked Patta, "Can you 'call' Warmwings for me? She's been fighting in there since the last time I saw her - maybe she's seen." Patta nodded weakly, saying, "Maybe - but after getting that stuff to Raava, I feel drained. You might need to help me." After a slight pause, Patta asked, "I know Raava has tried to eat before. Do you think food might help me?" looking at Ursa as though she had not a clue to its answer.

Ursa shrugged, saying as she remembered she wanted to have a good look at what was at the end of the two lines headed towards the Water and Fire faces, "Maybe, maybe not. I'm really thirsty anyways. I bet a hug from one of my family members would help, at least. I'm going to call someone for help - I want a stable look at the barrier's top again. Never paid the house-like 'roof' any mind..." Patta nodded, fluttering off out of Ursa's vision as Ursa picked out the radio, calling Renshi and asking him to come to the crater to bend her a platform to stand on. Renshi asking why, Ursa realized she should probably give Saikhan an in-person update, things turning out that her whole family, Jin, Renshi and Saikhan were coming to visit. While waiting, Ursa tried using firebending while jetting around the barrier, smiling to see the fire was still blue, wondering if it was here to stay…

Sitting down, looking around and admiring her handiwork, stopping the "crowding out" of neutral spirit habitat, Ursa placed a hand on a spirit vine - surprised to see it had white lines, as did a five-foot area directly around the spirit portal barrier.

Smiling, realizing she must have made an impression on Hedgebetter and gotten more Raava vines than she had thought initially, Ursa noticed that Patta was back, hearing the sounds of people approaching in the distance as Ursa asked, "Answer whichever question you can't shortly - people are coming. What did I zone out and miss, and what were you just doing?" Beady eyes darting back and forth, Patta said, "Promise me you won't freak out, okay? Given I was around her for a while, when I found out, it was pretty depressing… your joke about Suyin Beifong having a secret brother is actually true. It's Jinshu Kuangmai himself - Tonga Beifong the name of the little boy, his… inner light that he seemingly crushed."

Ursa had to admit she was surprised, and yet, at the same time… not, somehow. Ursa knew Toph wasn't that good of a mother from rumor, a few nasty ones saying she had covered up something Suyin did when she was young, left Republic City after to avoid a scene. Hearing this, Ursa was pretty sure all the rumors were true - and anyone who'd rather shuffle off their daughter to their elderly parents to raise and go on a quest for "enlightenment" rather than face their problems wasn't someone who was balanced…

People still just barely out of hearing range, Ursa asked Patta a simple question, "How… how old was he when he changed his name? Became secret?" Ursa's face draining of color when Patta admitted quickly, "Quick and dirty version - Toph had him on the road soon after leaving Republic City, dropped him off with another family when he became 'unmanageable'. Can't say anymore - incoming."

Ursa lost in thought, trying to imagine what it must have been like, abandoned just like Kuvira had been by her parents, even if that mother _was _Toph, she was taken by surprise when she heard someone ask her, "What's got you down, Ursa? Is it what you found over here? Care to explain why there's all these charred vines? What happened?"

Not remembering if Saikhan could truthsense or not, Ursa lied anyways, saying as she saw she had multiple people's attention, "Yes. The… the barrier _is _weakening, just like Avatar Korra feared it would," Patta chiming in, "She needs your help to get up high enough to see the top on a stable platform. She can't get a good look, flying around on flamejets." Ursa saw her little sister run forward, laughing to see Buniq give Patta a big hug, the spirit looking confused but pleased when Buniq said, squeezing the spirit harder, "Spirit buddy! Cute!"

Patta appearing to get the care she needed, Ursa hoping she'd be able to contact Warmwings at some point, Saikhan took Ursa aside as Jin and Renshi made a few platforms carefully, Ursa explaining what had happened, including the whole business with Hedgebetter. Saikhan nodded, saying, "Good to know neutrals have some sort of a leader, and that he's somewhat reasonable. Had not a clue about the barrier's energy 'corrupting' the vines. Not sure what the ones we ended up with will be good for, aside from a first line of defense. If your… other spirit friend Patta can do all that just by touching them, might want to talk to him again - tell him the insurance policy against bad spirits pouring out's likely going to fail, and everything in this crater might end up turned a different way, if that's possible."

Sighing deeply, smelling something disagreeable again, Ursa realized it was herself, saying with a slight blush, "While you, Jin and Renshi finish up with the platforms around this thing, I might just go back to my apartment. I need some drawing supplies - and I feel like I need a bath." Saikhan nodded, saying, "Whatever you think you need to do. I'm afraid I won't be staying, unless you have anything else important to tell me. The protesters are being civil so far - but I still want to keep an eye on them, especially considering we've caught a few people slipping into the crowd and trying to incite anarchy, and some others giving the White Lotus 'volunteers' an undeserved hard time."

Remembering the Pai Sho players, Ursa's eyes widened involuntarily, grumbling when Saikhan caught on, Ursa feeling like he didn't need truthsense with her when he said, "You just realized something, didn't you. Probably about the protesters or something. Come on - spit it out." After another sigh, another whiff of why she needed a bath, Ursa gave Saikhan only the information he was after - leaving out the business with the mysterious airbender entirely, although she did talk about the White Lotus agent after Saikhan mentioned her from whatever secret meeting he had been in earlier. Looking around, as though checking to see if anyone else was listening, Saikhan admitted, "We managed to catch one of them after inciting violence unsuccessfully, before he could slip back into the crowd, and even after a strip search and detaining him, we have nothing on him other than inciting violence - the man's not said a word since we took him in. Given I didn't catch the Equalist saboteurs until it was too late four years ago, I'll need some help."

Ursa groaned, at first thinking Saikhan wanted her help, he laughed, saying, "Don't worry. I'll leave you to your thing - I imagine Grand Lotus Atinnuaq would be very interested to talk to this man, or that White Lotus operative I brought up earlier. I guess we'll both be going now," Saikhan adding, "What you said about things shifting on the barrier… guess we'll both have our work cut out for us. Thank you for the information. The protesters aren't the only ones to have come out - Ryoshin's helping us now. A big help, too, given she worked with so much of the Equalist technology, and has been… 'investigating' an Earth Empire mechasuit she found."

Ursa nodded, opting to leave her shield and sword in the care of her mother, heading towards her apartment complex, swearing she heard someone say, "Whoa - blue fire! In the middle!" from somewhere she couldn't pinpoint as she jetted over.

Entering the apartment complex, Ursa saw some unexpected people on the ground floor, Chang's family plus Karpok in the lobby, Sesi giving Karpok bending tips. Chang and his father Huanhato both looking drained, adoptive mother and daughter seeming lost in training, Ursa took the elevator, taking a deep, contented breath, Karpok having looked much better than when she last saw her.

Elevator reaching her floor, Ursa remembered she wanted to take a bath at the same time recalling the slight arousal she had felt hugging Karpok, feeling tempted to make it a… long bath, shaking her head, thinking, " 'Self-service'? No - not that, now! I'm too busy serving others!" Getting inside her apartment, wondering if a bath was as frivolous as self-service, she remember she hadn't had one yet, grumbling, "Maybe all the 'yuck' smell wasn't from exercise," making for her room first nonetheless.

Fishing around for drawing supplies in her drawer, managing to put back her anatomically accurate drawings after a slight pause of temptation, Ursa realized what she wanted wasn't in her drawer, it having been years since she used charcoal. Moving on to her closet, finding what she needed relatively quickly, wondering if Hedgebetter would complain if she got Patta to transform the spirit vine in her room, Ursa stumbled across an unexpected drawing nestled in between the large sheets of paper she had gotten out for charcoal tracing.

Looking at the picture she had believed to be merely a doodle five or so years ago, the "Universal Tormentor," knowing now it was likely some form of Vaatu, Ursa's heart sank - remembering what she had found out about Jinshu Kuangmai "having" spirits earlier.

Vaatu as Ursa knew him would never throw his support behind someone like Jinshu Kuangmai, Raava's polar opposite standing for darkness, sure - but also chaos. Tyranny and control were the exact opposites of chaos - and now that she looked at the image again, she recalled Raava's voice saying, "It may be no doodle," in her earlier dream…

That must have meant that the Vaatu Zaheer had wanted to set free no longer existed, replaced by something else.

Remembering she was supposed to be doing something, Ursa decided to put the picture into her backpack, remembering something Patta had said about Long Yumao being able to hold pure energy in his **hand **as she did so, finishing packing her backpack in silence, thinking…

Ursa ended up thinking her way through undressing and most of her shower, too lost in thought to even feel half tempted to do anything "dirty", thinking as she stood unmoving under the water coming from the showerhead, hot just like she liked it, "So… Avatar Korra's said Raava's becoming more 'human-y', even has a 'human-y' form of her own now… and Raava said something about my humanoid 'Universal Tormentor' possibly being more than just a doodle, a picture of Vaatu it seems like… and apparently, Jinshu Kuangmai's buddy enough with Vaatu to have spirit followers, just like Avatar Korra and Raava… and something weird happened to Long Yumao." Snapping out her of thought, grumbling slightly when she realized she had just washed off the shampoo in her hair without doing anything with it, she said out loud, "Maybe… Vaatu changed too? Seems ridiculous - after what, though?" Putting on some more shampoo, Ursa thought, "A 'human-y' Vaatu? Long Yumao having arms? Whatever - I'll ask Patta about it, see if she says anything," smiling with her eyes closed, thinking as she worked on her hair, "If Vaatu really has changed from chaos to tyranny… I know one imprisoned airbender who's going to be very upset about it. I'd pay good money to see the look on Zaheer's face if this is true when he hears it…"

Finishing her bath and rinsing off, finding herself enjoying the rubbing action instead of feeling self-conscious about the body she was cleaning, her hands wandered a little, rationalizing, "First really good bath in a long time… maybe I need just one more soaping," as she lathered herself back up. Ursa making sure to clean her breasts, thighs, rear, legs, underarms and privates well, too busy feeling to remember exactly why, she idly noticed the water coming off her was still slightly dirty as she made sure her body was as clean as possible, some nasty part of her wondering, "Why bother cleaning a fat pig so well, again? So other people can see every square foot of skin better?"

Shaking her head in disgust, not with herself but with the thought, she soaped her chest, blushing slightly as she looked down, saying over the sound of running water, "Uh… think I'm pretty much clean now. Guess I forgot how good a hot bath feels that I don't have to heat all the water for…"

Part of her screaming to get more "aid" than soap, Ursa feeling aroused by now, she took the middle road, surprised she was aware of what she was overzealously doing but managed to take pleasure anyways. Cleaning off the final lather of soap, Ursa laughed contentedly, "I haven't done that in a long time - they both feel so good right now… I did say my boobs were my biggest, best asset earlier," closing her eyes for a moment - wishing things had turned out differently with Lee-Lee, that she'd…

Find someone to share herself with someday.

Standing in her shower, eyes closed, Ursa saw a blurry image, feeling a profound peace - unable to distinguish anything about the image, only getting a strong newfound conviction that she would find someone someday, where before she had seen such a thing as impossible, given her "failure" with Lee-Lee. This conviction, peace, even the thought of being a parent someday that had just popped into her mind like a sunflower shaking off the ash of depression far exceeded any feeling she might have gotten from pleasing herself…

The image distorting, replaced by something that represented the polar opposite of everything good she had just felt, Ursa began crying when her dark half finished materializing, gloating, "Hah - true love. One of the most elusive and insipid things in the world… You might be wondering why I bother you now, and not earlier, while you were being 'important' with those two spirit fools. I'll tell you why." Grinning widely, revealing shark whale-like jagged teeth, sharp edges pulsing red weakly as her dark half said, Ursa trying in vain to open her eyes, "You thought romance hard with Lee-Lee, that skinny pacifist idiot you call a friend, called boyfriend - just wait until you go further down this path of mattering. Good luck sorting the phonies who want to be close to relevancy or money rather than who you are, were before today." Remembering that Chang had expressed interest in her four years ago, her dark half laughed, saying as it faded, aside from the head and its jagged smile, "That does not matter. One, out of a lifetime of rejection and failure… and it seems he might even 'like it like that', big girls, that is, helping Karpok, hitting on you all that time ago…"

All that was left a disembodied head, everything but part of the skull, red pulsing jawbones and rending teeth faded, her inner tormentor speaking with nothing but savage jaws and partial skull, "No matter what you do, it serves me in the end - remain away in your room, irrelevant, shut away and glum numb. Eat away the sadness and irrelevancy, like that gob of fat Karpok did. Go out into the world, try to make a difference - get exposed to things that will hurt and rend you like these teeth all over again, or inflate your ego, as you do 'important' things. And you haven't even felt one of the worst stings life has to offer yet, something that weakling Jingqiao has experienced and still weeps over. A broken heart…" Everything but the teeth fading, Ursa feeling depressed, her dark half's floating teeth moved as though the invisible jaws holding them were laughing, the voice gloated, "So much in life left for you to fumble, to experience the pain of first-hand, a **true adult's problems… **I'm not out of the fight yet. Just look at one of your idols, Toph Beifong - young and somewhat balanced, life knocked her out of kilter, ended up giving birth to Tonga Beifong, turning him into Jinshu Kuangmai… Life is not something to look forward to - what tomorrow might bring is to be feared. 'We' both saw what's happening to that barrier…"

Vaguely remembering something from the press conference, Ursa took a deep breath, focusing as best she could on the feeling that had brought her dark half to the forefront again in the first place, thinking, "To love, and to be loved - that makes anything worth it." Ursa felt flustered yet relieved when the teeth cracked, a bit of blood oozing from them as the now-compromised and fading dentistry said, "Ach - countered… even if that was rather weak. Still don't mean it just yet. But you are stubborn, aren't you. But just like your namesake, you do not understand. Azula did, and the bullies of the world as well. 'To be powerful, and your power to be feared'… that is the true reason to live. See you soon enough…"

Opening her eyes, finally able to, Ursa shut them again - cursing as she realized she had been standing in the shower all this time, the water starting to turn cold by now. Groping for the handle, accidentally turning the flow up instead of down, she noticed she was still crying slightly, even the relatively few hot tears contrasting with the cool water…

Zoned out, thinking about what had just happened, remembering Nana saying that each person had their own problems to deal with in life, Ursa realized that in many ways, what her dark half had said sounded a lot like her own thought processes. Even if it was distilled down to the point of ultimate absurdity… she figured trying to change there wouldn't hurt.

Turning off the water reluctantly, but not before taking one very long drink, Ursa remembered something she had advised Karpok to do, feeling thirsty enough to turn it back on, thinking as she drank her fill, "One thing at a time - and right now, whatever's going on outside's more important than this internal crap." Closing her eyes as she let the water splash her face, another piece of advice ran through her mind: "When you give to others, you are really giving to yourself. In the same way, when you love others, the love within you grows as well." And really, family, her "fantasy" of having someone to share herself with someday, and receive in turn… it was all about giving.

Eyes still closed, for a moment Ursa's stomach dropped when she saw the same jagged teeth appear - bursting out laughing when they burst from within as though heated by an extremely intense fire, saying, "Serves you right, rotten punk," not minding the mouthful of cold water in the least to see blue flames where the teeth had been.

Feeling a bit of electricity course through her brain, the flames were snuffed out, Ursa remembering aloud, "I've dealt with this cap before. This is going to be a long road - but I've gotten through worse." Remembering there was more than her immediate problems to deal with, the world's problems only likely to come closer and closer to home over the following months, Ursa finally shut the water off, initially feeling like the best she could manage was getting dressed and back to the crater.

Back in her room, pretty sure she was as clean as she had been in months if not years, she got out her clothes, something seeming different than normal. Wondering if she had slipped and hit her head or body in the shower, she checked her naked body in the mirror, laughing, "Uh - duh. Hard to see any bruises on this dark skin," finally noticing what seemed off.

She wasn't holding any baggy clothes in her hand, and for once, didn't see picking the clothes her mother had made for her as a mistake.

Remembering talk of gifts and refusing them, at first Ursa felt guilty - realizing she had basically done that for years with the clothes her mother had made her. Examining her thought process quickly as she got dressed, she shook her head, saying, "No - don't think like that. She's just glad I finally started wearing these - not mad that I didn't," sure there was some sort of proverb in there somewhere…

Looking in the mirror, now fully dressed, Ursa blushed slightly, saying as she looked at herself, "Wow - no wonder she wanted me to wear this for so long. She… even put a little yin yang symbol on the chest!" Part of Ursa tempted to beat herself up for not noticing sooner, she opted to take a good look at what she was wearing instead, strongly reminded of her own mother's pretty but practical dresses, red and yellow trim sewn on tastefully over the waterbender blue dress itself on the edges, the belt all firebender, flame symbol belt buckle included. Ursa noticed for the first time that the dress had a slight cut on the chest, up to this point in her life never having shown anything past her neck on purpose, the two and a half inches worth of cloth cut off around her neck and chest forming a scoop neckline seeming risqué in comparison to baggy clothes covering and obscuring everything, like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Instead of wanting to cover herself up, Ursa shrugged, looking at other similar outfits in her closet as she said, "Guess I know part of the reason that guy whistled at me now… didn't remember the skirt ending slightly above my knees either, or the short sleeves. That explains the increased movement." Noticing that looking back at the mirror was easier than with baggy clothes on, she remarked, rolling one of her arms slightly, "Wow - those clothes were even making looking around harder. My arms, too - no wonder I was able to avoid the barrier earlier! And… I look a lot better, too. I guess those 'baggy clothe' were holding me back in more ways than one…"

Some part of her Ursa had never encountered before saying the dress' modest cut wasn't low enough, she shook her head, saying, "Pffft - no. I just noticed the lower cut, and even that's pushing it. Baby steps - and I want someone to like me because I'm me, not showing off my cleavage with an even lower cut. If people really are going to be interested in me - no reason to add that kind of 'phony' to the mix…"

Idly realizing that Lee-Lee had never seen one of these dresses, and that she hadn't contacted her friend yet, Ursa got her things ready to leave, about to send Lee-Lee a quick call when she heard her backpack emitting some noise. Fishing out the only possible source, she listened as an indistinct voice said, "Hello?" from the radio Saikhan had given her. Answering, "This is Ursa," the voice continued, "Hello - Saikhan wants you as soon as possible. Just says he spotted some orange-yellow hedgehog thing near the barrier. He hasn't explained why it's important." Hearing some angry voices in the background, the mystery caller finished, "Hope you got that - 'cause I've gotta go. Playing whack-a-badgermole with these anarchists in the protester crowd. Saikhan's with me as well - just came over. Over and out."

Some part of Ursa thinking, "Ugh - wasted all this time on a bath. Selfish idiot," it wasn't until she was on the ground floor, hearing Karpok's weak laughter before she saw her, Ursa thought after realizing something important, "Yeah - if I hadn't 'wasted' time on me earlier when I was asleep, I wouldn't have anything 'important' to spend it on, probably staying in my room, depressed my dad was gone - maybe eating Big Hug Cakes along with my mom…"

Feeling a bit of electrical resistance, Ursa rounded the corner, wishing she could just re-direct or generate it away as she waved a quick hello to Karpok, stopping for a moment when she gasped, Karpok saying, "Wow - you look good," looking sullen as she added, "You had it on earlier, too - should have said something. And I don't think I could ever wear something like that…" Ursa smiled, saying, "It's all right - my mom has made these things for years, and only today did I feel good enough to put it on," noticing Karpok blushed when Chang said, smiling, "Nonsense, Karpok. I remember Ursa saying her mom made her that dress - maybe Panik could make you one." Letting out a deep sigh, sounding half disgusted and half wistful, Karpok said, "Maybe - but not for a while. I still don't feel pretty enough, or have the confidence…" adding with a slight smile, "If she made me one now, with all this bending practice… I'd just need a new one a month later anyways."

Frowning deeply, Karpok sobbed, "Dad - stopped me from bending…" Ursa getting the impression Karpok had her own "time table" - just like Ursa herself did for making big changes…

Thoughts of time bringing her goal of getting the entire barrier's surface down on paper back to mind, she gave Karpok a quick hug, telling her their apartment's telephone number, saying, "It's okay - he can't hurt you anymore. You need time to heal - don't rush things. If you ever need someone to talk to other than Chang, give me a call." Getting a light hug back from Karpok, bidding the rest of the family goodbye, Ursa took off literally, smiling broadly to hear Karpok gasp, "Whoa - you didn't say anything about blue fire!" as she soared out of hearing range.

Feeling playful, Ursa tried dodging and weaving back and forth near street level - finding the whole thing exhilarating, laughing contentedly and loudly by the time she reach the portal barrier. Noticing a familiar form tapping its foot impatiently, she rolled her eyes slightly when Hedgebetter asked, pointing a finger at her, "What's with the laughter? And what took you so long? All I heard from that serious human was something about this barrier starting to come down - said he couldn't even tell his leader about it using men in tiny boxes!" Ursa laughed, saying, "And I thought Jinora's tale about Wan Shi Tong's reaction to radio was an exaggeration. There's no men in tiny boxes. It's called radio - and he likely didn't want to call President Raiko because some Earth Empire spy might intercept it."

Noticing Hedgebetter had a serious, unamused look on his face, Ursa said, taking off her backpack, "What he said about the barrier - it's true. I think it might be because of what humans are doing, their actions - but I want to track the changes in the barrier. It glow red lately at all?" Hedgebetter silent, Patta arriving and shrugging after saying, "Haven't seen anything lately", Ursa heard a passingly familiar voice say from nearby, "Good. Hey, Ursa. Renshi and I finished those platforms - let me know when you need a lift," recognizing the voice as Jin's after the metalbender cop added, "There's some stuff on the top too, and 'scribbles' on the other faces. Hope you got a lot of paper…"

Looking at the face for Water quickly, both Hedgebetter and Patta useless for now, noticing there were other weakenings in the barrier, not sure who or what could have weakened it, Jinshu Kuangmai having no waterbenders under his command as far as she knew, Ursa finally registered the scale of the barrier. Pointing at it, Ursa said as Jin joined her side, "Uh… yeah. I'm going to need a lot more paper - and maybe some helpers. I saw this thing change pretty quickly earlier - and I don't think photographs would be high enough detail for what I want to do. Charcoal might not even work - we'd need a lot for this…" Stepping in front of her, Jin pointed at a scribble, Ursa thinking she had seen a similar shape before as Jin said, "Or - we could just earthbend some mud onto it, cure it with firebending, and bend it off. Think that would be fine detail enough? Make casts, basically."

Thinking it was a good idea, though not yet, Ursa said, "Sounds like a good idea - if and when the cracks get bigger. They're so tiny for now… Maybe we can still use earthbending, though. Tell me - can you bend charcoal?" Jin shrugged, saying, "Probably not - it's burnt wood. But then again… dirt has a lot of organics in it. Let me see…"

Ursa surprised when a piece of charcoal came out of her backpack, Jin's face was lit up brightly - Ursa feeling confused when a male voice said, "What the - I can't do it, so how can you?" Jin shrugged, saying, "I don't know, Renshi. Maybe you're doing it wrong?" Renshi now visible, apparently flustered, he laughed lightly, saying as a piece of charcoal came out of Ursa's backback, "Oh - whoops. I was trying to move a pencil - not a piece of charcoal." Ursa realizing that even a pencil could be earthbent, either the graphite core or the metal keeping the eraser in, she took out her radio, saying, "Hello, Saikhan? This is Ursa. I'm going to need a lot of paper, pencils, charcoal, and any officers you can spare - I want to try and record what's on the barrier's faces, before - "

Seeing the same patch as she had seen before pulse temporarily, stone now red, Ursa stopped talking - watching in horror as the deeply engraved characters for "tyrant mother" pulsed beneath some older woman's face, an outlined droplet of blood pulsing red. Not recognizing the woman, only knowing that "her" patch of weakened barrier was literally right below the symbol for Water and quite large, Ursa looked above the symbol - stomach dropping to see a familiar face temporarily outlined, even if there were no characters glowing.

Ursa was utterly baffled, seeing Avatar Korra's face gradually vanish into the various hairline cracks that had obscured her face from being obvious before, so shocked she didn't question why the odd diamond on the Avatar's forehead seemed familiar…

Even if Avatar Korra's scribble was small in comparison, the other woman's face still had the same blood droplet next to her, Ursa saying breathlessly, "Wait - It's… it's not just Jinshu Kuangmai's 'errors' showing up on here…" Realizing what the droplet of blood meant, remembering what the Jinshu Kuangmai's specialty was, Ursa stammered, "Why is what Avatar Korra did showing up on here? It was… totally justified! The shark whale was going to… she needed to though! Self defense…"

Hearing Saikhan bark, "WHAT? What is it - what are you talking about? What about the Avatar?" through the radio, Ursa answered, the glowing outline long faded but fresh in her mind, "I saw Avatar Korra's face on this thing - and a droplet of blood next to it, fading…" About to continue, she stopped when Saikhan said, "Ursa - explain it to me in person. We have no idea if anyone is monitoring us. Men - I've got to go do something. Get all the paper, pencils, charcoal you can find - and I'll need officers **only **coming with me past the crater rim. We've got a lot of work to do. Everyone else - keep trying to nab these anarchist hooligans. Ursa - tell me more when we get there. This is one thing I don't want getting out. Try and see what you can figure out in the meantime. Saikhan, over and out."

The radio going dead, Ursa baffled as to why an act of self-defense on Avatar Korra's part would appear on the barrier - even if it was Avatar State **bloodbending** \- alongside men and women under Jinshu Kuangmai's command "behaving badly", Ursa felt a pit in her stomach. Thinking outside of her own perspective, she realized that the Earth Empire wasn't the only group of individuals being judged or weighed by spirits, friendly, neutral and hostile alike.

The side any reasonable human would consider the good guys were being judged as well. Ursa could think of no other reason for Avatar Korra's actions to have weakened the barrier at all other than _everyone _being judged. Remembering what had set off the Spirit Civil War in the first place, Ursa wondered why Avatar Korra's "personal section" wasn't **larger**, or why she hadn't spotted Raava's form, given it was the Avatar and Raava Long Yumao was most angry with, due to… favoritism.

Closely related to acting unilaterally…

In a way, a hugely powerful spirit granting unasked for gifts to both the home of her "partner" Avatar Korra - Republic City - and the Avatar herself were far worse unilateral actions than the unilateral decisions made by humans the protestors near City Hall were complaining about. President Raiko and Tenzin decreeing there would be no rebuilding in the crater, or the people at the Ember Island Conference sentencing Kuvira to a slap on the hand were comparatively petty abuses of power to what Raava had done…

Ursa shook her head, thinking, "What in the blazes - am I sympathizing with Long Yumao?" reminding herself, "Intentions count for a lot," saying out loud, "And I think Raava, Tenzin and President Raiko all had good intentions. Long Yumao… not so much." Hearing a cough, Ursa grumbled slightly when she heard an odd laugh, Hedgebetter saying, "Guess humans do really talk to themselves? What, you just have a whole conversation in your head?" laughing when she heard Renshi reply, Hedgebetter looking deflated, "I've known her for years, and the answer's yes." Ursa wasn't laughing any more when Renshi continued, hearing the fruithog spirit's odd laughter again when he asked coolly, "Jin, myself, and this spirit here all know about as much about what's going on as your little sister does. Mind explaining whatever hunch you have, please?"

Deciding to explain everything, Ursa said, "Let me try and get it to make more sense," finally using the paper and pencils she had dragged to the crater, trying to get her scattered thoughts together on paper. Hearing approaching footsteps and what she swore were distant engine noises by the time she was finished, she turned around quickly, saying after she saw Saikhan was close, "May as well hear it at the same time Saikhan does." Hedgebetter looking antsy, pretty sure the spirit couldn't read, Ursa said, feeling as though she was being watched, "Basically, long story short, it's not just the Earth Empire's actions that weaken this - even things the Avatar does can affect this barrier." Both Jin and Renshi looking shocked, closely mimicking her own initial reaction, Ursa gave Hedgebetter a withering glare when he laughed nasally, wheezing out, "I thought you were supposed to be a smart human! Oh, wow - that should have been obvious to you! You **do **remember the other half of your 'Avatar' - Raava, if I have to spell it out for you - being the one who gave Long Yumao **the Opportunist **the excuse he finally needed to make a powergrab for himself, right? His 'opportunity'? It's in his name!"

Realizing in retrospect it should have been obvious, Ursa said glumly, "I guess you're right," Hedgebetter saying with annoyance, "Now, are you going to read me what's on that sheet of paper, or what? I've got other things to be doing! I'm not like Raava or those other spirits that want to be 'human-y' - I do not care for conversation."

Ursa hearing a dog yapping from behind Hedgebetter, she was confused until she heard a small crunching sound, Hedgebetter's fruit scales temporarily flashing a red hue as he said, "Ouch - why'd you nip my ankles? Bad white dog thing! What was that for?" A small white dog with light blue eyes hopped between Hedgebetter and Ursa, Ursa surprised when it vanished for a brief moment in a cyan flash, Patta appearing where the dog had been, looking bashful as she said, "Sorry, Hedgebetter. I didn't like how you were talking to Ursa, and… my anger got the better of me," adding nervously, "Guess these emotions can make more stuff happen than just my leaves' veins flash red or blue… Shifted and bit you without thinking." Patta fumed temporarily when Hedgebetter sighed, "Not sure what the point of feeling emotions so strongly is then," continuing after tapping his foot, "Now hurry up and read me that piece of paper! I need to know if this barrier's coming down soon or not, so I can shift the hiding spirits somewhere else."

Noticing that Saikhan and many others had joined them, still feeling like she was being watched and not sure what she could do about it, Ursa read her list of hunches about the barrier out loud, finishing, "Right now, I have no idea how long the barrier's going to hold, given it seems to degrade based on people's actions, and even Raava can't control those. Saikhan - do you know if President Raiko knows about all this?" Saikhan shook his head, saying, "No - we have maintained radio silence. If Jinshu Kuangmai finds out he can act like a total brat and knock down all thee Spirit Portal's barriers, letting dark spirits pour into the North, South, and Republic City… that would be bad. Very bad - he'd probably act up _just _to break them." Ursa nodded grimly, hearing a slightly tired-sounding Patta say from behind, "Raava's still busy, though with something else for now. I managed to get that Avatar Korra has already alerted them to the possibility - and I think I might be able to get one message to Raava."

Ursa getting the sense Patta was waiting on her, she mulled it over whether or not to use the one-message limit on everything to do with the barrier since the first message. Looking at the barrier, she saw it pulse blue for a moment - not sure if her mind was playing tricks on her when she heard a familiar dragonfly bunny spirit's trill. Not believing her ears until she heard the same familiar trill ask, "Ursa? Where are you? I need a hug…" Ursa told Patta, "Just a minute," making her way towards her sad-sounding spirit buddy Warmwings around a few confused police officers preparing to "sketch" the barrier, noticing Patta followed. Giving Warmwings a big hug, nuzzling the spirit's fur, Ursa asked, "What's the matter? Do you want to talk about it?"

Warmwings giving no response, merely trilling sadly, Ursa tried hugging the spirit harder, Warmwings letting out a small contented "Eeep!" after, Ursa hearing Patta say, "Guess she doesn't want to talk about what happened." Realizing she had a job to do, Ursa was tempted to break her embrace with Warmwings, deciding to keep hugging her spirit friend after she let out a contented trill, Ursa feeling like she needed the hug as much as Warmwings did…

A creepy sensation she had felt only slightly up to now intensifying, as though she were being watched by something hostile, Ursa remembered the earlier spirit that had insulted her, somehow able to see through the barrier. Being careful not to show any emotion, she yelled, "I can feel something staring at me - everybody, don't make any facial expressions! It might be Koh!"

Hearing a few people laugh derisively, the laughter stopped when Ursa heard a muffled simian cackling, her directional hearing telling her something most unpleasant.

It was coming from within the barrier.

Thinking for a moment, remembering that a faceless monkey had paid her a visit in her "inner dream world" earlier, Ursa looked at Patta, saying softly, "Psst - something's inside the barrier. Try and see if you can chase that eavesdropper off." Apparently, Koh's minion had heard even that, Ursa hearing louder simian laughter, unsure why Warmwings shivered when she heard the hostile spirit yell, "AhaaAAAH - HaHAAAA!"

Hearing a low hum after, seeing Patta looked shocked, apparently able to understand what the faceless money had said, Ursa asked, "What did it say?"

After a moment of silence, Patta said, looking disturbed, "That he heard everything about you figuring out the barrier was weakening, and why - and… that they control the Tree of Time now." Warmwings shivering again, Ursa not entirely sure why this was a bad thing and saying as much, Patta said before darting inside the barrier, "Remember the energy he was… controlling? He got that from something inside the Tree of Time. He might get even more. I'm going to go check and see if it really is true. If so… that's what I'm telling Raava. I'll be back…"

Patta out of sight, Ursa hearing a few voices demanding to know what was going on, Hedgebetter included, she simply said, "I don't know what that spirit was talking about fully. We need to get this barrier's surface onto paper so we can try and figure out what's going on, exactly what's weakening it." Everyone but Saikhan and Hedgebetter satisfied, even Warmwings seeming slightly better now and attempting to get free of Ursa's hug, she released her grip, Warmwings trying in vain to pick up a pencil as Saikhan said, "Controlling energy… maybe just like Kuvira did with her Colossus weapon, or the beam Vaatu tossed around when he was attacking Republic City…"

Looking stern and determined, Saikhan said, much to Hedgebetter's displeasure, "Who knows what might come out of that portal. We're going to need spirit vine weapons before that barrier comes down," Saikhan adding, "Spirit - do you want your home protected or not? This crater's a good control point - put weapons on the rim, keep anything hostile coming out under fire."

Hedgebetter grumbled in frustration, saying, "**Maybe** \- but **ONLY** if you keep your dirty human hands off **OUR** spirit vines! Do whatever you want with these Raava-fied things," adding bitterly, " 'Give an inch, they'll ask for a mile'." Getting a slight glare from Saikhan, Hedgebetter said with a final air, "I would much prefer neutral spirit vine trees or even three 'Raava-fied' ones inside the crater as defense instead of human weapons, but, if that is not possible… Spirit vine weapons powered by ones 'tainted' by Raava's energy only. Perhaps you can do such a thing - but do not abuse good will. And I do have to admit… it is not as if the neutral spirits that live here could hold back the tide, especially if the spirits aligned with Vaatu are aggressive, or try to corrupt our home. This is not the days of Avatar Wan anymore. Even without technology, as humans have gotten better with bending, the gap has closed between man and spirit. I remember how shocked Old Iron was when earthbenders did the seemingly impossible, bending his metal armor off. Humans defending all our homes… For all our sakes, I hope you do a good job. Goodbye - for now. I have a lot of spirits to help move, again, if that power-hungry serpent really has control of the Tree of Time, and this barrier is coming down…"

Hedgebetter vanishing, Ursa immediately set about helping in the arduous task of getting the barrier's surface preserved for later inspection, worrying in the back of her mind where Patta was all the while. In her mix of concern and being busy with her work, she barely noticed when the barrier pulsed red in parts once, not noticing anything off about the barrier's top, though she had a gut feel it would need to be inspected as well.

The barrier flashing blue for a moment, Ursa heard Patta crying, "It - it's true. They… have the tree under their control now," before she saw the spirit, wishing Patta would explain more about why this was such a bad thing…

* * *

Koh not entirely sure what his ally Long Yumao was scheming - the serpentine spirit having been acting paranoid about Raava's pet spirits or Jinshu Kuangmai's spirit flunkies finding out anything about the secret project Koh himself did not know the workings of - Koh had moved on to other things. Such as trying to stop the fools in Republic City from knowing the barriers were weakening, something Long Yumao assigned little importance to, possibly out of arrogance.

Recalling Long Yumao's refusal to send any of "his" spirits on Koh's attempt to act on one of the few visions he had before the Tree of Time fell under their control, he clattered over to Long Yumao, Koh letting out a low groan when the other spirit erased his own claw-drawn "blueprints" from the ground near the ancient tree, if one could call them that, Koh sighing, "Long Yumao - no spirit has seen anything of Raava or Vaatu aligned spirits ever since the tree fell under our control. And we are far away from any of the Spirit Portal's inner exits. There is no need for such paranoia." Turning to face Koh, Long Yumao hissed, "No need for paranoia - I said the same thing to you when you were worried about some fat mortal teenage girl figuring out the obvious - that the barriers are failing. You yourself said that the Avatar had such a hunch. You saw bits of the past while standing on the Tree of Time. The Tree of Time something, I will add, that **my **decision to not squander spirits on making sure an insignificant teenage girl never woke up again helped secure. Unlike your pet concern, which they will no doubt figure out if they possess even half a brain, this idea cannot fall into the wrong hands. The surprise would be ruined."

Peeking at the dirt Long Yumao had tried to obscure, barely discerning a cylindrical shape, Koh finished the job of erasing it for his somewhat thick ally, saying with a mocking tone, "A cylinder. That's it? I assume there must be something _special_ inside," continuing after dodging an angry swipe from Long Yumao, "Keep in mind, the Spirit World does not possess physical matter, nor do we _currently _have any benders, even our outside operative useless in that regard. If this idea of yours involves a physical object, it is useless. We may have many spirits at our side, but even making a sword is out of reach for us, having only energy. The link between Physical and Spirit realms may be stronger thanks to the new portal's influence - but it only goes so far."

Long Yumao shook his head, eye feathers pulsing angrily as he said, "Do you forget my new gift? What I can do to spirits now - make them feel unfathomable pain? I broke enough neutral spirits - and even a few that had sworn allegiance to humans and their respective spirit _masters _\- to turn the tide in the battle for the Tree of Time. All by myself - your precious monkey minions proved most useless, even if they can spy on people, like the one you foolishly sent into that insect's dream." Cackling, no longer seeming angry, Long Yumao said, "And humans are weaker than us - so we will have plenty of benders once I break and enslave my first batch of pathetic mortals! They will haul the ruins of Republic City into the Spirit World for us - create this device." Displaying his claws and flashing his teeth, Long Yumao boasted, "Even the Avatar took in my new form with terror - and they have not a clue what the energy I wield can do! Some random civilians will not pose a threat, even if you think otherwise."

Switching to the face of Ummi, Avatar Kuruk's lover, and then through many other human visages as he spoke, Koh advised, "As the Face Stealer, I have far more experience with humans than you do, Long Yumao. No human has ever come to _you _for knowledge or information, while Avatar Aang sought information about Tui and La from me. All Avatar Korra sought from you was permission to use us spirits as tools in war," Koh adding as he skittered away, seeing Long Yumao looked incensed, "Something which happened despite your reservations. Even if Raava had not given any gifts to humanity, the Earth Empire would have continued using spirit vines for war under Jinshu Kuangmai - and we both know how he managed to change Vaatu with a simple speech."

Long Yumao looking livid by now, red eyespots and purple discolorations almost consuming his black hide entirely, Koh crawled onto the Tree of Time, saying, "Stay your claws! You wouldn't hit the Tree, would you? Good. Listen… There were plenty of spirits inside the Earth Empire, before you started your little Spirit Civil War, and I joined in for faces, and my own, very _personal _reasons - and a creature that can manage to convince another being to change its mind is not to be taken lightly. There is no reason to think there would not be spirits fighting in human wars without our own Civil War. The Avatar managed to 'convert' Kuvira - and Jinshu Kuangmai managed to sway the Grand Dark Spirit himself, Vaatu. He could have swayed the spirits lounging near the Misty Palms Oasis with promises of power..."

His serpentine spirit ally looking unusually reserved, Koh smiled slightly, switching to one of his favorite faces, saying through a savage baboon's mug, "AND THAT IS WHY WE SHOULD NOT DISCOUNT ANYONE AND THE THREAT THEY POSE, no matter how 'insignificant' they are at first glance! To the Fire Nation a hundred and seventy-four years ago, at first twelve-year old Avatar Aang posed only a minor threat, something for their disgraced prince to capture to win his honor back, proven dead wrong when Aang temporarily merged with La, devastating an entire fleet. A spirit, assisting in a human war… A year after his emergence, he had helped dismantle the entire continent-spanning empire. Not purely because he was the Avatar, either - without assistance, his feat would have been impossible," finishing emphatically, "From what I have seen, even 'lowly' nonbenders like Sokka and Suki were instrumental in bringing down the Fire Nation, 'airship slice'-ing their way to downing the entire fleet. Our cause could suffer similar damage, if you do not take the sound advice of a spirit that spoke to you earlier and set 'kill targets' _other _than just the Avatar's closest friends. Given his description of the 'fat girl' he managed to get a peek at, I believe it was Ursa - saw the same causes for concern that I did with her. The 'big name' targets are likely to be very-well defended, while those who have not yet been noticed would not be…"

Koh seeing for once he had Long Yumao's unqualified attention, he continued, "This big firebender named Ursa is not the only… _unexpected_ problem person I have seen or know of. I do not know her name, but a peasant girl in Ba Sing Se comes to mind - one who gave some inspirational speech almost a week ago, and helped humans 'not behave badly' - exactly the opposite of our goal." Long Yumao's flashing yellow eyes gleamed as he interjected, "Yes - and we even have someone nearby, who has the resources to do away with her… Forget your pet annoyance 'Ursa' - try to see if you can discern anything about this girl! You're on the tree right now! DO IT!"

Koh shook his head, saying as he strummed his feet together, "I was not yet finished - and from what we know, killing her would only make her a 'martyr', a person for other humans to remember. The best we can hope for there is that she does not surface again, or goes quiet without being noticed," a deviant idea occurring to Koh, suggesting, "And I know just the group of people to do that for us - if they are still alive. Tell our contact to try and seek out former Dai Li agents. COMPETENT ONES, not the buffoons who defended the Earth Queen and failed!" Long Yumao chuckled dryly, saying, "Buffoons they were. Wonderful idea - they have already betrayed their nation once, for humans… perhaps they would be open to someone more powerful than Azula. All she could do was talk at them to make them fear her, burn them if necessary - I can literally break them, break their puny minds with pain!"

Long Yumao looking pleased, Koh tried to remember other noteworthy figures he had caught glimpses of, about to mention two people he thought inconsequential at first glance when a loud simian hooting came from the direction of the Republic City Spirit Portal's inner side.

Realizing his scout had come back, Koh dropped the thought temporarily, thinking as he skittered over towards the faceless curly-tailed bluenose without a word, "I wonder what things he overheard… perhaps something beyond mortals figuring out the barriers are coming down? More about the girl I saw a vision of realizing this…?"

Long Yumao following closely, Koh listened to the faceless curly-tail bluenose monkey's chattering with rising anger, stopping the spirit by switching to its own unique face. The faceless bluenose understanding the signal, Koh switched to the face of a much more intimidating and angry primate, saying to an irritated Long Yumao, "She's done **far more** than what I saw her doing in my original glimpse - helping organize people, even interacting with that fruithog spirit who we have been spotting on and off, ferrying neutral spirits somewhere!" Long Yumao raising an eye-feather, apparently not impressed, Koh continued, "From what this bluenose told me, it sounded as if this neutral spirit leader 'Hedgebetter' talked with Ursa as though she had spoken with him extensively before. And apparently, she _is _smart - smart enough to realize tracking the barrier's degradation is important, though not why. Now, please continue - not you, Long Yumao!"

The bluenose beginning to chatter once again, Koh grumbled when he had to dodge a swipe from Long Yumao, telling them both, "Bluenose - start again. Long Yumao - do you want me to be your _advisor _or not? Aside from two personal grievances, I have no motivation in this war beyond faces - something I will receive eventually, assistance from you or not. Humans will visit the Spirit World, and even this drought of faces will end." Long Yumao hissing and seething yet not striking again, Koh listened as the bluenose finished chattering, translating everything it had said up to that point for Long Yumao, finishing, "We underestimate humans at our peril. This 'Saikhan' possesses enough sense to not blabber over radio on what has happened, and apparently of her own accord, the Avatar has already alerted 'President' Raiko of the problem."

Seeing he had Long Yumao's attention once again, Koh continued, "It sounds as though the window of… _opportunity _to take out Ursa has passed, the girl appearing to act again much as I have heard she did four years ago, as a somewhat reluctant leader. This cannot happen again, with someone else… The next time we interact with our operative, even indirectly, that 'peasant girl' is the next most important thing on his agenda - as well as telling us more about her!" Long Yumao yawned, asking drolly, "And why are either one of these young humans so important? There are so many of them, over three million in Republic City alone, _surely _someone else would have figured out there things… Don't give me 'that face'! Would not have someone else attempted to fill the void - just like what happened with the Earth Empire after Kuvira's surrender, and Jinshu Kuangmai?" Sighing, Long Yumao admitted, eyespots pulsing in displeasure, "Regardless, you did bring up one interesting point - our operative is already pretending to be Earth Empire sympathetic. Perhaps with the next shipment, a note - _written by someone else _\- detailing what we know about the barrier weakening to Jinshu Kuangmai should be included. Perhaps this 'Saikhan' is correct - if he knows the barriers are weakening, he will deliberately act horrible to bring them down…" Long Yumao cackled, adding, "Mistakenly thinking spirits will only attack the Poles and Republic City - helping usher in his own demise!"

Not having heard anything of plans to attack Toph's pleasingly wayward son in the first wave until just now, Koh inquired what his ally was thinking, Long Yumao replying, "We still do not know exactly what your riddle about 'Reciprocity is coming' means - only that it is 'between two different kinds of darkness'. While I consider any humans to be 'darkness'… it is far more likely what you received refers to Jinshu Kuangmai. Avatar Korra, Raava, their pathetic mercy and kindness… hardly dark. And I intend to be on the acting end, just as with my idea. Knowing that weakling Avatar Korra she'd as soon 'convert' me than try to kill me. Jinshu Kuangmai has the right idea - even if he does not possess the means to kill a spirit…"

Long Yumao's eyefeathers straightening suddenly, as though he just detected something, he howled, half-laughing, "Speak of the annoying… Don't think I can't sense you coming closer, 'Wipfis'. Now go run back to the rest of your idiot spirit friends - you did not even choose the human whose spirit master can grant bending!" After a distant burbling noise, Koh managed to hear the annoying poorly-spoken spirit boast at ear-torturing length, "Was not listening you, babbler- get something from Vaazula. Near North Portal - outside. Avatar Korra and Raava so foolish they not take out spirit on Vaatu side when they could. One that gots dual bending on accidents! Jinshu Kuangmai and Vaazula know part of hows the spirit 'Akiak' hurts so bad - weapons Avatar used, and my boss going to emulate. Spirit weapon nothing compared some of theses! Not able wait to see used on you, airogent surpent."

Seeing Long Yumao shimmer briefly and then vanish, Koh mused to the bored bluenose, "Sounds like Wipfis gets a better shake than any spirit other than myself gets with Long Yumao," the faceless monkey nodding. It started chattering and then stopped as Koh felt two very angry eyes on him, Long Yumao saying from behind over the sounds of a blubbering spirit, "I do not care about fair or unfair - only power! Hatred did not care! I will not give power to those who have not earned it!"

Koh turning around, surprised to see Long Yumao had managed to catch Wipfis, the smaller spirit bubbled, "Foolish surpent. You ally right, surpent! I already say Jinshu Kuangmai not care about human or spirit - now he not care about human status either. Only ability to do well! 'Earn it', like you gots thing from tree! Boss pragmatic!", adding after using his long, barbed whip to strike Long Yumao across the eyes, Koh's spirit ally howling in pain, "You not only one who make pain! Just wait to later! Gloat about getting boss to act bad like he an animal to manipulate," adding after another, deeper lash following being dropped by a shocked Long Yumao, "Humans pragmatic - neutral and you spirits dumb, literalist, not think, or think too much, like ugly centipede ally!"

Wipfis vanishing shortly after, Long Yumao frantically swiping at where the fish-man spirit had been, Long Yumao demanded, "Okay - so you foresaw that fat girl figuring something out, but not everything else to do with her! A whole lot of good that was - especially considering your monkey spy didn't catch _everything_!" Before Long Yumao could continue, Koh rolled his eyes slightly, feeling as though he were talking to a particularly stupid Avatar Aang about Tui and La, saying as Long Yumao babbled about how Koh needed to try and see more, "I cannot finely control what I see and do not see, beyond the Spirit World. Seventy-four mortal years ago, I sensed Admiral Zhao wanted to do away with Tui for personal benefit relatively randomly, while contemplating balance, yin and yang, push and pull long before Avatar Aang visited me." Long Yumao still incensed, Koh continued, "Similarly, contemplating things unknown to us, I saw a vision of a large firebender teenage girl inspecting the barrier closely, and coming to some sort of revelation. Even sensing Desna and Tatkret getting assistance from Yue was not fine control."

Long Yumao losing his patience, Koh clattered up higher on the massive tree, Long Yumao so angry that he did not shudder when he should have, having struck the tree with claws full-on, howling, "USELESS INSECT! If you cannot control it… THEN WHAT USE IS IT?!" continuing with a slightly concerning glimmer in his eyes after withdrawing his stuck claws, "Sense something truly useful, you ancient self-important centipede! I could care less about 'larval humans' - try and control what you gaze at. Tell me something about Jinshu Kuangmai, the Avatar, someone **important. **We fought hard for this tree - do what I have done! Do not merely sit atop the bark like a scared pillbug - dig in!"

Climbing to the crown of the Tree of Time, Koh smiled through his noh mask "face" slightly, saying coolly, "I will do things my way," closing his eyes after saying, "You can risk yourself, digging into something you do not understand fully."

Still stationary, no swiping claw coming, Koh managed to concentrate for a short time, at first puzzled to see a partially dry lakebed, the only plant life in the image in the center of cracked earth around, much of the lakebed appearing to have been scorched… Noting that there were a smattering of white-colored lotus flowers in the center, a large rain passed over the vision, time skipping forward to show the lake full of overgrown plants with white lotus flowers. The vision showing the water of the lake bubble and come to a boil for one second, Koh's vision now had a few red lotus flowers budding among the white lotus flowers.

The sky above blurring between night and day rapidly, getting the sense that many decades had passed, Koh watched in puzzlement as a third flower type appeared, this strange white and blue, no, cyan, lotus at first all alone. More time passing, the solitary white and light blue lotus producing many seeds and the new flower type spreading, the vision showed the largest of the red lotuses except for two wither away and die, one the remaining large red lotuses appearing singed, the other… dragged slightly below the surface by a chain?

Not daring to think, not willing to disrupt the vision, Koh watched as the two largest red lotus plants slowly recovered, noticing that more bloomed over time, as did the strange white and blue lotuses Koh had no idea what they symbolized…

The lake by now had only one large pure white lotus left, a throng of smaller white lotuses around it, and plenty of other large red or white and blue lotuses throughout. Getting the sensation he felt when glimpsing the possible future of reality, Koh witnessed the pure white lotuses begin to fall. Some fell to aggressive encroachment by red lotuses, withering away and dying, but more of the pure white lotuses gained light blue coloration on half their petals after coming into contact with blue and white lotuses…

Pure white lotuses and red lotuses now in the minority after another timeskip, the vision ended. Koh explained it to a skeptical Long Yumao as he thought of the symbolism, saying what he thought most important first, "The white lotuses obviously represent the Order named after them, and the same for the red lotuses. The most concerning lotuses - the ones that bear the same colors as our shared spirit foe Raava - I… am at a loss as to what they represent. A lakebed, scorched as though by fire, filling again after healing rains came - the defeat of the Fire Nation. The white lotuses spreading after, the smattering of red lotuses popping up… representing the Order of the White Lotus coming into the public eye after their mortal war, and the splintering off Order of the Red Lotus, respectively." Long Yumao nodded, saying, "I can understand symbolism, Koh - do not patronize me. The end - it sounds as though the vision was suggesting the Order of the Red Lotus is having a resurgence. I will need more proof than a vision of plants, though - even if it **is **dealing with something **important!"**

Long Yumao still not getting part of the vision, Koh said drolly, "Given what I saw, there may be more than just two Orders with a lotus as their symbol… The 'white and blue' lotuses were far more numerous than either red or pure white lotuses by the end of the vision, and they appeared to convert _non-violently. _If they represented human individuals as I thought they did… that is 'humans behaving better', not _worse. _ It would appear there may be a third player - and given the fact that the first white and blue lotus appeared _before _the 'Order of the Red Lotus' was defeated, it is younger than the Order of the Red Lotus - but older than the Red Lotus first acting under an _airbender _Zaheer..."

Long Yumao shook his head slightly, shifting some of the large "feather scales" on his neck by doing so, saying, "You still take this as written in stone - **I want proof**! And just as I do not care about Ursa, this 'Order of the White and Blue Lotus' does not concern me," adding, "You said that this was a possible future - with our operative, perhaps we can see to it that the red lotuses outnumber everything else, and plunge the world into chaos again. If it really is still around and active, just as we have with the Earth Empire, trying to secretly prop up an organization of badly behaving humans without being connected to the act would be easier than trying to prune that which is unwanted." Pausing for a moment, Koh at first doubting Long Yumao's logic, Koh was surprised when his ally said, "Gold and yuan leave less of a trail than blood, after all. Attempting to kill someone, or even succeeding, only draws attention to them… just as you said earlier."

Long Yumao looking inexplicably angry again, Koh listened, his ally's eyefeathers pointing in a specific direction, Long Yumao saying, "Wait - ZAHEER! And… SOMEONE ELSE!" cackling, "He doesn't have his bending… HE'S MINE! I won't be embarrassed like I was with Wipfis again!" before vanishing.

A short time later, Long Yumao re-appeared, looking half-disappointed and excited at the same time, saying, "Zaheer was gone by the time I appeared in Xai Bau's Grove - but the man he was talking to wasn't. I could not identify the man - only that he was severely burned, had a few tattoos… I attempted to catch him, to incapacitate him with pain - he merely laughed, saying, 'After three years of agony, your attempt amuses me. Goodbye, spirit tyrant - see you soon. See you dead.' Some force disoriented me when I lunged for him, ending up hitting a nearby rock instead." Long Yumao said, disdain in his voice, "Ugh! I recognize that energy now - from a mortal's lifetime ago… It appears the Avatar is not the only one with a 'safe place' - somehow, that mortal Xai Bau's energy was awakened by his adherent's presence there. It threw me off just like the twin disgusting chakra pools do - though not as strongly..."

Hide pulsing with energy, Long Yumao said, "I would have loved to rend him in half! No matter - they do not know who our operative is, but our traitor will know of them the next time we are in 'contact'. The Red Lotus, alive… good. Zaheer - talking with someone horribly scarred, calm and composed… It's been an act all along - the gradual insanity! His cunning… it is a pity we will never get him to betray humanity, as we have already done once."

Koh strummed his legs together, contemplating, thinking. Guessing the likely identity of the man Zaheer had been talking with, Koh annoyed Long Yumao by cryptically saying, "From the ashes does a lotus bloom, only its caretaker knowing how large it will grow." His ally hissing, Koh glad to take Long Yumao's annoyance in place of the faces he had been promised - for now - Koh was surprised when Long Yumao figured it out, Long Yumao cackling with delight, "In my annoyance, I did not fully appreciate what happened… The Red Lotus - it lives on! YES - more chaos and bad behavior from humans! That's what Zaheer's been doing for three years… using my domain to run his society in secret! The Red Lotus - I cannot think of an organization aside from the Earth Empire more likely to display 'proper' poor behavior. Imagine - assassinations rocking the 'good' humans, spirits flocking to us when Jinshu Kuangmai grows stronger…" Swirling in front of Koh and stopping, his spirit ally continued with audible pleasure, "Perhaps we can link our previous human-related triumph to this… yes. Instruct him to seek out people seemingly sympathetic to the Red Lotus anonymously - make the same offer of assistance as before. Little will they know, just as before, they are being played. Played as a puppeteer moves wooden dolls…"

Hearing wooden dolls, thinking of the still-stubborn Hama, Koh changed faces, saying with a simian grin and slight laughter of his own, "Oh, yes - puppeteers. I may know of another possible traitor… Long Yumao - do you remember the woman from earlier who visited the pool I share with Tui and La? Tatkret?" Long Yumao coiled slightly, saying as the spots on his massive sail pulsed with displeasure, "Yes - I remember how you refused to steal her face, or Desna's - despite the fact they showed interest in one of my favorite female prisoners, were getting assistance from Yue - which WENT THROUGH, according to yourself earlier! And I also remember you saying Tatkret was a lesbian - I'm half tempted to snap you in half for suggesting such a thing! Blech!"

Switching back to his usual face, Koh smiled slightly, saying, "You are mistaken - I hold no interest in the daughter…" Crawling around Long Yumao in a circle, Koh said cryptically, "For our purposes, from what I can tell, she falls too far on the side of yang than yin - in light, sparing darkness from its deserved punishment. The yin she spared, however… perhaps she can be of use, before I collect my due."

Long Yumao for once not trying to snap at him when Koh tightened the circle, Long Yumao finally said after a long pause, "Hmmm… perhaps you are not so useless after all. First a _useful _vision, to make a massive understatement, and now this. From what you have seen of subsequent events up in the frozen North, perhaps you are right - 'morning blood' wanting to carry on her family's legacy of bending prowess and POWER… no matter the COST. Yes - forget her face. That's an order - don't give me 'that face'! Ublaraok will be our next target, from what you said, already having been accused of siding with me, stripped of what made her identity, discarded by her family like the leavings from a beast of burden… perhaps she can manage to poison Eska, Desna or someone else in the North, after having a false change of heart, since you _refuse _to steal their faces."

Feeling a bit offended, Koh clarified, "If they showed emotion around me, I would take their faces gladly." Glaring at a friendly bird-like spirit, Long Yumao hissed, "Whatever, Koh. You, little bird spirit. You interrupted us! What do you want, tiny thing? Can't you see we're in the middle of an important discussion here? Aren't you supposed to be busy? He can't have possibly completed his task just yet!" The small birdlike spirit chirped, Long Yumao's sail now pulsing violently in excitement, saying, "He… he did. Wonderful news - the first shipment of many has already left, complete with the appropriate _human _markings. Down to the drop of blood in the center of the changed symbol… Speaking of blood. Koh! You are much older than I - do you know of any way besides assistance from the Avatar that someone can regain their bending? She - not **Korra**, you annoying little arthropod - would be most useful if she could bloodbend, and manipulate other water - as I have heard some Raava aligned spirits can do. Our current operative has use besides bending - Ublaraok would not, besides trying to poison someone. Spirits are mighty - but the Universe did not see fit to grant us bending without the intervention of a Grand Light or Dark Spirit. For crying out loud, Vaatu and _his _pet human have a dual bending spirit, as you said earlier touching the Tree of Time - WE NEED BENDERS! I certainly can't make my idea work without _physical _metal, earth… claws are not good for delicate work. Only for gutting human insects! Still wish I had gotten that other man earlier - though he hardly looked human…"

Thinking for a while, not sure of the answer at first, closing his eyes and seeing a brief vision, Koh said, "Assistance regaining bending, aside from the Avatar? Yes - with help of a lion turtle." Long Yumao hissed with displeasure, saying with rage, "HOW'S THAT SUPPOSED TO HELP! They're all dead, you moron - except for one who is still alive, in the Physical World - unlikely to help us, given he helped Avatar Aang take Ozai's bending indirectly! Ugh - Ozai. Still cannot believe he and almost all the others within the Fog are so… stupid, insisting they be the ones to wield power. Even that old pitiful woman Hama won't budge. Just like Jinshu Kuangmai, Toph's brat - unwilling to serve a far greater master. I've been through thousands - no takers, almost an innumerable measure more of them. But… sifting's so TIME CONSUMING! At the very least we have time, having secured the Tree and the spirit side portals around it." By now Long Yumao having worked off his rage, Koh listened as his spirit ally continued in a lower voice, "Little bird spirit - you have done your job. Now try to make contact with our operative - tell him first that the Red Lotus lives and is active, and that he is to try and render them assistance as well, with as great of care as he displayed earlier. The Red Lotus should target the fledgling new government in the north of the main continental mass - the so-called 'United Earth Republic'. Our operative is to also try and recruit any Dai Li agents he knows of. COMPETENT ONES ONLY. Any sufficiently skilled and amoral earthbender will do, as long as they can stealthily kidnap and make someone disappear. They have a different task - kidnapping problematic people who would not be suitable for assassination by the Red Lotus. One of their targets there should be a peasant girl of unknown name who gave some kind of insipid speech encouraging good behavior in Ba Sing Se - he should know her name. They are the weakest - and the Red Lotus is likely as mad as I am at Raava over her party favors and tricks that their precious anarchy and chaos did not stick there. We must have as many different sides in this human conflict and spirit conflict as well - though I detest chaos, the more it grows, the more my power does as well, as spirits see just how bestial humans can be in times of great stress. Don't just float there - GO!"

The small spirit floating off quickly, even Koh unsure of exactly how the tiny thing had made contact with their operative and relayed his success, Koh waited for Long Yumao to speak. Long Yumao finally speaking, he hissed, "I know of lion turtle spirits helping give Raava's spirit cronies bending… but nothing about restoring. And certainly not in the Physical World, given they are spirits… without her bloodbending, Ublaraok's useless except as a mole, if she can swallow her pride and act apologetic. And unlikely to get to a Spirit Portal anytime soon either. No matter - there are others we might solicit as traitors."

One man a fairly obvious candidate, though closer to insane than truly useful, Koh suggested, "I have sensed there is a man in Republic City who is preaching doom about the Spirit Civil War - perhaps you could…? No?" Long Yumao snickered, "What - get him to try and kill Ursa, Saikhan? You mentioned him before the whole mess with Desna and Tatkret - it sounded to me as though he could barely keep himself clothed! And he's already been vocal supporting me, again, from what you said," adding more seriously, "Hmmm… if my idea does not work properly on a _physical _human, dragged into the portal… I may have a use for him." Koh still having no idea what Long Yumao's idea was, he said, "Fine - I still have no clue what you want to do," giving Long Yumao a slight glare after he said, "Good - if you don't, then NO ONE will!"

Long Yumao idly examining his hands, extending four red claws, he said, one partially held down, "So let's assume Ublaraok goes along with becoming an 'operative', so to speak. She still had her bending removed by her daughter - so really, we have _no _benders, if she accepts. I want outside help from all four elements!" Koh frowned slightly, clacking and strumming legs together as he sighed, "Patience, young spirit. Patience. Our target is still alive, stripped of her bending - we should wait and see what happens before acting. Scout out our potential targets." Long Yumao hissing in displeasure, Koh added, "Just as I am sure the Avatar will pay great attention to Republic City's barrier beginning to show wear, _and Ursa_, she would show great concern about any turncoats. One target has already made itself apparent - let us see how acquiring our second operative goes before trying to solicit anyone else." Long Yumao hissed, saying, "Zaheer lives, and is stubborn - as does that horribly burned man. Aiwei is still within the fog, stubborn as well. Stupid human weaklings - without a body, they are useless! Conventionally, at least…"

After further planning, Koh having decided to assist in selecting the last three targets, Long Yumao able to remember more than he had at first as well, Koh felt something wasn't right - yet at the same time, their plans had not been compromised. Feeling a spirit exiting the newest Spirit Portal, Koh switched to the face of a harsh school teacher, saying, "SHHHH! A spirit's coming - and it doesn't look like it's aligned with us. Quiet!"

The small bean spirit looked around for a few seconds, appearing to cry slightly, Koh heard an annoyingly cute voice say, "Wh - the… the Tree of Time! It's true… and why aren't you guys talking? I waited forever until you were too focused to notice me - and Koh spots me right away! What, you got eyes in the back of your head? Or is it the _stolen_ faces doing the work?" Long Yumao laughed, saying, "Technically I have eyes all over, even on my _eyefeathers_," finishing as he pointed a palm at the spirit, "And in just a minute, I'll be finding out _exactly _what those humans outside the barrier are doing. Who's important, who's not. PREPARE TO BE BROKEN!" Still crying, the bean spirit dodged the blast, blowing a raspberry before taunting, "Can't hit me - and I wouldn't break anyways, whatever you meant by that!" and then it simply vanished from where it had come.

Strumming his feet together, for once Koh felt impatient, stopping when Long Yumao cackled, "Hah - what a weakling! Came in here, saw we'd cleared out the tree - and ran away when I wanted to bring the fight to her! Koh - quit that strumming. During our discussion, I realized that while a few days may seem insignificant to spirits such as ourselves… that time can be key, critical for mere mortals. Even for those to whom time has no meaning… We may be ready to move forward now - but the humans we seek to turn may not, despite three of them being dead. In the Fog of Lost Souls… Two of the three others we have settled on will likely be harder to convince than Ublaraok, one as easy to 'convince' as that doomsayer in Republic City. As you said, that man has already mentioned his name… Someone knows of the legends. Perhaps there is some sense to the Avatar cycle's order - I would like to wait for the 'firebender'." Hissing slightly, Long Yumao finished, "The Avatar is currently far too close to his remains, if your wild guess is correct - just as in the granting of dual bending, the body is the key. Possibly even after death, or bending stripping. Yakone fathered two psychic bloodbender sons with his own bending stripped - perhaps something remains behind that controls being a bender, or even the special abilities. And Ublaraok _is_ his cousin... We do not want Korra destroying the bodies to prevent the process you suggested. It would be best if she were as far away from the Fire Nation and Western Air Temple as possible - her destination being in the Earth Empire is something we'll have to deal with, though she likely has not a clue as to that potential traitor's body's location. Doesn't even know his name, most likely, despite having seen him… It is not as if we have anything other than time anyways - and waiting will only make convincing our targets easier. Either through increased power - or the human spirits seeing their own acting like the animals they all are… willing to turn. Wanting either power, or to cleanse themselves of the impurity of being human."

* * *

After returning with news of Long Yumao controlling the Tree of Time, the normally glib spirit had been silent, Ursa asking Patta, "You seem like you saw more than just the Tree of Time in enemy hands…," Patta looking directly at her with a bit less trepidation when Ursa got to her point, "Want to say what happened? Does it have anything to do with that energy Long Yumao can control now?"

Patta nodded, whistling loudly, the whistle apparently a signal for Warmwings to come over given how Ursa found herself next to her own spirit buddy, Patta saying, "Long Yumao… shot some intense energy beam at me, claimed he was going to 'break me'. We never did get Warmwings to say anything about that…"

Hearing nothing at first, Ursa was concerned Warmwings had been affected herself, concern growing when she heard Jin ask from nearby, "Uh - URSA? Is your spirit buddy _supposed _to be big?" Ursa looking behind her, surprised to see Warmwings in her "Dark Spirit" enraged form, her spirit buddy trilled "Yes" loudly, given how Jin reacted everyone could understand what Warmwings had "said". Warmwings picking up a nearby large piece of paper and some pencils, Ursa watched in a mix of curiosity and horror as her spirit friend sketched out what Ursa hoped **wasn't **Long Yumao. Her stomach sank when Warmwings added a depiction of some purple beam coming from a disembodied clawed "hand" striking a hapless neutral dragonfly bunny spirit, anger rising within Ursa when Warmwings trilled mournfully, "I've been fighting inside the Spirit World for quite some time, and earlier this morning, Long Yumao got some kind of sick energy-based power after sticking his nasty claws into the Tree of Time. I got hit with it myself - it felt like someone was… trying to break me with pain and hatred."

The light blue on Warmwings' face pulsing red temporarily, the spirit trilled angrily, everyone around the large spirit looking shocked, especially Saikhan, "It was like he was hurting me, and projecting himself into me at the same time. Most of the spirits who like humans, good or bad, were able to resist the 'mean beam', but… a lot of neutral spirits weren't so lucky. Either broken and 'enslaved', or… switching sides once they saw the new power Long Yumao has. Aside from his new scary form… Eventually, both kinds of 'human-y' spirits decided trying to fight his new power and possibly lose more to it wasn't worth holding the tree."

Looking at Long Yumao's "new" form, Ursa had the odd feeling she had seen it before, Saikhan finally spoke, saying as he pointed at a group of petrified police officers, "Energy - maybe it really is like what Kuvira had in her Colossus' weapon, but… worse. Enslaved spirits - just like he wants to do with us humans… Forget security concerns, or that the Avatar already alerted President Raiko about the barrier failing. **I need to contact President Raiko**. I want his permission to begin making defensive preparations around the crater's rim immediately, and to try and get equipment beyond airships and whatever civilians and engineers can help put together. 'Professional', 'military' grade equipment!" The officers nodding, some like Jin and Renshi looking more determined than others, Saikhan finished, "The size of that spirit now… apparent manipulation of _energy_, just like what Avatar Korra used to restore my bending four years ago, but… dark… I have heard rumors and hearsay of all sorts of new equipment, and we do not even have 'old' technology like what Kuvira used to attack Republic City. We need spirit weapons, the faster the better, if that… thing's what is waiting on the other side of the barrier. No wonder neutral spirits don't feel safe in there…"

For a brief moment, all the officers stood at attention, Jin the first to speak up, saying as she pointed at the small swathe of transformed spirit vines she was standing on that surrounded the barrier, "Uh… that's great and all, but… all of Republic City's geniuses, and a few 'visiting' ones are all gone." Renshi nodded, saying, "Yeah - these things aren't much use without something to use them in. Asami Sato's been gone for days, along with Varrick and Zhu Li, Baatar Jr. just went with the reinforcements. Varrick, Zhu Li and Baatar Jr. know that stuff best, having… developed it in the first place." Saikhan growled in frustration, lamenting, "Yes - you're right. Nobody here who's ever worked with the things, and according to my most recent briefing… the weapons are finicky, hard to construct. Maybe it's hopeless after all…"

Ursa thinking for a moment, feeling a bit foolish, she suggested, "I know two technophiles, someone who's been my friend for almost half my life, Lee-Lee, and Ryoshin - the Equalist who betrayed her old boss after seeing one of _his _bombs kill her brother. Maybe they can help reverse engineer the stuff from the Colossus' remains? It's pretty badly damaged, and I don't know if the weapon survived, so… it's a long shot." Saikhan nodded, saying, "Everything's a long shot. I can't imagine that we could get instructions over the radio, what with most of it likely highly sensitive if they really have refined the technology over the past week, and… Patta?'s ability to communicate with Raava seems limited. It's all we've got, unless some spirity shenanigans happen." Renshi laughed lightly, saying, "Totally possible - I was awake to see Baatar Jr. leave, and I swear, he sounded like he was talking with someone who wasn't there at times. Then again, Ikki _had _just helped him away from going insane after he was left to rot for doubting Kuvira's 'change', so..." Saikhan nodded, saying, "We can't rely on such things though. We need to find as many trustworthy engineers, brainiacs, technophiles as possible - let's start with the two whose names we _do _know, Ryoshin first given she's a more 'known' quantity and worked on a lot of the Equalists' technology," discussing things with his officer core after, Ursa overhearing the name "Future Industries" a lot.

Ursa realizing again she had yet to talk to Lee-Lee, something else grabbed her attention, saying as she looked at Warmwing's somehow vaguely familiar illustration of Long Yumao, "Warmwings… I had no clue you could draw." Warmwings by now normal size, the dragonfly bunny spirit cocked its fuzzy head in confusion, Ursa getting the impression Warmwings was puzzled as well. Flitting closer onto Ursa's shoulder, Ursa noticing Patta was looking back and forth between drawing and Ursa, Warmwings trilled, "I don't know either." Not sure what to do with herself, Ursa feeling a little better to have Warmwings on her shoulder, Patta by now close enough to poke. Noticing the spirit looked distracted, Ursa poked the spirit's soft yellow stomach, Patta giggling, "Hey, quit that!" saying as Ursa smiled mischievously, "Thanks, I guess. Needed it, after that stuff earlier," Ursa's ears perking up when Patta said, "I think I might know the reason why Warmwings could draw so well earlier - and a way to get those technical designs here safely."

Ursa now the one cocking her head, she asked, "Just how do you plan to do that?" Warmwings letting out a confused, "Murrrh?" that matched Ursa's own puzzlement after Patta said, "I got a little bit of stuff from Raava when I 'talked' to her earlier, beyond what I already knew - have you heard of spirits having 'dual bending'?" Ursa finding the notion of a spirit bending period ridiculous, let alone two elements, she said, "Nope - one sounds ridiculous enough to me," Patta smiling slightly, saying, "And a week ago, everyone would have found the idea of Raava helping Avatar Korra and Asami Sato have a child ridiculous as well." Still skeptical, Ursa asked, "Okay - let's say you're not just being silly. What's that have to do with how my spirit buddy can draw now? She's tried before, and it looks worse than something my little sister would draw."

At first attempting to pick up the large picture of Long Yumao, Patta unable to move it in the end. The spirit stopped, saying, "Well, this dual bending granting thing needs two people and Raava to be successful, and apparently, the spirit that receives the dual gift gets more than just the couple's bending. I won't say who the couple is - you'd probably have a harder time believing me if I said who was involved - but after a dragon bird spirit got both firebending and earthbending, she got more than just bending." Not sure if this whole thing was a trick, Ursa listened anyways as Patta finished, " 'Alyssralove' could bend blue fire and metal for quite some time, but apparently she got some of 'her human's' technical expertise with spirit weapons, and the other's deductive skills as well, something even Raava hadn't expected. Given she's known… her humans for all of a day at most, and you've known Warmwings for years it seems, my best guess is that your drawing skills 'rubbed off' on her as well."

Remembering that she had attempted to teach Warmwings to draw before now, and not had much luck, Ursa said as much, Patta pointing at the Spirit Portal jutting into the sky, saying, "The first pulse of energy from this new portal lessened the difference between Physical and Spirit realms - maybe that has something to do with it. Maybe increased the strength of your bond with Warmwings," sound a little annoyed as she continued, "Whatever - the why's not important. The what is - that she can draw, _and _hopefully get everything we need from Raava for Saikhan's equipment."

Hearing someone cough, her conversation with Patta apparently having been listened in to, she heard Saikhan say from behind, "Bean spirit thing - err, Patta, sorry - if you think Ursa's spirit friend… Warmwings can be of any use, tell us how. We don't want to reinvent the wheel if we don't have to," another officer chiming in, "Yeah - heard rumors this spirit weaponry was… dangerous to develop. And I don't want to end up missing my hand while bending something into place!"

Warmwings leaving Ursa's shoulder, the spirit changed form and swelled in size, standing near the barrier for a short time. Blue deepening in color and white temporarily flashing, Warmwings started to wobble around, finally collapsing backwards near a shocked police officer after the color change faded.

Ursa ran over as best she could, thinking something bad had happened to Warmwings, glad to see her spirit friend stand back up, trilling happily before shrinking in size back to normal. Warmwings let out a happy sound, Ursa hearing it as, "Heehee- Check out my new 'hands'!" Looking at her spirit friend's paws, taken aback to see they were no longer cute paws but fluffy hands, Ursa said, "Uhh… is that permanent, or…?"

Warmwings' "hands" replaced by dragonfly bunny spirit appropriate paws again, Ursa idly realizing that Warmwings had been trying to draw with paws before, Warmwings trilled after they shifted back, "I wanna help Raava - help _you_, Ursa! Gimme something to draw with, please!"

Ursa happily obliging, noticing she had been joined by Saikhan, at first she was confused when Saikhan grabbed her hand before she could give Warmwings the paper and pencil, less confused when he said, "No - if your spirit friend really did just get sensitive things from Raava, she should draw them somewhere secure. Though, I would like to see if this is really the case - spirit, draw me something simple but secret." Warmwings taking the pencil and paper, drawing what Ursa recognized as the Avatar's personal weapons she had been allowed to see with what looked like an odd rhombus at the base of each blade's mount, her spirit friend trilled after adding some characters to the sheet, "Avatar Korra's weapon - including the… 'can't do its' for spirit energy? Conduits?" Saikhan took the paper, saying, "Instructions or not, looks like you're not the only one that doesn't understand this thing fully, spirit - though it does look detailed enough of a blueprint for someone to reproduce if they can understand the technical speak. Looks like the transfer whatever did work." Ursa frowned slightly when he added, Warmwings looking amenable to what he said, "Also looks like I'll be needing to 'borrow' your spirit friend for a good while. We'll be going to Future Industries Tower," commanding his officers, "Police men and women - I want this crater, _and _Future Industries Tower on lockdown. I know we're spread thin already, but this is just as important as the other two drains. Maybe even more so. No one is to go into the crater without permission - and see if you can find any trustworthy earthbenders who can truthsense to put outside Future Industries Tower. I don't want Earth Empire spies getting any of these blueprints 'Warmwings' draws. Got it?"

Every police officer under his command nodding, Jin volunteering, "I'll help with the crater," blushing briefly when Renshi added, "Same here", Saikhan bid Ursa goodbye for now, saying after approving the plan, "Don't worry - I'll try and make this as quick as possible. If I have trouble, even with advisors helping, I'll give you a radio call. We've been busy with this portal for a good while - why don't you take a quick break with your family," adding lowly, "Try and see what you can find out about the people near City Hall, protestors and 'agitators' alike while you're there. If you can't - take a look at these images from the barrier's top. Some really odd shapes there… See you."

Saikhan slipping her a few photographs, Ursa stowing them in her backpack after she realized they were of the barrier's top, he departed. Having expected to be alone, Ursa was glad when Patta chose to stick around, the small spirit saying as she fluttered off, "Come on - I'll show you where your family is! They came to see you, but, uh, didn't come closer because you were busy?"

Giving Patta a funny look, she asked the spirit once they were out of earshot of any police officers, "Did Saikhan tell them to not come over? And… wait. Didn't Buniq come over, give you a hug? What are you hiding!" Patta chuckled nervously, saying, "Uhm - no. Not that… it was weird. They left after Buniq said something I didn't catch. Let's just say it was a reason I didn't understand fully, but knew enough to get that it was something a human might like better to find out for themselves." Patta added once they were closer to the crater's rim, Ursa feeling concerned and apparently showing it, "Sorry, Ursa - I didn't mean to make you worry. Nothing _bad _happened. It was just something that seemed really personal. Buniq certainly seemed to think so…"

Able to hear a low sniffling by now, Ursa climbed the crater's rim, seeing her sister Buniq sulking near her mother and Nana in the distance between the rim's highest point and the cooking lines, none of them having seen her yet. Wondering what Buniq had done, Ursa found herself whispering to Patta like some gossiping schoolgirl, "What happened here?" Patta shifting uncomfortably, the spirit finally admitted, "I…. _sort of _had something to do with it? You remember the questions I asked you when we first met - not getting why you were running around the portal barrier when you could fly? Well… Buniq had a similar question, knowing her sister went off somewhere, wanted to know how you got all sweaty. I _sort of, __**kind of **_told her, and -** "**

Ursa groaned deeply, saying, "You told her I was working off a 'Cool Hug', didn't you." The veins on Patta's leaves flashed an embarrassed shade of red and not an "angry" shade, the color not much different than what might have appeared on Ursa's own cheeks, Patta saying, "Uhm… kind of? I think I just told her that 'big sis' wanted to work off food, she asked why, your mom and then Nana gave a short explanation, Buniq said they were crazy, that _she _wasn't going to do such a thing… then they left, Buniq crying about how Nana was healthy for some reason." Patta looking ready to cry, Ursa was very surprised when the spirit actually did, noticing the tear felt as physical as one of her own when she comforted the spirit.

Finally putting together what had likely happened, Ursa told Patta, "It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong," Patta asking innocently, "Then why is Buniq so sad? Look!" Letting out a deep sigh, Ursa explained, crying a little herself out of bitterness and of her own memories as she said, "She's growing up. Learning some hard truths, even if she doesn't want to. Things she needs to know, given her… heritage. I bet you a thousand… whatever spirits use as currency, if at all, that my mom found what Buniq was saying terrifying, in a way - too far the other way…" Getting a puzzled look from Patta, swearing she heard a nearby human sniffle, Ursa explained her relevant dream to the spirit, Patta looking horrified to learn more about "Food Drunk Ursa". Stressing the part about how there was a way to "unreality" by embracing the food and fat instead of hating it, adding, "It's all about loving myself, so… I guess I need to exercise more _for my sake, _and not to lose weight," Ursa too focused to hear anything.

Briefly looking to where she had last seen her family, Ursa noticing they were gone, Patta surprised her again by saying, white leaf veins temporarily flashing blue, "I don't think your mom would tell her that dream! Eat, eat, eat, the urge to eat getting worse the more you ate, no amount making you happy… If you have to deal with that kind of temptation, even a little bit… no wonder you wanted to run around in circles! Thought you needed to burn the 'extra' off!"

Hearing a sage old voice say, "Hello, Ursa," she nearly unsheathed her sword in surprise, saying after realizing she was no longer alone with Patta, "Uh - hi, Nana. How… how much did you hear?" Peeking over the rim, seeing a deeply frowning Buniq up close and personal, Ursa's heart sank when her little sister sobbed, "Lots!" not entirely sure why she felt better instead of sad when Buniq bawled, "Before come over. Wanted nice eat things. Dad gone, so felt sad. I… I wanted more yum! But… hear that. I don't want more! No 'drunk food' Buniq!"

Her mother by Buniq's side by now, Ursa stood up, saying as she looked down on her mom slightly, "I - I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have just hid here, talking to Patta," her mom smiling slightly, saying, "No - good work, 'kid'. I had to invoke the mommy clause before, just telling her to not question what I was saying, that she couldn't have any more Big Hug Cakes or Cool Hugs because I said so. That she'd need to start exercising just for fitness herself someday, earlier than the age of twelve, when you had that rude awakening against Amon. That she needs to learn how to bend better, but in a way that pushes her physically once she's a bit older. I want better for her than you had, Ursa, like any mother…" Her mother patting Buniq on the head, Ursa surprised Buniq wasn't snappy, Panik said, "Until just now, you didn't know any of that, of course. You didn't even know your little sister was hearing everything… the only reason I didn't speak up was because she was actually _listening_. I know you must be in shock right now, your little sister accidentally overhearing that… Maybe you _both _need big hugs - and not the fattening ones."

Ursa stepping forward, giving both Buniq and her mother a big hug in turn, her mom having started to cry while Ursa consoled a still slightly confused, hurt and vaguely angry little sister, Ursa hugged her mother tighter when she asked, "With all that going on, we didn't get _everything _that happened at the barrier. Care to fill us in?"

Some part of Ursa tempted to explain everything without emotion, she shook her head slightly, thinking, "No - I worked awfully hard to be able to _feel _again, and I'll take everything, positive or negative." Her mother perplexed, Ursa realized she had said "No" with her body, saying with a weak smile, "Sorry - yes, I'll fill you in. I was just… reacting to a different kind of temptation. To tell you everything, while trying to quash what I feel. I worked too hard to beat depression to do that."

Her mother smiling broadly, Ursa broke the hug after her mother said, "I'm so proud of you," explaining everything that had happened at the barrier to her family, Patta "tag-teaming" at times when Ursa didn't feel like talking as they made their way towards the food lines.

Ursa deciding to finish outside of earshot of the crowd, in case any spies were around, Ursa felt… **love **well up in her when - Ursa now finished - her little sister said, "I want help! I think I know how help. Make myself bigger help. Do what you did around barrier. Ekscersise! Play hard! May be 'big'. But I need healthy!" Happy instead of sad tears on her face, Ursa said, "Sounds great. Maybe I can join in," grumbling slightly when Patta pointed out, "Maybe later, Ursa. Someone's relying on you to do something important - well, two important things." Nana saying, "Just as important in my book, spirit," Ursa laughed slightly when Patta's leaf's veins turned the same embarrassed color they had as before, Ursa nodding nonetheless when Patta countered, " 'Human-y' things like family may be what you're fighting for, but if no one does what they 'need' to… we'll lose. See - even Ursa agrees."

Remembering that technically one of the things Saikhan had wanted her to do was spend some time with her family, Ursa decided looking at the photos of the barrier's top and trying to scout out what the people near City Hall were doing, saying, "Well - Saikhan did tell me to take somewhat of a break." Her mother smiled broadly, saying as she gestured towards the food line, "Come back here - part of the time you were gone, I was experimenting with making a 'Cool Hug' drink with redeeming value beyond pleasure. I've got a couple for you to test out." Knowing full well what she'd need to pass on her way there, Ursa simply raised an eyebrow, laughing when Buniq pointed out, "Thought you said Cool Hug bad! And ones you made still have mmm! Not drink them! Want fit! Waterbend train!"

Her mother shook her head, saying exasperatedly, "Oh, great - 'food bad'. Now I've got _two _of you on the same page roughly," Ursa laughing as she made her way over to the food line, Patta commenting, "WH- first, you're glad she changed, now you're a little annoyed! Which is it?" Panik chuckled heartily, saying as they got closer, "Both, Patta. It's called a paradox." Patta fluttered ahead slightly, not reacting when someone said, "Wow - a Raava spirit!" Patta reacted to Panik instead, saying, "No wonder Raava didn't get everything 'human-y' she needed from the Avatar's lives to fully understand being human - you guys are complicated!"

Finally passing the cooking line, Ursa found herself completely ignoring the Big Hug Cake cooking station and what must have been a Cool Hug "cooking" station, looking past the waterbenders furiously bending various colored liquids to keep up with demand. Everything she had had to eat today was pretty much junk food, for better or worse, Ursa found herself looking at a cooking station serving up greens, rice and meat instead, shaking her head slightly, thinking with eyes closed, "Food's still food - and I likely haven't burned off the first round yet…"

Seeing a brief flash of jagged, red-edged teeth, not thinking anything was amiss, the teeth pulsed red for a split second, vanishing as she opened her eyes again, finding herself staring at a large wash basin, grumbling slightly when her mother said, "Wake up, 'think-y' head! Nearly ran into the washing station. I'm over here, getting everything ready again. These things don't 'last' very long…"

Turning and walking over to her mother, noticing her mother was bending something that looked suspiciously like lemonade as a metalbender helper used some metal measuring cups to add various ingredients to the now-still water mass. Pointing at it, asking, "I thought you said no lemonade?" her mother laughed, saying, "Don't worry - it's less sweet than the stuff your sister made," metalbender assistant running off as she said, finishing the "Cool Hug", if that was its name still, "Though, not by a ton. Have to have something to mask part of the flavor. I tried just using water, and it tasted like an awful, salty medicine. I figure this stuff's no good if nobody will drink it. Plus, if sugar's good fuel, it can't hurt - it won't turn to fat unless you just sit there, doing nothing…"

Panik smiled, saying, "Think fast!" bending over one of the two Cool Hugs she had made, Ursa barely managing to catch it before it hit her, saying as she wiped a little slush off her top, "What the - mom! I finally want to wear this, and… you do that? You want me to not wear this or something?" At first, her mother looked confused, saying with a smile, "Wait a minute… you went to our apartment - still came back in one of those, and not 'baggy clothe'. What happened?"

Explaining to her mother the gist of what had happened in the apartment, her mother looking happier and happier, Ursa took her first drink, swishing it around in her mouth a little to taste it better, Panik saying, "That's wonderful. I just hope all this sticks as well as this Cool Hug is to my hands," sighing slightly and adding, "But you of all people know that change doesn't happen overnight. At least not lasting change…"

Finally having an opinion on the odd Cool Hug, having crunched the partially melted glass already, noticing that it had melted less than the original Cool Hug "glass", Ursa said, "I know, and for the most part… I've not really had anything happen that would really challenge this 'new me' just yet. Hope whatever Long Yumao can do doesn't have… other side effects on humans." Having forgotten to tell her mother her opinion of the drink, she added, "Sorry. I'll be honest. I think this is just okay - the drink, not the dress! Whatever you were adding, maybe you tried to cram too many good things into it at once," adding, "Though, I don't feel quite as thirsty now - not as good as water in some ways, but better in others. Don't feel like I want to lick a cube of salt… You're better at this than I am - I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Feeling as though she had been talking to a wall, Ursa coughed, saying, "What's the matter?" her mother responding, "What you said about Long Yumao, but more than that… what 'you' said to you in the apartment. I know you're a cynic in some ways, but… Ursa. I just want you to know - what your 'dark half' said - which you realize is a **part of you **\- it's a complete, total lie. Basically, 'Importance means you'll have a hard time finding true love…' What, do you think Asami Sato stayed with Avatar Korra, Mako and Bolin just because they were important? That her engagement to the Avatar is for power?" Ursa shook her head, her mother saying, "Okay, then - so why do **you **think someone can't see the same thing in you that she did in the Avatar? That the only way someone would go out with you and get closer than Lee-Lee did was because of something you did four years ago, or now, with this portal barrier malarkey?"

Ursa feeling a bit mad, part of her insisting that it was her _dark _half, and not truly her, she frowned slightly when her mother said uncannily, "You yourself said whatever your 'dark half' says rings true to you somehow, basically - otherwise it wouldn't even be a problem," Ursa nodding when her mother said, "Just keep working, like you have in the past - you're dealing with issues and things at a young age people usually face in their twenties. As usual… for better or worse. In any case, it sounds like there's a lot more that you haven't talked with anyone about. Maybe when we get a chance, I'm not busy with the cooking line, you're not busy with spirits or Saikhan, you can tell me more."

Used to talking with her father about such personal issues, some part of Ursa still seeing her mother as "the annoying 'skinny' person who doesn't understand me," she remembered the photos of her mother, saying, "Sounds great," the errant thought flitting through her mind of, "I'd do what she did for me for my kid in a heartbeat, even if I ended up bigger than Nana..."

Feeling a bit of tingling in her crotch, not sure why thoughts of having her own children were arousing now, Ursa snapped back to attention when her mother said, "Hey! Got something else to tell me?"

Part of her feeling tempted to not say anything, Ursa was honest instead, her mother smiling broadly, saying, "That sounds a lot like what you mentioned in the shower… glad to know at least part of that stuck," looking a bit embarrassed to say, still smiling, "I… had similar feelings on and off, before I met your father. Needless to say… they're still there. Even after two kids…" By now blushing deeply, Panik said, Ursa feeling a bit awkward, yet strangely not, as though they were talking about something they should have ages ago, "Anyways - you're not the only one with good news. So far, the cooking line's exceeded expectations - if this keeps up, by day's end, we'll have served a ton of needy people, fed a lot of other grouchy ones, _and _have enough to afford re-building Gurume's Choice."

Her mother looking a little nervous again, she said, "Beyond just cooking, I could use your help there. I - I know what your problems are, Ursa, but… It'd mean a lot to me, more people than just me, if you helped with that. I know you might see it as - "

Some part of Ursa having screamed, "NO - I'd be too tempted!" ever since her mother floated the idea, she could see how important it was to her mother in her eyes, interrupting her surprised mother by saying, "Sure. I'd love to - if for nothing else but to spend more time with you," not sure which reason her mother was crying for when Ursa said, crying a little herself, "I've always been a daddy's girl, and haven't always treated you right. The first time I put on one of these **beautiful **dresses, today, after years of smaller ones collecting dust… See you as you, not 'the annoying 'skinny' person who doesn't understand me'. Giving you a fair shake. I think I need to keep going, for both you and me. Especially since my dad isn't around…"

Panik crying happily by now, Ursa gladly obliged when her mother wanted a hug, feeling an immense peace after her mother hugged her tighter, saying after a peck on the check, "Sounds wonderful, Ursa. I'm sure your father would be very happy," Ursa smiling slightly and laughing instead of groaning when her mother said, "I'll try and keep the number of things I ask you to taste test to a minimum."

Breaking the hug, her mother chuckled lightly, saying, "I _was _mainly joking about asking you to taste test, figuring you were going to grouse at me for making that partial joke… but if you can laugh and smile about it, maybe you're in a better spot then either one of us thought you were." Gesturing towards the cooking line, her mother said, "Enough talking, for now. I'd prefer to go do some work - and I'm not entirely sure how you feel about everything you told me about the barrier, but I can imagine cooking some food for others might take you mind off it all." Ursa nodded, smiling slightly when her mother said, "Knowing you, doing something engrossing like cooking's the only way you'll stop thinking about it," merely saying, "Yup…. Heh."

Walking over to the cooking line, finding her mind wandering towards spirit-y stuff anyways, Ursa tried shifting her focus to something just a few days ago she would have tried to slap herself silly for thinking about, saying, "We never did 'fix' the redeeming value Cool Hug… what all did you put in it, exactly? Salt, obviously." Her mother nodded, saying, "Yeah - and a whole mishmash of other 'healthy' stuff… even including a little powdered komodo chicken broth. It needs protein, fuel, and the stuff you sweat out in it to be any real use… 'Cool Hugs' are just for fun, but these… 'Cool Healers' are supposed to be more useful."

Trying to force herself to idly think about how to make "Cool Healers" work instead of Long Yumao or her own "spirit" problem, Ursa noticed that they were now near the healthy food section of the food line, her mother commenting as Ursa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Hey - you totally ignored the 'frivolous food' section, Ursa. Good job."

Smelling "useful" things she had yet to eat today such as meat, with its protein, and even freshly cut lettuce, Ursa found part of herself thinking, "No - no more food!" Still remembering that she hadn't exactly eaten well today, even her raid on the fridge being more VarriCake and milk than real food leftovers, Ursa saw a set of jagged teeth appear, thinking, "Wait a minute… I can't trust everything that comes into my mind, even a thought like I just had!"

The set of teeth looking cracked again, they began to vanish, cracks deepening as she thought, "I still need food to live - I just need to try and eat less of the fluff stuff, more of what I _need_." Still not entirely sure where she stood, so to speak, she gestured towards her mom, saying, "Sorry - internal stuff. I can't tell you everything as it happens," feeling retroactively guilty for a few reasons when her mother smiled, saying, "That's fine. Whenever something was wrong before, you'd always tell your dad first - even over the radio at times. But you seem a lot more comfortable talking to me now. What's wrong?"

Thinking for a moment, realizing guilt wasn't going to help her any, Ursa said, "Nothing - just realized I haven't radioed my dad back when I spoke to him last, but he's… probably fighting anyways. And, felt a bit guilty about not going to you first on things before now. I don't want to wallow in guilt, though - let's do something." Her mother nodded, saying, "Yeah - I'll want to show you how some of this equipment works, all that. Cooking this stuff's a lot different than Big Hug Cakes."

Working alongside her mother, getting tips and tricks on how to improve her technique while stir-frying some meat for a hungry-looking "customer", Ursa gradually overcame the lingering uneasiness she had felt bonding with Panik over food in any form. Even if she was giving it away for free, as she ended up doing with her first customer. The older man smiled slightly, saying, "Thank you - looks a whole lot better than street gruel, to say the least," pointing at Ursa's chest and asking, "What's that thing there you've got? Looks awfully official. Sorta familiar, too…"

Seeing someone behind the man who looked impatient to get their turn, Ursa said, "Somebody behind you - if you stick around or come back, I can tell you more." The man nodded, saying, "Sure thing - I have this weird knack for running into curious people. The Avatar once went fishing next to my bush in Avatar Korra Park! Though it wasn't called that back then," sighing forlornly, "It was such a lovely bush - took me a good while to snag it! Nothing but spirit vines where it used to be now… least I still have my 'spot' underground."

The young man behind this curious apparent homeless man coughed, saying, "Yeah, yeah - I'm sure you met the Avatar. And I met Raava. Get a move on, buddy! Talk later, like the young woman said. I've got a lot of orders to put in, _and _pay for! My friends worked up quite an appetite, helping get these protests going again! Do something!" The homeless man now shuffled off to the side, Ursa swearing he sadly mumbled something about helping General Iroh II at some time, she gave the now-smiling man a glare when he held out a thick stack of yuans, saying, "Man, what a liar. 'I did 'somethin'' - helped General Iroh II send a message.' Whatever - it sounds like he was hit by the explosion, even if all he lost was a bush. I lost my apartment! Plenty of other people, too - I'll probably need all these stations cooking for my group. There's a lot of people 'unhappy with City Hall', quite literally, and they're hungry - so prepare to make all this!"

Seeing how sad the homeless man looked, Ursa gave the younger man a slight glare still, even as she took his money, saying, "Alright - can't say I'll take as much pleasure in it as making that homeless man anything. He was a lot more polite," saying as she saw how well-dressed the protestor was, "Maybe that bush meant as much to him as your fancy apartment." The younger protestor gave her a glare back, saying, "Doubt it. Come on - you're testing my patience! I've got a bunch of people to feed who are trying to right wrongs!" Ursa noticed a few other people had come closer to him, seeing a few were holding signs that said things like "Death to Kuvira!" or "I Want My Home Back!" at their sides. Noticing the woman holding the "Death to Kuvira!" sign was idling closer to the young man, Ursa idly wondering if he were a former bully grown up "for better things", she automatically looked downwards when he said, sneering, "I guess he wasn't the loudest mouth here. Now you going to give me my money back, or do something?" the young man snickering when he added, "Or are you going to keep it and buy food for yourself? For being so sympathetic with that homeless guy, you sure look like you 'steal' food from people like him, as big as you are. I saw you eyeing that food as you cooked, even if everyone else ignored it. Seems like the only thing you really want to do is stuff your - "

"SPLAKKT!"

Ursa's face burning red in shame and embarrassment, looking up, wondering if the laughter she heard was for her, Ursa smiled slightly. The man literally now having egg on his face, wiping it off in disgust, someone in the cooking line apparently having tossed a solitary egg at him. As he picked bits of eggshell off, someone else on the cooking line said, "Yeah - do something, like **feed people**! You guys have just been carrying a bunch of signs around, while we've been cooking our butts off, **for free**! If anyone's useless, it's you! Even the Pro-Benders contributed, donating the yuans for all this! Come over here, insult a _needy _customer, then the daughter of the woman who helped get everything running? What's wrong with you? Rich spoiled brat!" Standing up straight again, feeling a bit more confident to know someone had her back, she heard someone else say, "Young man, your yuans may be pink and numerous, but with an attitude like that, insulting other customers and staff, you would most _definitely _have been kicked out of my restaurant, were it still standing."

Now recognizing the voice as Gurume's, it was all Ursa could do to not smile smugly as Gurume continued, "But, alas, it is not. I will serve the other protestors, if for nothing else to finish raising the money I need to rebuild," what must have been the younger man's girlfriend pointing her sign in Gurume's general direction and saying, "WHOA! You 'steal' even more food! Wouldn't be surprised if you were skimming off the top," adding sassily, "The food, not the money. You still going to serve me, fatty? Oooh, I insulted you. Going to cry like this girl seemed like she wanted to?" Ursa heard Gurume laugh deeply, Ursa saying over his laughter, "If you don't mind the odd 'eggbending', bully, sure." No longer laughing, Gurume said, both the protestors looking a mix of ashamed and angry, "This is not _my _establishment fully, given it's being run on _generous and useful _donations from Pro-Bending players and all, and we are serving _anyone_, need coming before money, and I suppose need comes before rudeness as well. And it will take more than some spoiled rich people calling me fat to make me cry - for example, my restaurant being reduced to ash. Given I need money to rebuild, as long as you refrain from insulting these _volunteers, _you will get your food. Ursa is correct in the end, though I won't condone the waste of any more food on humiliating anyone."

The protestor couple looking deflated, Ursa caught another glimpse of the woman's sign, the woman frowning deeply when Gurume said, " 'Death to Kuvira'? No 'hatespeech' will be tolerated, however. You can call me and everyone here nasty names until your face turns blue, but I won't have people openly advocating for someone's death in the line. You can have your political opinions, but keep them away from here. I do not want a more _serious _fight breaking out, like what almost happened near City Hall earlier." The young man looking annoyed, his face drained of color slightly when Gurume finished, "This will be enforced by more than refusal of service. Inflammatory signs like the one your girlfriend has will be used for fuel if they are not removed. I'm sick of seeing them, and I've already had delays _just like this one _due to people arguing politics in the lines, ever since you 'useful' protestors showed up. If you or any of your friends try to incite violence as some people in the crowd have, the White Lotus and Republic City Police force will be more than happy to see you to your new replacement home - jail. Am I clear?"

The young man nodded, Ursa still finding herself tempted to burn his girlfriends'… sign, instead saying before she started to finally cook, "Your sign sickens me. I haven't heard anything but good about Kuvira since she 'turned'. Kill her, she can't serve her sentence - see everything bad she did. I don't see why you want Kuvira dead - keep in mind technically Jinshu Kuangmai wants the same thing," the girl saying before she walked off in a huff, "Whatever, fatty. She's no Zuko - take a miracle to change my mind, after what she did to Republic City."

Still trying to get the hang of cooking stir-fry style without using too much oil at the same time not burning said oil, Ursa growled lowly after she made a mistake - though not at the screw-up. Rather, it was at when the young man quipped, "Gee, for someone who's so big, not that good at cooking, are you. Can't say I'll want to go to your restaurant," adding with a slight frown, "I look forward to going to Kwang's Cuisine again when downtown's rebuilt, after that airhead Tenzin's order to not touch the crater is overridden when his buddy President Raiko is recalled."

Remembering the Spirit Civil War for the first time in a while, Ursa put down her cooking ladle for a moment, laughing deeply before saying mockingly, "Yeah - rebuild that restaurant, and your apartment right next to the Spirit Portal. Long Yumao would find you a 'useful' neighbor - probably use you as an example of 'humans behaving badly', before having his way with you." The young man scowled, saying, "More cooking, less 'wit'," Ursa laughing deeply when she heard a familiar cute voice ask, "Ursa, is this guy giving you trouble? Want me to 'rrrrr-ough' him up a little? Nip his heels - on purpose, not an accident like with Hedgebetter?"

Ursa telling Patta, "No," the spirit protested with what Ursa swore was a bit of sarcasm, "Awww - not even a nibble?", the twenty-something's eyes widening as Patta came into his view. Ursa snickered when he said, "Oh crap - that's a 'Raava-oid' spirit, isn't it. On good terms with you. I'll shut up. For now." Ursa working with a smile, some part of her saying, "You're not being nice! Bully!", dismissing it by thinking, "Neither is he - and I wasn't 'nice' to Amon either," after a short time, the first batch of food was now made for the still-scowly young man. Ursa packaged it up, hoping the other protesters were more reasonable than this twerp, noticing by now there were more people in line than there were before, if that was even possible.

The twenty-something young man smiled slightly, saying, "Thanks - now do that, except better and faster," Ursa wishing for a moment she had a third eye and could combustionbend like Kyoretsuna. She was half tempted to singe him when he remarked, "My girl's skinny, and flat too unfortunately - never got to see someone like you before, moving around…" wondering if his stares were more than just loathing. Remarking as much, seeing his furtive look and blushing, the twenty-something insisting, "Still think you're a mouthy fatty who could use a lesson, 'Ursa'," she found herself reminded of some very creepy boys from school. Guys who would try to pick her or other girls up by tearing the object of their interest down, swearing the "technique" had a name…

About to turn around and ask her mother what it was, and if, for crying out loud, **she could get a replacement**, or convince Gurume to get this twerp booted away, Ursa saw something odd between herself and this… "negger," thinking as she saw a weird blue flashing, "Even if he asked me out, I'd as soon sick Patta on him as look at him. Seems like he was being 'nice' earlier. Wonder if he treats his girlfriend the same… did say she's 'flat'…" The object of her derision said, pointing at what Ursa had thought was an illusion of some sort, "What in the blazes…? Is that a spirit?" The only reason Ursa was glad this doofus was still around was that he saw what she did, Ursa staring in disbelief at what replaced the odd blue distortion.

An image of Avatar Korra - and given its blue color and the way it was looking around, it must have been projected by the Avatar herself!

The insufferable twenty-something looking faint, Ursa barely noticing Patta flutter around the image excitedly, the cheery spirit asking, "Well, hey, Avatar Korra! How are you?"

When no response was forthcoming, Patta flew through the image once, the Avatar's image distorting for a second, Ursa surprised to hear Avatar Korra speak as the now fully-formed image turned around, Avatar Korra saying, "Oh - hey, Patta. Know where Ursa - oh! Hello." Ursa realizing that not only was Avatar Korra projecting, but was talking to _her_, she managed to stammer out, swearing yet again the strange tattoo on the Avatar's forehead looked familiar, "Uh - hi," hearing the annoying twenty-something ask incredulously, "Avatar Korra - what in the blazes do you want with _her_?"

Ursa pretty sure of the answer, given all the spirit-y stuff she had been involved in recently, she was not entirely surprised when Avatar Korra glanced in the direction of the annoying jerk, the twenty-something grumbling when the Avatar said, "Let's just say I certainly didn't project to see _you_," saying as she pointed at the distance, Ursa again finding the Water tattoo and odd line familiar, "Hey - think you could go someplace a little more… private for a bit, Ursa?" Not sure what the Avatar meant when she added with a hint of exasperation, "My check-in with Eska and Desna was bad enough, and I want this to be quicker, and more private."

Ursa groaned when the twenty-something put his hands on his hips, hearing Avatar Korra growl something that sounded like "thuck" when he said loudly, "Hey, look - it's the Avatar! And she wants to run away like she did a few months ago, and AGAIN recently!" adding smugly, "Look at all the people staring at you. You didn't honestly think you could just ask your fat - err, friend, nice bean spirit - to go someplace 'private' and not give us an update?!"

Avatar Korra looking a little confused at first, Ursa noticing that a lot of people were staring at Avatar Korra's projection, her, and this other idiot, Avatar Korra said, "What - no I didn't, but... Man, look at all these people. Sorry, Raava - this stop's going to be long too." Still looking exasperated, Avatar Korra said, staring at the annoying twenty-something, "This isn't going to be another press conference," adding as others drew closer, "I don't have time for that, and to be honest, I'm not prepared to give even an edited version of events just yet." The twenty-something asking, "What's there to hide?" the Avatar laughed weakly, saying, "A lot - Jinshu Kuangmai's got spies all over. Do you not remember the conference, the spy? And, regardless, Omashu and Jasmine's camp managed to do just fine without being micromanaged by me, so I don't see ANY reason Republic City should be any different! I came here originally to just tell someone 'good job' - but I guess you want more than that." Still getting demands for updates, Avatar Korra shouted, "HUSH! One at a time - and those other two places are in the middle of a WAR ZONE! And I'm not your President anyways - just your Avatar."

Ursa trying to get Avatar Korra's attention, she gave her a quizzical look when the Avatar said, "Projecting into the middle of a crowd - so STUPID! If this isn't going to work… I've got something different in mind for the most sensitive stuff, Ursa," Avatar Korra sighing in resignation when the loudmouth twenty-something demanded, "NO! No more secrets, no more unilateral decisions! You were at the conference, Avatar - helping make decisions! We demand to have our grievances heard. We demand to know more about what's going on! Stop treating us like we're all _spies_!" Saying something that Ursa didn't understand, Avatar Korra said after a pause, "Very well. I'm not a politician - and if I had to guess, part of the reason people are angry with me is that I sort of have tried to act like one, in the past and recently. First trying to get General Iroh II's support for the Water Tribe Civil War behind President Raiko's back… and then being part of the group that chose Kuvira's sentence."

After a brief silence, the loudmouth twenty-something said, "I don't care about that first thing. Funny you should mention President Raiko - Avatar, it's not just you we're mad at. We're also mad at the President," Avatar Korra recoiling visibly when he continued, "And your goody-two-shoes mentor Tenzin too! President Raiko and Tenzin especially - not being allowed to rebuild into the crater downtown, even after spirits have already openly declared war on us?" Avatar Korra appearing to mull something over, she covered her face in either frustration or sadness when he continued, "Attacked us because of something YOU, and your 'boss', Raava, did! Nobody _cares_ if she wanted to become more 'human-y', give us some plant things for power no one in Republic City has seen except some crazy guy who says you somehow _built him two extra floors on his shop_ _in minutes_, or give you and your lover a kid!" Seeing a disconcerting gleam in the twenty-something's eye, Ursa half thinking he might be getting off on "negging" the Avatar, he continued, "If what 'Dai Chang' claims really is true - why didn't you think to, I don't know, build up more than just some former gangster's dye shop? Our President didn't immediately arrest the Equalists last night, after their claim of 'loyalty', immediately starting to agitate again! Rumor says it, most of them going off to fight in your battles! And if you thought Republic City might have been in ANY trouble - WHY did you send everyone south? Are you stupid? To top it all off, you've been running around with the woman who devastated a huge chunk of Republic City - a WAR CRIMINAL! I don't buy that transformation claptrap - we want JUSTICE! Forget making her rebuild downtown personally without bending - throw Kuvira away!"

Ursa noticing that the crowd's reaction was mixed, Avatar Korra having a slump in her shoulders that Ursa had had all too often, Ursa saw the **Avatar **looking resigned and down-beat right in front of her. Avatar Korra taking a deep breath, Ursa swearing she saw her tattoos glow a lighter blue, Ursa unaware projection and the Avatar State could interact, Avatar Korra said, "Out of what you mentioned, most of it falls into other people's laps," the twenty-something interjecting as Avatar Korra made to speak again, "Well, you're the one who's here - our President left! And that crazy dye shop owner has everything to do with you! I've heard the Equalists say one thing that made sense - using these 'tuber-vines' to help run day to day life, and Raava herself. I don't trust you further than I could throw you - Raava's different. I _hope_."

Avatar Korra suddenly uncharacteristically angry, she said tersely, "Raava ruling, basically? **NO. Never.** That is abuse of spirits far worse than anything Kuvira ever did. Such a thing would weaken the soul itself, judgement atrophying with disuse. I'm sure Jinora would say the exact same thing, hearing that. If people were to start doing such things on a grand scale, I would never relay anything Raava tells me, ever, and help her shatter all the tuber-vines. No - if they were abused, the tuber-vines would start fighting against it, Raava tells me." The twenty-something asking, "Why not? Raava'd be a lot better than the goofballs we have in place of our comparatively competent President here right now. Some Grand Lotus old fart, and a police officer who got kicked out of the force in disgrace - hardly good or enough help." Avatar Korra said with disdain, Ursa noticing her voice sounded much different yet familiar, that there was something light blue coming out of the projection's chest slightly, "You disgust me - basically asking for a puppeteer to run your lives. Surrendering your free will. Elsewhere, such a thing is tantamount to willingly going into the Fog of Lost Souls, for its own sake and not rescuing someone," the Avatar finishing in her own voice, "That was Raava speaking, directly, in case you were too thick to notice the change in voice, and her poking her head out of my chest. Consider that idea shot down in flames for eternity."

The twenty-something was taken aback, to say the least, Ursa wondering why the Avatar was so vehement about such a thing even if she agreed when he whined, "Jeez, alright, enough already! You could have just said no," Avatar Korra groaning deeply when he said with the next breath, "That still leaves the re-building - something which one crazy dye shop owner said you've already done for him in a couple **minutes** \- into the crater, Kuvira's sentence, if you can call it that, and Republic City being left to fend for itself _for a week_ practically."

Avatar Korra shook her head, saying, "I can't do anything right now - I'm thousands of miles away! You have absolutely no faith in your fellow man. Just look around you - cops doing their jobs, people apparently volunteering to feed others, probably plenty of other things I don't know about. Last I heard, Jasmine's prison camp managed just fine by itself in the end after the first attack, and Omashu's… well prepared for anything that gets thrown its way. In neither place did people need to be told by _me _what to do," Ursa snickering when the Avatar put in a vaguely personal jab at the twenty-something, saying, "Be more like the people cooking your food - do something. You look able-bodied, and here you are, just standing around, holding up a sign. And I hope that sign your girlfriend's holding doesn't say what I think it does. Over the past week, Kuvira's done more good than you whining idiots. Belly-aching and complaining gets you nothing - action does." After a brief pause, Avatar Korra added, "You mentioned that I ran away from the world, months ago - it's true. But I'm not running from anything now. I think I finally get what Toph was doing to me when I first met her - tough love. I was being whiny, running away from my responsibility - I 'needed' a jerk. Though not one that never explained what she was doing. Just wish she had told me outright some time…"

Avatar Korra let out a frustrated groan when the twenty-something asserted, "Oh, well, good for you. Still don't see what a cranky old earthbender has to do with us. And - hey! Technically, I did something - got our problems noticed!" Avatar Korra responded dryly, "Yes - your problems. Thousands of miles away from the Earth Empire heartland, with a barrier between you and Long Yumao, wearing a snazzy suit… And people in the south have to face off against Jinshu Kuangmai. I'm not wasting any more time on you." Ursa hearing some very loud booing, a few people demanding, "Rebuild downtown!" or "Punish Kuvira!", one asking, "Do Republic City's problems mean nothing to you?" Avatar Korra said with an embarrassed sigh, "Sorry - that didn't come out right. Your problems still mean something to me - it's just that there are much more immediate ones on my plate, and I _hope _you can deal with most of them yourself. On what Toph has to do with you, mister talkative - a lot. And she thought I was whiny… Even if she basically told me, 'Trying is useless - there will always be bad guys', Toph's harsh words helped me realize the Avatar's not all that. I didn't really get it even partially until less than half an hour ago, seeing what the people of Omashu accomplished without me. Seems like you could use the same lesson - independence." The twenty-something interjected, "Hey - wait a minute. Why can't you just project everywhere? Last I heard, you were in the Fire Nation - you must be pretty far away from us right now!"

Avatar Korra sighed with disgust, stating matter-of-factly, "After insulting me earlier, asking me, the Avatar, to be everywhere at once, helping with everything, not saying if you meant to be a glorified human telegraph machine, or tell people what to do. It's both impossible, and - even if I could - me micromanaging everything would be one step below having Raava rule everything. And she already made very clear what she thinks of that, and I get the 'slight' impression you don't think much of me anyways. I'm here to _help_, not do everything for you! Some of you have gotten on the ball. Others… not so much. Anyways, next time I can talk to the other world leaders - "

Someone else interrupted, saying, "Well, I don't hate you, and you're here," the loudmouth man interrupting the woman, saying, "Well, I still do - shush! Avatar Korra - so you're calling yourself a world leader now, but won't tell us what's going on? All I want - " Avatar Korra said tersely, interrupting the twenty-something back, "What you want? Honestly, I don't care - if your protestor buddies have someone else to talk to, that would be great. I won't be here much longer, so either put up, or shut up." The twenty-something now silent and brooding, Avatar Korra continued, "If you need direction, I'll just say this: I've heard President Raiko gave a really good speech earlier this morning, basically calling on citizens to help solve Republic City's problems themselves. Do that. Just like the people behind this food line did, and what the people in Omashu and Jasmine's camp have been doing." Giving Ursa a quick look, Avatar Korra said, "Though, I will admit, people there know a lot more about what's going on than anyone in Republic City does. Even the person I came here to see doesn't know 'enough'. I'll fix that, later," continuing after looking back to the crowd, "Anyways, I can't just radio President Raiko or the others anytime something comes up, especially given Jinshu Kuangmai has extensive surveillance of radio broadcasts going on, and projecting's not much better. Given the trouble I had doing it long-distance for the fourth time today within an hour, there must be a limit on it. So definitely no 'Avatar Korra, Super Projector.' It needs to be saved for **truly important things** \- that's why I cut you off, mister pushy**.** That, and I think you're annoying." Avatar Korra looking much more confident now, a few people in the crowd laughing at "Mr. Annoying", she finished, "I will bring up both the issue of rebuilding downtown and Kuvira's sentence the next time we meet. There is a reason I want to wait to say anything on downtown or rebuilding - rebuilding anywhere will be a lot faster than even what Asami did with the transit system, so I'll need to get other's input. Ironically enough, most of the time spent rebuilding will be on planning and getting the materials - not the rebuilding itself," the Avatar getting more than a few confused looks and scattered questions. Pausing for a moment, Avatar Korra admitted, "That's one of the things I'd rather wait to talk about. We haven't even started planning one non-optional addition to Republic City. In fact, that's something I need to talk to someone close to me right now about," saying with what Ursa thought was a final air, "Enough about re-building. I've already made my stance on tuber-vines and Raava as 'rulers' very apparent, as did Raava _herself _\- though, using their power to weigh the worth of a person isn't off limits."

Ursa pretty sure she'd see Avatar Korra vanish, she was surprised when the Avatar turned to her, saying as she looked at Ursa's chest, "Hey - wait a minute… I've met you before! That medal… I knew it seemed familiar somehow when I got a message from Patta about the barriers, what you looked like included." Ursa blushed slightly when the Avatar said, "I remember more now… Sorry - you got that medal four years ago, fighting uphill against Amon - and I never bothered to get you that autograph. Even though the medal you got was named in honor of my predecessor…" Avatar Korra looking a bit disappointed in herself, Ursa insisted, "It's fine. No problem. And you still sound busy - just… get what you need from me, then go." Ursa hearing a few people shouting for the Avatar's attention again, Avatar Korra giving the nearby crowd a glance, looking back to Ursa, Avatar Korra said, "No. Not again - I remember more from four years ago now, how rude people like that twerp chased you off… I originally just came here to say how important your find with the barrier was, but after all that, remembering who you are, I want to - "

Avatar Korra now having a horrified look on her face, she visibly re-composed herself, saying lowly to no one in particular, "I'm sure they can handle it, and I can't do anything about it right now anyways." Ursa completely puzzled, she saw some movement in the corner of her eye, a now-visible Patta flitting into view, asking, "Avatar Korra, what's wrong?" Avatar Korra letting out a deep sigh, looking a bit like she might cry, she said in hushed tones, "Last I heard, everything was fine at the camp. Something's gone wrong - radio contact _and _spirit contact can't be made. We need to go somewhere else," adding much louder, "Maybe I do need to rush this after all. Just in case Yangchen does need some direction… Let's go somewhere more private."

Walking back behind the cooking lines, noticing an approaching Republic City Police airship in the distance and curious stares from present police officers and White Lotus guards, a large part of Ursa still did not fundamentally understand why the Avatar wanted to talk to her about anything but business. Ursa listened as Avatar Korra said, "This seems secure enough. Aside from your spirit buddy Warmwings making a request for information, all Raava got from Republic City, and Patta here was that the barriers are degrading - something we know thanks to you - and that Long Yumao controls the Tree of Time now. Even my cousins Eska and Desna overlooked the cracks in the barrier up North, thinking they were natural - good work." Avatar Korra looking like someone was whispering in her ear and did not like what she was being told, she snarled, "Raava, bug off!", saying, "Sorry. Telling me to hurry up… Looks like she still needs 'human-y' lessons. Anyways - we wanted to do something that might be controversial with spirits before knowing the barriers are weakening. Raava's signed off on it, and so has President Raiko." Pointing at Patta, she continued, "Given you've made at least two 'spirit buddies', and looked at the barrier in the first place, you must be at least _slightly _interested in spirits," Ursa nodding as Avatar Korra looked as though what she were about to ask were crazy.

The Avatar asking, "You… wouldn't happen to have run into any neutral spirits, would you? We… want to put in spirit-energy powered defenses around the crater's rim, as soon as possible - but I don't want to drive any neutral spirits to go to Long Yumao's side with more unilateral bumbling." Saying, "Yes I have - about what you just said, as a matter of fact," Ursa quickly explained her interactions with Hedgebetter, not noticing how wide the Avatar's eyes were until she finished, saying, "Saikhan was the one who came up with the idea independently. You mentioned 'meeting' people somewhere later - maybe he and the Grand Lotus should be included. Saikhan knows more than I do, but not by much." Avatar Korra nodded, saying, "Good idea - all three of you. I've met that fruithog spirit before - I hope he doesn't pitch a fit when he sees what 'Raava-fied' vines do when cut, or 'what' Raava is going to send through the Republic City Spirit Portal once everyone's on the same page." Not catching the last part, Ursa still felt surprised to be included and that the Avatar was seeing something that wasn't there, getting the sneaking suspicion it was the "her" that she wanted coming through…

Hearing someone whistle, Ursa looked up, the Avatar asking her, "You okay?" Ursa sighed slightly, saying, "Sort of. You'd need to infobend me to get _everything _\- is there anything else you need?" making the weak excuse of, "I… could go back to working on the food line, and you can do what you need to, Avatar Korra." Avatar Korra frowned slightly, saying, "I'm doing it right now," adding with a smile, "Just call me Korra. Forget the food line for now - shortly, you're going to need to be sitting somewhere safe, along with Saikhan and Atinnuaq."

Taking the Avatar's word for it, nodding, Korra said, "I'll see you soon - I want to test something, and see if I can talk to Saikhan and Atinnuaq," Ursa was left scratching her head when Korra added cryptically, "I'll be 'talking' with you more later, in much greater detail," vanishing after a shimmer.

Ironically wishing the Avatar had given her a little more direction, Patta having nothing to say about what Korra meant, Ursa wandered back to the food line, running into her mother halfway there. Spotting a Republic City Police airship moored a short ways off in the corner of her eye, swearing she saw a small blue speck talking with another speck, Panik said, "Hello," smiling broadly as she asked, "I heard you talked with the Avatar - again. So - how was it?"

Her mother seeming to be under the impression everything had been personal, how she was smiling, Ursa simply said, "The Avatar wanted to talk about more things than business, then… something came up." Getting a skeptical look from her mother, shaking her head when her mother said, "Did you freeze up like last time when it came to personal stuff?", Panik frowned when Ursa said lowly, "No - said something was wrong down south, and that she might need to project to Yangchen soon, the rebel leader."

Mumbling, "I hope your father's okay and closer to his 'mission' area," her mother said with a slightly pained smile, "Let's talk about something else," smiling genuinely when Ursa said, "We never did 'fix' those Cool Healer drink things. How about that?" Her mother gave the food line a quick glance, saying as she looked at Ursa again, "Let's… just stay away from there. I heard everything between him and the Avatar earlier," sighing as she said, "Sort of hard not to, the way the guy was talking. Sorry I didn't say anything - too busy listening to the Avatar, and… he reminded me too much of someone I knew before your dad. Did… he say anything to you?"

Ursa suddenly placing where she knew about "negging" from, she frowned deeply, explaining in brief her interaction before Korra's appearance as they made their way further behind the cooking lines, her mother looking sad, smiling slightly and saying, "Good job, Ursa - sounds like you handled it better than I would have at your age," anyways. Not having remembered her mother mentioning anything beyond what negging was, Ursa found herself more interested in what her mother had gone through than perfecting any "Cool Healers," asking, "Mom… I can remember you telling me what negging was, but not that anyone ever did it to _you_. Do you want to talk about it…?"

Grumbling, poking herself in the stomach with a sigh, was Ursa surprised to see her mother looking at herself much in the same way Ursa routinely regarded herself, Panik saying, "I… yes. Saying no wouldn't be right - not after everything you've told me today…" Her mother still looking a little uncomfortable, Ursa said, "If you don't want to talk about it, I don't want to make you feel bad," her mother smiling and saying, "That's… sweet of you, to say the least, but I think I need to get it out," looking a bit sad as she continued, "Just a little probably - I've only been up a few hours today, but it feels like forever."

Her mother took a deep breath, speaking like she were holding back tears, saying, "Your father, my husband - gone, don't know if he'll be back… Ursa, I've never told you this, but there's a reason beyond the obvious that I'm worried about your father not coming back," continuing as the weight of recent events started to register finally, "That twenty-something who harassed you, and the Avatar… he reminds me a lot of the boys that showed interest in me when I was younger. I've shown you pictures of me when I was younger, and… Even with Nana telling me I was fine, until I met your father, I didn't really believe it. Gave time to guys I shouldn't have. As cheesy as it sounds… he showed me what a real man was. Strong - but also caring." Ursa having always pictured her mother as a confident go-getter, she blushed slightly when her mother said, "Just like you," her mother crying a little when Ursa told her, "You too," nodding in agreement when her mother said, wiping her face, "Thank you. Part of me wants to say more, but… it's hard. I… right now, I feel like talking's harder than 'work'. Let's do something."

Having been wholly focused on her mother, only now did Ursa notice they weren't alone, Patta fluttering over to her mother, asking, "Want to hug me? That's doing something…" Nodding and looking distraught, her mother took the offer immediately, walking over as she held a contentedly sighing Patta like a stuffed toy, Ursa got a gut feel her mom might need a while.

Realizing that her mother saw her as a reminder of her father, Ursa thought, "Maybe she needs 'someone' that's not family for now," surprised when Panik took a deep breath, telling a confused Patta as she placed the spirit on her head like a hat, "Thank you, Patta - I feel a little better now." Smiling weakly, her mother began moving her arms, saying, "Let's see if we can fix these 'Cool Healers', then… take a break." Remembering what the Avatar had told her to do, as well as Saikhan, Ursa nodded, turning to the table nearby, looking at everything that was stacked up on it as her mother placed the liquid drink base into a pitcher.

Trying to think of a way to get protein into the Cool Healer without it tasting… weird, to be charitable to the earlier mix involving komodo chicken broth, Ursa noticed what seemed to be a new addition - bowls of nuts and berries. Pointing at a bowl of lychee "nuts", she asked her mother, "Where'd all these nuts and berries come from?" Panik said, Ursa noticing she sounded proud, "Listening to you talk about that jerk… I had totally forgot. People are still good on the whole… 'taking care of business', just like our President and Raiko want us to." Ursa still a little confused, her mother said, "They came in while you were gone. There's plenty more where that came from - some generous farmers from a nearby town donated them, along with other raw ingredients. Even claimed there was more coming…"

Having looked at everything, Ursa felt tempted to grab _just a few_ for herself, saying as she reached for a bowl full of sliced almonds, "Wow - almonds. I haven't had any in a while," grabbing a handful and stopping.

Not out of indecision - but because she was feeling them in her hand, getting an idea.

Turning to her confused mother, Ursa said, "I've got an idea - mom, do you think you could get these into a Cool Healer? Take out the komodo chicken broth in it - nuts have protein!", realizing after the fact these almonds were "hers" now anyways, having touched them. Panik's face lighting up, she said, "That's a great idea!", continuing, "I tried lychee nuts - just sweet. Almonds… Put them down on the table, and let me try something. Maybe we could solve another problem at the same time - the 'cup' melting. Though, won't always have a waterbender around… I'm making two."

Seeing her mother looked determined, Ursa let go of the cut almonds, watching her mother work with other ingredients and even a blender happily with growing fascination, saying without thinking, "Cooking's… creative. Wow - I could get into this," shunting a thought that screamed, "Fatty!" in the voice of the twenty-something's girlfriend's voice to the side instantly as well.

Ursa having thought her mother was totally focused, she was surprised when Panik responded, standing up, "Sounds wonderful," laughing as she held out a cool tin cup with a yellow-white liquid in it, "Normally at work we don't care too much about the healthiness of what we're making… With you around, who knows. Maybe you can help me come up with healthier things, like these two things. Bottoms up!"

Ursa still not quite sure what to make of what her mother had given her, finding herself vaguely jealous of the Cool Healer with what looked like almond slices covering any ice that might have shown otherwise, she nodded. At first, she had taken a drink just to be polite, finding herself finishing the nutty, cold but still sweet Cool Healer automatically. Noticing the taste of nut, smell of lychee floweriness and sweet taste and tartness of lemonade lingered in her nose and mouth, Ursa smiled, saying, "I liked that a lot," explaining what she had detected as her mother finished crunching her almond-covered ice cup. Panik gave her a funny look, smiling slightly as she said, "Wow - even I didn't catch the 'floweriness'. Seems like you have some good tastebuds," adding quickly, "Not that I'm going to ask you to taste test too much. Uh… did you notice any problems?"

Ursa shrugged, saying as she set down her cup, "Not really. And if I'm going to be eating, I may as well make it 'useful' - taste testing or not. I just won't eat as much otherwise," adding as the taste of what she had just drank finally faded, "I'm going to be doing lots of stuff in Republic City anyways. Plenty of opportunity to burn stuff off."

Her mother looking gabberflasted, Ursa noticed Patta moving out of the corner of her eye, turning to see what the spirit had been doing this whole time, laughing to see Patta trying to gnaw on a whole almond, the spirit complaining, "I wanna help, but I can't taste anything, or even eat it! At least gnawing's fun…" Ursa hearing Panik laugh lightly, her mother chuckled, "You don't need food, and can't eat or enjoy it. Seems fair to me," as Patta tried again in her other form, the little white dog's teeth not penetrating the almond's thin brown coating. Shifting and giving up, Patta whined, "I guess spirits can only eat spirit food," adding as she tossed the almond to the ground, "Don't know if anyone would want a spirit-gnawed almond…"

Hearing spirits and food mentioned in the same sentence, for some reason Ursa's mind wandered back to something Korra had said about cutting spirit vines, jokingly saying, "Yeah - maybe you could eat spirit vine soup, Patta," the joke apparently flying over Patta's head, given how she said, "Huh - maybe I should try that!" Panik snickered slightly, saying sarcastically, "Yeah - stir-fried spirit vine, exploding with flavor," Ursa giving her mom a funny look, saying, "You must be feeling better, using dark humor like that." Her mother shrugged, saying, "Nana always told me sometimes the best way to deal with life is laugh at it, even if you aren't really a hundred percent with it at the time," Ursa glad to heard her mother laugh when Patta asked, "What's dark humor? Is it something funny that's in a dark place?"

Getting ready to try and explain dark humor to Patta, still waiting on something from the Avatar, Ursa stopped when she saw a shimmer appear. The image appearing in full detail much faster than before, Ursa laughed when Patta looked at the image, gasping, "Wait - I didn't see that before! Where did most of your clothes go, Avatar?" For some reason Ursa not having noticed it before, forgetting her recent progress, she regarded Korra with envy as the Avatar said, "You're not the only one who didn't notice - a good thing too, or my exchange with that rich twerp would have been a lot more… interesting, not to mention talking with Saikhan or Atinnuaq. If I am going to be projecting any more, guess I should probably change, as disappointed as Asami will be…" Ursa screwing up her face a little, realizing the Avatar had not only changed into older clothes but _reduced _clothes for deeply personal reasons, Korra continued, "Anyways, I just want to give you one last update, Ursa, and ask you a question I forgot. Come to think of it, I forgot to ask Yangchen the same question, or anyone but my cousins. Talking with Saikhan and Atinnuaq went smoothly - apparently, projecting to different people in the same area doesn't tax me as much as switching spots does. Saikhan said he's got basic crater defenses in the planning stage, but is waiting on input from 'smarter' people. Whatever - if he wants to be down, that's his problem. I let Saikhan and Atinnuaq both know about what they need to do - have their bodies under close guard. Patta here will tell you when you need to join them." The Avatar frowned slightly, saying, "I did not learn anything about the camp either - we still can't make contact, even if we know why now, but Alyssralove assures me Yangchen has it covered. I won't trouble you with things you can't do _anything _about - the only reason I mentioned it is I figured you might be worried."

Looking around, as though she was checking to make sure they were alone, Korra said, "I already explained it to Saikhan and Atinnuaq once they shooed everyone away - since we're alone, I'll explain it to you too. I've found a way to meditate into the Spirit World, and then _bring people in _to where I am, even if they're thousands of miles away from my physical body. Not only that, but due to my strong bond with Raava, I can _bend _in there - infobending included…" Ursa's eyes wide by now, she stammered, "S-so THAT'S where this secret meeting is? And… a manual update?," Korra nodding and saying, Panik silent and looking proud, "Yes. Before I go, I just wanted to ask you if there was anyone else other than Saikhan and Atinnuaq you could think of in Republic City who should come."

A whole list of names immediately springing to mind, Ursa remembered one downside to meditating into the Spirit World, assistance or not, frowning as she said, "If your spirit is in the Spirit World… your body's motionless. Everyone I can think of is either busy and has not a clue, or is like my mom - would probably rather do something to help people than attend a meeting." Her mother agreeing, saying, "You don't need me - I'd rather be cooking for people than talking," Korra mulled it over for a second. Nodding, she said, "Hmm - thought of something I hadn't when you put it like that," sighing, "There's a lot of people helping Yangchen in Omashu - and given the trouble at the camp, the fewer people down there immobile, their spirits in the Spirit World… the better. Sounds like they need everything they have. Even if things turn out alright at the camp in the end… I'll just have to make it up as I go along, I guess."

Korra shrugged, saying, "There's nothing wrong with that - just look at what you guys accomplished, whiny idiots and able-bodied protesters notwithstanding," smiling as she said with a final air, "I look forward to seeing you soon - you're not the only one I want to learn more about. Goodbye - for now. And good thinking with Warmwings, Patta - you're not the only spirit that's contributed ideas instead of brawn."

Korra's image gone, Ursa remembering something about this "Alyssralove" spirit the Avatar had mentioned, how Patta had said it retained the technical expertise of one of its "humans", and detective skills from the other, she jokingly asked Patta, "Alyssralove - technical, and detective… So are Baatar Jr. and Mako going out now or something?" Her mother laughing, Ursa surprised she got it, Patta stammered out, "No, he's - erm… ah, screw it, you're going to see soon enough anyways," Panik no longer laughing when Patta said, "Don't tell anybody, but… I think Mako and Kuvira are 'more than friends'. No - they are…"

Ursa giving her mother a skeptical look, she nodded in agreement when Panik said, "I'd have to see that to believe it," laughing slightly when she said, "For one thing, I didn't think Mako was suicidal. Just look at what almost happened to Kuvira's last boyfriend." Patta looking confused, Panik said, "That's sort of dark humor - laughing at something that's taboo, or disturbing," her mother nodding when Patta asked, "Like laughing at Long Yumao?" Patta looking pleased with herself.

Ursa losing herself in thought, thinking, "People complained about Korra and Asami… I can't imagine what they'll think of this," she came back to attention when her mother said, "Ursa, I'm going to go to the food line and grab something healthy. I haven't exactly had the… best things to eat, even if they tasted really good, and I feel like I worked them off. Tired… If you count your visit to the fridge, and those leftovers… you've had a better balanced menu so far today. My fault - the Big Hug Cakes… want me to get you something?"

Ursa not entirely sure what she wanted, remembering there was a homeless man who wanted to talk to her at some point, she said, "I don't know - if you see some older man hanging around the lines, waiting on someone, tell him to come back here," adding as an idea occurred to her, "Get me something healthy that I can re-heat with bending if I need to, like any kind of chicken or fish, some sauced rice and greens in an iron bowl - if I don't want it, I can just give it to someone else! If I hem and haw over it, I'll just reheat it." Her mother nodded, saying, "Good idea," adding as she frowned slightly, "Now that I think about it, Buniq hasn't exactly eaten well today either. Maybe she can have your leftovers. All her self-serve Cool Hugs between the time she came up with the idea, and when she overheard your speech - it's a wonder she's not bouncing off the walls. Well, mountains - given we're outside."

Ursa wondering just how many Cool Hugs her sister had had, part of her concerned, part of her a little jealous of Buniq's innocence, she realized as her mother walked away that Buniq didn't have her innocence in one way anymore - all thanks to her slipup…

Pensiveness inviting many other unwanted thoughts, the stress Ursa had felt **literally while dreaming **until now starting to catch up with her, Ursa decided to try and distract herself by practicing bending and fighting a little. Finding herself hampered by her surroundings, all sorts of flammables from food to fuel and cooking oil all around her, Ursa found some satisfaction in seeing the small, safe flame in her hand had a sizeable blue core still. After staring at it for a while, reminding herself of what it stood for, thinking, "I want this thing all blue, all the time someday," Ursa dismissed it and used her shield and backpack for a different kind of exercise, lifting her pack inside the shield's inner face off the ground over and over.

A few minutes later, her mother returned, Ursa setting her shield down, noticing and putting away a photo that had fallen out as her mother said, "Food's here," Ursa groaning slightly when her mother asked, "That thing looks heavier than usual, and you're putting it on your shield, lifting it over and over. Are you being careful?"

Remembering that technically it was a mother's job to worry, as well as how tired she had managed to make herself with "unchecked" exercise earlier, Ursa said, "I'll watch it," saying with a little reluctance, "It's not like I'm as bad at lifting weight as I am at running." Patta looking confused, the spirit asked as she fluttered onto the table, "If you're bad at running, and you can fly with fire… why not just focus on strength?" Patta obviously not understanding how bending worked, despite being more in the loop than herself, Ursa said as she sat down in a chair she hoped would hold, "For health reasons mostly - nothing like running to get your heart rate up. But bending doesn't come from physical strength anyways - at least, not when you do it right. Even earthbending. If I can't get out of the way of someone's attack in time, and I don't have my shield… I'm toast."

Patta cocked her head, asking, "Couldn't you just dodge using fire? And won't strength help with your sword and shield?" Not in the mood to debate a spirit over human-y things, not when she needed to decide if she wanted this food or not, not trusting her stomach answer of "Yes - duh!," Ursa said, "I can't always fly - like in close quarters, or inside, or here, where there's a lot of flammable stuff. And yes, strength would help with that - but those weapons are practically just decoration by now. Spirit weapons…" Having forgotten to indicate the conversation was over, Ursa groaned slightly, catching a whiff of her food on the breath back in as Patta objected, "But if you've got a mechasuit that can fly, running faster wouldn't do you any good! And I thought you knew melee weapons aren't useless anymore! You saw what Warmwings drew!"

At first, Ursa was tempted to just ignore Patta, finally registering the "If you've got a mechasuit that can fly," part, saying as Patta looked a bit nervous, "Uh… what? 'If you've got a mechasuit that can fly?' May as well be asking me how I'd fight in zero gravity, or on the back of a dragon that can waterbend and firebend." Panik piled on a bit, asking with a small amount of anger, "Wait a minute - what are you talking about? My husband's in the military, an officer - and he never talked about such things."

Patta started crying slightly, Panik apologizing, "Oh - uh - sorry. No hard feelings. Forgot you're like Buniq - naïve, but cute and nice. I just want my husband to be as well protected as possible, and… it sounds to me like you know something that might help him." Leaves flashing a depressed shade of blue temporarily, Patta was no longer crying as she fluttered over to an almond, sighing, "I can't say anything about that - you saw what Avatar Korra showing up did, all the grouching. Anything about that, people might revolt. I… I'm just going to gnaw on this almond, and hush. Raava'd probably be mad with me for that slipup."

Feeling stress building, wondering if the annoying twenty-something had been right about all these accursed secrets, vaguely recalling Lord Zuko's first love interest had left him over similar gripes, Ursa turned her attention to her own food. Ursa thought as she saw how appealing it looked, "Ugh - how can I separate stress hunger from physical hunger, hunger for what I physically need versus whether I should eat this or not?"

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Ursa saw the outline of an all-too familiar set of teeth, the maw coming into better focus when some of what the rude twenty-something had said passed through her mind again, briefly thinking, "The teeth… eat, and eat, and eat…" The teeth moving as though the invisible mouth that was holding them were laughing hysterically, Ursa remembered how the twenty-something twerp had torn into others verbally, even the Avatar, like the immature jerkoff he was. Connecting it with something her dark half had said earlier, "Go out into the world, try to make a difference - get exposed to things that will hurt and rend you like these teeth all over again," she realized what the teeth represented…

"Being her own meanie," in the words of her precocious little sister. Not eating food - eating away at herself, rending herself with words or thoughts instead of a blade…

Ursa knowing full well that she had years and years of bad internal habits to correct and overcome, she thought, "At my most depressed, I never thought of cutting physically… It's time I stopped doing it mentally. I've got your number. Now scram," disquieted slightly when a brief flash of blue flame danced over the predatory dentistry's surface, hearing her dark half say, "Wounded by HATRED! Have your petty victory - I **will **persist. Re-establish the vicious inner cycle. Old problems, wounds don't vanish overnight. 'Enjoy' life's uncertainty - I know I do. Just because you can see does not mean you will act **properly**, failure - so many ways to fail…"

The set of red-lined teeth gone, Ursa swearing they looked more serrated before vanishing, she opened her eyes, seeing both her mother and Patta looking at her with concern. Starting to briefly explain what happened, Ursa was not sure why Patta looked as concerned as her mother did until the spirit said with disbelief, "I've heard part of that before. 'Wounded by HATRED!'… sounds a lot like what some Kuvira's bad part told her in a dream earlier - 'FORGED IN HATRED!' And something Jinshu Kuangmai said in a similar place - 'Tempered by HATRED!' Except it was him saying it. Yuk - even saying it makes me feel sick… And it sounds like it - darkness - never goes away. Poor humans."

Panik shook her head, Ursa nodding in agreement when her mother said, "I'm sure she can handle it - she's had worse before… Darkness never leaving - that's not totally true," Ursa smiling broadly when her mother finished, "Life will always hurt at some level - but love makes it worth it. Fill in the holes from darkness' wounds with love, lessons learned - that's what progress is, basically." Pushing her own food closer to Ursa, her mother said, "You seem fine to me - sounds like you're making progress. Mind heating this up for me a little? Hadn't planned on talking so much before eating."

Heating the metal bowl with her mother's food in it, stopping and re-directing the heat out of just the metal bowl when her mother said, "Looks hot enough," Ursa found herself doing the same thing to her own bowl, noticing with a smile that the blue flame core was larger than it had been before. Looking at the stir-fried chicken, rice and cooked greens in her bowl, Ursa said after a moment of indecision, "Forget that dream - I'm eating this. I don't have time to hem and haw - I have no idea how long meeting will be, or how soon," adding as she picked up her chopsticks, "First healthy thing I've had to eat today anyways."

In the back of her mind, Ursa had expected some sort of "backlash" - surprised when she was able to enjoy what was in front of her without anything dragging her down. Feeling like she was filling a physical need, Ursa found eating the hot, spicy and savory chicken just as rewarding as any VarriCake, not even minding the fact they were glazed slightly. Picking out the bits of what tasted like high-quality komodo chicken, Ursa noticed she felt better as she ate more, saying, "Wow - guess I was so busy, I didn't even notice feeling off," with her mouth partially full. Her mother nodded, saying, "Me too - too busy to notice not feeling quite right," Ursa wondering how much "better" she could have done with a breakfast that wasn't the definition of imbalanced.

Mentally shrugging, thinking, "The past's the past," she started eating rice and greens instead, wanting the last thing she ate to be the chicken. Noticing even the rice tasted good, heavy with flavor, she asked, "Mom, thish rice ish good. What did you do?" Her mother smiled, saying, "At Gurume's insistence, I went to the part of the line that uses better ingredients for this. He figured we both could use something, and it was all healthier for the most part," saying, "Though, the glaze - probably not. Whatever - it's good, so I don't care," Ursa finding herself nodding in agreement. About to return to eating, Ursa paused for a moment - smiling slightly to see her mother seemed to be enjoying this healthier fare as much as she had.

Digging back in, thinking, "I guess it does feel good to take care of yourself better," for what seemed like the first time in her life, Ursa found steaming fried rice and various greens as enjoyable as everything she had in her early morning raid on the fridge. Appreciating the spice and flavor as she ate anything in her bowl but the last of the meat, Ursa laughed when she heard what she assumed was herself burping, surprised to see her mom looking a little embarrassed, Panik saying, "Oops. Wow, look at that - you ate slower than I did." Ursa nodded, her mother laughing lightly when Ursa confessed, "I thought that was me," she finished the rice and greens. Noticing her mother doing something unladylike, not that Ursa cared if anyone licked their bowl clean, Ursa finished by slowly cleaning all the remaining komodo chicken from her bowl, taking time to enjoy - not a thought about unpleasant things in her mind. Feeling a bit mischievous and thirsty, Ursa made sure her bowl was clean just like her mother had, laughing slightly when Patta gave her a small dirty look, saying, "Licking the bowl - that looks fun, nice! All I can do is gnaw on an almond. Can't even drink water." Ursa shook her head when Patta offered the impossible: "If I can, I'll take your human-y struggles off your hands, and I'll take eating. You don't have to deal with all that yucky stuff, or worry about your body, for whatever reason you do. Sound like a fair trade?"

Noticing her mother was shaking her head too, Ursa said to a disappointed Patta, "Looks like you don't have any takers here," Patta looking horrified when Panik observed, "Give up our humanity, for something in return… sounds like something Long Yumao might say," Ursa seeing a pattern when her mother added, "Oh - uh - sorry! Didn't think. I know you didn't mean it like that." Tempted to say something smug, along the lines of, "You did it again - made Patta sad. You do the cooking, and leave the spirit-y stuff to me, mom," Ursa shook her head, suddenly feeling disgusted with herself - far more strongly than anything she ever had to do with her own body…

Hearing her mother ask what was wrong, Ursa felt conflicted on whether to tell the truth, ending up telling it in the end, saying, "I… maybe I am a failure, thinking things like that," wondering if her mother was mad at her or something else as she looked down.

Hearing a chair moving, some part of Ursa wondering if her mom was going to go off and cry or scream in frustration, she was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to face her mother as Panik said, "No, you're not a failure. Don't look back down - listen. A couple months ago, when you were mad at me towards the end of school for being pushy with this dress you're wearing now… you might have said something like that and meant it. Now, you're beating yourself up for even thinking such things," nodding when her mother finished, "It's okay - don't be so hard on yourself. The last thing I want is for you to replace body image issues with something else… We're both a mess, and I don't know about you, but I could do with some cold water and a silent break. Just be."

Her mother smiled, saying, "I'll get some water from the air for you to sterilize and share with me," continuing as she did the necessary bending movements, "After my break, I'm going back to the cooking lines, bringing the idea for Cool Healers with me and working. **You've **got some sort of Spirit World meeting with the Avatar - so we both need to be relaxed. Ironically, as soon as possible."

Remembering something she had heard Avatar Aang had done before the Day of Black Sun aloud, saying, "Oh, great - 'You need to be relaxed, right now!' Gee, thanks mom," her mother laughing deeply. Patta, apparently not getting the sarcasm, asked innocently, "I thought you said you didn't want to be mean to your mom, Ursa?" Her mother groaned slightly, saying as she finished gathering water from the air, "Oh, Patta. She was being sarcastic - a different kind of joke, humor. Even our family 'spirit buddy' Warmwings understands people better. You do make it hard, don't you." Patta nodded, saying, "I guess I do," Ursa joking randomly as she sterilized the water her mother was now holding in the air, "Maybe the Avatar needs to bring you to that meeting."

Patta's leaf veins turning a light blue for a short time, the spirit said, leaf veins now normal again, "Good idea. You wouldn't happen to know an airbender, waterbender, or earthbender particularly well, would you? Or any of those that know each other well?" Staying focused on her bending, almost done getting the suspended water to a boil, Ursa said, "Airbender - no, though my best friend acts an awful lot like one," continuing with a slight frown, "Though, I haven't even seen Lee-Lee today - or remembered to call him! Gah."

Getting a funny look from her mother as she cooled the water back down, Ursa realized she was being unduly harsh on herself again, admitting as much and drinking some of the water she and her mother had made, saying as she remembered technically she _did _know an airbender, deciding not to say anything about the mysterious man who had given her the blue and white lotus tile, "I don't know any airbenders. Water and earth… There's two people I reconnected with today that can bend those elements. Well, now one can - Karpok's dad didn't let her bend, and only now is she learning… I don't know them _that _well, but they seem to know each other pretty well. Chang, the earthbender," taking another big gulp of water before saying, starting to feel nervous over all the attention, "Chang - he can bend pretty well, though. His dad was a former Pro-Bender, and both of them fought along with me against Amon four years ago. Why do you ask?"

Patta looking utterly confused, the spirit said, "Fought Amon what? And why would a human not want their kid to bend? I'm confused - tell me more." Her mother giving Ursa a knowing look, Ursa said, "Uh - yeah. You're going to need to go to some of that meeting, I think," adding as she realized her own spirit buddy Warmwings didn't know much about what had gone on in _her _life, "Maybe Warmwings, too - do you think… Korra could give my spirit buddy a more personal update, if she has time?" Patta nodded, saying, "Yes," Ursa getting the sense the spirit had something else to say on the subject, and that the spirit wasn't going to say it…

Smiling slightly, Ursa said, even though she was feeling nervous about meeting Korra, "Sounds like you're curious about what I said, the missing pieces… and it also sounds to me like you might want Warmwings for more than just getting schematics sketched out. Maybe we could swap information," Patta asking, "Do you like surprises? Good ones, that is."

Mulling it over for a second, realizing she'd hopefully know soon anyways, Ursa said, "Yeah," telling her surprised mother, "Maybe not in the past, but I do now. Everything about today's been surprising, and all in all - in a good way," remembering after the fact she had asked Raava to remove one big surprise from her mind…

Who her mysterious past life was.

Snapping back to attention when Patta said, "D'oh! I just remembered something Avatar Korra can do while in the Spirit World - she can just 'ask' them later," Ursa was now the confused one. Looking at Patta, she grumbled, "Ugh - so many secrets, new things," insisting as she started to feel nervous again, "I'll find out later. Talking about this is giving me butterflies in my stomach," finding herself saying without any meanness, "Given my stomach, that's a lot of butterflies. I'm done for now."

Her mother gave her a funny look as she made to walk away, her mother asking, "Ursa, was that… did you just make a good-natured self-ribbing joke? You've never done that before." Stopping in her tracks, looking at her stomach, noticing that internally her only reaction wasn't disgust, Ursa said, "I guess I did," over Patta saying, "I don't understand people!" When Ursa added, "I… I can actually look at my stomach, and not have the only reaction be 'Fatty!' now, mom - even if's still there," she smiled when her mother said, "Let me guess - a little acceptance. Something small, but acceptance nonetheless. I had the same experience when I was younger," nodding and feeling her mother give her a big hug from behind after her mother said, "It may be small, but that it's there - that's all that matters. It will grow over time, if you take care of that little seedling."

Her mother breaking the hug, Ursa decided to just sit down where she was, feeling less nervous and stressed than before she had eaten, telling Patta, "I'm going to try and meditate away some of the stress, so I'll need quiet," not sure why Patta warned her, "Be careful."

Sitting down next to her backpack, taking it off her shield and placing the upper part of the backpack in her lap, Ursa crossed her legs with her eyes closed, letting out a low groan when she heard Patta suggest, "Why… why don't you have something nice to eat instead?" Opening her eyes, giving the spirit an annoyed glare, Ursa said, "Did you not listen to anything I said about weight and humans?" looking down at the ground, feeling small when Patta responded, "I… I just don't want you meditating into the Spirit World accidentally. There's only one safe place in there right now."

Remembering that she had tried to do such a thing before, Ursa smiled, saying with slight bitterness, "I've tried before - and never done it. Don't worry, nothing will happen," Ursa's eyes widening when Patta said, "Yeah - and Kuvira had never meditated before, period, when she tried right after winning her first internal battle. She ended up meditating right into Xai Bau's Grove, Avatar Korra the only reason she still has a face."

Unable to think of anything else she could do to de-stress, Ursa noticing her mother looked concerned, she said, "I think I remember more now… From what they released at the press conference, Long Yumao managed to surprise Jinora a while back when she tried meditating in, and she just broke the connection," saying as she closed her eyes, "If I do more than just calm down, I'll just do that. I'm not eating anything else for a long time."

Ignoring Patta's objections as best she could, Ursa smiled slightly when she heard her mother say, "Patta, leave her alone," Ursa re-focusing after hearing Patta say, "I guess if anything bad happens… Avatar Korra can just do what she did before again."

Focusing on her breath, pretending she was trying to improve her firebending, Ursa attempted to get stray thoughts out of her mind, seeing a brief flash of herself fighting against Equalist forces, remembering more about the flashback, she idly thought, "Drawing from my 'ocean of chi'. Wait a minute… duh. That's not right. Power comes from the breath, not the stomach - the stomach's for re-directing lightning! Guess I need to re-read Grand Lotus Iroh's writings…"

Half expecting for her slipup to have thrown her off track, Ursa was surprised when she felt a little calmer, feeling a strong urge to meditate on her other male role model.

Grand Lotus Iroh himself.

Deciding instead to meditate on something that had puzzled her ever since she had encountered it, Ursa focused on the _old _Order of the White Lotus' philosophy. Honing in on "philosophy, knowledge, beauty, and truth," Ursa feeling more and more at ease as she focused, she wondered at a particularly tranquil point, feeling as though it were her soul asking the question instead of her mind, " 'Philosophy, knowledge, beauty, and truth.' 'Transcend the division of the four nations.' 'A secret society.' The Avatar, in Order form - at least it used to be. How does one get from the old White Lotus to 'Protecting and training the Avatar to the point of separation from the world', 'Imprison dangerous criminals', or 'Openly support governments after hundreds of years in hiding'? How does the Order serving as the bodyguards, no, childhood jailers of the Avatar serve philosophy, knowledge, beauty, and truth?!"

Seeing an image of Avatar Aang appear, followed by a strange sensation Ursa had never felt before, life review and spirit shenanigans or not, she was shocked when the image in the inky blackness of her closed eyes moved.

Standing up, appearing sad, the image of Avatar Aang said, "I will never know how things turned out the way they did. All I know is that it started with a simple order, from myself: that the Order of the White Lotus was to protect the Avatar, especially my successors. Including my own other orders, everything else… _evolved _from there, the Order _mutating_ away from its original intent over the years." Ursa completely baffled, the image of Avatar Aang continued mournfully, "An evolution that by then _former_ Grand Lotus Iroh opposed every step of the way. I wish when I gave my first request to the Order I had listened to Iroh's advice, no longer Grand Lotus at the time or not, and heeded my good friend Zuko's concerns … but I did not," saying with a very weak smile, "The… well, _orders_ to the Order of the White Lotus," looking completely serious again as he said, "Along with poorly handling my family life - those are my two greatest regrets," concluding, "You appear surprised - you earnestly asked a question, and you have received an answer, even if it is 'I do not know.' In my next life, 'I' had to suffer the consequences of my decisions. Both in childhood, and adulthood - the Red Lotus has everything to do with the _fallout _of my orders. All such that Raava might learn more… I can see the shock on your face. Even the Avatar is not immune from karma, Ursa. 'I' will see you again soon."

Opening her eyes out of shock, wanting to talk to her mother and Patta about what she had just heard, Ursa felt baffled again - she was not in Republic City, or anywhere she had heard of at all!

Looking around the inside of the massive icy hall within which she was sitting, standing up for a better look, Ursa heard something clatter to the floor. Looking down, Ursa saw two familiar objects on the floor, picking them both up, remarking as some sort of chill finally registered in her body, "Two Lotus tiles… one normal, the other - white and blue petals…"

Noticing that the space where she was currently standing was both made entirely of ice and massive, Ursa curled up the two Lotus tiles in her right hand, walking forward - wondering exactly where she was.

Hearing an odd metallic chiming, Ursa turned towards its source - noticing there appeared to be a window of sorts in the room, running as best she could to see out of wherever she was.

Arriving at the window, wondering where the metallic chiming had come from, Ursa looked out - immediately not caring as she took in the bizarre outer world through the relatively thin and transparent pane of ice glass. Staring outwards, seeing what she certainly hoped was not a Spirit Portal, even though the two twin helixes coming off its base were green and yellow, the same colors as those which came off the Republic City Spirit Portal, Ursa looked around the object's base.

Seeing odd twisted trees that reminded her of illustrations of the Tree of Time that came out after Harmonic Convergence surrounded by a sea of purple sprinkled with tiny cyan dots, Ursa racked her brain, trying to think what it reminded her of…

This place perfectly matched the press conference's description of where Kuvira had surrendered inside the Spirit World.

Remembering a mention of distant ice that neither the Avatar nor Kuvira had gone near, Ursa's eyes widened, realizing she **was **inside the Spirit World - literally, this strange icy room carved by something from spirit ice itself.

She had no one around her to protect her…

Wondering if she had been tricked somehow by the image of Avatar Aang, the image meant to lull her into a false sense of security so that when she entered this room she wouldn't immediately leave, she shouted, hearing her voice reverberate, "I'm totally vulnerable! Give me one reason I shouldn't break my connection immediately!"

Seeing something… _metallic? _shimmer in front of her, sure she was hallucinating, never having heard of a metal spirit, Ursa watched as something she could only appropriately call a "metal man" appeared in front of her, hearing a calm voice say, "Relax, Ursa. You are safe here."

Wondering how the… thing knew her name, remembering something about Jinshu Kuangmai sometimes appearing as a metallic monster, Ursa was about to break the connection when… he said, "Wait. Go if you wish - stay if you want to know any more about the airbender you met today, **Ursa**." After a brief pause, Ursa heard an odd smack nearby, the odd spirit continuing as she looked at two different kinds of Dark Spirits trying to get inside with vain, "The floating rock that Avatar Korra would meet you on and its chakra pools is not the only safe place in the Spirit World, as you can see by these two spirits' vain attempt to get in. They will not even recollect this place's existence, if everything works properly."

Ursa still not sure about this "glacier fortress", she felt much safer when a large darkened whale-like spirit without red lines tried and failed to penetrate the ice barrier window. Ursa pretty sure she was safe, she turned around and looking at what she assumed was a spirit, taking in its humanoid form and the few diminutive turning gears, fine wiring and tiny pumping pistons she could see through its metal exterior. Apparently, this spirit could read her expression of amazement quite well, saying, "Yes, I get that a lot. Even… she did not know if her eyes could be believed at first when she saw me years ago. I am no conventional spirit - over the years, I have been called anything from an 'autohuman' to a 'mechaperson' more recently. Sadly, aside from the fact I came into being at one point, and that many of my brothers and sisters perished, myself the only one to be immortalized… all I can recall about my origin is that I was allowed to live on much like the human late Grand Lotus Iroh, the rest obscured by a long forgotten cataclysm and memory gaps."

Letting out a low grinding noise Ursa thought was supposed to be a cough, the being finally introduced itself and explained more, saying, "I can, however, recall my own name - Yadang. I can see in the way you carry yourself that while you may be on the road to unlocking the secret within, you still have much distance to travel. Therefore, I am not revealing my deepest secrets." Ursa gave the being a quick look, saying, "What, like how you 'worked' when you were alive?" Yadang shaking his metallic head, Ursa noticing he even had metal facial features that moved sadly as he said, "As I said before, I cannot even recall how I came into being," rough metal eyebrows coming down into a frown as he said, "I observed you picking up two Lotus tiles - one 'righteous', the other 'lost'. I know where you got both of them - make your choice now."

At first Ursa did not understand what this immortalized automaton wanted from her. Looking again, she realized that he was just as much an intelligent being as she was with the way he was tapping a solid iron foot against the ice, Ursa fumbling for her two Lotus tiles as she observed something akin to a metal tendon move with each impatient tap. Taking out the two Lotus tiles, noticing Yadang was focusing his two metallic retinas on the one with white and blue lotus flowers, she tried to remember anything from earlier, saying, "That airbender… I think he said: The old Order must change its nature completely or fall. This is all you need - only if you _are _worthy will you find the meaning and truth within. You obviously know him… somehow." Yadang nodded, saying, "Good - most humans I interact with do not have that level of information recall. I am also aware of your interaction with an individual who has fallen into the White Lotus' orbit - Kyoretsuna. We do not want White Lotus sympathizers - you must make your choice."

Scratching her head, Ursa said, "Wh - I just met her, and you within the past couple minutes!" saying with a final air, "Her family… let me put it this way - if whoever you work for, the 'Order of the White and Blue Lotus' as I guessed, does anything to her or her family… whatever it would mean to anyone, I'd chose her. The White Lotus."

Ursa was puzzled when Jadang nodded, saying as she shimmered slightly, "You have chosen family over ideas and that which exists. Good - it is the same choice my compatriot made, years ago, before re-discovering the fact that it was the Order that strayed in the first place. She fully embraced the writings of Iroh… Once Kyoretsuna learns the full truth of Avatar Korra's upbringing, the crime the current Grand Lotus committed years ago that ultimately drove my compatriot to action, along with watching the Avatar's childhood… that will not be an issue. I cannot imagine a family woman like Kyoretsuna siding with an organization that squelched the childhood of Avatar Korra - far worse than anyone would believe 'her' when 'she' tried years ago to expose the secret," adding before vanishing altogether, "If you wish to know more, once you have found the meaning and truth within, meditate on my form. It's certainly unique enough. Before then… Perhaps the Avatar can tell you more, as to why the White Lotus needs change. And help you with your own. Given she paid the price for Avatar Aang's mistakes, she may even be interested in our group herself - should the existing Order's attempt to change fail. Goodbye."

Now completely alone in the massive icy room, Ursa wondering if she'd ever be back in it, she said out loud, " 'The meaning and truth within'… No - I WILL be back here someday," only having the vaguest of vague idea what that was as she walked back to where she had "entered", noticing something curious as she looked at the floor on the way.

There were clearly visible elemental symbols on the floor. All four elements, plus two others, one a symbol she did not recognize as an elemental symbol but rather as the diamond inside both Raava and Vaatu's forms. The other was an odd yin-yang symbol with a line running from the outside into the whole symbol connecting to the two "eyes", though not breaking either small circle…

Remembering the Avatar might want her soon, Ursa hurried up her exploration, ignoring four of five larger elemental symbols on some pedestals she hadn't noticed before, contenting herself with examining the pedestal for her own element. Noticing there were many names engraved in the ice, the most prominent and deep cut into the ice being "Grand Lotus Iroh", she idly wondered if this "Order of the White and Blue Lotus" had ever contacted Iroh's spirit… himself? Itself?

Not recognizing any of the names aside from "Jeong-Jeong", "Avatar Wan" and, curiously enough, "Zuko", noticing his name was carved to almost the depth of Iroh's, Ursa shrugged, saying, "Avatar Wan's ten thousand years dead. Looks more like people they admire than members," wondering, "Hmmm - maybe I can go check out the Air or Water one? Wouldn't that be funny - Tenzin or Korra's dad Tonraq, joining after seeing her childhood."

Hearing a metallic cough, Ursa turned around, seeing a definitely not amused Yadang staring at her, saying, "No. It is a good thing you went to the Fire pedestal, your own, and not Water, your more… obvious heritage. Perhaps your tour time is over," Yadang saying with a final air as a strange sensation swept over Ursa, "Tenzin would not be welcome, his history with the accursed orders for the Order overriding anything he has done since. Any idol you have has flaws - what makes a being truly great is if they can recognize them and change. From what I know of you, I see what she sees in you."

Wondering who this "she" was he kept mentioning, Ursa struggled out, "Is the 'she' Raava?", Yadang perplexingly saying, "No," before Ursa saw his unique metallic body vanish - feeling like she had been the one to disappear.

Looking around, still feeling "Spirit World funny" even though she was in what was clearly an Air Nomad ruin of some sort, Ursa looked near the edge of the ruin's upper portion. She spotted something _else _she had never seen before - her head hurting terribly, feeling a dull pain as she looked at the - thing…

Staring at some sort of large glassy rectangle Ursa found both familiar and alien jutting out of the rock near what appeared to be a cliff, she was about to break the connection, wondering how someplace in the Spirit World could feel so familiar, when she had never been anywhere in the Spirit World except Jadang's icy room before.

Her head still hurting, though not as badly, Ursa found her curiosity getting the better of her, rationalizing as she walked over to the screen, "Even if I only knew him for a little bit… I don't think Jadang would have put me somewhere unsafe, whatever he is, or was…", continuing as she examined the odd glassy rectangle, "I can always just leave - but I've got this weird gut feeling I'm where I'm supposed to be."

Not finding anything in her inspection of the rectangle, the glass perfectly smooth, Ursa spotted something less alien, yet familiar and unfamiliar at the strange time behind her in the glass' reflection. Turning around, deeply curious about the "strange-miliar" pools and gears on top of some sort of pedestal she had seen in the rectangular glass' reflection, she wondered why she had not noticed them before as she walked over to the rectangular glass, finding the only thing totally unfamiliar about them the inscription saying, "For anyone who needs help," on the pedestal's base.

Walking closer, wondering if the odd, simplistic "characters" beneath the normal artistic characters were a sort of spirit language, Ursa felt an odd pull towards the "pools" on the right, saying as she approached, somehow not surprised when the gears opened to reveal water as she got closer, "Seven gears, holding water… with the Future Industries logo on some of them. A 'strange-miliar' large seventh gear, with a blue and jade yin yang symbol. Its… partner - why does that word sound so appropriate…? Seven earthen pools, holding water, a 'strange-miliar' large seventh pool with two blue and jade fish… even the way they have a bit of the other's color on them like Tui and La do seems familiar. Why so familiar?"

Half expecting to get some sort of answer, receiving nothing, Ursa put her hand into the fourth gear's steaming water contents out of curiosity, surprised yet not when she suddenly felt very sad. Ursa felt two at once, not questioning why her more personal grief for innocence lost to depression and the world's cruelties resonated with her **the same as **the grief of what felt like someone else's grief. Losing a mother to an act of random violence…

It seemed just as personal to her as her own woes, the feeling persisting for a while even after she withdrew her hand from the hot pool.

Her own griefs going nowhere, Ursa stepped back from the fourth gear and the whole gear sequence as a whole, she walked to the front of the twin pool set's pedestal again, reading, "For anyone who needs help," continuing, "Help. I… I know I don't need it, but after that… I feel like I need it. Someone outside my family." Remembering what the Avatar had told the twenty-something jerkoff about self-reliance, Ursa shrugged, saying as she turned away from the odd pools and the bushes behind them, "The Avatar told us to rely on ourselves, and we did, for the most part… maybe I don't need to talk to Korra about anything but business after all. I've got my family, after all."

"There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you... Not that I think Korra loves you - she just met you, from what I know."

Standing still at first, baffled as to how this man's voice was "strange-miliar" as well, Ursa found herself chuckling when the warm voice said with a little exasperation, "Over seven decades later, and I still can't get my wording right with interesting strangers," Ursa turning around out of curiosity after he said, "You appear around the age my nephew was when we found Avatar Aang - and already, you seem to understand the importance of family better than he did back then. Come, come, sit down, talk to me if you like. I might know a bit more about you than I did Toph when I ran into her on the road all those years ago, but not much, aside from 'business'."

Finding herself staring at Grand Lotus Iroh, Ursa stammered, "G-Grand Lotus Iroh? Why are you here?" Grand Lotus Iroh smiled, Ursa nodding when he said, "You can just call me Iroh. I was never one for titles," giving him a quizzical look when he said, "And current Grand Lotus Atinnuaq is doing his best to bring the White Lotus back on track."

Everything to do with the White Lotus and this mysterious "Order of the White and Blue Lotus" and the mechanical being Yadang fresher in her mind than her own earlier actions, Ursa asked Iroh, "I… heard somewhere that both you and your nephew Lord Zuko tried to oppose Avatar Aang's orders for the White Lotus, even when you were no longer Grand Lotus, and… to my knowledge Lord Zuko never joined the White Lotus. Is that true?"

Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, frowning mournfully, Iroh said, "Yes, I did, as did my nephew Zuko," Ursa's eyes widening slightly when he said, "In fact, part of my decision to transcend my mortal body and live on in the Spirit World was driven by Aang's orders, and the decay of the White Lotus that they started." Iroh pausing for a moment, Ursa laughed weakly when he added jovially, as though he were trying to lighten the mood, rubbing his back in mock pain, "That, and my back was killing me. I guess enjoying life so much when I was _relatively _younger had to catch up with me someday," finishing with a smile, "I still lived a long, fruitful life, as I am sure you will."

Remembering how Aang - if she had really seen his spirit, that is - seemed to blame himself for more than just Korra's childhood, Ursa asked, "I _think _I talked with Aang himself earlier, and he seemed to blame himself and his orders for the Red Lotus' existence," noticing Iroh was frowning slightly by the time she actually asked her question, "Do you think he's right?" Iroh shook his head, saying, "No - I do not. No one should blame themselves for other's actions - I hope you do not." Ursa nodded, listening as he continued, "Aang should not blame himself any more for the Red Lotus than Roku should blame himself for the Hundred Year's War. While he was still a member of the Order, before I retired, I knew Xai Bau… He vanished before Aang's orders at that. Just like Firelord Sozin - just like Long Yumao, to think of it - he was waiting for the opportunity to 'strike', having already brought up his distaste for government before, and been ignored." Sighing deeply, Iroh admitted, "I suppose the direction the White Lotus took after Aang's orders likely drew recruits to the Red Lotus, did not help things. But part of the reason he wanted protection for Avatar and nations alike in the first place was Xai Bau's vanishing act after the Order did something as innocuous as announce its presence to the world. Aang provided Xai Bau his biggest opportunity as a side effect of something Aang did with good intentions. And Sozin got his opportunity when Roku trusted his life-long friend, something Roku could not have seen coming without hindsight."

Looking like he wanted to change topics, Iroh coughed, saying, "Fellow firebender… I am afraid cause and effect are never as simple as they seem. One twisted person - or being's - misdeeds provide fuel for the fire, and acting on their best impulses… sometimes someone trying to do right provides the spark. Just look at Long Yumao. As best I understand, Raava decided to create tuber-vines after spirits' refusal to help under his leadership, and seeing what lesser power in the hands of a lost soul could do. Something to prevent future wars - something that would not 'fight' for anyone who was not of a pure heart. Her action, along with the gift of life, started a war - and Long Yumao fancies himself the one to bring 'justice', right a 'wrong' he was instrumental in creating!" Ursa wondering where the subject change was coming, wanting to ask one more question, it never came, smiling when Iroh said, "I was going to say I did not want to talk about 'business' anymore… but if you have more questions, I'll answer a few."

Taking out her two Lotus tiles, Ursa said, "I want to ask you this before anyone else shows up. I don't know if you knew this… but this wasn't my first stop in the Spirit World." When Iroh asked, "What is that Lotus tile in your right hand? I have never seen such a Pai Sho piece before," with audible curiosity, Ursa asked, "If I tell you something… you won't tell, will you?" laughing slightly when he said, "I don't see any red or black on that tile… Raava's colors. As long as that's not something associated with bad people, sure."

Briefly explaining what the mysterious male airbender had told her, as well as her experience with Yadang, Ursa felt flattered when he said, "I said you were an interesting stranger earlier - it appears I made a huge understatement," Ursa saying without thinking, "Not really - just another leaf on the wind, as everyone else…"

A terrible sensation rising up from depths that Ursa had hoped she would never interact with again, thinking she had won **at least **a temporary break from her dark half, she heard a bone-chilling laughter from behind her, hearing Iroh ask as she turned around, "What… how can you say that - everyone, leaves in the wind? Are you like Mai or something? And what _is _that thing on Raava's screen?!"

Finding herself staring at her dark half on the screen, she felt synchronous electrical pain and dull pain when it asked, bone's glow pulsing, "What - you do not remember? What can appear on this screen? Tsk, tsk - I guess you aren't as smart as you think you are," trying to look down in shame and finding some odd force preventing her from moving. Not noticing Iroh at all, too focused on her dark half, Ursa felt goosebumps crawl over her skin as it boasted, "Even here, near those accursed pools, the Spirit World is not all fun and games, Ursa. The Avatar may be more powerful in here - but so am 'I'."

Feeling the misery intensify, Ursa looked to the Lotus tile in her right hand, trying to speak, finding herself unable to, thinking strongly, "Philosophy, knowledge, beauty, and truth," her hand now closed over the white and blue lotus tile, able to speak: "Philosophy, knowledge, beauty, and truth. I don't know exactly what the person who gave me this believes in - all that matters is what **I believe**." Feeling empowered somehow, Ursa said, idly noticing her jaw did not open, "Earlier, you told me a whole bunch of lies. The last thing you said -'Wounded by HATRED! Have your petty victory - I **will **persist. Re-establish the vicious inner cycle. Old problems, wounds don't vanish overnight. 'Enjoy' life's uncertainty - I know I do. Just because you can see does not mean you will act **properly**, failure - so many ways to fail…' Well, I'll say something I said earlier again, so it will get through your stubborn, red-boned bone head, that I'll persist too: 'I'll speak in terms you'll understand, little girl - terms of those who were or are dark. Evil. I will be as unceasing as the Equalist Revolution wanted to be, as unyielding as Unalaq was, zealous as Zaheer is, determined as Kuvira is, ruthless as Jinshu Kuangmai against you without losing myself, and use my brain to be as clever as Long Yumao!' Life's given me a lot to deal with - and I'm still here…"

Ursa did a double-take to notice her dark half was no longer alone on the screen, seeing both Warmwings and a clothed version of her light half holding up a blue fire with a _white _core, never having heard of such a thing, grinning predatorily to see her dark half small and cowering. Seeing her light half make the same expression, she realized that she was linked to the screen somehow, "saying", "I know I can't kill you - just ignore you," a waterbending technique she had heard of coming to mind as she said, noticing her jaw was moving again, "Giving you attention won't help anything. I will 'purify' you like the Avatar might a Dark Spirit - by living."

Noticing her light half perform vaguely familiar movements, two ribbons of blue and white-centered flame coming into being around the scared dark half, the image distorted and warped, Ursa hearing her dark half say frantically and warbled, "I… will never… go away," before the screen lost the distortion.

Nothing on the screen, Ursa felt confused at first, finally noticing that Warmwings was next to the screen, trilling happily, "Yay! Won again," Ursa frowning slightly, not knowing the answer when Warmwings trilled, landing on a shocked Iroh's head, "How often do you need to win? I forget."

Her victory seeming hollow with Warmwing's question, Iroh finally said, as Warmwings nuzzled him, "A few years later, when my nephew eventually told me about his dreams and hallucinations in Ba Sing Se, even though he was Firelord, he… ended up crying in my arms as I hugged him after I asked if he ever had anything else like that. I know what he went through - but as much as I wished I knew, so I could offer you better advice - I have no idea what you have been through." Ursa crying a bit, she asked simply, "I - I didn't mean for that to happen… I… just wanted your advice about that airbender, Yadang. Me - what does that have to do with Zuko?" Starting to come closer, Warmwings nuzzling him, Iroh said, "Everything, I am afraid. I do not know if you ever strayed as far as he did from what was right, and I doubt it, but… even his most intense experience seemed tame in comparison. Kuvira's experience's intensity - understandable, given what she did. But you do not strike me as one to deserve such things."

Iroh close now, Ursa standing up and giving him a hug, noticing with a slight smile he appeared to have chosen to retained a more "huggable" form, Iroh saying, "And it sounds like you have had worse than this. I do not understand… Wait - Look at the sky. All that anger and conflict, and it's not changed at all. Didn't change even while you were yelling." Iroh paused for a minute, breaking the hug and thinking as Warmwings trilled, Iroh saying, "The Spirit World does not even be appearing to act 'right'… and I have been here for many years, decades, though time does not technically mean anything to me now. I have not been inside the Spirit World anywhere but here on this rock since almost a week ago… From what your spirit friend here said, the Spirit World has been this way for a few days as well - everywhere except a few spots - Xai Bau's grove one of the place ironically enough - dark at best, 'unbearably gloomy and sad' at worst. Even during Harmonic Convergence, things did not get this bad…"

When Iroh jokingly suggested, "I know what you found at the barrier, thanks to your friend. Perhaps everything is off because of what people are doing," Ursa took it seriously, thinking, eventually saying, "Maybe that's not so far off. The Spirit Civil War… we already know the barrier's weakening because of what people are doing." Feeling a little sick to her stomach, Ursa said, "Maybe… we're literally poisoning the Spirit World. Maybe that's part of why the spirits are mad," Iroh shaking his head and saying, "No - that does not explain some areas not being affected. Let alone what I just saw on that screen."

Ursa noticing he was now looking at his palm, Iroh's eyes widened, saying, "My hand - the blood, a few days ago! That's it! Strengthening of the ties between the Spirit and Physical realms… Raava being able to grant bending to spirits, sometimes using human help… And the Spirit Civil War… it's been inside only, between beings who normally don't fight - spirits," saying as Ursa felt lost, "It will make more sense shortly enough. Basically, I believe these internal experiences being so much more powerful and 'real' than anything in the past, the Spirit World seeming 'sick' as a whole but not in spots with lots of 'human' energy, spirits being able to bleed and receive bending where such things were impossible before, the bending pulse just like three years ago… all linked to vanishing difference between Spirit and Physical worlds. Whether it will be a lasting change remains to be seen, a little over a week's time from now."

Iroh taking her hand, prying away the white and blue Lotus tile, looking vaguely like he wanted to shift the conversation, he said, "On our so rudely interrupted conversation earlier… putting it all together, if you haven't already," continuing with a slight blush, "It sounds as if there's a third Order now - one that looks to me and the old greats for their only example," saying with a final air, "Dedicated to seeing the original White Lotus change radically, or cease to exist, hopefully through nonviolent means. Though, it is odd that I have never heard of this before - surely, they would have wanted input from the person they admire? Regardless, I hope that the existing Order will change enough to satisfy them, whoever they are." Remembering something the airbender had said, Ursa pointed out, "That airbender, who seemed to have a special ability… he said 'Recent events moved forward the timetables, with raised stakes for errors made by women and men.' It sounds to me like they're going to act soon," finishing as Iroh looked concerned, "And it sounds to me like they're out to avenge some kind of big wrong the current Grand Lotus did to the Avatar. Far from wanting Korra dead like the Red Lotus… that machine intelligence's spirit told me Korra herself might be interested in this organization. A wrong done to her - you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Appearing to mull something over for a second, Iroh said, "Yes - and that Korra has already forgiven Aang, Tenzin, Grand Lotus Atinnuaq, everyone involved in both the orders Aang gave and another event I won't burden you with right now. She has moved on past her rather sad childhood quite well. Even if the current out in the open Order has flaws… it is already established," Ursa interjecting, Iroh nodding and smiling, "I heard the Grand Lotus today - mentioned something about regretting past actions, and that he hoped he could be a replacement for you. Do as good a job as you did. They're even volunteering to help Republic City."

Iroh saying, handing back the lotus tile, "Good - it remains to be seen if the others will go along, however. This is yours, Ursa," it finally dawned on Ursa she was **literally **talking with one of her heroes, saying idly, "Raava, Avatar Korra, then former Grand Lotus Iroh, all in the same day… wow." Iroh smiled, saying, "And I got to meet you too, and a lot of other fine people in the reinforcements before I came here. Even if it didn't turn out as good as we had hoped when we left Republic City, I am glad for today." Ursa realizing that Iroh had been with the reinforcements, she asked with trepidation, "Has… anyone died? Anyone named Hideki?", finding herself adding as she remembered who had paid for the food line's supplies, "Anyone named Tahno?"

Iroh shook his head, a lead weight lifted off Ursa's heart when he said, "No. No one has died yet," it returning when he said with a frown, "Though, if my nephew's grandson Iroh II hadn't listened to his gut, and ordered everyone back when something didn't feel right… there would be many widows and begrieved husbands right now," Ursa listening with a smile as he continued, "The people you asked about - I actually ran into the both. Tahno was training people how to fight dirty, was always in the thick of the fight after that. The same for Hideki - he made an impression on me, his swordsmanship skills, talking about the White Lotus Great Piandao while wielding a sword made by the master himself, talking about his - "

Iroh gave Ursa an apologetic look, saying, "Oh, I am so sorry - I just connected the dots. You're his daughter, aren't you?" Ursa nodded, laughing when Iroh said, "You weren't the only one he talked about," Warmwings trilling happily when Iroh said, "Buniq and Warmwings too. When everyone was re-forming, he talked about your spirit buddy, what must be your sister Buniq too, his wife Panik, his mother-in-law 'Nana'."

Iroh smiling broadly, Ursa blushed when he said, "From what he said, if you are as good to yourself as you are others, remain strong, I have every faith that you will 'beat' that… thing in the end, and go on to live a happy life." Ursa found herself laughing freely when he said, "Your 'dark half' - you're certainly a lot easier on the eyes than she was, skin and bones, that sick glow," nodding in agreement when he poked his own chest, saying, "That part of you has nothing but darkness and hatred inside - who cares if you've got a 'large container' for your light like I did?"

Feeling an odd sensation at the same time hearing a whirring of gears, Ursa turned to the source of the noise, noticing the third gear in the chain was moving around rapidly, the top closed, a symbol for Fire on its central dais, noticing the flame was red and yellow, but had a large blue core.

Looking down at her stomach after the gear stopped turning, Ursa noticed her mind was not as quick to curse it or judge it, between a mix of odd hazy memory that was not her own and realization, she said, "Wh - hey! Those things represent chakras, don't they?" Looking up from her stomach, glad to not hear any quotes from the annoying twenty-something pop into her head as they might have earlier, still as comfortable with herself as Iroh appeared, Iroh said, "Yes, they do."

Remembering what the third chakra dealt with, willpower, blocked by shame, situated in the stomach, Ursa smiled broadly, feeling her special lotus tile as she said, "The third chakra - my… **_biggest_** problem. I feel better - but not all the way. Progress… but I want more." Iroh laughing lightly at her joke, her fingers moving back over the lotus tile, Ursa swore she felt some odd shape as she had been fiddling with it. Her eyes widened when she looked at it, saying as she put a finger on one of the _seven _lotus petals, what must have been the "third" petal slightly recessed now, "Wait - this Lotus tile has seven petals! That's not normal… 'Find the truth within' to prove myself worthy - one less petal, it must have to do with chakras! On purpose,", adding, "I… feel better. That's its own reward."

Iroh smiled broadly, saying, "Yes, it is. Doing right is its own reward, as my nephew Zuko found - the only way to lasting peace," Ursa simply smiling and nodding.


	59. Chapter 59: The Camp: Solid Foundations

**Author's Note: Due to real life heating up, chapters will definitely be shorter, and likely more infrequent.**

Chapter 59: The Camp: Solid Foundations

Now out of someone else's inner dream world, intending to stick to schedule and what was relevant as best she could, Jasmine felt her head swimming as she processed everything she had been infobent - some much more personal than other things. Jasmine had gotten every design she had asked for, and then some. Jasmine did not really understand why the Avatar had - no, Korra, she didn't like being called Avatar, let alone "Master Avatar"… Why Korra had included everything even remotely relevant, or why Raava thought a few glances at Baatar Jr. and small interest warranted giving her such… personal information about him.

Getting up, feeling her new scar sting slightly as she gathered some drawing supplies, Jasmine was not entirely sure which was more annoying, finding her thoughts scattered. Starting to reproduce the simplest systems carefully, beginning with what she had decided to call the "put-put cart" and "Meesile cart," her mind wandered, thinking as she traced out their designs painstakingly, hoping to understand why she'd been given part of what was bugging her, "I don't know what's 'worse'. Knowing details about weapon systems I can never hope to produce in the camp without mover acid, not even having the sulfur necessary for weaponized sparkpowder, 'Lipowder'… or knowing admittedly intriguing things about Baatar Jr. I wouldn't feel comfortable telling even Kuvira, let alone his own mother." Remembering with annoyance Raava's flimsy reasoning for dumping all that on her, but still finding herself… interested nonetheless, Jasmine internally groaned - knowing Raava had been right in her assessment given how the latter ate at her mind just as much as the weapons situation, grumbling as it took up more of her mindspace than she would have liked, "Ugh, wish I could just tell my head to shut up, like I've told Aye-zul to. All that personal stuff's about as relevant to the camp as the spawning habits of elephant koi."

Finished drawing the criminally simple put-put cart, sure it would be very effective should the point ever come when they needed to use Lipowder in any form, she frowned slightly, thinking as she moved on to the Meesile cart, " I guess there is one thing that's sort of relevant - Baatar Jr.'s actions before his change of heart. 'Criminal' - I might have been a good-intentioned cog in Baatar Jr.'s machine, the one he shared with Kuvira and Jinshu Kuangmai until recently… but… I was still their 'Chief Containment Officer.'" Feeling a bit down, Jasmine found herself sighing outwardly as she drew the small crude Meesile's schematics, if you could call them that, little more than glorified fireworks, "I always wonder if I did enough. Could have pushed the boundaries a little harder, fed people better," asking no one in particular, "What would have I done, tonight, had the Avatar never found out about what Jinshu Kuangmai wanted to do? Never contacted me - would I have tried to stop it? Jinshu Kuangmai's sick little dinner party?"

Frowning at the paper in disgust, knowing full well the answer was yes, Jasmine was much bitterer when she asked no one in particular, "Left more alone than Baatar Jr. was, in that box, him at least having Ikki to help. I would've had some hungry and reluctant prisoners at best… Would I have been able to DO ANYTHING about it? Some of the defectors said - said that without those spirits scaring them off the fence between rebellion in favor of conscience and following orders to stay alive, they would have gone along with it. Carried out the orders - I would have died alone, without the spirit's help... Even Chin and his men would have taken me down, given they didn't turn in reality," crying a little as she said, "I told Korra the weak 'why' behind him staying - but it still makes no sense. I'll never understand… I don't want to. And I hope Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't find their families, have his vengeance that way…," smiling at the irony when she finished, "All I can hope is that they're so busy with me and _my _camp that they forget about the little things."

The only acknowledgement she gave a light rapping outside the door was a much more authoritative, "Not now - I'm busy," Jasmine shook her head, thinking, "Less whining, more working. I'm acting more like my new 'allies' did in that meeting earlier - emotional buffoons. Felt like President Raiko and Yangchen were the only ones on the same wavelength as I was." After the fact, fumbling out more drawing supplies and turning the lights on dimly, Jasmine remembered that wasn't entirely true - Baatar Jr.'s friend Ikki had been the one to get the Avatar to hurry up and give her what she needed in the first place, instead of a bunch of "pie-in-the-sky" modern designs…

Jasmine didn't even know if she'd be able to make basic fire-earth, and that optimist Korra was giving her the designs for Varrick guns. Finally finding a ruler, Jasmine re-touched the blueprints, making sure the multiple rows and barrels of the put-put cart were perfect, thinking, "Meesile cart - it doesn't matter if it's sloppy. This one, on the other hand… The other weapons - I guess knowing can't hurt. And not knowing _could hurt_, if some sort of miracle occurs. Who knows the next time I'll get to 'talk' to her, spirit's help or not," idly as she mindlessly corrected the initial sloppy drawing and made a few changes to make the design to better incorporate firebending and earthbending into its use. The modifications were simple enough - the tubes bent open and re-sealed with metalbending after jamming in Lipowder behind the metalbent-in projectiles using earthbending, everything lit by firebending the Lipowder hot enough to combust through the metal…

Remembering that not every firebender in the camp would want to fight, only slightly over a fourth of the 2,000 some waterbenders and 2,000 some firebenders inside her camp willing to fight, she was tempted to crumple up her changed blueprints in frustration, not sure she wanted to use the ones willing to fight or Aye-zul as glorified lighters. Aye-zul would rather be fighting himself, rather than servicing some gun… Remembering how even the reluctant fighter Sura had eventually started helping, saving what Jasmine knew to be a high-security prisoner's firebending daughter from death by killing the man's attacker herself, Jasmine let the blueprints be.

Sighing deeply as her mind wandered back to resignation at her situation, knowing she'd have to keep her "business face" on shortly, need to be strong and focus on the doing and not the feeling or excessive thinking, she decided to sketch out a few other weapons she knew the blueprints for. Thinking for a moment, she opted to sketch a comparatively primitive "hand-cranked 1876 Gatling Gun" and "repeating Winchester Model 1894 Rifle" instead of either model of the much more complicated Varrick guns, recently designed "Agni Kai" rapid-repeating rifle or any other advanced Lipowder weaponry Korra had seen fit to include. Not having a clue what the numbers meant, only that the weapons were simpler and came from another world, Jasmine mused as she finished the smaller weapon's sketch, "These 'boom-sticks', I believe is the English phrase… We might not even be able to make these, let alone the Gatling gun. Even if they do look like rubbish compared to what Yangchen can make in Omashu, children's toys compared to the Raging Shark Whale or now-wrecked Colossus… I thought Wan Shi Tong wasn't supposed to give humans things for war, let alone things from another plane."

Not expecting a response, Jasmine jumped slightly when she heard a familiar feminine voice say from behind a closed door, "He isn't the only one outside his 'comfort zone'," Jasmine bending the door open and asking, "Hey, uh… how much did you hear of what I said, Painted Lady?" The spirit came into her now-brightly lit quarters slowly, Jasmine feeling torn between annoyance and feeling consoled when the Painted Lady said, smiling as she held out a white hand, "Enough. Enough to know there's a Jasmine other than the one that's made sure her camp's 'orderly'." Jasmine smiled when the Painted Lady continued, hearing some noises outside her quarters again, "Keeping things together outside, to better protect those inside these walls. What I want to do - protect people," Jasmine remembering better what they might be up against when the spirit continued, clearly pained, "I'm a long ways from 'home', Jang Hui - mainly because of what Jinora showed me, about those horrible weapons. Death of more than a city - **death of a world**…" Vaguely recalling something about Jinshu Kuangmai wanting nothing to do with the weapons, Jasmine asked as Aye-zul came in, blue fire adding illumination to Wan Shi Tong coming behind him and part of Hei Bai's form outside the door, "Didn't Jinshu Kuangmai say he wanted to rule - not see everything turned to ash…?"

The Painted Lady not looking convinced, she said, "I am not entirely sure what you have seen - I only know the reason I left Jang Hui: to protect it and the rest of the Fire Nation from suddenly no longer existing. People are as ever-changing as water, Jasmine - what someone says today can be gone tomorrow," deferring to her other large spirit ally, Aye-zul looking annoyed to be passed over in favor of Wan Shi Tong. The knowledge spirit let out a low sigh after Jasmine bent the light switch to fully illuminate her quarters, stating, "Indeed - human's habit of changing their minds, or simple duplicity were two of the biggest reasons I made my library inaccessible to mortals until recently. I had many people come to my library for one purpose, leave with something else, most often for war," blue eyes glinting temporarily as he said, "Including those who have the right motivations, even if I did not always understand the reasoning behind them. Perhaps it was just that Sokka got on my last nerve, tricking me and stealing after I told him not to… but that is seventy years past," continuing after coming closer, Jasmine feeling slightly threatened, "But my assistance of a man most foul, Unalaq, is not. He told me plenty of pretty lies as well, for a much darker purpose," Jasmine relaxing again when he continued, "Do not worry, Jasmine - I appear 'angry' because I am feeling you humans call 'consternation'. At the time, I thought no human would manage to trick me again - and Unalaq… he tricked me far worse than with some knot, or stealing something to help defeat an out-of-control human empire." Looking annoyed more than anything, Wan Shi Tong seemingly finished, "He even told me Jinora was wrong about men in tiny boxes. He played to my former arrogance, off my own ignorance of mankind, believing him when he told me he was looking out for spirits and not himself, that humans were repeating past mistakes again. Deserved ten thousand years of darkness when they did not. I 'heard' you pondering why I allowed the Avatar access to those outdated weapons - your allies have already far outstripped them, so I do not see the harm in releasing them." Jasmine was puzzled when he added, knowing what he referred to, wondering what a tuber-vine powered piece of equipment like the Raging Shark Whale had anything to do with her camp, "Or, for that matter, the variable-wing geometry Korra 'stole' earlier for the Raging Shark Whale - a careful metalbender in an aircraft could do far better than any mechanical contraption could. No matter - that is Raava's business, not mine. Though I do not understand… enough of that. Sweeping and adjusting wings, even my library for most of its old and new contents - they have nothing to with the camp."

Wan Shi Tong turned his head to the door, saying as Aye-zul hopped up and down madly, "Enough talking. I can tell you more of Unalaq at some other time - clear up some misconceptions he planted in my mind, and perhaps you or Avatar Korra would find something useful in my babble as well. Knowing you and your punctuality, preference for order, I only have this to say: the day is waiting," Wan Shi Tong hissing lightly in exasperation when Aye-zul said, "Yeah - plenty of metaltossers to rough up, with my buddy Hei Bai!" Jasmine frowned with concern to notice Hei Bai seemed excited from what little she could see of Hei Bai's massive body through the door, not unlike how she had heard Naga might have acted hearing her master say "fight". Pointing at Aye-zul, she said, Wan Shi Tong looking pleased to see she had gotten his drift, "Yes - let's go," saying as she left, thumbing the Gatling gun's blueprint to the top, "Aye-zul - quit asking for a fight. I'm hoping we don't get one. Omashu's better equipped to deal with an attack than us. Hopefully Wuqing's dumb enough to not see that. Anyways - I've got four blueprints here I want to get every one of Jinshu Kuangmai's former scientists looking at. Maybe give that train another personal inspection."

Exiting her quarters, quickly taking in the high, extra-thick, barbed-wire topped metal walls of her camp without any real interest, having seen them many times before now, even the new spirit weapon turrets fashioned from metal using spirit weapons carried from the Train of Death as the "sexually interesting" had taken to calling it, her focus shifted to looking down. Down at the primitive weapon's blueprints in her hands in the strengthening morning light, and knowing it was still miles ahead of anything they'd be facing at first. Jasmine smiled tentatively, grinning broadly as she said, very close to the large group of "sexually interesting" prisoners, "He made a huge mistake. If those scientists are more cooperative than the prisoners, maybe we'll have equipment better than this, rehaul our spirit weaponry if we get synthesis working. The 'normal' prisoners weren't threatened with death, aren't, if our little resistance fails… the 'sexually interesting' have a lot more to lose. The Train of Death… I can't imagine any of those scientists are too pleased with Jinshu Kuangmai." Looking at the blueprints in her hands again, standing still near Hei Bai, Jasmine frowned slightly, saying, "Well… none of this looks non-lethal," no longer frowning as much as she realized, "On a squishy target, that is - and with how many mechasuits you guys - and gal, Painted Lady, sorry - saw being ferried to the front last night, there shouldn't be a single exposed soldier among them." Aye-zul shrugged and asked incredulously, "How's that a good thing, exactly?" as Hei Bai growled lowly for a while, Jasmine not sure why Aye-zul was nodding smugly, even after she said, "Wh - hey! I know a lot of those guys outside our walls - Chin's men! And if the Avatar's right about the barriers, I'd like to keep the killing to a minimum." Aye-zul laughed derisively, saying, "Miss Stinky's crazy - barrier, shmarrier. We have to fight Long Yumao sooner or later anyways. Enough about the Avatar - I'll 'deal' with you first. Jasmine, are you not listening to Hei Bai? Sheesh."

Jasmine shook her head, frowning slightly when Aye-zul laughed derisively again after she said, "No, I can't understand him - and whatever he has to say doesn't change my position! I'll only kill if I really need to, like that spy!" Recollecting himself, Aye-zul said as Hei-Bai stopped "talking" for a while, "If we don't knock these guys out, you humans might not be able to survive the first punch they throw, with this death particle weapon thing I've heard rumors about. Us spirits would be just fine, as long as we avoid the blast, maybe even if we get hit. You squishy humans… wouldn't even be able to stand a good dose of the death particles. Even Wan Shi Tong and the Painted Lady agree with me on that." Neither the Painted Lady nor Wan Shi Tong were nodding in agreement any longer when Aye-zul held out a blue flame, eliciting obvious nodding agreement from Hei Bai when he said, "Forget those metal spirit weapon things - we've got four of the ORIGINAL here! Mad spirits! And we're not the only spirits around either! Just call for Alyssralove's help - go make sure they can't do anything! I say, the best defense's a good offense." Pausing for a moment, Aye-zul said, touching a finger to his chin, "There are a lot of them, though… Going on the attack - maybe not until you get your human friends to make those things you drew. That could just be the hotheaded fire 'talking'," returning to a smug knowing look, saying, "Still think we shouldn't hold back." Looking back at Aye-zul's massive friend, Jasmine was not sure how to read the giant black and white spirit's body language, swearing Hei Bai looked uncomfortable with going all out, Hei Bai "spoke" again, Jasmine smiling slightly to see Aye-zul look a little ashamed.

Then again, she couldn't understand Hei Bai's speech, only its effect on the other nearby spirits… and the great black and white forest spirit did seem to be going on for quite a long time, Jasmine noticing the Painted Lady was not the only one nodding by the end.

Jasmine felt less bizarrely upbeat about the whole thing when Wan Shi Tong translated for Hei Bai, saying, "Jasmine, you would do well to remember who we are fighting… as odd as those words seem, coming out of my beak. Fighting with humans, against other humans - this will take some getting used to, to say the least. It seems to me Raava did not think through the long-term implications of soliciting spirits to fight in human wars… then again, without the Spirit Civil War propagated by a power-hungry spirit who does not care about such trivialities such as morals, I would likely be sitting in my library right now, wondering how a radio works - receiving news from one of my assistants about spirit weapons. One thing hasn't changed about Vaatu, or the people that follow him, though: they sure do not like the truth being told." Re-focusing on an antsy-looking Aye-zul, Wan Shi Tong said, "Oh, quit hopping about! You're as high strung as a toddler on sucrose right now," Aye-zul looking slightly offended when the knowledge spirit continued, "That's sugar, in case you didn't know. Regardless, I do not share the same view as Hei Bai on these men, let alone going the extreme Aye-zul seems to prefer - my first time fighting, I did not kill anyone, let alone toast and shock an entire platoon or two's worth of soldiers to their next life, or the equivalent - mass suffocation. Aye-zul seemed a little too… _eager_ for my tastes." Aye-zul sighing in irritation, Jasmine noticing they were no longer alone, Wan Shi Tong continued, "In case you didn't understand what Hei Bai said, here is a rough translation: 'Bad men came in metal suits to protect metal head soldiers. Who tore up my forest for ore, experimented on the trees near shrine. Because they had heard I live there, in the woods - a forest spirit. Put pieces of wood in funny capsules, decided it wasn't worth fighting me for what they wanted. I won. Different men came back later with small spirit weapon in dead of night. For another job, look for funny yellow rocks. I fought when they started ruining forest for funny yellow rocks - and lost. Those men and women meaner than first group, taunt me as I lay injured. Only reason not red line and purple as well as black now is because Jinora and Kai remind me humans can be good or bad, like her grandfather. Remember him well. Also still smell many of the men and women who came to my forest nearby… no spirit cry for their death. Not even Raava, I think. But think hothead aye-aye spirit partially wrong - try not kill. Not people like in first group. Otherwise, worse than first people who came to my forest, as bad as second 'smelly' group.'"

Jasmine rubbed her eyes in disbelief, hoping Hei Bai would understand her when she asked, "Hei Bai - can you remember anything about those funny yellow rocks? Did they emit bad energy like the stuff you've sensed recently?" The great spirit appeared to mull it over, Jasmine was surprised when it seemed to laugh, sending a gout of blue and white spirit energy skyward as the spirit hit the ground with one of its extra arms so hard Jasmine needed to use earthbending to stay upright. Wan Shi Tong said with relief, "He just remembered what gold ore looks like - that's what they found," saying preemptively, "No, Jasmine, they did not find Korranium there." Asking Hei Bai one last question for now, Jasmine said, "Did they seem happy to find gold?" her stomach sinking when the spirit shook its powerful head, grumbling something that Wan Shi Tong translated as, " 'Bad men and women took out their frustration on me for not find right yellow rock before Jinora and Kai come. Wanted something else - other yellow rock. Took other yellow rock to help find other yellow rock. Not understand how gold help find… Think must be what you call 'Korranium'. Bad name, if rock bad, like men and women.'"

Jasmine sighed, saying, "And they had a small spirit weapon… something Kuvira never used, only Jinshu Kuangmai seeing fit to hand out the prototypes, ramp up production of them. Looks like the Painted Lady's definitely right to be suspicious of Jinshu Kuangmai. Thank you, Hei Bai." The spirit lowered its massive black and white head in what appeared to be a bow, Jasmine asking as she look at the spirit's admittedly light blue but still sharp teeth, "Uhm… would you mind being a panda instead, Hei Bai? I know I've asked you this before, but I'd - "

Interrupting her before she could say, "Appreciate it," the spirit roared, Jasmine able to see his teeth plenty well as he gave her the same strong "white and blue answer" it had before. Jasmine was finally glad to "understand" when Aye-zul said, "No, he's not switching forms! Quit asking that! He's angry at both groups of metaltossers who ruined his forest home, the people they work for, Long Yumao for almost tricking him! Of course he's not going to be cute and cuddly! It's like when a human's face flushes - but a lot more impressive!" Jasmine bent a small rock at Aye-zul, saying, "A flushed face is plenty impressive, intimidating - it just depends on _who's making it_," laughing lightly when he said, "Hey, quit that! You know it's true! And you should be glad I decided to put my fancy new claws away earlier, not asking for more, like some kind of metaltoss - oh. Whoops. _Bad _metaltosser." Laughing slightly at Aye-zul's weak "save", hoping he could properly discern between friend and foe with his weird spirit sight when the time came to fight, Jasmine nodded when Wan Shi Tong pointed out, "Hei Bai's larger form does afford more combat capability, just like my own - and it is what is inside that counts the most anyways. The energy of Raava, and not Vaatu or Long Yumao. Now why don't you see what these other humans want." Jasmine snickered when the person nearest her protested, "Hey - I have a name, you know, Wan Shi Tong!", Wan Shi Tong sighing in irritation, "One which I do not know. Even the humans who managed to trick me over seven decades ago did not recognize me immediately, _despite knowing they were in my library, _and the name of said library. Even their esteemed Professor Zei did not put the pieces together, too busy gawking at architecture."

The man by now biting his fingernails, Jasmine wondering if Aye-zul was right and that they should just try and scare the enemy to surrender or death with spirit power, she asked his name as she handed him the drawings, giving him a glare when he seemed more interested in the blueprints. Wan Shi Tong giving him a slight glare as well, the spirit sighed, "Complaining about names, forgetting it when you get to see some shiny new blueprint - I will _never_ understand humans, even if I do understand which ones are the bad ones," Jasmine bursting into laughter when the man asked without a hint of the irony, "Oh, wow - where did you get this thing, Jasmine?!". Wan Shi Tong now had both wingtips over his face, asking seemingly no one, "Why must you humans ask _so many questions_?", adding with wings back down, as he stared at the nervous scientist, "My library, for what it's worth, whoever you are - though not a section you can just stroll into, should you manage to meditate into its Spirit World home in the first place. Even the Avatar is not completely free to browse those sections as she chooses."

Still looking nervous the man said, "Ooookay - still not used to talking with spirits," gulping slightly when Aye-zul asked, "What are you used to doing with spirits - putting their home in a capsule and using it for war?" Jasmine groaned, saying hotly as the man made to slink away, "Sorry for my spirit ally's conduct. Uhuh- no you don't. Get back here - don't you want to help beat off the people we both used to work for?" The man nodded, saying, "Yes - the name's Fai," Jasmine saying, "Good, Fai. I've got a few other things for you to look at before you go. Just give me a second… AYE-ZUL! Quit being crotchety. Fai is on our side, idiot," wondering if Aye-zul needed to burn off some steam or _something _when he retorted, "He's got a fancy suit on, didn't run away when Jinshu Kuangmai took over - and for that matter, same for you! Still wearing that armor too!"

Hei Bai turned to face Aye-zul, the smaller spirit shrinking back as Hei Bai opened his mouth, Aye-zul saying, "Alright, alright, yeesh! I'll calm down," adding not a second later, "Though, I do feel like I need to do _something_! Preferably bending!" Jasmine smiled slightly, asking both Hei Bai and Aye-zul, stepping closer to Hei Bai and noticing she felt safe and not intmidated, "Do you know how to make the 'put-put cart' - or do you need the blueprint?" Both spirits nodding, Jasmine realizing she hadn't had her question answered, she leaned her hand against Hei Bai's closest large white limb and its odd blue badgermole-like claws. Looking at Hei Bai's white "hand", knowing enough about spirits even before recently to know his hands had shifted in shape to hold the new claws much like a dog's paw might, Jasmine saw something she hadn't before. Up close, Jasmine now noticed they had metallic edges. A certain metallic sheen, closer to images she'd seen of Alyssralove's claws secondhand than any badgermole. More than just a sheen…

They must have been pure metal. Just like her own weapons... except it looked alive.

Jasmine remembered aloud as she looked at her hand, extruding her armblade briefly, noticing a bit of blood still there, "Metalheart - bad all the time, but not always a bad thing. It can help you make tough decisions… Maybe I'm being a little harsh on you and Aye-zul, Hei Bai - I did kill a man not too long ago with my armblade, after all, and with less thought than what you had, based on the Painted Lady told me later… I just lopped that spying elephant rat's head off automatically. You had _some _hesitation - not much, but some." Noticing that the blue diamond on Hei Bai's forehead was pulsing oddly, feeling strange herself, she gave Aye-zul a glare upon seeing his smug look, the spirit saying, "Maybe you won't be annoyed if I 'automatically' zap some people later then, miss high and mighty human?", she said, "Haha - very funny. You've got a direct link to Raava herself, and some primitive ability to judge people from afar on top of that - all I've got is my own judgement, so wipe that look off your face." Aye-zul predictably not doing so, Jasmine wondering just what in the hell Avatar Wan and Korra had to do to gain his implicit trust before this, she said tersely, "Enough. Now, before - which one were you nodding to? Yes, you need the blueprint, or yes, you already know?"

After a slight pause, finally noticing a sensation not unlike that she experienced when the Avatar was infobending coursing through her in reverse, Hei Bai grumbled something that for all the world sounded like a bear trying to say, "See". Jasmine confused, the earth beneath her feet began move slightly. Jasmine jumped back, noticing Hei Bai was moving his smaller arms, a small-scale model of a _Varrick gun _made out of earth now in front of her. Rubbing her forehead, saying, "The 'hell' - don't recall being able to infobend," Jasmine was still puzzled as Fai looked over all this when the Painted Lady said, "That's not infobending - something relatively new. Jinora did it to me recently… seems like you're more advanced than you give yourself credit for." As Hei Bai bent a representation of another out-of-reach weapon, appearing fascinated by his handiwork in re-creating the Avatar's personal bladed weapons, Jasmine knowing there was no way they could ever produce spirit wire without tuber-vines, the Painted Lady explained, "Jinora transmitted a vision of Earth's destruction via touch a few days ago. She said her grandfather once did something similar with Hei Bai, despite not having learned energybending at that time to my knowledge," Jasmine feeling conflicted when the Painted Lady insisted, "From what I've gathered, only someone who's fairly enlightened can do that."

Looking down at her chest, seeing the metal drop of blood she still hadn't gotten around to bending off, Jasmine did so with disgust, saying as she held it up, twisting and warping the red metal, "Look at this thing I just took off my chest - symbol of evil. And I worked for the old Earth Empire for a long time - just like Fai and the rest of these 'special' prisoners. Jinora helped save the world - all I did was mole work, still _technically _helping the Earth Empire," nodding when Fai finally spoke, saying, "Even if Jasmine did do more than I did, risking her neck for people like me… the only time I questioned what was going on was when I was outed by Jinshu Kuangmai… we both still worked for the Earth Empire. And knowing my work helped the old Kuvira and her replacement… I don't feel _proud_ of myself. Even Jasmine - basically saying she's as advanced as Jinora, someone whose family my old old boss almost killed, that Colossus… How can you say that?" The Painted Lady giving her a look that made Jasmine feel like she was a foolish child, the spirit said, "Perhaps you will need to see this on your own time and your own," Fai looking similarly small when the Painted Lady told him, "Focus on protecting what you've got right now, your fellow prisoners, the camp - not what past misguided or evil boss you helped protect before now."

Fai nodding, Jasmine noticing both Aye-zul and Hei Bai looked ready to act, she smiled slightly when the Painted Lady asserted, "I used to be human, just like Iroh. They don't immortalize just anyone, you know," Jasmine responding, "Let's see what the day has in store for us. Aye-zul, Hei Bai - go try and make a put-put cart and Meesile cart for testing." Aye-zul holding out a hand, at first not sure why, Jasmine extended her hand when he said, "C'mon - I need the plan too!"

Touching the spirit's long fingers, thinking about nothing and everything at once seemingly, feeling a similar information transfer take place, Jasmine's face flushed when Aye-zul laughed slightly, saying incredulously, "Wait a minute - his girlfriend almost kills him with a huge spirit weapon, he turns on her, and he's worried about that?!" Jasmine blushed deeply when Aye-zul snorted, "Love to see you two whining with each other," saying in an even higher mocking voice, "'Oh, I let the Avatar know how to beat Kuvira's Colossus, got through my mom leaving me in a box like an animal when I didn't want to give my very ex-girlfriend hugs and kisses, and I still have something to prove!", continuing in a voice that sounded somewhat like her own, " 'Oh, I let the Avatar know about a miniature genocide that was going to take place, risked my life to take a stand against Jinshu Kuangmai without knowing I'd get spirit help before-hand, but I helped the Earth Empire, so that doesn't count!' You humans are baffling." Still fuming, Jasmine stating coolly, "You'd understand if you were human," adding pre-emptively when the Painted Lady looked like she was going to say something, "_And _experienced the same things as I have." She was relieved when Aye-zul said with a final air, "Yeah, I got what I needed - and a _bit_ more, if you didn't notice. I'll try to keep my yap shut - for now. Just give me and Hei Bai some metal to work with," chuckling slightly when Aye-zul looked exasperated when Jasmine pointed at the "Train of Death" that was at the other end of the camp.

Aye-zul smiling and saying, "Even if I can't metalbend… Love to tear that thing apart some more as best I can," his own teeth showing afterwards as he jetted off, Hei Bai apparently picked up on the implicit command, the massive spirit leaping over the other two spirits and the crowd of "sexually interesting" prisoners that had gathered towards the train's direction. Jasmine turned to face the Train of Death, noticing the large red blood drop in the center of Jinshu Kuangmai's new Earth Empire symbol on the lead car's warped and diminished side, she said, "Come on, Fai - bring whatever friends of yours can bend, or want to see what I've got for you. We can talk while we work, tearing into that train again." Walking off after Fai nodded, not waiting to see what if anything he was going to do, Jasmine took another good look at the train's front, saying with a smile, "And I know just what piece of metal I'm removing first."

Laughing slightly when she heard Fai's voice say, "No - I want to remove the drop of blood!", Jasmine jokingly said, "I'm calling rank," swearing she heard Wan Shi Tong sigh in the distance when Fai said, "Yes, Ma'am!" Walking faster, not having expected a response from anyone but Fai, Jasmine heard a woman say, "That red drop - you've got competition. I want to crumple it up real good." As she approached the walled-off train and the bent-in stairs that led to the train's resting place outside the camp's thick walls, Jasmine said as she realized something, "We better make this quick, bend the train away from the walls after, or we've got what amounts to a ramp leading in here." Hearing the same voice respond, "Yeah - had thought of that, and I've got every reason in the world to want these walls to not be compromised," Fai saying, "Same here," Jasmine stopped and gave the woman a quick look as she prepared to launch herself at the train with bending, saying quickly, "Stop - I'll catapult all three of us there. What was your name, again?"

Stopping, Jasmine noticing she had a stained white unisex coat just like Fai had on, the woman said after adjusting her brown glasses, "I overheard a lot of what you were saying around Fai earlier," sighing as a lone tear formed in the corner of one of her sad green eyes, "Until Jinshu Kuangmai had his 'fun' after the conference, just like Fai, I was going along with what was happening. We both were even present for the Spirit Weapon's first test, worked closely with Baatar Jr…" Having gotten so much personal information about Baatar Jr. from Raava, Jasmine felt like she needed to say _something _when the woman asked, Fai looking concerned as she spoke more, "Sort of like Baatar Jr. in that way, I guess - forced to listen. Him, when Kuvira fired on him, us, when… well, you know. Last I heard of Baatar Jr., he had finally listened to his conscience, sounded just fine. What's this I heard from that firebender spirit about him being locked up in a box?" Sighing deeply, the woman finally saying, "Name's Maylin, by the way," Jasmine was not sure if she'd rather talk about Baatar Jr.'s special program or what those morons did with him and the box. Jasmine sighed, abandoning the idea of catapulting, "The only people on the same page as I am earlier were President Raiko and Yangchen… And given what Suyin did to Baatar Jr., I half wonder if all the old propaganda about Suyin was true." Maylin giving her an odd look, Jasmine said as they approached the earthen staircase, "Let's just say even though I'm fighting against the Earth Empire now, I wish my new allies would display some of the same sense Kuvira, hell, even Jinshu Kuangmai did."

Getting an odd blank look from Fai that quickly turned to anger, something closer to murderous from Maylin, anger plenty visible behind her frumpish glasses in glinting jade eyes, Jasmine backtracked, saying as she covered her face, "Sorry. Didn't think - sentencing top scientists to death just because of who they want to bone makes no sense. Not to mention, evil…", glad to see Maylin smiling again after Jasmine said, "Not that evil ever makes sense." Nodding, making Jasmine laugh when he asked, "You'll have to tell me more about this… 'herr', no, 'hell' place - never heard of an underworld, just the Fog of Lost Souls," Fai mentioned something Jasmine didn't know about, slightly incredulous at first, "We're not the only top scientists top get caught in the dragnet. The two guys, a couple, were behind making Varrick's… initially ridiculous and sometimes hilarious mechasuit designs a reality. They even managed to make the chainsaws work like Varrick wanted, designed soldier's armor - including Kuvira's. They got 'busted' too." Blushing slightly, Fai said, rubbing his military haircut as his green eyes darted back and forth, "I… won't say _how _busted, even if… let's just say, once you got to know them they'd likely tell you how without blushing at all. Probably laugh about it."

Jasmine laughed slightly, able to put the pieces together, thinking, "Surprised Jinshu Kuangmai didn't just execute them there and then," as they approached the top of the wall separating them from the cordoned-off train. Examining the handiwork that she had wanted to oversee instead of attend the Avatar's meeting, though she was glad in the end she had "forced" herself back to sleep, still plenty tired as is, Jasmine was pleased to see that seven of the ten spirit weapons she had salvaged from the train's contents had been fitted into turrets on the impromptu earthen wall. Someone had even commissioned adding on a sheath of metal to the wall as well as tweaking the spirit cannon turrets slightly, the new design looking like it had a wider arc of fire. Jasmine curious as to who had done this, she pointed out, "Don't remember asking for metal sheathing and barbed wire on top." She smiled when Maylin said proudly, "Me, Fai, Aiqing, and Maxiu were behind it. The couple we mentioned. We were the ones who helped Jinshu Kuangmai with the miniaturization prototypes of the spirit weapons and helped Baatar Jr. with the original, and they helped Baatar Jr. design _all _the Earth Empire's walls and defenses, pulling from classical Earth Kingdom design some. Both of us like to tinker with stuff as a hobby, let alone a job - Aiqing and Maxiu are into 'classic' weapons and armor, and with mechasuits, their hobbies are sort of relevant." Approving, knowing the other two's hobby of classical weapons might come in handy should they get out and back to either Omashu or Republic City, Jasmine said, Fai and Maylin blushing at first, "Sounds like you are all pretty overqualified for working with what I've got for you then. I might even have work for them with 'classic' weapons. Once we're done here, I want to talk to Aiqing and Maxiu. We've only got a relative handful of mechasuits - if they can do for them with your help what you did with the wall, we'll be in much better shape."

Pointing at the train, seeing two familiar allies already at work on it, Hei Bai and Aye-zul still having no luck penetrating a few cars Jasmine suspected were coated in platinum, Jasmine said, "They're trying those cars again," noticing other parts of the train's carcass warping as she said, "Looks like they're not the only ones doing something. Let's get to work - maybe I can tell you more about Baatar Jr. then, since you seemed interested." Spotting two men working side by side under the watch of a third, Jasmine recognizing the third vaguely, she said, "There - them. Let's go help them," smiling when Maylin said, "Hey - look, Fai! That's Aiqing and Maxiu!", missing something from Fai as she finally placed who the third man was as she got closer, Jasmine saying, "Hey - that's the train's conductor!"

Looking up at the massive train, able to see plenty of evidence of the previous night's fight, Jasmine said as she bent off the train's red blood drop from the center of the Earth Empire symbol, "Hey, conductor - never got your name. What was it, again? And what do you have Aiqing and Maxiu working on?" Setting down the red metal nearby, not sure what she'd do with it, Jasmine listened as the man responded, trying along with Fai and Maylin to rip off the train's battered and slightly scorched large front metal point, "My name is Fudan, 'Chief Containment Officer' Jasmine," Jasmine so distracted by this odd title usage she stopped being. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "I thought people weren't supposed to call me that!", Fudan smiling and responding, "Technically, yes - but from what I've gathered, you want to keep these walls up still. A container can be to keep people in - or others out…"

Jasmine shook her head, saying, "Might be clever and true - but I don't want to be called that," Fudan saying, "Fine - thought I'd try and bring a little humor in. I'd heard rumors about your camp - a nice but serious place. Guess even if you are working for the Avatar you're still boss," Jasmine glad when he finally explained, "Earlier, while you were asleep, I was looking through the train's cabin, before people started taking it apart. Found a manifest of some sort when one of the 'rebels' bent open a combination lock in the cabin for me." Holding up a piece of paper, Jasmine noticing it had something threaded to it with a small piece of metal, Fudan said, "There was some sort of unofficial add-on the guy who got this for me said he didn't remember. Jasmine - have any idea who might want to give Chin a gift, and what it might be?"

Thinking for a moment, Jasmine's eyes widened, saying, "No - have no clue who'd be giving him a gift. But I have a pretty good idea what it might be. Here - give me that, please." Fudan nodded, saying as he unthreaded the metal holding the two sheets of paper together, "There was another unbendable box in the train's conductor station. Nobody knew the contents or combination. Seems like there's something Jinshu Kuangmai didn't want finding on this train." Jasmine nodded, yelling, "HEI BAI! AYE-ZUL! Don't bother trying to bend that metal - I'm pretty sure it's platinum !", laughing in a mix of annoyance and bitterness when Aye-zul shouted from the train's other side, "No! I need to get my anger out on something - Raava's my boss, not you!" Turning her attention back to Fudan, Jasmine sighed, "Maybe that's just the way the 'good guys' do things - insubordination and sass talk, not listening to common sense because _feelings_." Fudan shrugged, saying, "Who knows - and both Kuvira and Jinshu Kuangmai made plenty of worse decisions based off feelings," still insisting, "Forget mouthy spirits and the past. The other two spirits seem more willing to take 'orders' anyways from what I've seen -maybe those two will come around. Take a look at what I gave you - see if you know what is going on."

Inspecting the list in the early morning light, at first Jasmine didn't notice anything odd, reading, "Chin gets what he asks for - even if his boss doesn't know about it," pursing her lips before reading, "One of my kids is in your battalion - I hope this will help make sure nothing bad happens to him. I got the replacement mechasuit parts you requested." Feeling a bit guilty, knowing full well this mother or father's child might be going up against them soon, likely against equipment repaired with stuff meant for the unnamed child and his or her compatriots, Jasmine rattled off the list. Done, she commented, "Hmm… fuel supplies, spare parts, food, blankets, water, all that kind of basic stuff - sounds like a car we sifted through a while back. Or rather, Hei Bai tore open for us. We already gave that stuff up to the prisoners." Jasmine wondering if she'd find anything of real value as she scanned on down the list, she read, "I don't know much, but I hear you're working on something that needs funny supplies. The other higher ranking guy I talked to in supply parted with this stuff a lot easier than what's… in the second and third car?"

Now intrigued, taking note of which car the letter was talking about, Jasmine read, smiling broader and broader, "I got you some yellow stuff that they say comes from volcanoes - I heard through my son you needed 'sulfur' to make him and his platoon something to help them out. If the guy I talked to came through, Car 9 should be filled with that, plus the other funny stuff - charcoal and saltpeter." Reading the rest, saying, "Car 10 should have - ", stopping she was so happy at her stroke of luck, Jasmine forgot herself, fist-pumping into the air and saying, "YES!" loud enough for people on the other side of the train to hear her. Jasmine grumbled slightly when she heard Aye-zul snark from the other side, "Haven't heard you yell like _that _before. It's almost like you're not super serious! You becoming more like Miss Stinky or something? More 'human-y'?"

Normally, Jasmine would be tempted to go knock Aye-zul a peg down or two with a few pebbles to the face, too happy to do so, glad nonetheless to hear a familiar roar followed by the aye-aye spirit saying, "Okay, okay, Hei Bai! You don't have to curse. Sheesh."

Looking at the list again, she read the best part out loud, saying, "Car 10 should have some really weird stuff in it. My son Hanxu says you need **mover acid **for something, to prove to your boss that your idea has merit. The stuff that should be in Car 8 and 9 was hard enough to get. He wouldn't give it to you outright," beginning to laugh when she read, Fudan looking baffled, " This sounds like Jinshu Kuangmai's priorities. 'But the mover acid was much harder to get lined up to be snuck on. Jinshu Kuangmai wanted to use it in Omashu to start producing propaganda against Kuvira and the Avatar. I'll just say this - I won't be around when he finds out, though I have every confidence in Chin that he'll show he has a much better use for it.' What a vain idiot."

Fudan still looking baffled, Jasmine wondering what kind of guts this Hanxu's parent had to go behind Jinshu Kuangmai's back like this, noticing that Fai, Maylin, Aiqing and Maxiu were also staring at her, she said, "Let's go open Cars 9 and 10 - I'll explain why mover acid's such good news on the way there," explaining "fire-earth" in more detail on their way over from what she knew from Chin himself and what the Avatar had told her. About to begin explaining the use of mover-acid and why the other powder wasn't what they needed, she noticed Fai and Maylin were both nodding by the time she finished, Maylin saying, "That all seems familiar. I think I remember a bit more now - the, well, mover acid helps make the same crunchy 'go boom' stuff that was in Varrick's older mover films. Until you told us about the Avatar and her allies buying into this stuff, we had just discounted 'fire-earth'. Our job is spirit energy related everything, not Chin's pet project."

Looking down at the ground, Maylin said, "Or rather, was our job, before…", Jasmine interrupting as she started opening Car 9, "It still is your job - just you're not working for any confused abandoned 'orphans' anymore." Jasmine's eyes widening slightly when she heard Fai point out, "Only confused orphan I ever worked for was Kuvira," she was glad when one of the two gay couple came to her "rescue", not sure if it was Aiqing or Maxiu who said in a deep voice, "Whatever, Fai - need more than just this car's contents right now. Need the metal itself too. Let's do _our job _so we don't fall back into Earth Empire hands." Fai nodded, saying, "Okay - just not sure what myself and Maylin can do other than bend, Maxiu. You guys took more interest in fire-earth than we did," what must have been Maxiu saying as the glassless metal portion of Car 9 warped, "Well, part of this involves spirit vines, and you know from working with Varrick after the first accident they can be… volatile. Don't want to have anything other than Aiqing explo - " Jasmine laughed lightly when Fai interrupted, "Hey!", noticing he was blushing slightly when Maxiu quipped, "You're just jealous," as he bent down a large slab of metal, Fai saying, "Maybe. Whatever. Let's work!"

Jasmine noticing a large piece of metal ripping off the upper portion of the car and quickly suspended the scattered glass remains of the windows in the air, wondering if Aye-zul would be willing to be productive and melt the glass down instead of attacking platinum, she paused for a moment, curious about something else. Following the slab of steel out of curiosity as it morphed slightly, assuming the rough shape of an outsized "classic" Earth Empire symbol, what must have been Aiqing saying, "Our uniforms, mechasuits, everything except the 'new' stuff - it's got Jinshu Kuangmai's version of this on there," realizing he was talking directly to her when he asked, idly messing with his decidedly not military haircut, "Jasmine - how are we going to tell the difference between friend and foe when we're fighting?"

Not needing long for a response, Jasmine said as she lowered the glass shards back down to earth, trying her own hand at re-joining the pieces back together and succeeding, "Well, our spirit allies can judge that sort of thing from a distance - blue, 'good', red, 'bad'. It worked fine enough initially." Aiqing laughed slightly, no longer messing with his longer brown hair as he said, "Silly, I'm not worried about the spirits - I overheard a little of that when they first appeared! It's the people I'm worried about." Mulling it over for a little bit, Jasmine looked down at her metal-clad chest, smiling slightly as she pointed at what _wasn't _there, saying, "We'll just take that stupid, sickening drop of blood off everything. Red's pretty obvious," feeling a little exasperated when Aiqing pointed out, "Uh - not everyone was 'fancy' enough to get that suit of armor you've got on there, and the Private and Corporal's mechasuits don't have that on them."

Sighing, Jasmine was glad to hear Maylin point out from behind, "Given we're inside large walls, and they're outside… I think it will be plenty obvious who's friendly and not. The whole 'trying to tear down the walls' thing," Jasmine pointing out after a moment, Well… those walls are made of metal, concrete," continuing anyways despite everyone around her looking disturbed and Maxiu slapping himself in the forehead, "Given we're fighting against a whole ton of earthbenders and only slightly less metalbenders, to me, it's not an if the walls fall - it's a when. Before that time, I want something to distinguish friendlies." Maxiu sighed, saying as he put an arm around Aiqing, "She's right, as much as I hate to admit it. We helped Baatar Jr. design those walls, after all," bringing Aiqing a little closer as he finished, "I guess we'll just have to use good judgement, hope it's as good as what those spirits have. Let's get this stuff out of here - maybe someone will think of a more concrete symbol for us to wear."

Jasmine making short but hard work of getting the car's contents out with help once Fudan pointed out where some odd metal offloading ramps were located on the car, she caught her breath for a moment, whistling loudly and yelling, "Hei Bai, Aye-zul! See if you can get this stuff back inside!" After a slight pause, Jasmine's eyes widening in terror at first to see Aye-zul jetting over the remnants of Car 10's top, not knowing if what they had was flammable, nothing bad happened even when he accidentally heated one of the mover acid barrels, Jasmine groaning slightly when he asked indignantly, "What, are we just beasts of burden to you?"

Not feeling like putting up with any guff, she tersely said, "No - as far as I know, spirits can't get tired, but as you can see, humans can," covering her face in frustration when he snickered, laughing, "Ahah-ahah! Guess that not being serious earlier was a fluke. I was kidding, Miss… Serious! That's it. Though you do sort of smell - but Miss Stinky. That's the Avatar's name, not yours," Jasmine grumbling, "Call me by anything but my name, I'll tell everyone in this camp to call you Long Fingers the Annoying. Got it?" When Aye-zul shrugged, saying, "I don't care," Jasmine sighed, "I guess you wouldn't. I think you're just you - Raava wasn't this ridiculous." Feeling the earth shake and someone else joining them, Jasmine turned to what she could only assume was Hei Bai, noticing with a frown he had nearly landed on top of a mover acid barrel. Wondering just how the massive spirit had gotten over to their side, she looked up, noticing one of the turrets looked knocked out of place slightly, saying tersely as she tried to fix it, "Hey - Hei Bai, watch what you're doing! Almost landed on a barrel of acid, knocked a turret out of place…"

The great black and white spirit looking sort of sad, realizing she had just taken her annoyance with Aye-zul out on the gentle giant, Jasmine apologized, telling Aye-zul after, "Knock it off. I'm going to be very busy soon, _hopefully _using this stuff in testing those two weapons I wanted you and your friend to make…" Stopping, noticing the spirit looked a bit koala-sheepish, initially feeling like she wanted to lay into him, she refrained when she saw his odd tooth necklace pulse blue and white for a brief time, gabberflasted when he bowed when it stopped glowing, saying, "My apologies, Jasmine. Raava just told me _very clearly _to work with you as I would Avatar Korra." Aye-zul still smirked slightly, saying, "Can't guarantee no snarking at all, or no use of 'Miss Serious'," Jasmine finding herself caring less about this and more when he said, "I wasted my time and Hei Bai's trying to bust through that platinum on the two cars behind this one - after this, we will get your boom things made once you get this inside with Hei Bai."

Glad to have the spirit's somewhat respect finally, Jasmine helped get the large haul inside, saying after getting the most important items in first, "Hei Bai - bend an earth tent over the mover acid," demonstrating over a single barrel when the large spirit gave her a confused look.

Hei Bai imitating her, quickly covering each _individual _barrel of mover acid with its own personal tent, she remembered something that had happened earlier, thinking as she nodded, "Hope this works again, that the first time wasn't a fluke," hoping she didn't come across as annoyed when she said, "Hei Bai - just come here, please. I need to show you something."

The spirit obeying eagerly, Jasmine put her hand against his own, intending to just think of and transfer proper earthbending terminology to Hei Bai at first, ending up thinking about human nature as well instead, hoping it might help the spirit understand what and who he was fighting for and forgive people's slipups like her own earlier.

Thinking, "I wish everyone was as motivated as you are, willing to fight," and removing her hand, noticing there were now a few blue lines on Hei Bai's massive arms, the lines having a vaguely familiar shape, swearing she saw a white and blue yin yang symbol on his shoulders as he kneeled down, Hei Bai surprised her by temporarily shifting to his more friendly form. The forest spirit giving her a big bear lick, Jasmine laughed, "Hey, stop that!", laughing harder when the panda spirit obeyed, sitting on its haunches confusedly.

Hei Bai looking towards the other end of the camp, gazing as if he noticed something, Jasmine was curious when he got up, wandering over towards where she knew the bending "prisoners" were. At first deciding to fix Hei Bai's "mess" with the excessive earth tents, Jasmine was a little creeped out when the spirit turned to face her literally just before she did so, getting the sense the spirit… wanted her to come as it walked off?

Looking around quickly, noticing there were others nearby aside from just Fai, Maylin, Maxiu or Aiqing, Jasmine only feeling more creeped out when Fai said from behind her, "Jasmine - do you want me to follow that weird… urge to go with Hei Bai, or stay here?" Pausing for a moment, still looking at Fai, Jasmine said, "Stay here, add to his job and get these barrels covered, start the process for making smokeless Lipowder and regular Lipowder. We'll be using both, _if _it comes to that. I'll explain more later. I'm going with him - and then radioing Yangchen. This find is big news." Maylin nodded, saying, "Sure thing - we'll want to get some more of those fascinating transformed vines near here, though. Both Fai and myself watched what your spirit friends were doing - a while before you came over, when we weren't able to sleep, and we came up with some theories about spirit vines and their energy that we want to test."

Remembering the last time a by now very former Earth Empire scientist tested theories to do with spirit vines and that the result had been catastrophic, even Jasmine as Chief Containment Officer hearing about the test gone wrong soon after, she said, "Just try and be more careful than Varrick was at first," intrigued when Fai smiled, saying confidently, "There is one thing we're very sure of, after watching the transformation process - these 'new' spirit vines are a lot more stable than their predecessors." Jasmine wanting some proof and saying as much, her eyes flared in anger - though not at Maylin - when Maylin laughed, saying, "You weren't awake at the time, but… let's just say Aye-zul helped with that burden of proof. Accidentally hit a bunch of them that were hooked up to a spirit weapon being fitted to its turret with a lightning bolt while messing around with some hotheaded young firebender - and given we're still here, they obviously didn't explode."

Feeling tempted to go track down Aye-zul and yell at him to be more careful as she had with Hei Bai, she shook her head, thinking, "Respect is a two-way street," saying, "Good luck with the Lipowder - I'm going to go see what Hei Bai ambled off to do," realizing as she walked away that she never had talked to Yangchen about her find, or Fai and Maylin about what happened to Baatar Jr…

Making her way over towards the bending prisoners, she noticed she wasn't the only one to come to investigate whatever Hei Bai was doing, only knowing two - or rather, four - of the fellow "investigator's" names. Getting Sura's attention, not sure if she was holding the newborn Sokka or Katara, Jasmine reminded herself to not make any mention of another piece of information she wished Raava had never given her before speaking. Wondering why Raava had seen fit to let her know about Sura's children's past lives and not mentioned anything about Yangchen's baby, not sure what could be worse than, well, "Amon", Jasmine said, "Hey, Sura - I got up a while ago. I was going to radio Yangchen about something I found on the train after I see what Hei Bai's doing over here." Sura holding out her baby for a moment, saying, "I was just going to see a friend of mine - see if I can get her to talk to me again…", Jasmine had not a clue what problem someone had with Sura, turning to face a vaguely familiar man who said, producing a flame as he stopped, "I don't see why you're bothering. Blaming the Spirit Civil War on the 'sexually interesting', not talking to you when I mentioned my other daughter, Lumang… shameful. I do not see what you hope to do. Like so many of the waterbenders, your friend Ogawa did not fight at Garzai when Kuvira broke our walls two years ago, and now she has an excuse other than cowardice to not fight. Prejudice…"

Jasmine still not placing the man, Sura stopped for a moment, saying, "Hey - keep in mind I didn't fight until last night either, even with my talent…! And it's worth a try - and I don't want her to fight, just… talk again. I'm not going to make excuses for her opinions, but… Aside from my husband, and I guess you too Jasmine… Ogawa's one of the few people I know here well. Not everyone in here was from your old home, Gurinto," adding delicately, "From what you told me after I saved your youngest daughter Hihasu last night… there weren't that many people left there to begin with." Jasmine surprised to see the man's flame flare momentarily, she frowned slightly when he said, only vaguely remembering someplace called "Garzai" as he spoke, "Garzai was once second in population to Yu Dao - and after lily-livers fleeing over the years, it is a wonder we were able to put up any resistance at all," seemingly reminding himself with a shake of his head, "I may have been 'mayor'… but I had the hand I was dealt. It is not my fault cowards and scared souls left over the years. Even in Avatar Aang's time. With everyone who left, maybe we could have stopped Kuvira!"

Looking this Gurinto man straight in the eye, noticing a young girl agreeing with him silently as someone who looked like her mother shook her head, Jasmine stated blandly, "I do not know of the details of 'Garzai', but I will say this - a good general knows when to retreat. Only a fool fights all the time. For all intents and purposes, I **am **your general until we have gotten out of the Earth Empire. Raava has told one of her spirits to better obey me - I hope you will show the same sense, not insist on fighting to a hero's death at the walls when everyone else is leaving," stressing, "I am a realist - one who knows more about Earth Empire affairs than you do. Even if I'm not on their side anymore, I still see the Earth Empire's initial defeat as a miracle, from what I have seen of the workings of the other side. Even ignoring organizational and commitment issues… I have talked to the Avatar, seen what she has seen - even she was hard pressed fighting against the Colossus. By two years ago, as I recall, the first mechasuit production models were coming off our lines in Ba Sing Se, my camp receiving the prototype dregs at first. With all due respect, unless you had a whole division's worth of seriously good fighters in your town, it would not have been long before it fell, you joined me in this camp. And the odds are similarly stacked against us here, so close to Zaofu, that rail cannon of unknown capability - and every word I say to you only makes defeat more likely. Talking is time," adding as she pointed to the morning sun, "The sun's a little higher than before. Right now, time is not on our side. Time is life."

Able to see she hadn't gotten through to him totally, Jasmine said as she started walking again, "Enough - I will not be delaying our eventual departure from this camp for headstrong fools. Misplaced pride and honor in fighting to the death, when you could be alive elsewhere - foolishness. Retreating - that's exactly what Yangchen and myself would like to do." Seeing the daughter looked more accepting than her father Gurinto, Jasmine nodded in agreement when the woman piled on politely, "Honey, listen to her," continuing as he looked down at his own footsteps, "We tried our best, but lost. That fight is over - and hopefully so will this one shortly enough, finally in the United Republic both of our parents and grandparents wanted to be a part of. We have Jasmine to thank for our stay here over the past two years being as tolerable as it **was. **A stay I want to end. Running away is not always bad." Gurinto sighed, saying, "I'm acting more like our other daughter, Lumang - you're right, Jiedi," garnering a supportive tap on the shoulder from Sura and Amaguq when he said, crying a little, "I hope she didn't really join the Earth Empire army like she said she was."

Closer to Hei Bai, seeing with a quick glance he appeared to be waiting, sitting down on the ground, Jasmine thought for a minute, saying, "Wait a minute - you said there was something 'special' about your other daughter, I think. Where exactly was Garzai?" Stopping in his tracks momentarily, Jasmine tapping her wrist and looking in the sun's direction, he started walking again, Gurinto saying, "North of Omashu, on a peninsula, close to the sea, but not right next to it. Just like Yu Dao. And she's just like Asami Sato, from what you've told us about her in bits and pieces - not interested in men. Why?" Thinking of what province that likely was, how the Earth Empire division, regiment, company, battalion, platoon system worked, Jasmine said confidently, "That would be in the Zhansheng Huo province. As Kuvira re-named it from the original Hu Xin after 're-uniting' it from your control, 'Victory Over Fire'. Huh - you're a firebender, probably descendant of Fire Nation colonists… guess that's the reason for the new name. Anyways - I have good news. Unless she joined another province's regiment, which is very rare, given she is not in this camp, and that was one of the first regiments Jinshu Kuangmai 'interrogated', for more than just the sexually interesting, **your other daughter Lumang never enlisted in the Earth Empire army. **I think I would have noticed a 'sexually interesting' earthbender prisoner as… passionate as your family is. Probably would have talked to me already." The family beaming, she continued anyways, "The only battalions based in or drawing from the western regions Jinshu Kuangmai never got around to purging were those under Wuqing and Chin. Good thing he didn't do his human lie detector there, or in Omashu itself…" Jasmine wondered to no one but herself as she stopped near Hei Bai's furry side, glad to see the family relieved-looking, "Alyssralove only saw one battalion under Wuqing near here last night, based on their headgear, Chin's men not having an elite's helmet… Wonder where Wuqing's other two battalions went - haven't heard hide nor hair from them in a while."

Hearing Hei Bai growl lowly, Jasmine wasn't sure why she felt tangible dread attached to her question now, Hei Bai grumbling lowly and non-threateningly when she shook her head, saying, "One thing at a time - and even if I know Wuqing to be hot-headed, I wouldn't be surprised if he was with Jinshu Kuangmai right now, getting elites fitted for battle…" Seeing a few people she recognized as camp guards nodding in the foreground, feeling better when one said, "Must be - can't imagine what would cause Jinshu Kuangmai to rely on _Chin _over him. Chin's probably too 'soft' for that madman," the woman looking a little ashamed when Gurinto asked hotly, "If you thought that of him, then why in the blazes did you stay past the first day post Great Uniter? Jasmine's mentioned some sort of revolt before this one in Ba Sing Se."

Jasmine getting ready to chastise Gurinto, partly out of empathy for the hapless turncoat guard and partly out of knowing what the surly firebender said could just have easily been directed at her, she smiled slightly after Sura said tersely, "Enough with the bitterness - it's not helping anything." Gurinto still looking a bit angry, pointing out, "That guard's not the only one at 'fault'. We could have taken the whole camp with your skill, Sura - you were just too afraid to use it before," Sura's face now shadowed by guilt, saying half heartedly, "But - I did save your daughter." About to lash into Gurinto, Jasmine laughed after Hei Bai shifted temporarily, giving Gurinto a light show that dwarfed any she had received before. Gurinto looking meek, for now, Jasmine getting the sense he wouldn't be making snappy comments from a now placid panda Hei Bai, she asked the spirit, "Enough about that. What did you come over here to do?"

Hei Bai managing to grumble out, "See," once more, Jasmine stood back and watched as the forest spirit stamped his black front paws on the ground a few times, getting the impression he was going to try and tell a story of some sort to the bending prisoners in front of him. After a final stomp, getting the impression Hei Bai was done and about to "start", Jasmine noticed the earthen figures in front of her begin to move through a crude forest, headed towards a shrine of some sort. Looking at their armor, Jasmine was able to tell even without these odd "impressions" she was getting from the great black and white mute spirit that the group of human earth dolls he was bending through the forest weren't alive anymore, certainly not anyone who had bothered his forest recently.

Three were wearing old-style Fire Nation army uniforms, one holding out a large earthen "flame". The group stopping near the shrine, Jasmine watched as the dolls moved, mute - but getting the sense that this was something Hei Bai did not hear the details of until many years later, from… one the soldiers present?

Who wanted to make amends for what he helped do to Hei Bai's forest…?

The earthen dolls beginning to move again, Jasmine heard someone protest, "What do you mean one of these soldiers made nice with you later?", surprised to see it wasn't Gurinto, but his daughter. Getting the sense Hei Bai wasn't going to "answer" any question until he was done, the dolls began moving again. After a low groan, getting the sense Hei Bai had just called over his other spirit allies, the dolls suddenly clattered to a stop before they reached what must have been Hei Bai's shrine. This forest apparently represented the one outside Senlin - like so many older settlements, no longer a village, from what Jasmine knew of the area and former Earth Kingdom as a whole.

Closing her eyes, thoughts of progress randomly drifting as they waited on something, Jasmine did a double-take when the idle thought of, "A lot of those small towns and villages, better off after what Kuvira did for them over the past three years. Bringing back order, and more," entered her mind, taking a deep breath and internally countering, "Yeah - for ones that played nice, rolled over. Garzai's certainly not any better off, from what little I know of the place."

Half expecting to see some kind of image, a different version of something she had heard others might have dealing with unwanted thoughts, Jasmine was confused. Nothing she felt was relevant came, aside from some concept she couldn't fathom, and a brief flash of an obscured young man standing up to his father...

Opening her eyes after hearing the scrape of earth again, thinking before she watched the "play" again, Jasmine noticed Hei Bai was no longer the only spirit present. Seeing events the better parts of seven decades past play out in front of her, Jasmine wondered aloud, "You going to show us anything more relevant, Hei Bai? Have you forgotten we have a time table?" After the fact realizing she had been too harsh when the dolls stopped moving, Jasmine did not feel in the least bit indignant when she heard Aye-zul snark, "Screw your time - this **is **relevant! It doesn't matter if his forest's set on fire or dug up by humans - it's still bad. The bad firetossers messed up his forest back then - and the 'good' elemental tossers, benders, back then, a lot of earthbenders are on the bad side now. You have no idea where he wants to go, or why - but I do. You humans never change." Someone protested, "If you think so bad of us, why are you fighting for us?", Aye-zul snarled slightly, re-composing himself after a loud hoot. Jasmine nodded when she heard Wan Shi Tong add from behind, "Just wait and see where Hei Bai is going with all this. And do not squabble - Jasmine, Aye-zul, all of you. It is counterproductive."

Feeling quite guilty, Jasmine apologized, "I was wrong - sorry. It's just… I'm worried about time, didn't realize to a spirit time's as irrelevant as food, living forever and all. Please - go on," laughing when Hei Bai turned his head slightly and licked her before resuming, feeling a tiny hint of smugness when Aye-zul said, "Then again… maybe humans do change. What you said sounds like something Wan would say - and I guess we _do _need to be concerned with your 'time', given our situation," the dolls moving a lot faster after Aye-zul said, "Hei Bai - skip a bit. I think everyone's got the idea that bad firetossers wrecked your forest seventy four human years ago, and I can tell re-enacting that part's not exactly making you happy."

The play's earthen materials shifting massively, cracked trees and Fire Nation soldiers replaced by a sleepy village, Jasmine got the impression the next part was going to be harder on Hei Bai than the first, watching as a representation of the great forest spirit attacked what must have been a hapless Senlin village. A tattooed bald monk Jasmine had seen "in-spirit" last night helping calm the raging spirit that was standing next to her with an acorn, her mind wandered as the scene shifted again, thinking, "Wow - to four of my biggest allies… seventy years ago was like yesterday, and to me? Kuvira's 'failure' in Republic City seems an eternity ago, even though it's only been less than a week. Time crawls when you're under stress… well, to a human, at least. Ten thousand years - practically yesterday to a spirit."

The scene now shifted to that of an enraged but not actively attacking Hei Bai and a man near the spirit's shrine, and Jasmine got the sense that this took place during a summer solstice twenty years later after the war's end, the man aged from twenty to forty. Jasmine watched as the man assumed a submissive posture, getting the impression the man wanted to atone for past crimes against Hei Bai's forest. Enraged by some unspecified comment on human nature that confused him, the earthen Hei Bai reacted by shifting to its Dark Spirit form at first. Jasmine saw the man kneel before the great spirit, feeling moved even though she did not know what was being said. She only knew that the man was deeply sorry, and willing to do anything to make amends. To repay the "price of ash" he had exacted on the spirit's forest twenty years before in foolishness with his own blood, if the spirit so wished - feeling this drastic offer was the only way to blank out the bad karma his act had given him…

The earthen Hei Bai seemed to mull it over for a moment, ultimately not attacking but not appearing any less hostile either, the representation of the spirit picking up a small object from the regrown forest floor. Holding it out to the man, the earthen representation of Hei Bai cocked its savage head, as though asking what the man might do with a second chance. After the man picked up the small pebble out of the spirits' hand Jasmine got the sense the pebble represented an acorn, studying it closely, the man moved again, seeming happy. Some unknown strong promise by the man put the great spirit's earthen doll at ease, no longer hostile-looking in its posture. The man standing up, apparently saying something else after picking up more acorns, the earthen Hei Bai friendly nodded, much as the spirit might have to Jasmine - though the earthen doll was still in his dark spirit form…

The play stage shifted slightly, Jasmine getting the sense ten to twenty years had passed, a little frustrated that Hei Bai apparently couldn't remember the exact time scale, mumbling as much under her breath. Not knowing the timescale at first ended up not mattering, even after she heard Aye-zul say, "Fourteen years, for what it matters - now shush," she watched as the man approached the great spirit again at another summer solstice, seeing he was not alone as more earthen forms came into being.

Appa the most obvious, given his size, what she could see clearly as Aang, Katara and their three children, Zuko's family, and what she assumed was an elderly Iroh as well as some other earthen figures she didn't place immediately entered the grove. Seeing one of them jump backwards slightly and unsheathe a long sword and a woman next to him begin to laugh before anyone else, Jasmine finally placed the pair as Sokka and Suki, guessing the cartwheeler to be Ty Lee. Ever the pessimist, Jasmine's lip curled slightly, laughing lowly, "Heh - figures. Guess Toph couldn't be bothered - just like Mai," her blood curdling slightly when she got the sense that a devious spirit had recently taunted Hei Bai internally along similar lines, but worse…

Refocusing on the "present", blushing slightly in annoyance when Aye-zul said, "You could do to be more like Ty Lee, Miss Serious," she laughed weakly as she watched the scene play out. The now much older man held out a small square of earth, Jasmine getting the sense it represented a photograph of something the man had been working on for years, smiling when the earthen Hei Bai shifted forms. Walking forward, Hei Bai "licked" the old man, actually laying down by his side, Sokka's figure running off to get something afterwards. The old man bowed towards Hei Bai and then Zuko, Jasmine getting the sense the man had been told something about honor by the then Firelord, Iroh appearing contented.

Thinking the scene was done as she saw Aang and Zuko try to get their kids in one spot with everyone else, getting the sense a group photo was to be taken by Ty Lee, Jasmine frowned deeply to see what must have been Bumi and Kya break off after one photo in some sort of protest. Able to clearly see that Aang, Katara and Sokka especially were not happy, even Iroh displeased with Bumi and Kya as well, Jasmine got the sense as the stage shifted again there was only one photo taken, some argument about vacations Hei Bai still didn't understand having taken place.

The scene now a blank slate, Jasmine wasn't quite sure why Hei Bai had stopped bending. Even after her earlier apology, some part of her mind nagged Jasmine, "Just how long is this taking?", Jasmine shut it up once she saw how transfixed the crowd was, noticing some of the bender prisoners she had been unable to convince to do anything to help in the camp looked angry.

The scene shifting significantly and then stopping once more, hearing a sad moan from her panda ally, Jasmine got the sense Hei Bai might need a little bit.

Wanting to make the best use of her time if Hei Bai was going to be a while, Jasmine whipped out her radio, trying to make contact with Omashu and share the good news about Lipowder, frustratedly muttering under her breath in English, "Come on, Yangchen - what the hell are you doing?"

Startled slightly when she heard Wan Shi Tong say from behind, "Jasmine, do not worry - I can communicate directly with Alyssralove," Jasmine turned her head around as far as someone who wasn't an owl could, saying, "Uhm - what? Why didn't you just tell me that earlier," adding on a question in English that made Wan Shi Tong sigh in exasperation, "And if that's true, can't you tell me what she's doing? What the hell has she been doing? And that last part was interesting, touching - but what does it have to do with anything?"

Slumping his wings slightly, Wan Shi Tong admitted, "Past the fact that there have been many people coming and going from her quarters, I do not know," Jasmine raised an eyebrow when he advised, "I may not have much experience with 'human-y' things, but given I can easily communicate with my counterpart in Omashu, I do not see the need for radio contact. If you are about business, you do not need to talk with Yangchen over the radio, even in 'code'. And Hei Bai can show you once he is ready how that was relevant." Knowing logically Wan Shi Tong was right, Jasmine said, "Yangchen - I still _want_ to talk to her, the former overseer of Omashu Yuehan if I can." He replied, "Very well - but know it is not vital you make contact," adding after leaning closer, "Given her visitors and that she has yet to make contact, it appears some of what she is doing right now is business, the rest, social - just as you have been doing. To use an English phrase - 'the pot should not call the kettle black'."

Jasmine grumbling, "Hard to see how what I'm doing is the same," Wan Shi Tong ruffled his feathers slightly, saying as a few quills pulsed blue, "Raava is correct - humans are most fascinating. It is a wonder I can manage to 'understand' the complaints Hei Bai did not. Though that does not mean I see Bumi and Kya's moaning as valid. Quite the opposite. Now leave me be, and remember - don't call the kettle black." Protesting, "Wha-!" in frustration, Jasmine turned back around, thinking, "I found a bunch of mover acid - Yangchen's going to have a hard time topping that. Maybe that owl's still a hypocrite."

Turning around after hearing a cough, Jasmine said, "Fai - how'd the Lipowder production go?" Jasmine's eyes widened when she saw that Fai was pointing to his watch, the scientist saying, "I got a production line set up fairly quickly, even got it automated just like it would be in Omashu with Aiqing and Maxiu's help - but some sentries came to me, asking where you were. They said they spotted movement far beyond the wall," Jasmine cursing in English when he said, "Towards here, and not Omashu."

Some part of her tempted to walk away and let Hei Bai do his own thing, she stopped when Fai asked, "What's going on here? Some sort of a play?", surprised when she finally got a clue as to what Hei Bai was trying to do… getting the sense the great bear spirit was sharing his story to see if it would be of any impact, not liking how many of the prisoners didn't want to help. And that he wanted to try speaking himself for this next part, when he was ready - finally answer why Bumi and Kya's antics mattered recently…

Expecting some sort of smug statement from Gurinto about the other prisoners being cowards, Jasmine got nothing, getting the impression she should start watching again, and that she shouldn't spoil the surprise for others. Laughing slightly when a confused Fai said, "Oooookay. I guess you have a psychic bear friend now," Jasmine shrugged, saying as she saw Maylin come closer, "Eh - you can get what a dog wants from his body language. Figure after all these changes since that new portal popped up, it's nothing too weird. Spirits are just one step up. And I've had weirder - infobending, for one!" Fai and Maylin nodding, Jasmine said as she saw Aiqing and Maxiu approaching, "Good - they're done too. I'll have to see what this Omashu-worthy automation you guys made is. Come on - as far as I know, nobody but Jinora and Kai or Hei Bai's spirit friends know much about why Hei Bai's here and not trying to smash Republic City. For that matter, Zaofu…"

Hearing Hei Bai roar loudly right after Jasmine said Zaofu, she laughed weakly when she heard Aye-zul say, "That's the idea - forget restraint!", surprised when the aye-aye spirit added as she turned around, "Maybe even forget this. You can't make a fighter out of a cowardly armadillo lion." Someone protesting, "I'm not a coward - I'd just rather stay alive!", Jasmine found herself laughing when Aye-zul pointed out, "Then that makes you a coward, doesn't it?" getting the impression after a loud roar Hei Bai wasn't amused and just wanted to finish.

Looking at the stage again, Jasmine noticed the forest looked healed, Jasmine knowing it was to be short-lived. Sure enough, a few elite metalbenders sprung into existence, noticing they were guarding a few figures in white coats alongside some mechasuits. Noticing the mechasuits had three chevrons on their upper arms, she asked, "Is that Baatar Jr., Hei Bai?", finding out it was without any sort of impressions from Hei Bai when the mechasuit's helmet dome opened, revealing Baatar Jr.'s face.

Looking like he was preparing for combat, Baatar Jr. said something as his mechasuit came closer to two other three-chevron mechasuits , though no words were audible. After two of the mechasuits latched onto one of the larger trees nearest Hei Bai's shrine, cutting into the tree on Baatar Jr.'s command, Jasmine smiled slightly when the earth inside the shrine rumbled, Baatar Jr. shouting something at the other two Sergeants as the scientists looked at the statue nervously.

A familiar large spirit's form beginning to take shape, Jasmine was confused at first when she heard someone say, "He said 'Get that tree down as quickly as possible - we'll likely have incoming soon! This may not be a solstice - but who knows what will happen with the Portals open!' I… I could narrate this. I remember this like it was yesterday," with great guilt, turning to see who had spoken. Now staring straight at Maylin, noticing she was crying, Jasmine asked incredulously, "Wait - you were present for this?"

Seeing Fai nod next to her, Jasmine noticed out of the corner of her eye that the play stage was no longer moving, Fai saying with regret, "Yes - we both were. This was before we discovered the Great Banyan tree was a viable source for spirit vines," smiling weakly as he said, "We came for one sample, thinking these trees might be special and close enough to spirit vines to work in our spirit weapon, the forest 'belonging' to a specific spirit - aside from Hei Bai chasing us off after we got out sample, nothing came of it." Looking guilty again, Fai said, Maylin nodding, "I hadn't really thought much of it until last night, when the same spirit I helped wrong a few months ago helped _save me_," smiling slightly as he finished with a hint of happiness, "Last night, I didn't understand why he helped, much less seemingly forgave me for what we wanted to do, given how he licked me after I apologized over and over. But seeing him make peace with that firebender, who helped do a whole lot more than steal one tree 'for science'… I guess it makes sense now."

Jasmine smiling, she turned back to the play stage, noticing the events Fai had described now taking place, Hei Bai growling a little after Aye-zul said, tapping a long finger on a small earthen tree, "Okay - next. We know you beat these guys - and that they got away with their _thankfully _dud sample. Something nobody here has seen," Jasmine's eyes widening when Aye-zul asked as the stage shifted, "Hey, Miss Serious - I know your seriousness lets you lie to truthsensers, like Ton- err, Jinshu Kuangmai. I also know my buddy and Alyssralove detected funny energy nearby earlier, Hei Bai himself 'saying' the second ruder group of metaltossers were likely looking for Korranium, death metal. Think… someone else has this talent of yours? Lying like Azula?"

Straining her brain as she watched the scene finish shifting, seeing whoever had paid Hei Bai a second visit recently had brought more mechasuits than Baatar Jr. had and even some portable spirit weapons mounted on jeeps, Jasmine shrugged. "Drawing a blank", she said as a mechasuit helped a jeep topple a tree with a tow rope, "I have not a clue. From what I hear, the only people beneath Jinshu Kuangmai in this region who might have the resources to pull off an operation like this are Chin and Wuqing. Chin doesn't have anything to hide - he's been pestering Jinshu Kuangmai about fire-earth a lot," continuing as the forest was further destroyed as elite metalbenders began bending up ore, "And he wouldn't condone use of any such weapons. Wuqing might, be he's a hotheaded idiot - and I've seen Jinshu Kuangmai catching him in a lie before." Getting the sense Hei Bai was about to show up, Jasmine worked in a quick dig at the person who she was pretty sure had a fake name just like Jinshu Kuangmai, "Wuqing wouldn't be able to strategize his way out of a paper bag. From what I've heard, mindless bullrushing every time he was tasked with taking a rebel-held city."

Gurinto speaking for the first time in a while, Jasmine wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or make excuses when he said sarcastically, "Like the Earth Empire has ever done anything but bullrushing, propped up by fear, fancy equipment or metalbending." Hearing a noise that sounded like a bear coughing, getting the impression something important was about to happen, Jasmine idly adjusted her long ponytail as she waited for Hei Bai to get on with it, grumbling slightly when she heard Aiqing point out, "See you like hair style too - heard Kuvira wanted to have a similar style."

Aiqing about to say something else, Jasmine feeling like she wanted to cut it all off now, she saw the play resume. Having wondered what the delay was for, she was taken by surprise when one of the jeeps somehow shot fire at an enraged Hei Bai's arm, getting the impression its driver had threatened to shoot the spirit in the head if he did not back down. Hei Bai backing down after another warning shot, nursing a chunk taken out of his arm tenderly, Jasmine watched sadly as the forest's very foundation was uprooted in the quest for gold to fund some mystery project.

Some part of her saying, "I remember what Raava showed me. Just how Baatar Jr. helped fund the Colossus with his little personal trick," Jasmine felt sick not just because of what she was watching, getting the impression the soldiers were making away with much more than gold ore as the play's Hei Bai slumped further and further down to the ground, taunted by the soldiers the whole time. She remembered how shocked the world had been at the Colossus and had a nasty gut feeling a similar surprise involving "Korranium", "death metal" lay in store for them, the fact that she wasn't sure if the surprise was condoned by Toph's wayward son Jinshu Kuangmai or not doing nothing to alleviate her concerns.

Anyone who developed such a technology would have to be mad, desperate, or both - two things Jinshu Kuangmai certainly was. But from what she knew of him, just as he had said in someone else's "dream", he wanted to rule everything, not rule a wasteland.

Someone whose men weren't even anything close to reasonable in victory, willing to use a weapon that would help end life on the planet to achieve his aims, but competent enough to pull it off… she just didn't know anyone who fit the bill.

Could there be some sort of traitor to humanity working inside the Earth Empire, seeking to wipe out life using death metal on Long Yumao's behalf, so that spirits could reign supreme unchallenged…?

Even that didn't fit - from what she knew of Long Yumao, he seemed to want at least _some _people alive so he could savor their suffering in slavery…

Feeling someone tug on her long ponytail, Jasmine said, "What the - hey! Knock it off!", grumbling slightly when she heard Wan Shi Tong's voice say, "I have read that is a good way to get a human's attention, and it appears they were correct." Noticing the play was shifting again, Jasmine covered her face with her hands, saying, "Sorry I zoned out for your story, Hei Bai," Jasmine getting the sense everything Hei Bai had wanted her personally to see had already been shown, Wan Shi Tong saying, "You did not miss much. And I do not imagine you or anyone else would want to watch Hei Bai sit in his destroyed forest all alone, taunted by Long Yumao internally with no dialogue."

The stage reformed again, part of Jasmine wishing Hei Bai could speak, thinking, "Long Yumao is tempting spirits… and Jinshu Kuangmai's tempting people. No, both…", swatting away the errant thought of, "Vaazula - and my theory about a Long Yumao agent being behind development of death metal. Maybe there's more overlap in temptation than we think…"

Watching what happened next, seeing two young people she got the impression were Jinora and Kai approaching a sullen almost truly Dark Spirit Hei Bai, Jasmine groaned slightly when she heard Maxiu say lowly from behind, "Wow - look at those staves. So odd. Errr - probably should be paying attention to something else, but… I can't help it. The end's obvious enough - a blade. Mind telling me how they work after this, Jasmine?" Jasmine nodded, saying in low tones, "After I contact Yangchen," watching as Jinora and Kai tried and failed to get closer to the sullen Hei Bai, getting the sense they had tried everything from singing to rolling acorns his way, all met with hostility. Hei Bai started to act openly hostile, Jasmine getting the impression Long Yumao was trying his best to whisper slanderous things about humans…

And that much of what he had said was either too close to the truth for her tastes, or the truth outright, Hei Bai only remembering that Long Yumao somehow knew of every time a human had wronged him, from ancient history predating the Fire Nation, to the charring of much of his forest, to more recent events there…

Puzzled when she saw the play's scenery shift and follow Jinora and Kai as they went away and sat down on a rock and apparently argue, leaving Hei Bai behind and angry, Jasmine found herself dying for dialogue as the argument heated up. Her eyes widened when she saw Kai storm off from a pursuing Jinora, laying down before the great forest spirit. Hei Bai apparently angry and confused, he made to swipe at Kai, knocked backwards by what Jasmine assumed was an air blast from Jinora, the teenage girl's figure appearing as though it were speaking. Hei Bai responding by charging at Jinora, she winced when Kai put himself between her and Hei Bai…

Kai knocked backwards a short distance, getting the impression it would have been much further without Kai airbending, Jasmine was puzzled when she saw Hei Bai slump down, smiling when she saw Jinora and then Kai touch his forehead, getting the impression the raging spirit had been calmed, was getting information from Jinora that Kai had imparted in part by earlier physical contact.

Jasmine watched as the two teenagers interacted with Hei Bai a little more, getting the impression the spirit was still mad - just not mad at all humans. "Only" the bad ones who had wrecked his forest. Jasmine wondering if Hei Bai was going to show Jinora and Kai convincing him to not go on a rampage in Zaofu, Jasmine nodded in agreement when Aye-zul said, "Based on these looks you're getting, Hei Bai, I think people got it - we still do have a time table," Aye-zul laughing slightly when Wan Shi Tong stated matter-of-factly as the earth shifted again, "I remember Kai diving between my beak and one of my incompetent assistants two days ago or so. And again with Hei Bai. Given something he mentioned about taking combustionbending blasts, I guess that's his thing."

The earth now perplexingly forming some familiar figures, the pit of Jasmine's stomach dropped when Wan Shi Tong said coolly, "I hope he knows better than to try and block a spirit weapon beam or any kind of fire-earth projectile," thinking, "Uhhh… do _we _have anything to block spirit weapon beams? They'd cut through our walls like a hot knife through tofu…"

Jasmine wasn't entirely sure why Hei Bai was "silent" or why one of the brown earthen figures looked like _her_ \- her brown ponytail, earth the same color as her own hair, the three strips of shoulder armor and the Earth Empire chestplate she still kept on for combat purposes because she had nothing else appropriate, even her scar and taller than normal stature. All were clearly visible - and that she still clearly looked like an Earth Empire officer, her larger than normal boots even reminding her of Jinshu Kuangmai's appearance! The only thing she got from it for now being that she wanted Aiqing and Maxiu to design her some armor she didn't hate wearing, had hated wearing ever since she was asked to oversee what she had innocently thought two and a half years ago were "containment" camps only, Jasmine turned and asked Fai, "Fai, Maylin - do you know of any way to absorb and dissipate spirit weapon fire? I know one way, but it requires something powerful we don't have here - tuber-vines, both to absorb the power, and create the spirit wire that the power's…"

Getting blank looks from them both, Jasmine smacked her forehead, saying, "Oh crud - I've got a lot of explaining to do. Unless… Uh… Aye-zul, Painted Lady, Wan Shi Tong, Hei Bai - you couldn't happen to be able to infobend?" Getting no answer, assuming the answer was "No,", Jasmine sighed, saying, "Very well," her ears perking up when Maylin said, "I have no idea what you're talking about - but maybe we can try testing and then getting some of our theories into practice faster. Including more than spirit weapon resistant metal. Maybe much more." Maylin's jade eyes darting towards Hei Bai, she said, adjusting her glasses, "That's for after whatever your spirit friend here wants - I don't think one of those things he made looking like you is an accident, Jasmine."

Hei Bai grumbling right after, Jasmine getting the impression Maylin had been correct, she said before turning around, "Wish he could talk like a 'normal' spirit," hearing Wan Shi Tong's voice say as she fixed her gaze on her own earthen figure, "He is normal for himself - just like the 'guests' we helped rescue from the Earth Empire's clutches last night." Sighing exasperatedly, Jasmine said as the figures began moving again, swearing she saw what looked like a middle-aged Zuko, "I didn't mean anything deep by that - I just wish he could talk! It'd be so much faster - just have Aye-zul talk. Getting a vague idea of what he means only goes so far," smiling slightly when Wan Shi Tong responded drolly, "Oh. Or that."

Getting the impression Hei Bai was going to save his message for her and other former Earth Empire "employees" for last, Jasmine saw her own figure, Baatar Jr. and Jasmine's old boss Kuvira herself settle down to the ground. Seeing a figure she recognized as the former Fire Nation soldier draw close to the figure of a middle-aged Zuko, breathing a sigh of relief that _someone _was finally providing concrete narration when Aye-zul said, "Hei Bai was wronged by this less-famous man, eventually forgiving him when the man repaid his karmatic debt, and then much more, planting seeds from Hei Bai's forest far and wide. Thanks to someone here teaching him a bit more about human nature, Hei Bai now fully understands that he was venting his anger and frustration on the wrong target, out of ignorance attacking nearby Senlin village. And even back then, Avatar Aang reminded him of the world's ability to heal, in the form of a solitary acorn."

Getting the sense Hei Bai was going back slightly on saving his message for her last, both earthen dolls turned to face herself, Fai, and Maylin, Aye-zul said with a slight smirk, "In time, the man came to forgive himself for what he had done, and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks some people are whining about their past too much." Opening his long-fingered hand and producing a flame, Aye-zul said as the figures shifted again, "From what Avatar Korra showed me earlier, humans have done much worse than some of you standing before me over the past ten thousand years." Smiling mischievously as the figures stopped moving, larger ones replaced by a multitude of smaller ones, Aye-zul said tersely after Hei Bai made a low growling noise, "I'll get that in a minute!", saying with more composure, "Anyways - guards, defectors from the train itself, literally outed Earth Empire officers and scientists, 'even' Jasmine - it's not like anyone here almost killed the Avatar Spirit, unlike one of these figure's sister." Jasmine not entirely sure what Aye-zul meant at first, she laughed bitterly when the spirit generated lightning and said in an imitation of someone long dead, "The Avatar's dead. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, Zuzu," accentuating it by letting loose the generated charge skyward.

Jasmine's laughter bitter because she remembered stories from her mother and father of that dark time in Earth Kingdom history, feeling that the entire nation had thrown its legacy away as of late, she laughed weakly when she heard someone say, "Wait - our problem. Lightning, electricity… conversion of energy from one form to another!", recognizing it as Maylin's voice as she said, fading, "Be right back - I've got to write something down!" Jasmine chuckling when Aye-zul said with great irritation, " 'Lightning? I'll show you lightning!' You scientists are a scatterbrained lot. My point was, the same that Hei Bai wanted to show with dolls - unless one of you is a secret psychopath or was seriously considering executing someone like Maylin in cold blood, then you don't have anything to be ashamed of." Jasmine seeing a guard shift uncomfortably, the woman saying, "Uhhh…. What if you were going to do it because you didn't want your family to die?", Aye-zul said with clear disdain, "Then you're a lily-livered coward."

The woman starting to cry, Jasmine found herself saying automatically, "Aye-zul, knock it off. Life as a human's complicated enough as is without some spirit animal thing giving you lip," Aye-zul sighing as the many small figures moved, "And I thought Wan was confusing. Forget the Avatar being a bridge between our worlds - she can have the whole 'human-y' thing as well." The figures no longer moving, Jasmine swearing they were arranged much as the prisoners nearby were, Aye-zul shrugged, resuming, "Then again, if you feel like I did last night in the spirit world, torn between three different paths, all the time… maybe you humans are doing good just to be here. Anyways - Hei Bai thought about how some of you are acting in the camp, and the Spirit Civil War itself. You didn't hear any of it, and you're not going to, but suffice to say he was taunted by Long Yumao internally. Everything from Avatar Aang's poor family life - Bumi and Kya acting like immature whiners," swearing Aye-zul was looking directly at herself when he said "whiners", the spirit finishing, "To the destruction of his forest by bad Earth Empire metaltossers. When Jinora and Kai found him, he wasn't in a good way, and they helped him realize that slithering liar was telling half-truths. Someone in front of me helped him realize something else, even if she doesn't know it yet."

The aye-aye spirit pausing for a moment, Jasmine noticing that he looked a little nervous for what must have been the first time ever, the spirit said, first pointing to Hei Bai, "Jasmine the first person to bother trying to 'explain' humans to him - if you ever could do such a thing totally - Hei Bai realized his anger at the Fire Nation taken out on Senlin village was a lot like _certain _people here. Those blaming the 'people like Fai or Maylin for the Spirit Civil War," saying as he pointed a long accusing finger at a partially hostile, partially ashamed crowd, "They aren't to blame for anything. 'Angry Bird', 'Long Yumao the Opportunist' - I actually got a little from him, when I was on the edge." Hei Bai preemptively nodding, as though he either knew what Aye-zul was going to say or had been there himself, likely both, Aye-zul said, producing a blue flame, " 'Wanting to put humans in their place', 'Raava showing the Avatar and humans favoritism', with Raava's two initial gifts - both things to say to help him gain power first, true motivations second. He's called the Opportunist for a good reason, and what Raava did admittedly _did _provide him with a good opportunity. But over the past three years, despite peaceful appearances, there's been a growing rift in the Spirit World, one that's spilled over into _your _home." Wondering when Aye-zul would get to the point, Jasmine nodded when the spirit said, flame blooming, "A rift between spirits who'd like to go bash in some human heads but had no leadership, those that simply thought Raava was getting too 'soft' with her close connection with her human Avatar and needed to be corrected, the true neutrals, and spirits that have gotten along with humans just fine. You might have seen lots of the last group - but there's a lot more spirits than the ones who are happy to share their homes with humans." Aye-zul looking down at the ground slightly, he said, "Until recently, I wasn't in the last group, caring to stay in the Spirit World - not wanting anything to do with any human other than Wan. Three years ago, I thought he was gone from Korra and Raava forever… we were all wrong. Anyways - Beakface the Liar. In the end, it wouldn't have mattered if Raava had helped Mako and Korra have a kid in the same way - that serpent would have done the exact same thing. And since I've come on out - much as a lot of these people did about who they were attracted to, but forcefully - I've seen…", pausing slightly before saying with a pleased smile, "There's a lot more humans like Wan than I thought," adding with a snarl, "Humans Jinshu Kuangmai would like to see obedient, or dead! Don't roll over or refuse to help - Wan faced down Vaatu. Surely you lot can handle a metaltossing brat's men!"

Hei Bai letting out a roar, Aye-zul added as the figures shifted again, the crowd mute for now, "Oh - and Hei Bai reminded me that there's more than a few of you that would die even if every person and spirit in this camp surrendered." Someone finally speaking, the woman said loudly, "Still don't feel like helping defend unnaturals. I didn't do anything except waterbend to warrant throwing me in here. For all I know, those other people could've been planning to start helping the Avatar, given all the law passing malarkey lately. And I still don't buy your talk about that stupid spirit's motivations - and isn't he locked behind something right now?"

Aye-zul sighing in frustration, Wan Shi Tong grumbling, "Humans," Jasmine turned to face the woman, saying, "I'll keep this short - we've already spent enough time trying to convince your ilk to help. You might not buy what they're saying - but I controlled what comes in and out of this camp, information and all. You've heard plenty about Wuqing being bloodthirsty, Jinshu Kuangmai spinning whole groups of bandits in the sky as sick entertainment, slaughtering Shiro Shinobi's family recently as a show of determination. Wuqing's in charge of those troops outside, and the relatively merciful Chin's not here to command his men, from spirit recon we've gotten." Pointed her finger directly at the woman, she asked, "What makes you think **any **of those troops under Wuqing are going to discriminate between people who are or are not fighting if those walls come down?" Seeing the woman and quite a few others looked shocked, she added, "Like it or not, I listened to my conscience and broke off from him. I'm no coward. We're just fortunate we have these spirits here to help us, and brilliant 'deviant' minds like Fai, Maylin, Maxiu and Aiqing to help defend us. You could be sitting in the corner sucking your thumb like a baby and one of his soldiers would still see you as complicit, a rebel, someone to be killed!"

Noticing she had the attention of the audience, Jasmine said, "The way I see it, you're going to either die on your feet or your knees. Or if Jinshu Kuangmai gets involved, _choked to death slowly_. You know, what he wanted to do with these 'sexually interesting' prisoners for a _dinner party_ before I took action with the Avatar's help. And if more people don't help, it could all be for nothing. Now come on - FIGHT!"

Few people in the crowd looking uncooperative still, Jasmine's shoulders slumped slightly when the woman she had been talking to said, "Okay, Jasmine - I guess. But that still doesn't change the fact we're a bunch of admittedly only _slightly _hungry and out of shape prisoners versus three battalions of rested and well-fed troops." Thinking for a moment, she turned to face Hei Bai, saying, "Get angry!", turning back after the spirit shifted to his Dark Spirit form, Jasmine saying confidently, "That may be true - but we've got something they don't. True spirit power," letting Aye-zul take over as he said, jetting upwards, "Spirits that can bend! Look at this! I don't need food or sleep, and my friend Hei Bai here says he's taken all sorts of hits and lived! He even healed that chunk taken out of his arm!"

Jasmine smiling, hearing what she was pretty sure was her radio underneath the voice of people volunteering to help, even some of those who were not able bodied volunteering to help with simple tasks, she heard a tinny voice say, "Jasmine!" Realizing someone in Omashu was trying to contact her, she asked Aye-zul, "What did Hei Bai want to show me? I've got an incoming call," laughing slightly when Hei Bai let out a low groan, Aye-zul saying something which she rolled her eyes at, "That everyone in the world who used to or is wearing an Earth Empire uniform but doesn't fight for it anymore needs to make like that man in his forest did. Move on from the past and forgive yourself. You've restored your own honor."

Jasmine laughed when Aye-zul said, landing nearby and arching an eyebrow, "Aside from the honor part, nothing I haven't told you before, Miss Serious," smiling with a hint of bitterness when he said, "Though given what I've seen of you, Baatar Jr., and Kuvira, you're the only one who should do it right away. You never really lost your honor, for all your whinging. They're a different story. They've got a lot more to account for, what with your - No, Wan Shi Tong, I don't care who 'Shin Di Ler' is! Do your talky talky to whoever that is, Jasmine - and I'll try to see if the Painted Lady can tell me why you humans are so weird. Or for that matter, why Wan Shi Tong is," laughing nasally, "Egghead - literally!"

Only part of her agreeing with what Aye-zul had to say, thinking, "Forget that spirit. I still should have done more - maybe discreetly warned people about the coming sweep for waterbenders and firebenders, like I did for my mother…", Jasmine turned to her radio. Laughing slightly to hear Wan Shi Tong saying, "I am the Spirit of Knowledge - I take that 'insult' as a compliment. Not sure what you're the spirit of, Aye-zul, impetuous 'firetosser'," Jasmine didn't catch Aye-zul's comeback as she heard a familiar voice say over the radio, "Jasmine - just what in the name of the Earth Emp- err, name of the Avatar's going on?" Hearing a nasal voice say indignantly, "I didn't ask to be a firetosser - quit calling me that!", Yangchen sighed, telling the man on the other end of the radio, "Just a minute," telling a dour Aye-zul before walking away from him and Wan Shi Tong, "I know given your history you're not happy with Raava's choice of element for you - but watch your mouth. There's a lot of firetossers in this camp," adding as she headed towards what she assumed was Aiqing and Maxiu's handiwork, "For what it's worth, my mother is a firebender too. Told her and my father to get out a year ago while they could, into the United Republic, before the first truly indiscriminate roundups. Now quit arguing with Wan Shi Tong, and start making the put-put cart and Meesile cart test models with Hei Bai! I'm going to check out this automated Lipowder creation apparatus, take this call. BYE."

Satisfied to see Aye-zul looking koala-sheepish, Jasmine's eyes widened slightly when she heard the man on the radio's voice say, recognizing it as the former overseer of Omashu, "Your mother, a firebender. Huh - I didn't know that, Jasmine, for all of our… former work relationship, Omashu and your camp." Jasmine asking, "Anything else you don't know that should have been obvious, Yuehan? Do you not remember meeting me face to face before Kuvira's big push? I didn't get my yellow eyes from my father, that's for sure," she got no response at first, apologizing, "Sorry. I'm on snark mode, dealing with one of the spirits here, Aye-zul. Alyssralove giving you any sort of trouble?"

After a short pause, Yuehan responded, saying, "No," Jasmine growing concerned when he stated, "I'm calling because Yangchen's husband asked me to, check in on you. She can't talk right now - she passed out. We don't know exactly what it is, but I have a hunch. I don't know what she ever did to deserve it, but… she might be fighting something inside. She's acting sort of like I've heard Zuko did seven decades ago." Wondering aloud just how Yuehan would know such a thing, she realized they needed to be careful in what they said due to monitoring concerns as he said, "When… when I was just an ordinary citizen in the Middle Ring, I'd sometimes go to the Jasmine Dragon, even talked to its new owner who said she knew Zuko well, Jin. Anyways - Yangchen 'found' something about 'Garzai' in Omashu? Not sure if that means anything to you - I do know you'll be glad to know this unexpected good - "

Remembering Wan Shi Tong's advice about security, Jasmine cut off Yuehan before he could say anything that might be sensitive, saying, "Wait, no, shhh! If you've got something I'd be glad to know - route it through Alyssralove, or get Yangchen up and awake. I can talk to her with a 'code' - something the Avatar gave me." Wondering after the fact if she had said too much, she was relieved when Yuehan took it in the spirit with which it was meant, saying, "Oh - thank you for catching that. I'll ask Alyssralove to… do whatever it is she'd do. I don't know much about spirits. Anyways - I recall something about Wuqing crushing his high-quality radio equipment in a fit of rage last night, but it's likely been replaced by now, with all the traffic between the front and Zaofu in those modified airships of theirs. Wish we had spirit engines…" Jasmine wishing she had some spirit engines of her own, not sure if Fai and Maylin could replicate whatever one of Jinshu Kuangmai's men had done last night, finding it _very _unlikely that vengeful hunk of flesh had come up with it himself, she listened as Yuehan continued, "I don't know any code - so we'll just have to be vague," chuckling slightly when he asked, "Uh… think Alyssralove could help me with the code? Is it simple?"

Sighing, not wanting to explain much at all, let alone English, Jasmine said, "No, sorry. I do think I might have an idea, though. It's not a simple cipher - it's a whole other way of speaking. Think of it… like being able to 'talk' like a spirit, but nobody being able to understand unless Korra's done something special to you. Regardless - you any good with phonetics?" Yuehan not giving any immediate response, Jasmine said, "Whatever - try seeing if you can mimic this anyways," saying in exaggerated and enunciated English, "Jas-mine found in-gred-ients for Li-powder in train." Yuehan echoing, " 'Jas Myn sind Lin grid-Yints fur Ri Po Der tain.' That it?", Jasmine sighed, repeating herself a few times, asking, "Are you _sure _Yangchen isn't up yet?", sighing again when Yuehan said, "No. She's still knocked out - her husband Xingyun's trying his best to get her awake again. Anyone _else _in this city happen to know this 'code'? Does Alyssralove?" Jasmine said, annoyed, wishing Korra had thought to drag in more people, at the very least Yangchen's husband, "Yes, she does - but getting her involved in this defeats the whole point. I wanted to get this across quickly," repeating herself in much greater detail a few more times, saying normally after hearing some hooting, "Okay - this is going nowhere, and I swear I hear an owl laughing in the background. Apparently, Wan Shi Tong finds this amusing - or my refusal to just let the spirits do all the work. At least I know he has good hearing. Tell Yangchen we've got phosphorous, 'yellow volcano earth', and burned wood in great quantity, and even acid Varricks might make to produce Nuktuk."

After a brief pause, Yuehan asked, "How is that good news, exactly? And if it was all where I think it was - Jinshu Kuangmai should know you have it by now; why the need for secrecy?" Yuehan having a good point, having a hard time believing someone so controlling as Jinshu Kuangmai wouldn't have noticed the missing supplies by now or one of his obsessives like Jang spotting the inventory reduction, Jasmine said, "You're sort of right - he didn't know about it, but I guess he should by now, if he's the least bit competent. We found supplies in one car that weren't officially authorized, based off the note I found with the train conductor's help. Besides that, phosphorous, sulfur, charcoal in another train car - a bunch of mover acid barrels in the other. Packed jam full. Yangchen will know why this is good news." Yuehan asking, "Should I know what those are good for?", Jasmine said with a final air, "You don't need to, yet. Given the way our scouts have seen troops moving, you're likely to not need to use any such things any time soon. Looks like we're the first target." Taking her mind off the fact she might be under attack soon, Jasmine said, "Anyways. The first three things - yes, you should know what they're for, given what those airships your new boss helped commandeer last night were outfitted with - fire-earth weapon prototypes. We've now got the capacity for those primitive weapons, and I can't imagine a big long metal tube being hard to make, unlike a Varrick gun. The fourth - not really, unless you've been around Chin. Yangchen will know what it's for, and that's all that matters. Just tell her 'The camp will be making Jinshu Kuangmai better surprises than we thought we could'," adding with a smile as she realized the full implications of smokeless Lipowder, "And that the Avatar throwing in a bunch of extra designs earlier wasn't for nothing after all."

Getting a quick response from Yuehan, perhaps one that was too quick, Yuehan said tersely, "Didn't catch that last part. Family drama. Gotta go - looks like things could get ugly." Jasmine was left perturbed when the radio let out a loud static, demanding of no one, "Damn, what - fool! What could be more important than her knowing we can possibly make Varrick guns?! And you don't just tell someone 'things could get ugly' and shut the radio off! And what family drama?" Remembering her earlier issues with everyone but Yangchen and President Raiko, the Avatar's allies having struck her as undisciplined, she sighed, covering her face with her hands, the scar under her left eye stinging from the contact, "Ugh - I hope Yangchen's okay. Because I don't know who else I can stand dealing with in a stressful situation… 'bloody idiots'. Even someone who worked for the same boss I did until recently…"

Looking up and away from her radio, in the back of her mind wondering when they'd be under attack, she noticed she wasn't alone. Seeing all four former Earth Empire scientists nearby, she smiled, saying, "Good - you're all here. Now why don't you explain all these mechanical contraptions you have set up. Especially what looks like an… automated spirit vine cutter?" Having already noticed all four looked slightly depressed and gone ahead anyways, she thinned her eyes slightly, feeling annoyed when Aiqing said, "Yes - but… I just wanted to ask you something first, for all four of us. On what Hei Bai 'said', through that other spirit Aye-zul - we don't know what to make of it. Especially what Maylin didn't hear personally - Aye-zul's comment about you, Kuvira and Baatar Jr."

Suppressing the urge to say, "Not now - business first," after noticing how disturbed all four of them looked, Aiqing explained, Jasmine able to tell he was masking his emotions, "You, Jasmine… You've been 'in it' since the day Kuvira came to Ba Sing Se, heard rumors from guards since I… 'joined' this camps' population last night you and your family were fighting looters even before she arrived with all that hardware, put the smack down on looters in Ba Sing Se. You stayed on the right path even as Kuvira, everyone else went down another, darker one. Fully aware of what was going on, unlike people like Bolin, or those idealists you've told us about defecting near a week ago. Likely staying behind after Kuvira's 'downfall' to help others, and keep Jinshu Kuangmai from doing anything horrible. I already know he wanted to kill or work the firebenders to death, and you stopped that. And even you're having trouble with guilt, did what you had to do to keep the façade up," finally showing more emotion as he broke up and said, Maxiu hugging him for comfort, "Us? The others Jinshu Kuangmai 'ratted out' - officers in the Earth Empire army, scientists like us, normal enlisted men and women alike? We didn't stop working when that… that monster took over. We've been 'in it' all along, but on the wrong side, not starting to undermine the Earth Empire when you did, from what I've heard. Maxiu and myself helped Varrick perfect the mechasuits, assisted Baatar Jr. on the Colossus' design - Mai and Faylin worked on the spirit weapons with Baatar Jr., and helped Jinshu Kuangmai work out the few bugs and issues that still existed in smaller spirit weapons. Without Jinshu Kuangmai… deciding that just because we're different sexually, like Asami Sato or Korra, that we deserved to die - we'd still be back in Zaofu, most likely." Gulping, Jasmine feeling like they were no longer alone, Aiqing asked, staring Jasmine straight in her face intently, "I know we need to suck it up, power through all these conflicting emotions, being forced onto the right track by pain of death - but do you know anything, have anything for us that might help deal with going from darkness into light?"

At first, Jasmine didn't have an answer, internally asking no one in particular after closing her eyes, "I'm no spiritual woman - but if there's anything I can think of, the perfect words, _help me_, please," she was surprised to hear a familiar roar from behind her, followed by what must have been Hei Bai saying, "Kuvira. Nightmare."

Eyes still closed, Jasmine tried recalling details of that portion of what the Avatar had shown her, able to remember much after feeling a nudge against her back, saying, "Last night, Kuvira had a terrible dream - a fight for her sanity, yet again, while she slept, struggling against old bad habits and her mind, as well as older darkness. I'm sorry to say, while I don't think any struggle you might have would be as bad as hers - you weren't the 'Great Uniter', for all intents Empress after all - that struggle will never truly be over." Noticing all four's eyes widen, Jasmine smiled slightly, saying, "But that's no different from anyone else. Even the Avatar has issues that will dog her, time and again - but there is hope. Aiqing, Maxiu - you have each other. Fai and Maylin - I get the impression you're good friends, even if that's all it will ever be. Kuvira didn't win her fight last night by fighting prowess - the struggle was internal, and the only way it could be 'won' temporarily was through both love and friendship. I won't say who right now - but in the middle of her nightmare, someone told Kuvira, 'No matter how bad things get, I'll help make sure you stay the real Kuvira – the humane one, the new one. Even if we're repeating this dream long after the world is at peace.' Given something else she heard, following an attempt to end the fight in very much the wrong way, from 'someone' very close to her, that, 'It is the fate of all mortals to struggle with good versus evil until the day they die, Kuvira. You cannot simply kill your inner darkness, and be done with it,' it's what everyone faces," adding seriously, "It's not like you have a multitude of sins staining your soul, beyond helping the wrong side and sticking around even after Kuvira's surrender. Kuvira, Baatar Jr. - they're the ones with real weight on their minds. Both almost went insane - Kuvira, twice."

Hearing Hei Bai let out a loud roar, wishing she could understand, she nodded when she heard Aye-zul say, "Remember your history - from what Korra showed me of history between Wan's time and hers, Zuko wasn't exactly honorable or in the right for good parts of his early life. And he helped bring the world into a new era, just as much as Aang did," finishing as he came into view near a working machine, "The best way to make sure the world stays that way… is to get to work! Even if it is making things for the exact same purpose that Jinshu Kuangmai would love to use them for - to kill people!"

Noticing Maylin and Aiqing looking slightly uncomfortable, Jasmine said drolly, walking towards Aye-zul and admiring the engineer's work, "You've already made these wonderful machines with your bending, and what appears to be spirit energy as power, to automatically produce Lipowder. That's what all this machinery is for - to kill people. I'd prefer it if the weaponry fueled by their products is never used, and if so, that as few as possible of Chin's men die to bullets, safe in their mechasuit. But I could care less about Wuqing's men - and they could care less about you. Remember what Jinshu Kuangmai wanted to do to you - choke you to death, just because of who you are. Me - probably wants to dice me into little bits, _slooowly_. Even the Air Nomad monks defended themselves when they were under attack by the first wave of Fire Nation attacks. Now, help me get more things up and running, in motion just like these machines - unless you want to end up like the Air Nomads."

All four nodding slowly, Jasmine gave Aye-zul an approving look when he said, "Yeah - no genocides! That's the whole reason we got… plopped here, got bending - to stop that brats' sick 'party'. Now someone bend me a way down below, beneath the earth - Wan Shi Tong's told me these things are nosiy, and we don't want them hearing us testing them. Get me and Hei Bai some more metal to work with - we've got stuff to make!"

Some part of her mind quibbling, "I thought I told you to get started on that already?", about to say something before she heard a pleased grumbling, getting the impression that Aye-zul and Hei Bai had already done some work on their job, Jasmine said nothing, simply saying, "Sounds good, Aye-zul." Aye-zul confirming the impression by saying, "We already have some metal - we just need more, a place to work and the boom stuff to start," Jasmine nodded grimly when she heard Wan Shi Tong say from behind, "Listening to you speak with an open mind, Jasmine - you have helped me see things an army of foxy spirit assistants and hundreds of tomes could not teach me. Things uniquely human, things I have heard before, but never truly listened to, when someone tried to explain why they 'needed' a design from war from my library. 'Kill or be killed,', 'It's us or them,', 'A time for peace, a time for war,', 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,' - I did not fully grasp these until now. I did not even fully grasp the advice Aang received over seven decades ago from his past lives, which I recently attained access to, courtesy of his successor, Korra." Wan Shi Tong pausing for a moment, he continued, "Humans can die very easily, and there is no resurrection - only reincarnation, the Avatar the only one who can see their past lives. Spirits are immortal but not invincible, only the Avatar able to kill us, as Kuruk almost did Koh centuries ago," finishing ominously, "Now that I remember more, of human's requests for war knowledge over the ages, and the reasons - perhaps I should have granted one group their request, to try and stop something close to the Air Nomad genocide. Not understanding humans, thinking they wanted an advantage over their enemies rather than something to help preserve their people as they claimed, I refused - and they faded into history… I will not go into the details that I can recall right now - it would distract from the work you need to do, to prevent another smaller genocide from occurring. Everything I truly heard for the first time about humans and war, violence, death - let us hope I never have to apply these lessons, as Aye-zul already did last night."

Closing her eyes for a second, intending to steel herself for work, to quell any questions she had on this past event, Jasmine saw something that was hazy at first, her sense of unease growing as the image clarified - but not because of what it showed. Jasmine saw charred mechasuits with their helmets apparently bent off, given the warped metal, coming into existence. Their occupant's heads now surrounded by swirling air, she heard something faint ask condescendingly, "Surely, you must know who is doing the asphyxiation? Oh, _noble_ soul - is this what you want? To help the Spirit of Knowledge learn **what it is to kill**?" Opening her eyes, Jasmine felt torn - without context, she had found the image undisturbing. Logically, and emotionally - well, **mostly** \- she had no qualms with helping carry out that sequence of events, but… context was everything. She only "wanted" death if it were necessary - but the condescension of that voice, coupled with the image not disturbing her…

Jasmine took a deep breath, knowing only the present as she asked, hand near an automation machine, "How do these things work?" Part of what Wan Shi Tong had said pushed to the back of her mind even before she asked her question, Jasmine focused to keep her mind fairly blank of anything but Fai, Maylin, Maxiu and Aiqing's words, and focused on explaining what she knew that they did not as far as technology was concerned. Learning more about these machines and hearing some of her "Fab Four's" input and ideas and how to best defend the camp was of the utmost importance.

She didn't want to think about defeat - _or _victory, and the death it might bring, hoping Yangchen would stay "strong" if she did not. Jasmine was not sure if already being "strong" last night with Jinshu Kuangmai's spy was good thing or not.

Thinking back over what Wan Shi Tong had said, she thought, "A genocide, other than that of the Air Nomads… I have never heard of that before. Perhaps he is imagining things? Tiny men in radios… regardless, that wasn't the important part of what he said. The things about death were. I will simply have to wait and see what the day brings." Aiqing breaking off from technical speak for a short while he said incredulously, "Enough about death - something about life. Had this crazy dream last night before that tyrant woke me and my boyfriend up - kids. And not orphans, like what we had talked about maybe taking in some day - kids that looked like _us_. All these fancy weapons, leagues ahead of anything I worked on before, or even what I saw of Chin's work - you've obviously talked with the Avatar. Maybe even been… infobended, was it? Know what the dream could mean?"

Hazily remembering something to do with President Raiko and Buttercup, children in a dream, Jasmine dismissed the thought that came to her mind, thinking, "Two men having children - impossible," remembering that not too long ago, she might have said the same of two _women_, spirit shenanigans and all. Dismissing the thought nonetheless, Jasmine said, "Not anything that would be remotely possible, sorry," Maxiu smiling and saying, "That's what I thought - dreams can be crazy." Even if she thought the dream was ridiculous, Jasmine still ended up feeling something as a result of his question.

More determination to do her job, even if it meant killing **Chin's **men. They had minds of their own - should be able to tell right from wrong. No excuse about personal or familial safety and preservation in the world was enough to justify following genocidal orders. One genocide in history was one too many - and if what Wan Shi Tong said was true at all, there was an even older one the world had forgotten.

And she wasn't going to let another one happen, or the people inside this camp fade into the night, forgotten. She wasn't going to let Earth Empire troops kill anyone like Aiqing unopposed. These two men obviously loved one another, to have planned to adopt children, possibly even taking in someone like Kuvira.

Abandoned. Just like Jinshu Kuangmai… or rather, Tonga Beifong.

* * *

Now finished addressing her father's men, hoping she had done as good of a job as he would have, Jayashri pocketed her notes. Intending to leave at first, she stopped when she remembered some of the things that deceptive rebel airbender Yangchen had told her earlier. Jayashri tried speaking off-the-cuff to the two battalions her father Chin had entrusted her with in his absence, saying, "Earlier, while I was preparing to come out and address you all, one of the rebel leaders visited me - projected, telling me contradictory things. That she'd rather not kill - but would fight tooth and nail 'if' it looks like we will take the other traitor Jasmine's camp, or Omashu itself." Taking a deep breath, she said, keeping emotion from her voice and face, "Given we **are **going to take both Omashu and the camp back, my father's technology helping 'even' nonbenders like myself fight well and be protected, I know I will not see some of the faces before me right now tonight." Pointing towards Omashu in the far distance, and then that double-rat Jasmine's camp, she said, "Omashu, the camp, that train they hijacked and looted last night - we all know what kind of equipment was in there. The spirits that have been sighted in our area do not help matters any either - the Avatar, abusing her position by getting her spirit partner to grant them bending."

Thoughts of the Avatar bringing her to her next point, Jayashri said, "What we face is no pushover like Zaofu - that city fell after my father's former leader soundly beat a weakened Avatar there, the people of the city surrendering like meek koala-sheep. It will not be as easy this time around." A few people murmured when she said, "Think the kind of resistance Kuvira met at Garzai, except they have spirits who can bend, spirit weapons, the fire-earth they stole, and many more people than the relic of Fire Nation tyranny Garzai had. Whichever we are sent to attack first, it will be hard. But with the technological might of the Earth Empire behind us, I am confident that we will prevail." Smiling slightly to notice people were cheering again, she continued, "I feel safe saying this around you, my father's 'second family' - he is working on and trying to convince Jinshu Kuangmai to support technologies which will change the very nature of war, and as far as I know, the enemy have nothing to compare." Wishing she could bend like her father, or anything, she made do with speaking loudly to accentuate her final words, saying, "The first Colossus was nothing in comparison to what is coming! Even better, his technology does not require bending to work - **we will be EQUALS to any 'elite'**! Determination won't save these rebels. All we need to do is hold out and follow orders until that equipment arrives, finish business here - then, **to Ba Sing Se, then ****Republic City!****"**

Her father's men excited, hoping her father would deliver sooner rather than later, Jayashri quelled a creeping concern in her mind, thinking as she bowed and stepped off the podium, "Just because I talked to Yangchen about not killing innocents, doesn't mean I can't do my job. I can't let my father's men down - or my father." Remembering just how many people lived in Omashu, Jayashri got angry all over again, thinking as she approached her "commander" General Wuqing's large tent, "We can't afford to lose over a million people. Not when the odds are already stacked against us." Close enough to hear Wuqing's voice, she said out loud, "Maybe if we can manage a quick knockout strike, or even capture Yangchen, they'll lose their will, just like Zaofu did when we took Suyin Beifong."

Surprised when she heard a response to her musing after opening the tent's zipper, Wuqing's voice was laden with derision as he said, "Little girl - there is no place for optimism in military strategy. Though, given what your and your father's troops' role will be shortly enough - keep it. You will be following, not leading, for all your speechifying to your fellow peasants."

Jayashri's eye twitching slightly out of anger, she said, trying to get the mustachioed smug General to look at her, "I'll still be leading - my father's men!", wishing she could set Wuqing's stupid mustache on fire when he said derisively, "Yes - following my commands. I am as old as your father, you - a mere twenty years old." Smirking slightly, he asked, "Can you make one contribution besides that which you've been assigned to do?", continuing, Jayashri getting an idea as he spoke, "Or are you so much hot air, like what little I heard of Jasmine 'coming out' as traitorous?"

Remembering something her father had mentioned, even given her the blueprints for along with her newer-model personalized mechasuit early in the morning, Jayashri said, "Yes. Earlier, I caught that airbender woman spying on my own tent with projection." Wuqing's brown eyes widening and his mustache twitching with displeasure, Jayashri pushed her luck a little, saying, "I assume even someone like you who is not trusted with airships while his 'little girl' subordinate is can see the problem there."

Swearing Wuqing smiled for half a second, he said with anger that struck Jayashri as forced somehow, "Wh- such insolence!", oddly silent when Jayashri said, "I have an idea - my father Chin left me more than a new-model custom fabricated metal mechasuit. He left blueprints, including for Jang's 'spirit security' towers." Walking over to and picking the blueprint out of storage, Jayashri examined it, saying as another idea occurred to her, being polite out of not respect but a desire to get what she wanted, "General Wuqing - correct me if I am wrong, but I believe your men and the other battalions assigned to excavating the subterranean reinforcement caverns found ores much more valuable than copper, iron, aluminum when they were digging." Pointing to such a sample that was on Wuqing's desk, along with a Vaatite crystal just like the one in her custom mechasuit, Jayashri said, "I can see some on your desk right now - spiritsteel, in both its forms. On these blueprints, I find no mention of Jang using spiritsteel, let alone a Vaatite crystal, in any of his designs - they predate _my father's _greatest discovery."

Having expected to need to explain her idea to Wuqing, never having seen him as anything beyond an angry merciless pile of short fuses prone to going off at the slightest insult, she was genuinely surprised when he said, saying her suggestion before she could, "You want to set up modified towers around this tent, and yours - so that they cannot see inside." Standing up and then picking up the Vaatite crystal, he said, rubbing it tenderly, "Very well - it is obvious you have a brain, even if you do not have experience," continuing as he walked to one of the tent's exits, "Come - see what I was setting up, even before you apparently conversed with this Yangchen woman and babbled to your battalions. Jinshu Kuangmai was busy shuttling mechasuits to your peasants - I was doing other things."

Jayashri following after grabbing the tower blueprint, never having gotten anything close to respect from the man before, peasant insults notwithstanding, she watched as he went into a horse stance. Wuqing said, as he moved his arms and the earth before him moved like a hinge, "With bending, I got things accomplished that no amount of technology can mimic. All that time helping set up those underground caverns let me perfect the art of rapid earthbending construction."

The hole in the ground emitting an enthralling red glow, Jayashri followed Wuqing down, the man she wouldn't have trusted with her own dog a few minutes ago saying as they walked down lower, "Beneath the surface, I've set up the fabricating room you see here. I, too, went to Zaofu last night," adding bitterly, "Though, I do not know what their hush-hush project is. No matter," Jayashri feeling as though Wuqing had left something unsaid.

Arriving at what looked to be the entrance to a large cavern, Jayashri was taken aback to see how much ore, crystals, and other resources lay within, Wuqing saying, "The earth that we excavated may not have been densely packed with these resources, but raw volume accounted for a lot." Spotting some rare things, like gold, diamond and what appeared to be a small amount of platinum, Jayashri asked, "Why haven't I heard of this before? Isn't this technically Jinshu Kuangmai's?" Wuqing turned around and said tersely, "Yes - in the same sense that your father's men are his, or you are Jinshu Kuangmai's daughter. My men and myself did this work - not him." Jayashri making mental note to bring this up to Jinshu Kuangmai, along with the killing of innocents to her father, Wuqing continued, "Regardless, I will use this to further the Empire's interests - as you can see by the fabrication room. Even give your men some of the equipment, to those who are competent. Perhaps I was wrong in my assessment of you - would you have me waste valuable time transporting these riches to him, when that traitor Jasmine has cut off our railway supply line? You can't fit all this into an airship, after all."

Not sure what to make of Wuqing's statements, Jayashri said, "Let's get out of here, in case that airbender woman decides to project to me again," smiling slightly when Wuqing's eyes widened, saying as they left in haste, "You may be no bender - but I suppose your father's cleverness rubbed off 'enough'."

Knowing that even with fabrication that time was not their friend, Jayashri said, "Forget the tents - the first towers should go up around that place," as they left, Wuqing saying as he shut the "door" again, "You say this woman already knows of you, our tents - perhaps we could leave some misinformation behind for her to project and find…"

Walking back to the tent, Wuqing seeming to be scheming something else, Jayashri idly inspected the blueprints once they were back inside, copying the bare form to a piece of scrap paper, a solitary Vaatite crystal placed into the jamming portion's heart and the body now made of spiritsteel. Hearing Wuqing mumble something about attack, Jayashri recalled something she had heard her father got from Jinshu Kuangmai on these mysterious spirits, smiling as she said, "Normal tower - keeps the spirits from being anything but physical. Spiritsteel tower with a Vaatite crystal - who knows what might happen. Maybe we can even turn their spirits to our side, the strong one - Wan Shi Tong's already helped Vaatu once, after all."

Getting another idea, Jayashri drew in a radio-jamming suite, her respect for Wuqing increasing when he said, "A radio jammer… I have an ongoing 'offensive and defensive' project involving underground spirit weapons, as per Jinshu Kuangmai's orders." Jayashri lost him when he sat down and said, drawing on his own piece of paper, "If we can sneak these things underground and surround the camp well enough, and make the 'right' kind of attack - we might be able to pull something off like this."

Standing up and looking at Wuqing's piece of paper, able to follow the theory and execution of the tactics drawn onto it after a while, Jayashri said, amazed, "What… that's something my father would have needed a few hours to come up with, and you, mister 'brainless' - did it in under a minute." Wuqing smiling smugly, he said, grabbing larger pieces of blueprint, "And I thought you would have been totally averse to what the tactic would require, how your father's precious peasants would be used, or even my usage of yourself."

Still having a hard time believing Wuqing had come up with this on his own, Jayashri said, "I drew on my father and Jang's work for the tower idea…. Where did you draw for your ideas?" Wuqing simply smiled, saying with great pleasure, Jayashri detecting no real hostility in his voice, "This is a tactic that my long-deceased ancestors used in battle, updated and made more sophisticated. Extensively modified to work in an attack against a wall instead of in an open field. 'Little girl' - there is much more to me than meets the eye."

Wuqing bowing his head ever so slightly, he said, "Apparently, the same is true of you," smiling when Jayashri asked him, "Why so… well, grating, angry, up until this point?". Wuqing said with a final air, "Just as everything in what I drew for you has a reason - so too do my actions. That is what I miss about Kuvira - not only do I think she was closer to my ancestors, based on her name, she was closer to a Pai Sho player in strategy. Each move, carefully _calculated _\- not simple rushing and force, reserved emotions and not angry blood-iron bending bluster."

Working together a little more, part of her not liking how her battalions would be used, but knowing if the enemy had any interest in killing as little as possible her men would be okay, Jayashri felt at ease, and yet, not. Remembering that Wuqing until recently struck her more as a Jinshu Kuangmai and less of a Kuvira, she was left with only two questions, their plan perfectly clear and intricate.

If Wuqing had plans for himself that did not involve Jinshu Kuangmai - and if he did, whether she'd support the incumbent known factor Jinshu Kuangmai or the possibly rebellious unknown sitting next to her. All on the off chance the "real" him might be closer to her father than Jinshu Kuangmai...


End file.
